The Girl and her Goat Chapter 10: The Third Form

I woke-up early as usual. Right away, I felt as though something wasn't right. It took a few moments for my sleep-filled mind to remember the events of last night. So the excessive warmth I felt came from the fact that the Goatman was still spooning me. Well this is awkward. I took notice of his soft snores. He was still in a deep sleep. I tried my best to carefully get out of bed without waking him up. As soon as I slipped free from his arm and stood up, a soft whine escaped his lips. I looked back to see his hand clutching the blanket where I had once been, a disappointed frown on his inhuman face. Slowly, his expression returned to a peaceful one and he resumed snoring softly. I sighed in relief.

He looked like a little kid. Not his body, no. That part looked like a cross between a goat, a sheep and the average magazine swimsuit model. The way he was lying down, his legs twisted in odd ways, slightly curled-up on himself, cradling a fold of the blanket in one arm and still clutching to the blanket with the other, all that added to his youthful appearance made him seem like a young child. His hair was spread across the pillow, soft curls neatly falling about. I guess a good wash really helped.

I tip-toed out of the room and down to the kitchen for breakfast. I was done and putting away my dishes when I heard his footsteps getting closer. "Good morning." The young man grunted and spewed out random bits of Fishuu. He rubbed his eye tiredly. He looked human again. I took this time to reflect on his clothing. I tried my best to focus on anything else than his chest that had revolutionized the way I thought of his appearance. That left me with the shorts he was wearing, which were actually mine. He needed new clothes.

My vacation was going to end soon and I would go back to work, making more money. Spending a little more couldn't hurt. And besides, it was for a good cause.

I made him a caramel toast and a mug of hot chocolate. He looked a bit more aware after eating. I sat across from him and thought a bit more. I then noticed that he was avoiding my gaze. "You feel bad about last night, don't you?" He blinked and met my eyes for only a moment before looking away again. "It's...okay. Everyone gets scared sometimes. You don't have to feel bad about it." He looked back to me again. He seemed to feel a bit better and I internally begged that he would not notice my own embarassment about the situation. I had no such luck.

"You look...upset. You weren't scared." I swallowed. "Uhm...yeah. Well, it just caught me off guard. You...you doing what you did, I mean. People...don't normally do that." He looked confused. "Sleep in the same bed like that. I wasn't expecting it." He seemed lost in thought. His amber eyes looked on to the nearby window, shimmering in the rays of the morning sun. "Sorry." I spoke up right away. "It's fine! You didn't know." He nodded, still looking out the window. I started talking again. "Do you...want us to go get you some new clothes today?" He looked back to me and then down to himself. When he looked up to me again, there was a certain sparkle to his eyes, that same childish quality he always had when he was happy. He didn't have to answer. I knew he was happy.

We left after lunch time. He looked confused when I walked over to my own car. "We're not taking the bus today. I'll drive us." It was funny how unsure he was about everything. I had to show him where to sit, how to put his seat belt on and how to open his window. He constantly asked me if he was okay and if he was doing the right thing. It took a good ten minutes before everything was ready and I finally got to drive off. He looked to the way I drove with facination. His gaze wandered elsewhere quickly enough and he was once again captivated by the city. I parked by the shopping mall, and then we spent an other ten minutes going through how to unbuckle a seat belt and how to open a door. He was smart, that's something I will never deny, but he's so afraid of trying new things by himself. That was something I noticed about him right away. He is completely terrified of doing things wrong. He needs to be walked through every single action. I found myself sighing quite a few times today, but I would always tell myself the same thing. I won't need to do all of this once he learns how to do everything.

We'd bought three shirts already and a pair of jeans when he spotted it. That one thing that was perfect for him, like an act of destiny. It was a hat. A winter hat. A winter hat meant to look like the face of an orange goat. Toh walked over to it and put it on right away, looking into a nearby mirror with a massive smile on his face. I jogged to catch-up to him and found myself smiling as well.

"I am goat with goat on head." And with that statement, he started laughing again. That same weird voiceless laugh. I wonder why he laughs like that. I checked the price. It was practically being given away, seeing as winter had ended quite some time ago and wasn't about to start again. He walked proudly through the mall, his new hat firmly placed on. His back was straight and an aura of pride emmanated from him. This was all made a bit ridiculous whenever he would trip or take a poor step since he still wasn't quite used to his shoes.

"Minecraft!" I looked up and followed his gaze. Of course, we couldn't go home without buying him a Minecraft t-shirt. So 70$ later, we found ourselves walking towards the exit of the mall when a familiar voice called out to us. "Erin! Hey!" I turned around to see my cousin waving his hand in the air. He rushed over to us. My companion turned around, and as soon as their eyes met, they both stopped. Shaun looked on in confusion. His jaw was slightly dropped. "What's this guy doing here?" I giggled, shifting around some of the bags I was holding. "He followed me home." The two men looked each-other from head to toe before both smiling.

Shaun raised his hand up in order to fist-bump Toh'ma, who just tilted his head in confusion. "You've gotta do this too, and then you bump your hand against mine." Hesitantly, the being complied. It was the slowest and most awkward fist-bump I had ever seen. Shaun started smiling. "Yeah, he's my bro now!" Toh tilted his head in confusion again. He mumbled quietly to himself in Fishuu. "Ke fehr darmoon ka..." I didn't really understand what he was saying, but I guessed he didn't understand the expression. "It means you guys are friends now." He looked back quickly and blinked a few times before a smile split his face. "Friend."

We went for ice-cream next. Toh was used to hot food, but cold, that was something new. As well as food that melts. He didn't seem to grasp why I was telling him it wouldn't last forever. I then recalled his apparent scientific knowledge. "It's...it's sort of solid now because it's cold. If you let it get too warm, it'll become liquid. Like snow...um...Poorlthaan?" He nodded before catching-on to the fact I had just freely spoken a word of the spirit language to him. He looked up to me and, for a few moments, I saw a look of pride gleaming in his eyes. That single look, that one tiny look, that made me feel proud too.

We continued to eat our ice-cream as we walked through the various stores, now followed by Shaun. Toh had chosen the same as I had: vanilla and chocolate. It was my favorite. Shaun, however, had always loved the bubblegum flavored ice-cream. He would always love it. I could imagine him as an old man, balding and full of wrinkles, leaning on a cane, still eating a cone of bubblegum ice-cream.

I invited Shaun to come home along with us for supper. He agreed. We never really spoke that much or invited each-other over for anything, unless we actually met somewhere in real life. It didn't happen that often, but when it did, it was fun. As we headed outside, the fresh evening air hit us. Toh's eyes widened and he looked up to the sky. "Where did the stars go?" I looked back to him. In the forest, out away from everything, the sky is so full of stars that it must be very strange for him to see nothing but the moon. We got into the car and I started driving. The street lamps were all on, all the neon advertising signs shining brightly and the lights in the buildings winked on here and there. Toh's face was pressed into the glass, like always. He looked at every single light intently, seeming lost in thought. Subconciously, he tugged at the ends of his hat. "I found the stars." That was all he said as he contemplated the city lights.

Shaun spoke-up from the back of the car. I had practically forgotten he was there. "His eyes. They actually do glow." I looked to my side, briefly meeting the Goatman's gaze. "Yeah, they do. It's pretty cool when you think about it." My cousin relaxed back into his seat. "Yeah, it is." As we drove through an other street, I spotted a shop and I knew right away that I had to stop here. I parked nearby and got off. "You guys stay here. I have to get something real quick."

Both of them must have been confused. I returned a bit later, holding onto what I had gotten with much care. Even from here, I could tell Toh was distracted. Perfect. I opened the door and he jumped a little. He then noticed what I was holding and his eyes lit up with childish glee. His jaw was slightly open and he looked from it to me. I gave him what I had come for and strapped myself in, ready to drive off again. I heard my cousin's voice, a blend of confusion and humor. "You stopped for...a balloon?"

We got home, got out of the car and walked in. It was apparent that Toh wanted to avoid recreating the incident that had happened to his last balloon. He was holding onto it with tremendous care, only barelly brushing it with the tips of his fingers. I set down the various heavy bags that I was carrying. "Toh, I put your things by the couch." He looked to me and then back to his balloon. He was tying a variety of small objects to it, experimenting with what would bring it down and what would keep it aloft.

I turned back to see Shaun pressing the edge of his sneakers to the bags, peering inside to see the contents. He started chuckling. "You're buying him clothes? What is he your boyfriend or something?" I blushed and started laughing nervously. Laughing nervously because we had kissed and more than once. Lauging nervously because we had fallen asleep in the same bed, and in each-other's arms. Laughing nervously because he could be, and it would work really well. But right now.."No, he's just a friend." A really good friend.

"Minecraft!" The demanding cry snapped me out of my thoughts, wiping the smug grin off my cousin's face as well. Toh was perched on the couch, his flashy purple balloon tied to his ankle, holding a controller and staring at the blank screen. I started chuckling. I guess he'd gotten addicted to it.

We ate food and talked some more. As we were picking off whatever little things were left on our plates, Shaun spoke. "Hmm...I never thought I'd be friends with a goat before." I smiled. "Yeah, well he's not really a goat." Toh set his fork down, his expression serious. He got up and pushed his chair back in it's place, tugging off his hat and setting it down. Then his shape began to change, however, instead of stopping where it normally did, he kept going... and I found myself looking down, my mouth hung agape. It was...a goat. A brown goat with a mop of overgrown fur on it's head, wearing really baggy and dirty clothes. "Bwah!" His ears flicked about, wide orange eyes locked with mine, and then my cousin's. I looked to Shaun. He was pale, his hand clinging to nothing since he had dropped his fork. His gaze met mine and I could see the complete and utter confusion that ruled them.

The rustling of fabric brought my attention back to my side, as well as a plethora of whines of discomfort. The face I was looking at was once again human, human and already collapsing to the floor in silent laughter. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, looking back up to me. "Your faces are funny."

AN: I haven't written in a while...again. Sorry...I guess. Idk when the next chapter will come up, but here's a little warning, it'll have quite a bit of moral debating in it. I changed the ending to the previous chapter a bit, not much though. I wanted to make it sound...better, but then I forgot how I'd thought of it before so I kinda did whatever to it and now BLEH...

Anyway, let's get off topic here. I started watching the BBC's Sherlock series...and by starting to watch it, I mean watched every single existing episode up to this point. I love it. I really do. The mysteries are great, every detail is thought of, the characters are fantastic, the humor is amazing and it's got a lot of little emotional moments in there. I know it's a weird thing to compare it to, but the impact it left me with, the way it made me feel, it's a lot like watching Futurama, which is an other fantastic series btw. I know this isn't really a normal thing, but I actually find Sherlock to be pretty relatable in a lot of situations. I'm not a hyper-genius high-functioning-sociopath like he is and I'll never claim to be one unless I am professionally diagnosed as such, but I get his awkwardness. I get his incapacity to keep those little remarks at other people's expense to himself. I do that too, that whole saying something about someone I probably shouldn't have and only noticing it was a bad thing to say after I already said it. And I get his whole difficulty getting attached to people. And I really get how important it is when you DO get attached to someone. Those little emotional moments where you see the care between the characters...I cried a bit because it's just so beautiful. Sherlock really isn't a character that just anyone can relate to, but even if you can't relate, he's just so loveable. Really, if you haven't watched it, go watch it. Get Netflix or Kodi or whatever and watch it. Like...now. It'll give you something to do until my next update.