Just gonna keep adding in subplots until I die because why not. Don't know if I'll ever finish this story but I"m not gonna stop now lol.


"My name is Basil Worth and I'm the monster of this story. But I didn't ask to be a monster, so I'll do whatever it takes to get answers. Whatever it takes."

Basil hated weekends more than anything in the world. He wanted to love them, wanted to love the days of freedom but he was a workaholic. If he wasn't doing something he felt jittery and gross. Like spiders crawling all over his skin. So he spent his weekdays tearing through projects, designing and presenting his designs, and garnering the attention of fashion big shots and celebrities trying to snag personal designs. Basil didn't really like privatizing fashion, however. That was the primary reason he worked for a nano-garment company rather than his own label. If he wanted to make an exclusive garment that hackers would then try to replicate unsuccessfully he absolutely had the skill to do that. But he wanted to make designs that were available for everyone and could easily be modded to fit different body types. He was shy and not very talkative but through designs, he could reach people.

And then Saturdays rolled around and he was alone in his cabin, with no work to do and nobody to reach out to. So he'd clean, and he'd try new breakfast dishes, and he'd doodle future designs. But as the nagging emptiness of the day stretched before him, and his form ached for release, something restless and carnal drove him into the woods.

The biggest reason he designed his clothes to be modded was that he needed his clothes to be able to change and grow in an instant. When he was young he had been made into a shapeshifting monster, burdened by a vicious form. He could grow extra arms but never anything human. Tentacles or claws, brutish, monster limbs. He would stretch and grow into something terrible, something he could hardly contain. He had killed the man who had made him into this, his own father. He had torn him apart with the strength of a dozen men and done so with no remorse until the deed was done. He wasn't caught, the authorities assumed his father's corpse had been ravaged by wild animals. And then he'd fled to the woods like he did now as his form began to change.

The woods were cool and quiet and vacant, except when hikers came with their music and their laughter and their cameras. Sometimes, when other people encroached on his territory, he considered snapping. Well, it wasn't so much that he considered it as much as it was the carnal creature inside of him waking and demanding respect. That was the Basil that didn't slouch, didn't ask to be underestimated, the Basil who was almost never in control. Basil knew, of course, that he was a monster. But most people, though he did not trust them, were not monsters. So Basil swallowed defensive pride until a situation arose that forced Basil to let the monster inside meet a monster who dared to enter his woods.

"Whoa!" Basil was, at first, surprised to hear the creature speak. He'd assumed it was another Lovecraftian horror such as himself, but it was actually just a hiker in a tangle of robotic limbs. And it was speaking to him.

"You're incredible," The trespasser continued, and Basil wondered if this guy was blind.

"Excuse me?" Basil asked. The other man lowered himself, he was about 6"0 when he was on the ground and he was actively putting himself at a disadvantage when monster Basil stretched out to 7 feet.

"I've never seen anything like this before, your wings, your extra limbs, this is awesome! Is it real?"

Basil let out a short, surprised laugh, "Is it real? Of course it's real. Aren't you afraid?"

"I don't know," the other guy said. He was probably only a year or two younger than Basil, with short brown hair and a green plaid shirt that was clearly "threads" instead of a nanogarment, "You still seem human behind the Lovecraftian horror."

Basil shrank back down to his normal 6"5, his extra appendages and wings retracting. The other, in turn, called the robotic tentacles into the pack on his back. Now they were about on even footing, and Basil had more questions.

"So you're not afraid of strange humans either, then?" There was a knife in his pocket, his fingers curled around it and wary malice lingered in his soul.

"No. I'm Shores." Shores stuck out his hand. He hadn't hesitated. He'd just known, immediately, that he was not afraid.

Basil reluctantly shook his hand, "Basil."

"So, that really neat party trick, how'd you get it?"

"How'd you get yours?" Basil asked, not wanting to admit that he really had no idea how he got these shitty powers.

"Probably used to belong to my dad," Shores said with a shrug.

"What did you say your last name was again?" There was no way Shores could be so trusting and nonchalant about everything. He had to have some secrets that Basil wouldn't get out of him.

"Octavius-Osborne." Recognition flickered in Basil's mind and he held back another nervous laugh.

"Do you want a drink, Shores?"

"I'm 20, so, unfortunately, no."

"A coffee, then. You know, I work for a subsidiary of Oscorp."

"You know, I can't get you a promotion," Shores said, "But you are not the first handsome stranger who has tried to pull that one on me."

"I'm not looking for promotions. Listen," Basil said, deciding to show his hand, "I don't know how I ended up as a monster. I was made into this when I was a child. My only lead is that the person who did this to me worked for Oscorp."

"So you want to befriend the heir, get an in," Shores said, nodding slowly, "You're not the first handsome stranger to try that, either."

"You've met many Lovecraftian horrors, then?"

"None as handsome as you," Shores said, smiling now.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Basil asked, getting flustered now.

"It means I'll take you up on that coffee."

"Great. I live in that cabin over there. You okay with coming back to my cabin over there? I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"I'd love to follow you back to your murder cabin, Basil."

"If we become friends I'm actually going to have to worry about you, aren't I?"

"My friend Emily says I'd wander into oncoming traffic if she let me."

"Your girlfriend?"

"Ah, no. I'm single. And gay." Shores winked at him as they headed inside.

Basil blushed hard, "Noted."

"And you?"

"Single. And gay. How do you take your coffee?"

"Do you have cream and sugar?"

"Mm-hm. Can I ask you what you were doing in my woods today?"

"Monster hunting," Shores said, and Basil nearly dropped his mug.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I just like hiking, and I found my dad's old tech so I thought I'd try it out and get a hike in."

"You weren't afraid that someone was going to see you and shoot at you?"

"I genuinely did not think that far ahead."

"Right. Already starting to worry about you."

"What was your plan going to be, outside of befriending the Oscorp heir on accident and getting intel that way?"

"Well, I work in the nanogarment division of Oscorp. I was hoping one day I'd be able to get into the bionanotechnology division… It sounds stupid now that I'm saying it out loud."

"Hm. It was a noble attempt, and I don't fully know how my mom's company works, but I think we're going to have a better chance of getting answers working together."

"Thank you…" This guy was almost half a foot shorter than him and he unintentionally made Basil feel small. Meek.

"You don't have to do this, Shores."

"Sure. But everyone needs someone in their corner looking out for them. Even Lovecraftian horrors."

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Basil asked suddenly.

"Are you going to murder me afterward?" Shores asked, eyes twinkling.

"We'll see."

"I'm in."