DISCLAIMER: This one-shot was requested by RandallBeast19. He/she/they are the genius mind behind this idea! Special thanks to them for sending me this request, I've never written for MU before so it presented quite the fun challenge to overcome. Enjoy!

Randall wasn't sure what had possessed him when he decided to attend a party not long after starting college. He knew, he just knew that he'd wind up making a fool of himself somehow, but he didn't want to pass up the chance to make some friends because he was so excited about being accepted into Monsters University, one of the most prestigious scaring schools in the whole world.

He had to admit he was feeling a bit more confident than usual. Being accepted into such an incredible, globally recognized school had really boosted his self-esteem. But he hadn't changed a bit. Just because he was enrolled in Monsters University did not automatically make his clumsiness and social awkwardness disappear. And it came to haunt him that night, in the form of cupcakes.

He was still scraping white and red frosting from between his rounded, dappled purple-and-blue scales as he walked back to his dorm from the party in total darkness. The sky above him was black, blacker than the darkest shade of obsidian. A silvery-white crescent moon haloed in translucent light hung silently over Randall's head. There were countless stars glittering like diamonds set into the infinite expanse of sky, but he was in too much a gloomy mood to really pay attention to them.

What was I thinking? He wondered to himself, his antennae twitching in the cold autumn air. It's almost hard to believe I've made such a fool of myself... again. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now.

He also couldn't believe that, despite the fact he really and truly thought he found a friend, he'd still find that absolutely nobody cared about what he was going through.

Although Mike Wasowski was a wonderful person, intelligent and hardworking, his studies were all he seemed to care about. He never really allowed himself the luxury of doing anything other than slaving away over homework, study material, extra credit opportunities, and the like. He was such a friendly, ambitious person that he and Randall had bonded right away. Mike didn't care at all that Randall was socially awkward and easily startled. They still got along perfectly, becoming the best of friends almost overnight. But at the end of the day, Mike was completely and utterly absorbed in his personal goals. He was willing to do any and everything to reach those goals, even if it meant kicking other people to the curb for the sake of cramming in more time to work incessantly.

This type of thing was painful for Randall because he'd never really had friends before. He was constantly being picked on for how skittish he was. The slightest sound could cause him to jump out of his skin and... well... vanish. Literally. He'd been blessed with the ability to camouflage; changing his scales to match his environment. None of the other monster kids saw it as a blessing. They found it rather hysterical, to put it bluntly. Nobody ever took the time to get to know Randall because they were all too busy laughing at him.

Maybe I'm just not meant to have friends... Randall grimaced, wrapping his four spindly arms around himself and shivering slightly. His tail, which usually stood upright and curled into a cute little spiral at the tip, was dragging against the sidewalk behind him. I should just do what Mike does and focus on my studying. If I don't even have time for friends, I won't have to deal with this kind of problem anymore.

All of a sudden, he picked up on the soft pitter-patter of someone running up behind him.

"Randy!" an almost painfully familiar voice called out.

Randall stopped dead in his tracks. "Mike?" he turned around slowly to face the little green creature whose one eye and wide mouth took up his entire spherical body. Mike was running toward Randall at top speed, which of course wasn't very fast. "Where on earth did you come from? I thought you said you were gonna stay in and study!"

Randall couldn't help but feel a little offended. Mike had brushed off his offer to go to the party together for the sake of his schoolwork, and yet here he was. It was obvious he'd been doing anything but studying, because he wasn't lugging around his textbooks like he usually was and his heavy backpack that was almost bigger than him was nowhere to be seen.

Once Mike reached Randall, he had to stop for a second to catch his breath. Once he had recovered from all the running he'd been doing, he said, "I was, but then that Sullivan guy accidentally unleashed a pig in our dorm. Had to run all around campus just trying to catch it."

"Oh." Randall's face fell.

So, what was stopping him from spending some time with me? If he has time to run a lap around this ginormous campus and catch a pig, he should also have time to go to a party with his friend.

"But you won't believe what happened after that!" Mike chirped, hopping from one tiny, clawed foot to the other, completely oblivious to the hurt look on the reptilian monster's face. "As it turns out, Sullivan stole the pig for the sake of joining the RΩR's. They all think I'm some pathetic little wimp because they didn't see me catch the pig. On top of that, Sullivan had the nerve to insult me. So, my plan is to ace the upcoming Scare Final and show everyone that I'm a natural-born, hardworking Scarer."

"I... guess I'll leave you to it, then." Randall shrugged, turning and beginning to walk again.

Mike noticed for the first time that Randall was walking with his shoulders hunched and his long tail dragging behind him. "Uhh, Randy? You okay?" Mike called out, voice laced with concern.

"Oh, I'm great. Never better." Randall called over his shoulder. He wasn't really a sarcastic monster by definition, but... he was honestly too disappointed with both himself and Mike to care at the moment.

"C'mon, don't give me that. Something's definitely up with you." Mike scoffed, rolling his eye and rushing to catch up with his friend. "What happened? I'm guessing the party didn't go so well?"

"What do you think? Why else would I be on my way back to our dorm so early?" Randall grimaced, displaying his sharp white teeth. "I made a fool of myself. All I wanted to do was find some new friends."

"Oh." Mike touched one stubby finger to his lips, frowning slightly out of sympathy for his friend. "I'm sorry to hear that. Do... do you wanna go back to the dorm and study with me for a bit? It might help you take your mind off things."

"No, thank you. But since that's all you seem interested in doing, you can go on ahead."

"All I'm interested in doing? What're you talking about?" Mike gave the other monster an incredulous, unblinking stare.

"Ever since you first got here, you've been so wrapped up in your studies and beating that Sullivan guy. You clearly don't care about anything other than those two things. It's almost like other monsters and their feelings don't even exist to you." was Randall's terse response. He really didn't want to get in a fight over this, especially not after everything that had happened. But at the same time, he was too frustrated and worn-out to watch what he said. "I don't expect you to understand, or to change the way you do things. But just know that I'd very much like to have a friend, so if you have any free time in the future, you know where to find me."

"I... what?" Mike stopped dead in his tracks as a sudden realization hit him.

Whoa.

Now that he was seriously thinking about it... he had been extremely engrossed in his studies. So much so that he hadn't really payed any heed to anyone around him except for Sullivan, who he was hellbent on surpassing in some way, shape or form. But that also meant Mike had been completely neglecting Randall without realizing.

An intense wave of emotion rolled through Mike's body. He couldn't believe he'd been so careless with someone he legitimately valued as a friend.

The way Mike saw it, Randall was an incredible monster with truly terrifying abilities. He had a lot of potential as a Scarer, but he was also such a sweet, dorky character who only ever wanted to make friends. Mike liked Randall a lot as a friend, and often found himself looking up to him because he knew that Randall was capable of becoming one of the greatest Scarers in history. What right did Mike have to shun such a friendly monster like this? No wonder Randall was so upset!

Mike realized that Randall had already gotten several paces away from him while he was thinking everything over. Once again, Mike had to run to catch up with the purple-scaled monster.

"Hey, Randy! Wait up! Can you stop for a second, please?"

Randall sighed heavily. He just wanted to get back to his dorm and curl up in bed with a good book. He really wasn't interested in discussing things with Mike right now. Even so, Randall found it impossible to ignore his friend.

"What now?" he asked, turning around and drumming two of his four sets of fingers against his forearms impatiently.

"You've gotta stop walking so fast. It's ridiculous." Mike gasped out, doubling over and putting his palms on his knees, trying to catch his breath for the second time that night. Once he managed to stand up straight again, he said, "I've really been a terrible friend, haven't I?"

Randall hesitated before nodding. "A little bit, yeah."

"And I think you're absolutely right. I don't know what I was thinking. In fact, I can't say for sure if I was even thinking at all. I mean, this is no excuse, but when I was a kid, nobody ever liked me. I was perhaps the most non-scary monster you'd ever meet, and I was tired of that. I just wanted to prove that I'm scary, that I'm worth other people's time, but... maybe I was going about that the wrong way." Mike explained, spreading his hands in a harmless gesture. "I've always prioritized studying and being scary over everything else before, so I guess I'm just not used to paying any attention to other monsters."

"Look, Randy. I really admire you, in all honesty. Your ability to change color to match your surroundings is absolutely incredible, I don't think there's ever been a Scarer blessed with anything like that. I think you're amazing in every possible aspect, and I feel extremely lucky to have met you. I'll try and readjust my schedule so we can start spending more time together, kay?"

Randall completely froze. He was honestly expecting to be given some kind of cheap excuse. But a full-blown apology like this? He almost couldn't believe it was happening.

"So, you're saying you'll actually try and make time for me? Really?" He asked, antennae perking up hopefully.

"Of course! I'd love to spend more time together! I'm really sorry for being such a terrible friend to you, and I want to do whatever I can to make up for it." Mike said, opening his arms and inviting Randall in for a hug.

Naturally, Randall immediately moved to accept it, bending down and managing to get both arms around Mike's rounded body. "Thank you, Mike. It really means a lot to me."

"Not a problem, buddy." Mike blinked away the tears that had been swimming in his eye, threatening to spill down his face at any moment. "Let's head on back to our dorm, it's pretty cold out and I'm still sore from chasing that pig around campus. Besides, I don't think you've ever shown me your favorite books before. I'd love to have a look at them."

Randall's whole face lit up and he nodded enthusiastically. "Ooh! I think I know a title you might enjoy reading sometime, you just have to see it. C'mon, c'mon!"

A couple hours later, long after most of the other college students at Monsters University had gone to sleep, Randall and Mike were still wide awake, talking and laughing and listening to each other go on and on about whatever popped into their heads. It was honestly the first time either of them had ever hung out with another monster like that before without being picked on for some reason or other. And it was perhaps the most important night of their lives, because it marked the start of a renewed friendship.

A/N: Oh wow. I know this was really short, much shorter than my standard chapter length, but I spent so much time on this one-shot it's almost unholy. I still feel like it doesn't have nearly enough detail packed into it, but I also know that if I added any more it would become less a fic and more an eyesore. Thank you, RandallBeast19, for requesting this one-shot! I had a lot of fun doing this! Thanks so much for reading, y'all have a good day and take care of yourselves!

-UltimatexAdmin