Foundation of Friendship

Theo turned up at the school grounds that day, having convinced his parents that they were too lazy to play, his street was home to primarily adults and his parents convincing him that the park was too dangerous to play in alone. The school courtyard seemed a reasonable place, there was a game of sorts taking place anyway. Not knowing any of the people, amd realising those playing the game were considerably older than him, he contemplated not playing. For a split second. After that, he was straight into the game, aimlessly running in circles worth the super-speed he was still trying to get the hang of. Despite being entirely unaware of the game's objective, Theo held his own, courageously running through packs of much taller people.

However, games are much more fun if the aim is clear to all players, and so after the young werewolf had expended a little energy on whatever the older children played, he climbed a nearby tree, to get a better vantage point from which to understand the game. His bushy hair was disheveled already, his bright red hoodie was dirty as usual, his black tracksuit pants were covered in dirt marks and his bare feet held claws which scaled the tree trunk with ease. Once he was mounted on a high but stable branch, Theo began focusing on what happened in the game. But his incredibly short attention span turned him off of that endeavour and onto another one.

There was a little sheep-like girl-like creature underneath the tree. His first instinct was to bite. After all, that's generally what wolves do to sheep. But as they looked at the flowers inquisitively, he felt the compassion to spare them, at least for the time being. Instead, he flipped backwards from a tree branch so that he was dangling there by his legs. "Hello!" He exclaimed at the creature confidently. "I'm Theo. Who are you?" His greeting sounded rehearsed, but it was just due to the number of introductions he had to say over the years.

Theo decided to remain in his place in the tree, in case the creature wasn't worth talking to and they wanted to go back and play something. He swung a little on his legs, but listened attentively for his friend-to-be's name.

Theo looked confused as the creature got scared by him. Maybe she was just shy, he thought. Their last name sounded too complicated, so Theo concentrated on just remembering Arjean.

He checked the ground below him was safe enough and seeing grass, he unhooked his legs from the tree branch so he fell to the ground, tucking himself into a somersault to minimise the impact. Theo had always been lively and had practiced falling out of trees enough that he didn't get hurt. Springing up to his feet he stood in front of Arjean and whispered, "Sowy. Mommy says I talk too loud." He wanted to make friends with them, not scare them away, so he decided to quieten down.

He may have overdone the quietness, because he was now talking in a very hard-to-hear voice. "I was in the twee, climbing," he whispered softly. "It's like I'm on top of the world up there." His already large eyes widened as he said this, grinning and pointing up at the tree on his tippy-toes as if it wasn't obvious what he was talking about. Theo's smile flashed his pointy little fangs which usually just rested on his bottom lip.

An an idea popped into his head. "Do you want to be my friend?" He asked. This was how he had always made friends in the past and saw no other way of doing it. Of course he wanted to be friends with Arjean, they could be his first friend over here who wasn't related to him.

The applause for his roll made Theo giggle. He had never had any praise for them, only warnings from his parents that he would hurt himself. It wasn't unwelcome, he loved the attention, it was just surprising.

As Arjean told him he didn't have to be so quiet, his voice returned almost to normal with a slight hushed tone to it. He had become more aware of his noise level and didn't want to get to loud again. But being so young, he was likely to just forget about it soon enough. "Okay! Like this?" He asked. As Theo asked if they could be friends, a quick look of shock flashed across Arjean's face, not enough to question but enough to recognise. He didn't think it was too sudden. After all, they had already talked a bit to one another, and they had exchanged names. In his mind, they were at a perfect stage to be friends. Of course he believed in building relationships, though. After all, nobody becomes best friends without sharing a secret and nobody becomes best friends for ever and ever without spending a whole day together.

He was very happy Arjean accepted and was now officially his friend. They would have so much fun together! "You have more than one mommy?" Theo asked, clearly finding it unfair that he only got one. He wondered why they were so lucky, confused over the principle which was never explained to him, but dismissed it in favor of play. He could never refuse that! He said, "Yes yes yes! I love games! I have played every game on Earth right now! What one do you want to play?" It was true. Arjean was going to struggle to think of a game he hadn't played before. He just loved them too much.

Of course Theo was surprised that Arjean didn't know how to play tag. He bit his lip in order to conceal his shock, but one of his fangs cut it while doing so and he tasted blood. Licking the blood off his inner lip to cover it up, he said, "That okay! I can teach you!" It wasn't as if he hadn't taught others before - there were plenty of times when other kids had learnt to play games with him. Arjean shouldn't be so scared of admitting that.

He noticed Arjean's blush as they looked up. It turned their dark cheeks a rosy red-pink shade. Theo told her, "Don't be scared." Afraid was one of just four emotions Theo could recognise on others; out of happy, sad, angry and afraid. It seemed like the closest one to what Arjean looked like. "You have to learn one day." He proceeded to clear his throat as if he was about to make a speech.

"Hide and seek is easy. One person hide, the other count to ten then find them. Tag is one person is it, and everyone run away from them. They have to chase. If you are caught, you are it." It was the best explanation he could give. "Get it?" He asked. If not, he could show her while they played.