Breakfast was served.

Adam was once again faced with the fact that he had no idea how this strange culture worked. Whatever breakfast was, either they didn’t have it in his last world, or the fact that he didn’t usually sleep at night messed with the whole “break your fast” part of the meal. But although Adam was hardly hungry after yesterday, he couldn’t help but drool at the thought of experiencing more delectable meals. Especially so since the man of the house was an excellent cook.

The man in question, Donovan, also seemed like the early morning type, since the meal served was of the full course variety. Had Adam not been stuck in a whole other universe for about 600 years or so, he might have noticed that the breakfast laid out on the table was startlingly similar to those breakfasts you see in the movies. Warm pancakes with jam and whipped cream, fresh berries, toast with all manner of spreads to put on top (as well as pålägg, but English doesn’t have that word), crispy bacon and sunny-side-up eggs. It was a smörgåsbord of delectable treats, a feast that had no doubt taken Donovan hours to prepare.

Both Adam and Donovan were the only ones to have been awake early enough for that, but Adam had been too immersed in epic comics detailing the voes of inhabiting the flesh of a monster to even consider that somebody else might have been awake. Nevertheless, here they all were.

The only member of the Chad family not present was Lucia, who was either taking a slow morning or just doing something else. Donovan and Maria were already sitting by the table, each eating specific parts of the meal. The cook of it all seemed most interested in combining pancakes, berries, jam and whipped cream to make a delectable little treat, while his wife focused on protein and fat-dense meals, namely the eggs and bacon.

Once Chad himself sat down, in the very same seat as yesterday, he went straight for the bacon and eggs, although he did grab some berries along with them. Adam felt more reluctant about the whole thing. Everything smelt delicious, especially the pancakes and the whole bacon and eggs entourage. In the end, connoisseur as he was, he decided to pick a little bit of everything, mostly steering clear of picking too much from the eggs and bacon pan out of fear of the jocks’ wrath.

At some point, somebody should have said something, but nobody did. It was delicious. If Adam had had more space to stuff himself with pancakes, he would have. But he still hadn’t quite recovered from yesterday, so he could eat three at most. Sometime after they had all gotten started, Lucia stumbled out of her room, her dark hair a complete mess and her eyes tired as they glanced about the room.

“Good morning, Lucia dear,” Donovan greeted with a polite smile. Lucia nodded to him as a greeting (or maybe it was to the lot of them?) before walking over to the marble peninsula by the kitchen part. Adam hadn’t realized it before, but there wasn’t any plate or anything for Lucia on the table. Instead, a small plate with cutlery and a glass of juice stood on the peninsula. For her, most likely.

Lucia swiped the bundle of items without so much as a thanks before heading over to the table, where all the food was lined up, although most of it was already eaten. Unlike what Adam expected, she did not sit down. Instead, she put a couple of pancakes with accompanying sweet toppings on her plate and wandered off towards the couch and television.

While Adam observed this little scene, nobody said a word, apart from Donovan's greeting to her. The television in the other room turned on with a little click, and after a few seconds of swapping between channels, she finally settled down with one. Adam kinda wanted to leave the table to check it out, but that would have been terribly bad manners. That is, if tableside manners were anything like they were back on Lutum, which was unlikely. Nevertheless, nobody else had moved, so neither did he.

In the other room, the television buzzed with life.

“-Could this be the end of an era of peace? Many had doubts regarding the large creature that loomed over the town of Humbugg only two days ago, but with the recent outbreak of clearly unearthly creatures, many are starting to believe the end of the world is near. Furthermore, the odd creature in the sky still has yet to receive an official name. Some dub it a UFO, others call it Azathoth. We at the Early Worm have put up a poll on our website, so if you viewers have something to say, something to call this creature, do go on there and vote. Back to the strange creatures popping up everywhere, most seem to be feral, inhuman creatures. There have been casualties due to these, but the police have been able to deal with them so far. If things continue, however, the government is considering dispatching the military, although this is still being discussed. As we did yesterday, we now ask you: do you recognize this girl? She reportedly wears an armoured red dress-,”

After that, Lucia changed the channel, to Adam’s irritation. He didn’t bother listening to anything more than that, since, well, who cares about two frogs singing and dancing together (I do)? But, regardless, this was bad news. Not that the world was wondering what his name should be, or even that people were searching for that red ant lass, no. Apparently, somehow, his appearance here had brought with him… what? Creatures from Lutum? Possibly? Why? How?

Sure, he’d brought Mirim along for the ride, apparently, so the idea that some other people from the Randomized Bunch came along wasn’t too odd, but beasts?... Preposterous. Absolutely ludicrous. It made no sense! Sure, this was some sort of Magick artefact they were talking about that had caused all of this, but even so! Nobody had come along with him when he came to Lutum all those years ago, so why was this any different?

Gods, couldn’t he just have reappeared in his own body, without this whole tentacle ordeal? And if he could choose to have lost all memory of that dastardly place… Maybe he’d have done just that. But that was all over and done with now. Now, all he could do, all he could hope to do, was pick the reigns of his life back up. Hope for the best. Rebuild bridges, return to his life. Hope he’d be accepted, somehow.

...Then again, if he’d brought part of Lutum back with him, and he didn’t want any part of it here, couldn’t he just… get rid of it? Yeah. He could kill all those damn beasts (wherever they had come from), get rid of the red ant-, and…

Chad?

No-, hold on, not that. No.

Sure, there were some striking similarities in that thing Chad had done yesterday and what the red ant had seemingly done, but that didn’t mean he was going to get rid of Chad! Indeed, if the red ant had the soul (or something) of one of his previous friends in her, Adam wouldn’t be too excited to end her life then and there, but even so, it was a sacrifice he’d be willing to make.

But Chad wasn’t like that.

Chad wasn’t a sacrifice to be used. He was the one man who had accepted him as who he truly was, who had reached out, and… and earned his trust. Could Adam honestly say anybody else had done that in these past 600 or so years? No, he probably couldn’t. There was only one group he could remember that had even come close, but they… at this point, he couldn’t even remember their faces.

...Where was the Randomized Bunch in this equation, though?

They were good friends to him, to be sure. He didn’t want to hurt them. The only regret he had with them was not being able to talk as much to them as he’d have liked, since he physically couldn’t. But now he could! And Bro had expressed recognition, so if he ever met the red ant, she’d likely recognize him even in this form, as long as he stated his name.

That they’d never gotten to learn of his true nature might have been a regret as well, but he pushed that to the side. Unimportant. For now, he had to make a decision. Either he took a proactive route, snuffed out monsters from Lutum, maybe tried to do something about people like the red ant (who may very well exist) or… he did nothing. Let the world deal with his blunder, if it could be called that.

It was a choice he didn’t want to make.

If he decided to do something and he got found out, his hope of a normal, Magick-less life would be but a pipedream. If he did nothing and let the world sort itself out, he could nonetheless be found out. Pete knew his identity. Chad sort of knew his situation. These woes aside, all his friends from Lutum knew him as well.

“Bro, everything alright? You look kinda out of it,” Chad said, bringing Adam out of his gradually more despairing thoughts. Chad. A good man, albeit a bit naive.

“Yes, Chad. I was just thinking about the future,” Adam said, hoping he wouldn’t worry Chad. Maybe it was a little weird for an exalted being such as Adam to worry about the feelings of a puny lesser creature such as Chad, but it felt right. He felt more human, the more he was with Chad.

Chad pursed his lips.

“Is this about your situation, bro?” Chad asked in a hushed voice, glancing at his parents to make sure they weren’t listening in. On the contrary, the two seemed to have picked up the thread of a conversation someplace and had started conversing. Chad continued, “I know it looks hard bro, but you’ll get through it, somehow. And no matter what happens, I’ll still be your friend, yeh?”

Adam smiled tenderly.

“Yeah. Thanks, man. I guess, it’s hard knowing where to even start. How to pick up my past goings-on, how to keep people from doubting my intentions…” Adam’s smile turned solemn, “I’m not sure what I’m doing.” Adam glanced down at his decidedly human hand, pale and thin and blueish from the blood coursing beneath the skin. “I don’t even recognize what the things in my room are for.”

Chad stared at him for a second, face blank and neutral, a strange contrast to his usual expressiveness.

“I could help you with that?”

“-Huh?”

Chad suddenly grinned ear-to-ear, his entire face lit up in realization.

“Yeah, man! You’ve been to my house, and we’ve got all day! It’s only fair, y’know?” Chad almost teased, a mischievous glint shining brightly in his blue eyes. Adam couldn’t argue with that logic, could he? He’d gotten to explore not only Chad’s room but his entire house, it was only logical that he’d return the favour. “I mean, sure, I’ve been to your house plenty, but it’ll be fun!”

Couldn’t argue with that.

“Well, alright, then. When should we go?” Adam both agreed and asked, giving Chad a quizzical look. Back on Lutum, Adam hadn’t been the subordinate of anyone except maybe Diabolus (although he could have cancelled their contract at any time), but even so, asking someone else what they should do was rare for him.

“Why not now?” Chad said, not even bothering to wait for Adam’s response before he stood up. “Dad, I’m heading over to Adam’s! Thanks for the breakfast!”

“You’re very welcome, Chad. As are you, Adam. Just make sure to be home at a reasonable time, and if not, at least call, will you?” Donovan answered, briefly pausing his conversation with Maria.

“I will! Come on Adam, let’s go!” Chad commanded, heaving Adam out of his chair by his hand. It was a rough way to stand up, but Adam didn’t mind it, instead chuckling softly at Chad’s hijinks.

“Sure, let’s go,” Adam said passively, hanging along towards the door. But before they left completely, Chad popped his head into the living-room part of the house.

“See ya, squirt!”

“I’ll see you in Hell, beefster,” Lucia answered with the smallest of smirks. Chad returned the smirk before popping back out to guide Adam towards the hall. While Chad guided Adam, Adam got just the smallest peep at Lucia where she sat, empty plate by her side, pretty colours dancing on the screen. She seemed… off. In her dark eyes, something lurked.

-Probably nothing. Adam and Chad quickly left the house, Adam giving one final thank-you to the Chad’s before they both headed out.

Despite it being rather early in the morning, the sun still felt warm and comfortable, a cold breeze now and then keeping the two from ever becoming too hot.

“So, you know the way, right?” Chad asked Adam, not even pausing in his steps.

Adam stared at him, as blank-faced as Chad had been earlier.

“-No, I can’t even recall how to get from here to the academy we were at yesterday,” Adam admitted, glancing off at some trees in someone's yard.

Chad was honestly not too surprised.

“Not to worry, I know the way!” he said in a deep, heroic-sounding voice, likely trying to imitate some character Adam knew nothing about. But even if he didn’t get the joke, he still smiled at the gesture.

“Alright, show the way.”

And off they were.

To find the found.