He Changed My Life

Chapter 13

~ Dan's POV ~

Ignatius turned out to be a super kind golden retriever Anthro. He's got these stunning red eyes, and he seems very supportive of both Matt and Sarkis. The one question that was burning in my mind since I heard about him is how the hell was he able to be Matt and Sarkis' guardian when literally everyone in the world knows who Sarkis is and what he looks like, but I didn't ask. For all I knew, Ignatius was their guardian before shit got crazy and Sarkis became famous. He probably was surprised when it happened, but has moved on from it by now, it doesn't seem to affect their home life at all. I don't think it'd be polite of me to ask anyway. Ignatius seems cool, I'll leave it at that.

Though, I guess he did ask me something odd when Matt went to get snacks, and Sarkis went to the bathroom. He had actually been gaming with us, which was a little odd, but anyway, he was on one end of the couch and I was on the other. He said to me, "So, how are Matt and Sarkis?"

"...How are they?" I repeated.

"As friends."

"Um... pretty good."

"Do they talk with other students, or have any other friends?"

"...Yeah, I think so." I smiled awkwardly, "Why are you asking me and not them?"

"Sorry, I just want to know if they're doing alright. They don't tell me much sometimes, Sarkis seems to be doing alright, but Matt is a little harder to read. He hasn't been as vocal as Sarkis is when it comes to telling me about his day, especially recently."

"Oh... Yeah, Sarkis seems comfortable with everyone, despite the first few days."

"Yeah..." Ignatius nodded sadly, "I'm glad Maia's back as well. He was in such low spirits before... What about Matt?"

It felt a bit awkward, and almost like Ignatius was probing me for information in a way, but I said, "Matt... um... I guess he's quiet. I haven't really seen him go and talk to other students that much, but I know he does. Some other people know him... I think..."

"I thought so..." Ignatius sighed, "I thought he'd be okay by now..."

"...He probably needs a little more time," I shrugged. I then remembered, and decided to add, "I don't know much about what happened in their past, I just know that they're both kind of down about it still."

Ignatius looked surprised, "Wait, they told you?"

Bingo. There is something I didn't know about them. I had a hunch it was about their past because both of them get real touchy or change the subject whenever I bring up any moment in time that was before this school year started. Like when I asked Matt where he learned his badass physical skills, like how to flip onto someone's shoulders and tap them out, he got mad and told me to drop it. When I asked him and Sarkis about their old friends, Sarkis immediately changed the subject. The question now is... do I play along and maybe learn a bit about what happened to them, or do I not?

...I really shouldn't, but... I'm too goddamn curious. Matt can't be that badass with both physical and magical skills and not really be proud of either without some good reason. And Sarkis can't be so protective and worried about Matt as much as he is without some good reason other than brotherly love. There's something more and it worries me that neither of them has told me...

"Yeah, a few things... Were you there when it happened?"

"..." Ignatius leaned back on the couch, "What exactly did they say?"

Shit.

"Well... Matt said... H-He had trouble saying it in the first place, but I kinda brought it up without realizing what it was that happened to them... recently..."