Genius Can Be A Lonely Fate (But Quality Is Worth The Wait)

Chapter 1

Highschool wasn't easy for Rev Runner, but one thing made it better; a fateful encounter on the first day...

"Oof!" Rev groaned as he walked beak-first into someone in a labcoat. He opened said beak to apologize, but stopped when he spotted brown fur, sharp teeth, and cunning eyes. "Aah! A coyote!"

"Aah!" The coyote repeated, deadpan. "A roadrunner..."

Rev felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, getting worse when he noticed papers all over the ground between them. He fell to the floor, quickly gathering them. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I should've been looking where I was going, and now I've made you drop all your...."

He trailed off, looking at a specific page. The numbers on it would've been gibberish to most, but to him–

"Give me that!" The coyote growled as he kneeled on the floor, snatching it out of Rev's hand so fast the bird whimpered. The coyote took the rest of his papers. "Thanks, for picking them up, but I–"

"Did you write that yourself?" Rev asked, pointing to the page he'd been reading.

"Yes." The coyote's tone was defensive, but he tried to act dismissive. "But I'm afraid I really don't have time to explain it to you. I need to be go–"

"You're a genius!" Rev blurted out, and boy was that an awkward thing to do, but he couldn't help it.

The coyote froze, slowly turning towards him with a stunned look. "E-excuse me?"

"You're surprised?" Rev questioned. "You completely rewrite the Triple Albatross theorem in a simple, elegant, revolutionary way, and you're surprised when someone calls you a genius?! Boy, if that's not self-confidence issues, I don't know what is! Though I actually do, because my cousin's in therapy for them, though she's doing much better now. Have you ever considered therapy, or are you not at that point yet? Or are you from a culture that's against therapy? If you are, I'm really sorry for suggesting it, but I didn't know, so you can't get too angry, though I suppose you can actually do whatever– ack!"

Releasing his grip of Rev's beak, the coyote quietly asked. "You can understand this?"

Assuming 'this' was the paper, Rev scoffed, rubbing at his beak. "Who can't?! Though I could never rewrite it like that! Again, genius!"

The coyote turned away slightly. "Um, well, I suppose it is a little genius. Nothing compared to my other work, though."

Peering over the coyote's shoulder to get a clearer view of the paper, Rev gasped. "You have more?!"

"Yeah! You, uh..." The coyote coughed a bit, shifting nervously. "You wanna see?"

"Oh! Can I?" Rev bounced in place, grabbing the coyote's arm. "Please????"

"They're in my locker, give me a moment to–" the coyote seemed to realize something. Half-playfully, half-serious, he asked "Me being a coyote isn't going to be a problem, is it?"

Rev blinked, having forgotten that the coyote was, well, a coyote. Equally playfully-yet-serious, he responded with "Are there any roadrunner traps in your locker?"

"No."

"Then I think we're good." Rev nodded, then "Now show me, show me, show me, show me, show me, show– ack!"

The coyote raised an eyebrow, keeping a paw over Rev's beak until he opened his locker. On Rev's part, he let him.

"Oh, I'm Rev Runner, by the way." Rev introduced himself as the coyote pulled out schematics and equations that he could already tell were way ahead of their time.

"Tech E. Coyote." The coyote responded, sorting through his papers.

"Tech? Oh, that's such a great name for you!" Rev nodded excitedly. "Perfect for a genius!"

The coy– Tech smiled, blushing a little.

And thus began a friendship — and something more? — for the ages.