Note by @cookingsteak

I haven't designed this boy I have alluded to yet, but I am thinking of him existing in some kind of apocalyptic post-society beyond anarchy world where basically everyone fends for themselves. He is adept at survival: knows a lot of outdoor skills, how to craft items with low materials, what is safe to eat and drink, etc. He is also cripplingly shy, especially around other humans.

This world is inhabited by humans, domestic animals, and mutated wild animals and monsters (potentially also very "evolved" animals, like maybe stuff you would see in The Future Is Wild). Many large cities and towns up to this point have crumbled and decayed heavily. No buildings are more than a couple stories high, and the insides are overgrown with plant life. I am not too concerned about the cause of this apocalypse at this point in time. It would have been millenia ago. And civilization hasn't really sprung up again since, not as organized as it was before.

But anyway, I want to pair this boy with one of these mutated monsters (I do have an adopt in mind for it...). Already bizarre looking, it can also shapeshift to an extent, which helps it survive. Like the boy it tends to keep to itself, seemingly having trust issues. They do gravitate towards each other. Perhaps they both have a sense of loneliness that is alleviated being around each other.