Neighbors

The setting sun cast long, dark shadows between each passing building as Clue made his way down the street, meticulously playing with a knife in his hand and humming a tune to himself. It had been a pretty productive day- by his own standards, anyway- and he was excited to tell Tip all about it as soon as he arrived home. They always loved hearing about the way people reacted when he fucked with them, and Clue was loaded with great stories to tell today. When the sun finally disappeared beyond the horizon, the streetlamps kicked on, lighting up the path ahead for what he thought was his final stretch home. Tonight, though, it wouldn't be that simple. As something rustled in the bushes off to the side behind him, Clue stopped dead in his tracks, ears twitching at the sound. Then, he immediately whipped around, knife in hand and aimed at-

…

…A cat. A small brown cat littered with stripes stared innocently up at Clue, as if he hadn't just spun around and pointed a sharp weapon at it. He stared at the animal for a second, before scoffing at himself for overreacting so much. He knew better- no one would try to sneak up on him around here. No one was that dumb. The cat meowed at him, and Clue slowly leaned down to pat it on the head one time before he continued his walk. When he told Tip about how things had gone, he needed to remember to leave that last interaction out of the picture...

Clue didn't get that far before yet another sound stopped him. This time, all he did was look behind himself, and sitting right there on the concrete was the same cat he'd seen earlier. Was it... Following him? The animal approached and rubbed itself against his leg, leaving him at a loss for words. He knelt down and began petting the cat while it meowed and purred up at him, but he couldn't figure out why it was following him around. He didn't exactly look approachable with his knives and his ominous mask, now did he? So why did this particular cat have no fear?

Clue would soon have the answer.

"WUBBZY! WUBBZY?? WHERE DID YOU GET OFF TO NOW?"

Clue raised a metaphorical eyebrow at the distant shouting, but the cat's ears perked right up. Despite that, however, it didn't leave Clue's side. Assuming this individual was likely the cat's owner, he scooped them up and began traversing in the direction of the sound. To make up for all the chaos he caused today, he supposed he could end off with just one good deed; just another thing to leave off when he told Tip about how his day had gone. After a moment of walking, a figure came into view- or, rather, part of a figure came into view. It appeared to be a glowing, smiling face with a moving fire underneath it until Clue got closer and realized it was a glowing mask, connected to a scytair with flaming legs. As soon as they spotted Clue and the cat in his arms, they made their way over to where he was standing.

"WUBBZY! I've been worried SICK you goddamn heathen!" the scytair scolded the cat- 'Wubbzy'- but Clue could tell there was no actual anger behind their words; more like relief. He stood there for a second before realizing he should probably pass Wubbzy over instead of just standing there with their cat, so he did just that. The strange scytair happily took Wubbzy in their arms, rubbing his head and going on about how he can't just run off like that as soon as they turn their back on him. After a minute of that, they remembered Clue was standing there and turned their focus onto him.

"Hey, thanks for the help- don't know what I would have done if I couldn't find this little guy! You're a lifesaver, you know? What's your name?" The friendly nature of the scytair caught Clue off guard; must be new in the neighborhood if they didn't know about him yet. It'd make sense- he's sure he would have remembered someone with such a striking appearance. They didn't exactly look like anyone else that lived nearby with that mask on. Just then, Clue had a thought; was his owner's mask the reason Wubbzy was so comfortable coming straight up to him? Because he associated masks with someone who takes care of him? …No, that'd be ridiculous, wouldn't it? This was a cat he was talking about; it wasn't that deep.

"Oh- it was no problem, I mean- he just... Kept following me." Clue shrugged, giving the cat a quick look. He just purred in their arms. "Clue. And you are...?"

"Call me Barracuda!" It was impossible to tell, but Clue got the sense that they were smiling under the mask. "That's pretty weird, though- Wubbzy doesn't really like people. Animals are wacky little things, huh? Say, do you live around here?"

"I live at the apartment complex up the road-"

"REALLY?"

Barracuda's excitement nearly made Clue jump; he never would have lived that one down. "I just moved there! Didn't expect to be meeting my new neighbors tonight, but hey! You look interesting- in a good way! So I guess I can't complain." Clue... Hadn't heard that before. He'd built up quite a reputation for himself around these parts and most people who knew of him weren't going around sharing compliments.

"Wait- fuck, it's practically pitch black dark now and I've still got some stuff to grab before I get home. Didn't mean to take up so much of your time- I'll see you around, neighbor!" Barracuda waved and took off before Clue could even think of an appropriate response, leaving him to watch as their glow faded off into the night. He stood there for a minute, brain processing what the fuck just happened- did he make one of those 'friends'? Is that what this was? Tip called him a friend, and that interaction was more or less (leaning towards less) similar to the ones they have on the daily. Clue briefly pondered how Barracuda would probably turn on him after hearing all the rumors, but... They didn't seem so different from himself, what with their own smiling mask.

Once Clue brought himself out of his thoughts, he turned and got back to his walk home. He'd spent enough time lingering under these streetlamps looking like an analog horror cryptid for one day, and he felt like he had a lot to think about now.

Perhaps he wouldn't leave this out when he spoke to Tip after all.