“Hey mister, I like your tail!” says a voice.
This wasn’t a compliment Tay liked to hear. Eventhough it was freeing to not have to hide it when visiting Inkopolis, he still preferredhis tail to go unnoticed. Perhaps it was a knee-jerk reaction, perhaps it wasits nature as a mutation, but whatever it was, it always made him uncomfortable.
He frowns, turning, prepared to make a comeback.Instead, his expression softens.
Was she an inkling? He wasn’t sure. She wasmaskless, and her tentacles had an unusual yellow contour.
“I have a tail too,” she continues, giving hima beaky smile. “Yours is way longer though, I bet you can pick things up withit.”
“I can,” Tay replies, still quite taken abackby this child’s sudden appearance, as well as her sheer boldness. “But don’t touch.”
“I wasn’tgonna. That’d be bad.”
She makes this promise, but a glint in her eyessuggests she’s using every shred of willpower to avoid grabbing and yanking it.The Octoling tucks his tail around his leg as a precautionary measure.
“What’s your name, little one? Where are yourparents?”
“I’m Ribbon!” the young hybrid beams, wilfullyignoring the second question. “I came to see Mr. Wussah’by. He lives in thishouse here. Did you come to see him too?”
The next pause marks the longest Tay has ever had tothink of a response. This child – this possibly Inkling child, parentless,has come wandering over to greet Sabi? Was this the norm? Surely Sabi wouldnever allow something so… unsafe.
“…Nnnnnot exactly. Does Sabi know you’re coming?I’m with him. We stopped here to pick something up,” he explains, his browsknitting in concern. He adds hastily, “I’m Tay.”
“Oh! You must be a Tay-vio,” Ribbon gasps. “Don’tworry. I know it’s a big secret. You can trust me, I’m an ace detective.”
“Is that so,” Tay can’t help but twitch asmile. This child was surprisingly perceptive. It must be true that she knew his brother,then, through and through. “But Miss Detective, you haven’t answered myquestion.”
“Whoops, sorry. Uhm, no, not really. I wasn’t asked to come. But Mr. Sah-beyis always at home, so I thought it would be fine.”
“Well, he’s not home today. He’ll be coming outin a moment, and then we’re going into town.” Tay crouches down andremoves his sunglasses, giving Ribbon a sincere look. “But first, I think weshould take you back to your family. Mr. Sabi’s not going to be happy knowingyou’ve run away, is he?”
Ribbon’s smile is replaced with a look of guilt.She hangs her head and tugs at the zip on her cardigan.
“Awwwww… I thought it would be okay if I wentto someone who looks after me anyway,” she mopes. “I just wanna look for clues.Adults are always too busy to help.”
“You can come with us and look for ‘clues’… butyou have to ask your parents first.”
The Octoling stands, turning back to look atthe tiny house. He had just made an empty promise. Sure, she could come, if herparents weren’t going to ground her until the next century for runningoff.
…and why was Sabi taking so long?!
