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Even as the party started to quiet down, there were still many kids left in the pizzeria. Most of them sat at the long tables, chatting and playing with arcade prizes. Some of the children were still highly concentrated on getting the highest scores on the games. But one child sat on their own in the corner of the pizzeria by the main stage.
They stared off into the rest of the area, their tired eyes glancing between tables. They glanced down at the soft, colorful plushie they held tightly in their arms… They couldn’t remember where or when they got it, it’d been a comfort object to them for quite a while though.
Slowly approaching footsteps followed by the jingling of bells caught their attention before stopping right in front of them. They didn’t raise their head at first, continuing to stare at the floor, a sight now blocked by black and white sneakers with red velcro. For a minute, nobody moved until the person in front of them quietly cleared their throat, making the child look up.
Standing above them was a tall young man with a soft smile on his painted face. They’d seen him before, usually swarmed by other children. They were always too scared to approach him, their parents said he was just another animatronic or… a puppet. But they weren’t always too certain about that. It’s not that he looked scary or anything —aside from his height— they just never had the confidence to go near him in case he was a person.
But now, here he was in front of them, in the corner of the pizzeria.
“What are you doing over here all by yourself, kiddo?” He said, crouching down to their level. His voice was quiet, a British accent lingering on each word. He had kind blue-and-purple eyes that looked at the child with a slight sadness.
He wore a black hoodie with white striped sleeves and buttons down the chest, around one arm was a blue wristband with a bell; similar to the wristband the child was wearing. His trousers were black with white flared hems. Atop his head, he wore a black and white striped single-pointed jester’s hat with a red bow along the edge. His neck was dark like the rest of his outfit but the child couldn’t tell whether it was paint or cloth.
However, the most noticeable thing about him was his side swept fringe sticking out from under his hat; black hair with a purple galaxy-like gradient and white dots of various sizes like stars.
They didn’t answer him.
“I’m the Poopet! What’s your name?” He asked, sitting down and putting his hands together in a cheery motion.
Once more, they didn’t answer him, hugging their plushie tighter instead as they avoided eye contact. Poopet frowned, pulling his hands apart. He didn’t wanna scare them so he backed away slightly before asking his next question.
“Where are your parents?”
He could see it in their eyes; tears quickly forming. Before he could react, they dived in for a hug, burying their face into his soft hoodie as they began to cry. Poopet gently wrapped his arms around the child, pulling them into his lap.
Although he was used to comforting upset children, it still made his heart somewhat ache whenever a kid cried.
“Shhh, kiddo, it’s okay… If you can’t find your parents then I’ll help and we’ll find them, I promise!”
The child sniffled, pulling away from his chest. “R-Really?” They asked, looking up at him with a hopeful expression.
“Of course!” He smiled, gently rubbing their back. They held onto him, their plushie wedged between them and the puppet.
“I just wanna go home…” They whispered. The environment had become too overwhelming but Poopet felt… safe.
It took a little while before the child wanted to move, just wanting to be held for a moment, Poopet’s embrace blocking out the buzzing sounds of the pizzeria. But eventually, they let Poopet carry them around the area, searching for their parents.
At first, Poopet feared the child had been abandoned but in reality they just strayed too far and got lost amongst the rest of the kids before deciding to retreat to the corner in fear. Their parents were beyond relieved that their kid was okay and thanked him for taking care of them.
Regardless of the situation, Poopet was just happy to have done his job keeping another little one safe.