side blog for my hyperfixations

“Alright…” Zucchini takes the mask, swinging it on his finger. “I hope they live alone.” 

"If they don't, we'll just pretend we're lost." Sock ducks behind the wall as the person they suspected to be the graffiti artist comes walking down the road and enters their house.

“Let’s do a little recon first. Peep through the windows, see what they do.” Zucchini looks for a window at an appropriate height to look in. Finding one, he looks over the sill, watching their suspect putter around the living room. “I don’t see anyone else, can you?”

"Nope." 

“Excellent. Let’s go.” Zucchini moves towards the door, lock picking equipment ready in case it’s needed. The door, however, is thankfully open. Apparently, their artist isn’t big on security.

Sock hesitates a moment. Do they just walk in? Do they bust through the door? Do they knock? He turns to Zucchini. "You first."

Zucchini nods, putting his mask on. He turns the doorknob slowly, pushing the door and willing it not to creak. He’s in luck, and it doesn’t. He slips into the house, glancing around. The front room is empty and he can hear some shuffling in the next room over, down the hall. He points towards it so Sock knows.

Sock gives a double thumbs up and moves as quietly as he can, following Zucchini.

Zucchini walks on tiptoes towards the next room, poking his head around the corner. He raises an eyebrow at the sight he’s met with. 

A short, slim man with bright orange facial hair stands in the kitchen with his back to Zucchini and Sock. He’s wearing a loud shirt matched with even louder pants, making Zucchini wonder how they’d missed him in the first place. 

He pulls his head back and points with his thumb, indicating Sock should take a look. “That’s our guy?” he says in a hushed voice.

Sock cranes his head around to take a look. "Looks like it," he whispers. "He has a great sense of style," Sock says without a single trace of sarcasm.

Zucchini tries to hold in an eye roll and fails. Shaking his head, he sneaks into the kitchen and stands behind and to the side of the man, indicating Sock should come in and take the other side.

Sock does just that. Atleast, he tries. He ends up tripping over the rug on the floor. The guy turns around and looks at him. Sock says the only thing he can think of. "Um… I love your pants!" 

"Thanks, man! I love my pants, too!" the artist replies.

Zucchini does his best not to face palm. He succeeds, barely. “We’ve got a couple questions for you, Mr. …?” He looks at the guy, raising his eyebrows to prompt a name. He hopes he’s caught off-guard enough to actually answer.

"Call me Vitriol! What can I answer for you?" This guy is extremely chill for someone whose house was just broken into.

“Oh, uh, um,” Zucchini says, thrown at the geniality being sent his way. “Well, we--I’m sorry, does this happen often? People breaking into your house and asking you questions?”

"In a manner of speaking, sure. My home is open to all, and I'm down to answer any questions anybody may have."

Zucchini glances at Sock, hoping to convey all of his surprise in one look. “Uh, well… You made that flower in the alley in town?”

Sock is surprised as well, but he kinda likes this guy's vibe. 

"That I did! You like it?"

Zucchini breaks into a genuine smile. “Yeah, actually. It’s really, really good.” He glances at Sock again. “We had some questions about it, if you’ve got some time.”

"Sure thing!" Vitriol gestures for them to follow him into another room. "Have a seat wherever," he says, vaguely gesturing all over to what was probably some sort of lounging room.

With another glance at Sock, Zucchini follows. The room they walk into is...exactly how Zucchini expected it to look, yet not. Lots of art on the walls. Even more plants. But a semblance of order amongst the chaos. Zucchini sits on an automan.Sock sits on the ground beside Zucchini. 

Vitriol flops down on a cushion. "So, what can I answer for you today?"

“Well, first. Why the flower? Does it mean something? And why that alley? Are there more?” Zucchini says all this in a rush, having not realized how many questions he has until they came tumbling out. He clamps his lips shut to keep anymore from escaping.

Vitriol chuckles. "I painted the flower because I thought it looked nice. That's it. No deeper meaning. I used the alley because it was there. Nobody else was going to use that space, why not spruce it up a bit, you feel me? And yeah, I've done tons of paintings around town. Most of them were removed, though."

Zucchini shrugs, accepting this. It was good enough for him. He looks to Sock, trying to gauge his reaction.

Sock is nodding along with what Vitriol is saying. It was so interesting to hear what went through this guy's head. He is honestly really glad that Zucchini convinced him to come along. 

“You said that people...come here often? To ask questions?” Zucchini asks.

"Yeah! I'm pretty well known in the illegal art community. A lot of people like to stop by to ask about it." 

Sock cuts in. "So you know what you're doing is illegal?"

Vitriol nods. "Sometimes you gotta break the rules to do what's right for the world. And for me that means painting buildings."

Zucchini nods, agreeing. “You ever do commissions?”

"Occasionally I'll do free requests. You got a request?"

“Not yet, but I might. It’s really good work.”

"Thank you! So-" Whatever Vitriol was about to say was cut off as he is tackled from behind.

Zucchini’s eyes go wide and he starts to get up to help before realizing Vitriol is laughing.

Vitriol shrugs off his attacker. "This is my roommate and best friend for life, Neat," he says. 

Neat waved at them. "HI!"

Zucchini raises a hand in greeting while sitting back down, trying to look like he hadn’t been about to attack this man in his own home.

"Neat helps me with my art. He even does some of his own. Go get some of your paintings to show them, Neat." 

Neat nods and leaves the room, returning later with armfuls of parchment.

Zucchini eagerly bends over the pieces as Neat spreads them out on the living room table.

Sock looks over the pieces even more eagerly. He had always been a creative person, and it was so nice to finally meet people who were doing the things he’d always hoped he could do. Well, not the illegal stuff, but the painting stuff. Most of the paintings are just splatters and smudges of color, with no real rhyme or reason. Sock likes that.

“So, there are more folks like you? Artists who get together and paint?” Zucchini asks, eyes glued to a piece with a dragon. Its golden scales seem to shimmer in the lamp light, like it’s alive.

"Yeah, man. There's artists all over the place. And not just painters. There's sculptors, weavers, weaponsmiths, dancers, singers… there’s artists everywhere," Vitriol says. Neat nods.

Zucchini blinks, finding himself embarrassed to realize he’d never considered weaponsmiths or weavers artists. Hell, he may technically be an artist and had never put it together.

"Do you need any qualifications to be an artist?" Sock asks. 

"Nope! You just have to create," Vitriol replies. "Now, is that all your questions?" 

Zucchini looks towards Sock. He knows he’s at least tapped out of questions, but he knows Sock had been the more reticent one going in, and he’s unsure if Sock still wants to book the guy. He hopes not.

Sock considers his next question carefully. "So you said you interact with other criminals, right?"

"Yes." 

"Do you happen to know about any crimes of a more sinister nature going on?"

Vitriol and Neat share a look, their comfortable and somewhat goofy postures changing in an instant. With one mind, they turn and look at Sock. 

“Who’s asking?” Neat demands, one hand folded over the other.

"Just a couple of guys trying to keep their families safe." That was a little bit of stretch to say, but Sock thought that mentioning family might make them more willing to talk.

Vitriol and Neat look at each other again, seeming to have a conversation with just their eyes. Then, they nod simultaneously and look back at Sock. 

“Alright,” Vitriol says, “we may know something. Or of someone. Someone we’ve seen around that we don’t necessarily...like hanging around here.” 

“But we won’t know for sure until tomorrow,” Neat finishes. 

Zucchini watches the easy way they held a conversation, as if they were one person instead of two. It takes him a moment to realize they’re waiting for one of them to speak. “Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?”

Neat shrugs. “Need more info.” 

Zucchini looks at him, waiting for more. When none is forthcoming, he sighs. Something tells him pushing for an explanation would get him nowhere.

Sock feels that these guys weren't to be messed with. Not that they were particularly aggressive or anything, they just had a powerful vibe to them. "So, um, we should probably head back now."

Vitriol and Neat smile at Sock, their expressions exactly the same, down to the twinkle in their eyes. “See you tomorrow!” they say, then turn and slap each other on the shoulder, shouting “Jinx!” 

Zucchini can almost believe they’re harmless. Almost. He carefully gets up from his seat, edging towards the door. “See you...tomorrow…” He can’t get out fast enough.

Once outside and safely in a secluded alleyway, Sock takes off his mask and pulls his day clothes back over his undercover attire. "You got a weird vibe from them too, right?"

“Definitely. Those two were super weird. Not in a bad way, but in a…” Zucchini flaps his hands around, struggling for a word. “Weird way?”

"I have a hunch, but just in case…" Sock looks back at the house, "I think I’ll keep it to myself." He is definitely going to have a conversation with Baaang later.

Zucchini looks at Sock from the corner of his eye but decides not to press the issue. He’d tell him when he’s ready and, besides, Zucchini has plenty to think about before going back into that house.

They arrive back at the circus rather quickly. The sun has long since set, and Katt is standing in front of Sock’s tent with her arms crossed. "Where were you!? You said you were going to help set up, and then you disappeared! We were worried about you!" 

Sock runs a hand through his hair sheepishly. "We decided to go into town afterwards." 

"You two decided to go into town together?" Katt sounds completely baffled that they would ever willingly spend more time together than they had to.

Zucchini grits his teeth, trying not to say anything to provoke Katt. He knows Sock doesn’t like them fighting, but she was making it so easy.

Katt takes a deep breath before turning to Zucchini. "You can go now. I need to talk with my brother."

Zucchini grinds his teeth harder, feeling sure one of them cracks. “Oh goodie, being dismissed by someone five feet high. Have fun.” He stomps away, not caring if Sock’s upset. She’d started it!