You had only just arrived, a human dropped into a world that seemed to shrink around you. The monsters you passed hurried past, eyes darting away, as if your very presence was inconvenient. Everyone seemed to avoid you. Everyone… except one. He was short, a skeleton with a permanent grin stitched across his face and eye sockets that seemed half-asleep, half-examining. A blue hoodie hung loosely on his frame, sleeves falling past his bony wrists. He lounged casually on the porch of a small, crooked house tucked into the corner of the Underground, hands shoved into pockets that didn’t exist.“heya,” he called, voice lazy but not unkind, the faintest rasp of a laugh in his tone. “didn’t see you around before. you keep outta trouble, yeah? heh.”