Delmar let out the last few customers with a friendly smile. The shop was neither quiet nor too busy. The chatter of regulars washed over him peacefully. He huffed quietly at the talk of the month. Of course the conversation, or rather argument, came to a quick stop. “What? ‘You telling me you think it’s fake too?” Delmar met Benny’s eye with deadpan. “I’m saying there aren’t any devils in the Boroughs. I’ve lived here my whole life, ain’t nothing but drunks and skells. Buzz is a real good fella but he’s taken a few snuffs to the head.” Benny shook his head. “You ought to listen to him. Something must have been out there to spook him so bad.” Delmar didn’t even stay over at the counter as he went to wipe a glass. “Yeah. A teen.” He grumbled. Benny the bastard laughed heartily out the door. “Man, you’re way too sceptical.” All Delmar had to do was raise an eyebrow for the customer to raise his hands in a mock placating manner. “Alright, but at least be cautious.” He gave a wave. “I always am.” And with that he switched the sign to closed before heading back to clean.
- - -
There were frantic scramblings and thuds from the alley behind the bodega. Delmar sighed quietly. The raccoons were back, it had only been a day too. Typically it took three days minimum for them to build up the courage to try again. But they always returned. He grabbed his old broom to chase them off with. ‘Let’s get this over with’, he narrowed his brow.
Delmar opened the door carefully, cringing as it creaked. He had been meaning to fix it for the last month. Regardless, with the door now ajar he could make out that those were decidedly not raccoons. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was even looking at. Two humanoid figures stood impossibly shrouded in shadow, one notably bigger than the other. The larger ones’ glowing green eyes seemed harsher than the gleam of the smaller’s red. Green was hunched over with a sizable chunk of raw beef in their mouth, the other edge in Red’s hands. The two seemingly paused in their tug of war game in favour of scrutinising the shopkeeper, wonderful. Delmar was frozen in place. Was this what Buzz was ranting about? He was going to have to apologise for doubting him, if he survived that is. The broom in his hand suddenly felt very small… and brittle. None of them moved for what felt like an eternity. Delmar had time to think, he never thought he’d hate being able to think. Those things were going to kill him. They’d rip his muscle from bone in their new tussle. Daring to glance at his doom, he took in new details. Red was small, as in really small. While certainly very tall and unnerving it was clear they were rather thin. Their skin? Dark suits? Clung tightly to their muscles. Emphasis on muscles, not fat. He didn’t know how something with so little fat could maintain any muscle enough to be just about clear in their silhouette. He flicked his eyes over to the other. It was hard to place anything about Green aside from them just being scary and lofty. Delmar wondered if the size difference between the two was a maturity thing or just plain old lack of food. Sadly, it was probably the latter. The two were out here dumpster diving and here Delmar was practically sitting on a bunch of fresh food about to be tossed.
“Uh. Do you want a sandwich?” His mouth moved before his brain and he almost backed down as he felt their full focus on him. “I’ve got some unsold product inside if you’d like it. I can’t imagine trash meat tastes very good.” There was silence for a moment where he didn’t think they’d actually take him up on the offer. Green didn’t budge, just began to growl. Before Delmar could even stumble back Red shushed the other, for lack of a better word. “Thank you. If you're sure..” He almost dropped the broom at Red’s voice. They sounded so young. He dropped his makeshift weapon. “Make yourselves at home. Pick whatever you want, it was going to be thrown out so you’d be doing me a favour.” Red bounded in excitedly as Green followed behind, the beef chuck left abandoned on the ground. He eyed Delmar warily but entered all the same.
In the safety of the shop the atmosphere felt lighter. Delmar made himself a coffee while his guests took a seat. The two, while both uneasy, were complete opposites. Red was fidgety but was happy to talk whenever given the opportunity for conversation. Green was quiet and a lot more wary. He barely let Delmar out of his sight but the shopkeep did his best to not show his discomfort. They had to be human or at least similar enough to hold a conversation. They probably had homes, maybe they went to school. He almost wanted to ask about their lives or families but decided against it. Given that they were malnourished and digging through the trash there probably wasn’t a good answer waiting for him. He didn’t want to risk scaring them off… or invoking a less than friendly reaction especially since he still didn’t trust Green not to attack him. There was a fifty percent chance the other was feral… sixty percent. However if he wanted to help them then he couldn’t just avoid Green. He just had to stay calm
- - -
The night went surprisingly well. Red relaxed a lot more as they talked. It was very obvious he was the younger one especially given Green’s protectiveness. Where Red was talkative and a little cheerful the whole time Green was clipped and wary. Every move Delmar made was examined with a lot of scrutiny. Without the alley’s shadow and his own fear concealing their true size, it became obvious Green was thinner than previously thought. Even with the concerningly leen form they possessed, Green was still hesitant to accept food, only doing so because of Red’s encouragement. The moment Red’s eyes had landed on the plate any doubt of malnourishment was thrown out the window. Green had freaked out when Red started to stuff his face. It was rather comical seeing the large, scary ‘demon’ panic over his small friend. He closed up shop late that night, in spite of the close sign that had hung lackadaisical at the door the whole night. He whistled to himself on the walk home. Maybe he should start setting aside a few sandwiches each night.
- - - -
It’s been a year and a half since he met the Wall-Crawling ‘demons’. They hadn’t let him see them since that first day but he knew they were there when the food was taken. He was fine with that, as long as they weren’t dying in an alleyway then it would always be okay by him. At first he considered it a good couple of months if the two showed up once or twice. Then it was a couple times every other fortnight. They were certainly weird at times, mostly Green who’s penchant for raw meat hadn’t been curbed since finding their newfound food source. They always showed up after he’d locked up to snatch up the food he left lying out on a couple plates. Not that they didn’t try to show their appreciation. Once they even left a wannabe thief tied up outside, they didn’t accept cash payment but did take the extra cookies he left out that night.
Then one day they entered through the front door while Delmar was sweeping up. They were cautious and didn’t stay for very long but it was a big step in the right direction. Over time they became more comfortable with him and his store and Delmar couldn’t be happier.