𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 N̶e̶i̶g̶h̶b̶o̶r 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 - Wally Darling X Reader

Howdy To Hot Dogs and Bad Puns!

❤Chapter Four❤

The man who came out wore a blue cardigan with yellow bordering and buttons, a white undershirt, and vertically striped rainbow pants. He also wore a red necktie and white-and-black dress shoes to accompany that. His eyes were half lidded in a relaxed manner, as if he hadn't a care in the world. This puppet lacked a nose and eyebrows on his yellow face. His most noticeable feature was his hair, which was a lovely shade of royal blue and was up in a big pompadour on top of his head. While he was pretty short, You were actually his size. Yup, You definitely shrunk when you came here. Your head pounded painfully at the thought.

Wally came out of Home, looking up at Barnaby saying, "You ready to get hot dogs at How-" but he stopped when he dropped his gaze a little and saw You. His eyes widened with surprise and his pupils shrank. His permanent smile dropped a bit, obviously shocked. "-dy's?"

"Aren't they neat?" Barnaby asked, patting your head. "I found 'em under a tree. That tree over there." He points. "I thought the whole situation was pretty shady..!" He laughed heartily at his own joke while Wally, who was still staring at You, joined in with Barnaby's laughter a few seconds later. His laughter was monotone and forced.

"Ha... ha... ha... very funny, Barnaby." Wally says, looking up at Barnaby, composing his face to become calm and relaxed. Looking back at You, Wally widened his smile, resuming his cool demeanor. "Hello.. new neighbor. My name is Wally. It's so nice to meet a new neighbor!"

You were a little caught off guard by Wally's random mood swings, but You simply smiled. You got it into your head that You had to pretend to be a part of this act as well. "Nice to meet you, Wally!" You looked over at Barnaby, a little anxiously.

"Anyway... why did we come over here? Ah, right. Hot dogs!" Barnaby spoke in a cheerful tone as he got back onto all fours. "Our new neighbor can join us, right Wally? What'dya say, kid?"

"It'll be nice to have a new neighbor to spend time with." Wally's voice was soft and slow. To hang out with." Wally chimed in with his slow, monotone voice.

'But what about my house? Where am I gonna live? Under that tree?'  Your thoughts were annoyed and You narrowed your eyes at Barnaby, as if it were his fault You were in the predicament anyways. "Alright, but-"

"Cool! Let's go!" Barnaby interrupted, padding down the road. You stare in confusion and look over your shoulder at Wally. Wally blew a kiss to Home and waved bye bye.

"Bye bye, Home. Be back to visit you again soon." He said, speaking in a slow and affectionate tone. You raised an eyebrow. 'Visit? Doesn't he live there?' Wally looked directly at You with that terrifying intensity, and You whirl around and scramble to catch up with Barnaby.

"So, where are we going?" You ask, looking over at the colorful dog.

"To Howdy's Place, of course." Wally, who walked alongside Barnaby at a slow pace- and was miraculously able to keep up- responded, startling you once more. You nodded at him slowly before looking away awkwardly, face red and slightly wet with sweat.

Together, You, Barnaby, and Wally entered the shop. Inside was.. everything! From produce to pantry food and art supplies to books, this place seemed to have it all! Barnaby and Wally headed for the cashier counter towards a tall green man with- with four arms?! Your eyes widened and You clung onto the first person's arm You could reach. Unfortunately, that happened to be Wally. Wally's eyes widened in surprise at this contact, but he simply smiled at You. "Don't be afraid, neighbor." He whispered, tone cool and soothing, and he patted your hand in a comforting manner. "That's just Howdy. He's a caterpillar." You let go of Wally awkwardly, mumbling a soft "sorry", to which Wally responded with a closed eyes smile. "Don't worry about it, neighbor, I completely understand."

Wally put a single rectangular piece of paper on the counter and looked at Howdy with an expecting smile. You scooted a little closer and tiptoed to see the paper. It was covered in stickers of smiley faces, flowers, rainbows and apples along with words painted in a vibrant red "Wally Buck". You snorted. He created his own money? Surely he must know that stores required actual currency, not just money you created during arts and crafts-

"Ah, I see! One hot dog coming up!" Howdy laughed, one of his hands grabbing the Wally Buck while another grabbed a hot dog from underneath the counter? You weren't sure if You should be shocked by the Wally Bucks or the fact Howdy just pulled a hot dog out from under the cashier counter. You felt Wally's eyes on You as You watched Howdy. "And what about you, Barnaby?" You noticed his voice had a high pitched twinge of excitement.

"Hmm... well... What did the ocean say to the pirate?" Barnaby asked, leaning on his elbow on the counter with a smirk. Howdy hummed as he grabbed another hot dog and heated them both up. Then, he added an impossible amount of toppings to both of them making your eyes bulge. There was whipped cream, mustard, cheese, and even glitter. Was glitter even edible?!

"Ah... let's see...." After a moment, Howdy chuckled, glancing up at Barnaby. "Golly, I'm not sure Barnaby. What did the ocean say?" Barnaby's grin grew wider as he held back laughter.

"Nothing! He just waved!" Barnaby and Howdy simply burst out laughing, as if this was the funniest thing they'd ever heard. Wally laughed too, although You were pretty sure he was just saying "Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha." over and over.

Howdy wiped away a tear of joy before chuckling to himself and handing the hot dogs to Barnaby and Wally. Barnaby started eating his immediately, while Wally just smiled to himself in a content manner, holding the hot dog in one hand. His eyes were still on You. How unnerving. "And what about you, new neighbor?" Howdy asked, peering down at You.

"Yeah... a plain hot dog, please..." You looked over at Barnaby and Wally. Barnaby gave You a big thumbs up before licking more whipped cream and mumbling something to Wally. Wally then patted himself with his free hand, upturning his pockets. He shrugged at You, before giving an encouraging wink. Looked like you'd be paying on your own. Turning back to Howdy You said, "Um... hm." You looked over at Barnaby before turning to Howdy with a smile. "These kids in my kindergarten class laughed at my crayon drawing..."

Howdy's eyes widened and he walked around the counter to give You a big four armed hug. You felt bad about the punchline now.

"So I laughed at their chalk drawing. Ba da TSH!" You mimicked the sound of comical drums and grinned, looking around for reactions.

Barnaby looked confused but Howdy simply replied with a, "Oh no! It's not nice to bully people, even if they bullied you first! All issues like these can be solved with a little bit of love!" Howdy wrapped his arms around You and hugged You. Barnaby, despite his sticky mitts, joined as well. You saw Wally watching you, still holding the hot dog. He glanced at the hot dog briefly, putting it down, carefully, on the counter and approaching the hug. As soon as he did, Barnaby and Howdy swooped him into the hug, making Wally squish next to You and go limp. You laugh. They didn't get that your joke was just a joke, but it was nice to feel so loved. After a moment more of being sandwiched with a limp Wally by Barnaby and Howdy, you spoke.

"So... Can I have a hot dog now?"

(A/N: Askin' the real questions. What about our hot dog?! I might not update for a few days, because of work, but I will try my best to at least post a chapter one Saturday. See you then! I appreciate any votes and absolutely adore comments! Have a great day/night!)