Closed RP Animal Instincts

This RP is currently closed.


“Smells?” Adelyn manages, confused. She takes a deep breath, picking up the stink of cars and cement, and makes a face. The city is kind of smelly, but she doesn’t really know what he’s talking about with following a particular scent. Everything is just everywhere and it’s kind of awful.

Her very good plan is turning out to be less good than she thought, or at least not very well thought-out. She turns her gaze to Todd, struggling to remember why she thought it was so important to follow him. Her head hurts, and she presses her fingers to her temple.

The problem is that there aren’t any sounds that just stay. People talking, they pause and then other people start talking or they move further away. Cars start and stop. She takes another breath of city air and drops her eyes to her feet. Alright. Something that follows her.

Footsteps. Hers are quiet, muffled a bit by the padding in her boots to accommodate her paws. Todd’s are quiet too, but decisive. She focuses on that, the steady patter.

She gets so zoned in she only notices when they stop, blinking out of her daze to look around and realize they’ve made it to a little freestanding plastic overhang, with a bench underneath it. There are a few people standing around, but they’re mostly quiet.

It takes her a moment to find her voice. “Oh. Is this it?”

This doesn’t look like a bus.

 
Last edited:
[div][attr="style","display:grid;grid-template-columns:16px auto 16px;grid-template-rows:16px auto 16px;grid-template-areas:'CornerTL Top CornerTR' 'Left Main Right' 'CornerBL Bottom CornerBR';background-color:#4d433a;padding:6px;border:1px #95877d solid;"]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Top;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Right;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Bottom;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Main;color:#95877d;padding:9px;"][div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;"][div align="Left"][div style="font-family:'georgia';"]She struggled for a minute. Beyond the obvious glance and mild headache, Todd could feel the distraction. But after a few moments of struggle, Adelyn fell quiet. Todd gave her a quick glance, and saw she seemed to be deep in thought. It didn't actually matter what sense she focused on, as long as she wasn't letting the city get to her head. Todd tended to pick smell because it was his sharpest sense. The scent of the individual person clung to him for minutes after they'd left, and he could focus on that one before it faded into obscurity, or something stronger - cologne, perfume, the sweat of a day spent in motion - overtook it. Now all else seemed to dissipate besides the animal scent that Adelyn carried with her. Strange, unfamiliar, unlike anything else in Pittsburgh. It proved to be more than enough to occupy his thoughts until they reached the station.

[font color="#4b0101"]"Yeah, this is it."[/font] Todd reached back into his pocket and pulled out his phone, then looked from the time to the bus schedule on the wall. He frowned. [font color="#4b0101"]"Running late."[/font]

As he reached to put his phone back with one hand, he went to put his other hand into the pocket with his wallet. The money for the bus was still folded into his palm. But he abruptly realized that a familiar weight had disappeared somewhere between the edge of the forest and their stop, where the bodies pressed together more thickly.

[font color="#4b0101"]"Shit..."[/font]

He'd been distracted by Adelyn. He patted the pocket again, just to be sure, then the others. There was a small chance he'd dropped it. He wanted it to be a petty thief. There was more money in his car, sure, and his keys were secure - but his license was in there. That, and he hadn't pulled out enough cash to pay for the buffet, just the bus.

Annoyance crept across his face in a dark shadow. He turned his head to look past Adelyn, and took a deep breath of the thick city air. He could, of course, go to his car, get the other cash, and pick up the hunt later. He was actually shocked that he hadn't noticed the necessary warm pressure it would've taken to get a hand into that pocket. But now there was something primal in him, the old familiar ache, that wanted to turn and chase now.

A glance told him that the bus was nowhere in sight. He had a few minutes. Either way he'd have to leave, he reasoned, even though reason was hard through the chill that passed through him. He glanced back at Adelyn, and perhaps she'd see the glint behind his cold eyes, or perhaps her focus would still be held by the new experience of the city.

[font color="#4b0101"]"Stay here, alright? I'll be right back. Have that pass ready."[/font]
[/div][/div][/div][/div][/div]
 


“Huh,” Adelyn hums, trying to pretend like she knows anything about schedules. She looks at the sign he directed his attention towards, but the numbers make very little sense to her. She’s not that great with numbers.

She picks up on his muttered curse and turns her attention towards him, looking him over. It doesn’t look like he’s stubbed his toe or hit his thumb with a hammer, so she’s flummoxed for a second before she realizes he keeps patting his pockets. “Did you drop something?”

He takes a step away and a slight shiver straightens her spine. There’s that feeling around him again. Danger. She follows him for that step, nearly tripping over her feet and her words. “I’ll come with you!”

He can’t leave her alone at the bus station, she doesn’t know how to ride a bus! She doesn’t even know how to ride a bicycle. And it would defeat the whole point of this whole thing if she let him go off on his own. And, and…

It’d be the right thing to do regardless, because if he did drop something then it’d be nice of her to help him find it. She looks at him determinedly, her mouth set in a straight line that makes the tiny scar across her lip stand out white.

 
Last edited:
[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;border-radius:15px;background-color:#4d433a;border:3px #95877d solid;color:#4b0101;padding:8px;font-family:high tower text;"]THE CRYPTID

[img src="[URL]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/85/e6/37/85e637250e4b4da00070b0f7bbdc04cf.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;border-radius:15px;"]

Code by Illirica[/div][/div][div][attr="style","display:grid;grid-template-columns:16px auto 16px;grid-template-rows:16px auto 16px;grid-template-areas:'CornerTL Top CornerTR' 'Left Main Right' 'CornerBL Bottom CornerBR';background-color:#4d433a;padding:6px;border:1px #95877d solid;"]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Top;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Right;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Bottom;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Main;color:#95877d;padding:9px;"][div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;"][div align="Left"][div style="font-family:'georgia';"][font color="#4b0101"]"No, really, I'm-"[/font]

He'd started talking before he turned around to look at her, and he visibly paused when he saw the look on her face. The cold ran directly through him. There'd always been a certain sense of helplessness when Summer had given him that look. The face was different, but that was all. Same set to the jaw, same hard stare. All he could do in response to that look was sigh softly. A breeze between icicles.

[font color="#4b0101"]"Someone... I might've dropped my wallet."[/font] He stuffed the cash into a pocket on the inside of his jacket and made sure the buttons were secure. He was almost certain he hadn't dropped it. He wasn't that clumsy, even with the tremble. Trying to tell her no was pointless, so he just turned and started with a long stride back along the path they'd taken.

If Adelyn was really listening, she'd notice the slow, deep breaths he was taking through his nose despite the pace. With her at his side, they'd left a clear path behind them, and he followed their footsteps almost exactly. People moved instinctively around a person moving with his stride, even if they never gave him a second glance. And with such a pace, the exact second when he caught the third scent would be obvious in the abrupt halt on the spot.

He looked down at the sidewalk, then around them in a sweeping motion. If Adelyn spoke, he'd make little noises to indicate he'd heard, even if he wasn't actually listening. If she looked at his eyes, though, she'd see the laser focus behind the icy blue. His breathing didn't change at all, and his head tilted ever so slightly in different directions. To the average eye, he just seemed frustrated. For someone who might've already suspected an animal on the prowl... that was a different story.

He turned on his heel slowly, picking through the dissipated scent through wind and shuffling bodies. It'd been several minutes since they'd passed through here. The scent lingered, though. Someone had paused here. Sweaty, maybe heavier-set or overdressed, like him. Very faint deodorant. Something cheap. A sulfur smell like stale water. Something else he couldn't quite place. But it was distinct enough that he knew what to look for, and now, with the same determination but a much slower stride, he followed it step by step...

...to a nearby trash can.

[font color="#4b0101"]"Motherfucker,"[/font] he mumbled as he glanced down, then reached in to fish out the leather billfold and flip it open. As predicted, anything valuable was gone - so, just the cash. The ID was still in there, as well as the few bits of paper that'd been buried in the other pockets, but the money was gone. He looked up from the empty wallet, just to see if the fucker was still in his periphery. Nobody matching his guess was in sight. His mouth twisted, his jaw set. He took the first breath through his mouth in a minute, and then, only then, seemed to remember Adelyn was there.

His face melted. Not all at once, but the hard edges seemed to fade into resignation as he turned the empty wallet toward her to show her. In the background, he watched the bus pull away from the stop.

[font color="#4b0101"]"No,"[/font] he objected, halfheartedly, in its direction. The smell of the pickpocket wafted around them, carried in little eddies by other passing bodies. Like a living predator sensing opportunity, the cold started to chew on Todd's bones again. With Adelyn there, though, there was no chance to follow.

[font color="#4b0101"]"Listen, kid, I'm sorry."[/font] He stuffed the wallet and his hands into his pockets as he looked back at her. [font color="#4b0101"]"I'd have to swing back by my car for more cash, and now we'd have to walk, or wait...a while for the next one. We could just call a rain check, maybe some other time..."[/font]

The excuses were weak, but legitimate enough. He looked back at her face, though. Back into it. Checking for... something. The something he'd noticed earlier, the wariness, the understanding that she was with something dangerous. Maybe he'd scare her off. Last thing he wanted, but given the circumstances, maybe that was the best outcome. Maybe that was the only way this was going to work out for him. If that was the case, he'd come to terms with it.
[/div][/div][/div][/div]
 


His breath is cold. Adelyn’s eyebrows draw together for a moment, unsure of what to do with the puzzle pieces she’s been handed. But then they’re off, and it’s almost easy to tune everything else out in favor of the chase.

She goes quiet too, following a half step behind him and scanning the ground as well as the crowd. There’s some comfort in being beside Todd, behind him, in the dubious certainty that his danger wasn’t directed towards her.

He reminds her of the forest, in that way, of the animals she’d watch. The forest taught her to hunt, through the foxes and coyotes and wolves. It taught her the scent of blood and the itch of bug bites and the coolness of shade cast by high leafy branches in summer. The forest was not, is not, and will never be kind, or tame, or nice, but it’ll outlive them all.

They find the wallet in a trash can. Adelyn watches Todd carefully, because they sure didn’t pass this trash can on the way here and there’s no way he could’ve thrown it in there without her noticing. It’s only when he shows her the wallet again that it clicks. “Someone took it??”

Why would someone do that? He’s not even… he’s… is he like her? Is that why they did it? She hardly hears his apology, half turned to scan the people walking by outside of the smelly alleyway. It’s so loud, she can hardly tell one sound from the next.

Frustrated, she tears her hood off her head, nearly gnashing her teeth. None of her fire is directed towards him, but it’s still there. “That’s so mean! I’m so sorry. I can try to catch whoever took it, and then hopefully they won’t do that to anyone else.”

If she can even find them. She’s distracted, straining her ears for… she’s not sure what, but she’ll know it when she hears it! She can’t just let this go. She won’t. She promised.

 
Last edited:
[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;border-radius:15px;background-color:#4d433a;border:3px #95877d solid;color:#4b0101;padding:8px;font-family:high tower text;"]THE CRYPTID

[img src="[URL]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/85/e6/37/85e637250e4b4da00070b0f7bbdc04cf.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;border-radius:15px;"]

Code by Illirica[/div][/div][div][attr="style","display:grid;grid-template-columns:16px auto 16px;grid-template-rows:16px auto 16px;grid-template-areas:'CornerTL Top CornerTR' 'Left Main Right' 'CornerBL Bottom CornerBR';background-color:#4d433a;padding:6px;border:1px #95877d solid;"]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Top;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Right;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Bottom;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Main;color:#95877d;padding:9px;"][div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;"][div align="Left"][div style="font-family:'georgia';"]Her fury caught him off guard. At first it startled him. She'd been so quiet this whole time - even in her earlier suspicion, he hadn't suspected anything violent. And violent wasn't the right word for this, either. Abrupt, that was better. And it was touching. And concerning. He'd already suspected she didn't know much about how the world worked, and the words that accompanied her anger confirmed that.

[font color="#4b0101"]"It's fine, Adelyn, there are plenty of reasons why someone would take it."[/font] He took half a step away, and gestured with his head for her to follow as he stepped onto the street. [font color="#4b0101"]"They might just be homeless and need the extra cash. Could be someone..."[/font]

He'd come this far, he chided himself as he hesitated. He at least dropped his voice a little.

[font color="#4b0101"]"...could just be someone who wanted to buy something illegal and didn't want their own money for it. Drugs, for example. Addicts will go through a lot to get a hit. Or, well, not everybody needs a reason. Could just be some kid who did it because they could. Makes them feel... powerful. Different kind of addiction, but not that different."[/font]

He was lost for just a moment in memories, older memories than Summer or even Arlo. Three lifetimes ago, almost. Some kids just had trouble written all over them. Hell, some adults did, too. But usually those kids got better at hiding the trouble over time. Over lifetimes. Maybe you don't get better. Maybe you just get better at not getting caught. And underneath the predatory chill, Todd felt something warmer stirring for the first time in a while.

He didn't usually let himself get excited by a hunt anymore, but maybe with a good influence, he could let that slip. Just a little.

[font color="#4b0101"]"If it'll make you feel better, we can find them. What happens after that can be figured out on the way, or when we get there. You should be careful when threatening people, though. Or even thinking about it. You wouldn't want to tip 'em off."[/font] A wry wink, the wink of the troublemaker to the good kid. [font color="#4b0101"]"And you should put your hood back on. Someone's gonna think you're a furry."[/font]
[/div][/div][/div][/div]
 


Adelyn stomps after him, her footfalls heavier as she wrestles against the urge to do away with her boots entirely. What’s the point, what’s the point, if even ‘normal’ looking people are targets too? Todd’s dangerous sometimes, but he didn’t do anything wrong and it isn’t fair. “Hmph.”

She wraps her arms around herself, missing home with a fierce ache. Homeless, she hasn’t heard that one before, but she can figure it out easily enough. She’d do a lot to get her home back, too, if that was an option.

It’s hard to imagine a day where she’ll feel like she knows how to deal with any of this: the city, the sounds, the people who are mean just because they can be. Like hunting and then just leaving the spoils where they fall. There’s no power in that, it’s just wasteful and mean.

Her ears droop, nearly vanishing into her hair. “I wasn’t threatening. I was just gonna talk with them.”

She nudges her sunglasses up with a crooked finger, smile wobbly. “I am a little furry. They wouldn’t be wrong.”

The joke makes her want to cry, and she doesn’t know why. She lengthens her stride just a bit to fully catch up with him, and her voice drops to a careful, hopeful, muted whisper. “Todd, are you like me?”

 
Last edited:
[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;border-radius:15px;background-color:#4d433a;border:3px #95877d solid;color:#4b0101;padding:8px;font-family:high tower text;"]THE CRYPTID

[img src="[URL]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/85/e6/37/85e637250e4b4da00070b0f7bbdc04cf.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;border-radius:15px;"]

Code by Illirica[/div][/div][div][attr="style","display:grid;grid-template-columns:16px auto 16px;grid-template-rows:16px auto 16px;grid-template-areas:'CornerTL Top CornerTR' 'Left Main Right' 'CornerBL Bottom CornerBR';background-color:#4d433a;padding:6px;border:1px #95877d solid;"]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Top;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Right;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Bottom;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Main;color:#95877d;padding:9px;"][div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;"][div align="Left"][div style="font-family:'georgia';"]Damn it.

Todd cut his stride just a little as she caught up to him. She was tall for her age, but he was still considerably taller. There had been a slight smile at the corners of his mouth at her muttered complaints and her little joke. As he glanced at her from the side, he watched her ears disappear like magic. She was so optimistic, Todd almost envied her. Almost.

And then he heard the little waver. In the middle of one of her careful, soft words, almost too soft for most people to hear, he caught the break. It was barely a fracture. She was trying to be brave. There was sadness beyond description in that fracture, a glimpse behind a mask. She was alone, far from a home that he was absolutely certain had been her whole world for as long as she could remember. That, too, he would've envied, if the idea of a home didn't come to the natural consequence of homesickness. He was lucky he didn't have roots anywhere. He couldn't imagine experiencing the kind of sadness he could just barely see in the girl's odd features.

He sighed again. He hadn't sighed this much since... well. She was just crossing his mind left and right, wasn't she? Summer. The idea had crossed his mind earlier that there might be some small penance in helping this kid out. Now, he was realizing, there might be something more here. A chance to do this right, this time. He knew that whatever she was, it wasn't the same as him. But the scent she carried, the small oddities in her behavior... they weren't the same. But they were close, the whatever-they-were.

[font color="#4b0101"]"We're not quite the same, I don't think."[/font] He let that sink in for a moment as he turned his head halfway towards her. The hunger was already so intense that he didn't want to risk pushing the boundaries of his abilities, but he decided to let her have a glimpse. He waited until she met his eye, and then she'd see the color change - like the frigid blue suddenly bloomed into the deep, emerald green of the forest. Still very human eyes, and the shape was even a little different from his own.

She'd never need to know that Summer was associated with those eyes in any way but color.

And he'd blink, and the winter was back. The slight droop to their shape. The frigid intensity behind the surface blue. But under the cold eyes was a warm smile. He turned his eyes back forward, and focused his attention on the task at hand.

[font color="#4b0101"]"You ever try to track someone by smell, Adelyn?"[/font][/div][/div][/div][/div]
 


At his soft rejection, Adelyn curls just a bit more in on herself, like she could somehow imagine herself smaller and less burdened with troubles if she just turned sideways and disappeared. She should’ve known, but she always gets her hopes up too darn high. She swallows hard, and it takes her a long moment to meet his eyes again.

But when she does she can’t help but stare, the shape of her eyes visible from this close as they widen behind the tinted lenses of her sunglasses. She’s never seen anyone change like that, and it warms her from her ears to her toes that he’d share that with her. The new eyes are pretty, though they don’t fit his face. Too young.

Still, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, a smile lights up her face, awed and admiring. She doesn’t look away until the green has faded away again, at which point a little pang of jealousy shoots through her heart and she has to tamp it down.

“You can go back, huh,” she mutters, mostly to her palm. She curls her fingers in and tucks her hands in her pockets. She likes being how she is, but it sure does make things harder than they need to be sometimes.

“I don’t have that good of a sniffer,” she admits. There’s that itch under her skin telling her that she could if she’d just Change, but she wrinkles her nose a few times and it lessens down to something manageable again. “Better with sounds and sights, but there aren’t any tracks on ce-ment.”

She’s good at tracking in the forest, but she hasn’t found the right tricks for the concrete jungle quite yet.

 
Last edited:
[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;border-radius:15px;background-color:#4d433a;border:3px #95877d solid;color:#4b0101;padding:8px;font-family:high tower text;"]THE CRYPTID

[img src="[URL]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/85/e6/37/85e637250e4b4da00070b0f7bbdc04cf.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;border-radius:15px;"]

Code by Illirica[/div][/div][div][attr="style","display:grid;grid-template-columns:16px auto 16px;grid-template-rows:16px auto 16px;grid-template-areas:'CornerTL Top CornerTR' 'Left Main Right' 'CornerBL Bottom CornerBR';background-color:#4d433a;padding:6px;border:1px #95877d solid;"]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Top;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Right;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Bottom;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Main;color:#95877d;padding:9px;"][div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;"][div align="Left"][div style="font-family:'georgia';"]It genuinely warmed Todd's heart to see his revelation cheer Adelyn up, if only for a moment. Her comment after aroused some suspicions about her appearance. Now wasn't the time to dwell on that, though. Apparently he was teaching her now. He wanted to ask her: if you can't smell it, how'd you sense I was trouble? But he didn't. That wasn't the priority this time. Todd relied heavily on his nose for those kinds of things, but that wasn't the only sense. He had sharp ears, too.

[font color="#4b0101"]"Good eyes would be useful if we already knew what we were looking for,"[/font] he admitted, glancing at the crowd. [font color="#4b0101"]"That's cool, though, I didn't see 'em either."[/font]

He thought hard about it for a minute, then seemed to suddenly remember something. As they walked earlier, after he told her to concentrate away from the noise, she'd seemed focused on the ground at her feet, not on some distant sight but on a very close...

[font color="#4b0101"]"You were listening while we were walking, weren't you?"[/font] He said it firmly, but not too loud. It was barely a question. There wasn't any undue excitement in his voice, either. If he wanted to, he could just find this punk himself, but that wasn't what this was about anymore. The sound of their footsteps was something he'd let fade into the back of his mind at this point. [font color="#4b0101"]"Think back. See of you can remember hearing anything that came too close to us. Take your time if you need it - we're in no rush."[/font]

And in the meanwhile, Todd began to sift through the passing bodies with his own senses. Different paces, different steps. Eddies of scent still being pushed around by the river of life. The ache still lingered inside his bones, but it was easier to forget about it with the distraction Adelyn brought. He would've thanked her if she'd known, but she didn't, and so he didn't. Maybe his own distraction from her personal issues was thanks enough.[/div][/div][/div][/div]
 


“...Yes?” Adelyn answers, though it sounds more like another question. She isn’t sure why Todd is asking her something he already seems to know, but then he follows the question up with a request.

“Huh. I’ll try.” She nods firmly, steps faltering as she tries to think back. She catches up to him again with a few hurried steps but just as quickly almost trips when she lets her mind drift again.

Half-distracted, she reaches out to get a handhold so she doesn’t get lost in the real world while she’s lost in her thoughts. She finds the loose wing of Todd’s jacket and curls her fingers into the fabric.

A little more secure, she casts her mind back, blocking out all the now sounds and trying to remember the then sounds. Her eyebrows furrow, a faint frown on her face as she chews on her lip.

She remembers… The steady patter of Todd’s shoes hitting the sidewalk. The accompanying shuffle of her own steps. The faint sounds of the people around them, not really faint but out of focus and unremembered. And…

Something, maybe. A little shuffle-step, too close to them, the rustle of fabric against leather against skin.

Someone bumps into her, not in the memories but in the now, and she loses the thread. Her eyes snap open as she flinches hard, reeling sideways into Todd.

 
Last edited:
[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;border-radius:15px;background-color:#4d433a;border:3px #95877d solid;color:#4b0101;padding:8px;font-family:high tower text;"]THE CRYPTID

[img src="[URL]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/99/3e/96/993e9658902e9c15e968d9e7ad8845a5.jpg[/URL]" style="width:150px;border-radius:15px;"]

Code by Illirica[/div][/div][div][attr="style","display:grid;grid-template-columns:16px auto 16px;grid-template-rows:16px auto 16px;grid-template-areas:'CornerTL Top CornerTR' 'Left Main Right' 'CornerBL Bottom CornerBR';background-color:#4d433a;padding:6px;border:1px #95877d solid;"]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Top;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Right;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Bottom;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Main;color:#95877d;padding:9px;"][div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;"][div align="Left"][div style="font-family:'georgia';"]Todd dropped his speed again, just enough for Adelyn to keep pace in her distracted state. He glanced at his arm as she took it, but didn't say anything as her hands curled around the fabric. He felt her warmth through it again, felt the cutting pang of hunger, but this time it was well under control. No feral plan to run off and eat her somewhere out of sight crossed his mind now. If she hadn't already noticed the layers masking his thin frame, she certainly would now. Or she would if she hadn't been thinking, as he'd suggested.

He navigated them while her eyes were closed. His eyes now settled on anyone who came too close, not with suspicion but with enough attentiveness to note their hands and attention. Most were scrolling through social media or talking on the phone. One or two people not in that category met his eye and abruptly decided to give him a wider berth. His nose, meanwhile, looked for that faint scent. Cheap deodorant and sweat masked by layers of clothes. It had to be that, he'd decided. The person had to have a smaller frame to avoid his attention.

They moved away from the park, deeper into the belly of the city. It was much busier here. It'd be a good place to hide if you'd just picked someone's pocket. More people passed them by, all noted, none quite what he was looking for. Just as he wondered if Adelyn would remember anything that might help, he saw a man on his phone step out of a store too fast for Todd to reorient their path. The stranger turned and brushed shoulders with Adelyn, and she snapped back to the present. She stepped sideways, into Todd, and he steps closer to the street as the man didn't even acknowledge his mistake. Todd looked over his shoulder to watch him go. No sign of anything off, besides the obvious rudeness, but that was the big city for you.

[font color="#4b0101"]"You okay, kid?"[/font] he asked Adelyn. He didn't ask her the obvious follow-up. More important than finding out what she remembered was her moment to recover, and he wouldn't take that from her. [/div][/div][/div][/div]
 


Adelyn turns to snarl at whatever bumped her, shoulders hunching up in the absence of a fur coat to puff up. She almost wants to hiss, but the instinct fades an instant later and she’s left blinking in confusion. Her shoulders drop down again, and she reaches a hand up to massage one as she gathers her thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Realizing she’s still carrying her backpack the wrong way around, Adelyn shifts it to her back again. She isn’t sure what face she’s making, but if it’s half as twisted-up as she feels inside then it must be one doozy of an expression.

“Sorry, I don’t know where that came from.” She rests her hand over her heart for a moment, counting its beats until she feels a little more centered. Then she shakes her head. “I don’t remember anything pacific.”

The city is still loud, but either she’s adjusting to it or she’s too discombobulated to spare the energy to be even more out of sorts. The rush of humans around them seems distant, here-but-not in a way that hurts her brain to think about.

They’ve walked further than she thought while she was trying to sort through her memories. Looking back, she can’t see the bus stop anymore, just a too-big centipede of a car idling on the side of the road. But the park is still in sight, and she can find her way home from there. With that resolved, she turns her attention forward again.

“Wait, where are we going? Did you have an idea?”

 
Last edited:
[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;border-radius:15px;background-color:#4d433a;border:3px #95877d solid;color:#4b0101;padding:8px;font-family:high tower text;"]THE CRYPTID

[img style="width:150px;border-radius:15px;" src="[URL]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/99/3e/96/993e9658902e9c15e968d9e7ad8845a5.jpg[/URL]"]

[font color="#4b0101"]Code by Illirica[/font][/div][/div][div][attr="style","display:grid;grid-template-columns:16px auto 16px;grid-template-rows:16px auto 16px;grid-template-areas:'CornerTL Top CornerTR' 'Left Main Right' 'CornerBL Bottom CornerBR';background-color:#4d433a;padding:6px;border:1px #95877d solid;"]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Top;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Right;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Bottom;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Main;color:#95877d;padding:9px;"][div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;"][div align="Left"][div style="font-family:'georgia';"][font size="3"]Todd didn't seem upset by Adelyn's half outburst. The feral part in his own brain twisted a little as it perceived a potential threat, but he pushed it down with the same ease he used to push back the hunger. He let her recover in her own way, nodding with the smile of an experienced sage. [font color="#4b0101"]“Yep. Big city folks. In a big rush to get nowhere they wouldn’t be already if they’d left on time.”[/font]

She did come around to the original question. He wasn’t surprised she didn’t remember; it was hard at times to keep track of everything in the bustle of a new environment, especially one so aggressively different from a deep forest. He wasn’t exactly designed for city hunting either, after all, but he’d managed to adapt over the years. Necessity breeds invention, and eventually skills once meant to pick off humanity’s strays in the farthest reaches of nowhere could be applied to doing the same at the heart of a population center.

[font color="#4b0101"]“Well, it’s hard to pick up a scent,”[/font] he answered her, after a second, [font color="#4b0101"]“but you’ve got to put yourself in the thief’s shoes. You just picked someone’s pocket in an open area, and they’re going to notice soon. Best choice is to slip into a big crowd and head away from the open area, deeper into the city. Personally I would’ve waited to dump the wallet until I was farther away – one of the ways I knew I hadn’t dropped it on the trail was because I found it right nearby. Our hypothetical thief isn’t the best, although they’re pretty good. So they’re going to find somewhere to lay low for a little while before they decide to strike again, at least to make sure nobody finds them if we come looking.”[/font]

The pickpocket had essentially turned this into cat and mouse, a manhunt in miniature. Todd was still scanning the street while he talked, both to navigate and look for anyone with the right vibe about them. As usual, though, it wasn’t his eyes that gave him the hint he needed - his trusty nose caught just the faintest edge of something familiar as a crowd thinned. He shuffled to a stop, tilting his head back to look down the alley he and Adelyn were passing. It led to a sharp turn at the end - a maze to the unfamiliar and unprepared.

[font color="#4b0101"]“Pretty sure our guy’s down there.”[/font] Todd nodded into the alley, his voice growing quiet to hide under the city noise from any ears except Adelyn’s. Something maybe familiar, maybe foreign, maybe frightening lit up behind the cold blue of his eyes, and he took a sidestep into the alley.

He’d look back to see if she wanted to follow him, although he wouldn't blame her for turning back to the comfort of the forest now. While the alleys were quieter, they were also the hiding place for things a lot more dangerous than their little pickpocket. If there was ever a time to change her mind, this was it. [/font][/div][/div][/div][/div][/div]
 


Ooh, he does have an idea. Adelyn listens attentively as Todd explains how thieves think , and not once does she think to question where he gets the know-how from. Probably from the same place she gets hers - learned or inherited, as most things are.

“They might strike again?” She asks, pouting a little with a quiet frown. Isn’t one hunt enough for a day? Maybe Todd didn’t have that much in his wallet, like catching a little bird and keeping on until you find something bigger, but it still doesn’t strike her as very fair.

But then her guide slows down, and she nearly walks past him before turning to backtrack and join him at the entrance to the alleyway. She peers into the gloom, glancing around briefly before lifting her sunglasses a little to get a better look.

“I don’t see him,” she whispers back. Then her ears catch a faint sound echoing from far down the alleyway- a little shuffle-step!

“!” It sounds distant, like it’s traveled through twists and turns.

Adelyn takes a step forward, pushing the tinted glasses up into her hair when the gloom settles over her. In the darkness, her eyes catch the light like a cat’s, the white nearly luminescent. She catches Todd’s glance and smiles, nodding her head. “Let’s go get ‘em!”

Either way, it’s a relief to be away from the crowds and the cars, even if most people have moved off on their own little ventures down the street.

 
Last edited:
[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;border-radius:15px;background-color:#4d433a;border:3px #95877d solid;color:#4b0101;padding:8px;font-family:high tower text;"]THE CRYPTID

[img style="width:150px;border-radius:15px;" src="[URL]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/99/3e/96/993e9658902e9c15e968d9e7ad8845a5.jpg[/URL]"]

[font color="#4b0101"]Code by Illirica[/font][/div][/div][div][attr="style","display:grid;grid-template-columns:16px auto 16px;grid-template-rows:16px auto 16px;grid-template-areas:'CornerTL Top CornerTR' 'Left Main Right' 'CornerBL Bottom CornerBR';background-color:#4d433a;padding:6px;border:1px #95877d solid;"]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Top;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Right;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Bottom;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div]
[div][attr="style","grid-area:Main;color:#95877d;padding:9px;"][div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;"][div align="Left"][div style="font-family:'georgia';"][font size="3"]Todd laughed softly at Adelyn’s indignation toward the idea of the pickpocket hitting a second time. He’d had a bit of cash, sure, but they probably had a stockpile somewhere to lean back on. Or, if they were doing it for kicks, the money didn’t even actually matter. It was more about the adventure, the chase. Most of the time, if it was about the chase, they didn’t actually expect to become prey.

He only didn’t reply because he had to catch himself there. This wasn’t for food. It could’ve been, as his stomach agreed, if he’d been alone, but Adelyn was here, and he hadn’t quite lost that ghost of Summer he saw every so often even in faces that were so different. He couldn’t hide the sharpness that was only growing in his eyes, or the tremble that was getting worse in hands that he abruptly shoved deeper into pockets. If he was the one actually hunting, there was no telling how badly he’d slip. He really shouldn’t have waited this long. He really shouldn’t wait any–

Get a grip. Soon. Not now.

[font color="#4b0101"]“If I’m just trying to track them by scent, it’ll be slow.”[/font] That wasn’t the reason why – but he needed to keep the monster in check. [font color="#4b0101"]“If you can hear him, you lead. I’ll keep an eye out.”[/font]

Even as he caught another hint of that scent, he forced the hunger back into the part of him where it belonged. All he could do about the cold long-term was ignore it, but ignore it he would for now. He tried to look encouraging as he caught Adelyn’s eye. She was a capable hunter herself, as he’d seen when she clearly heard that hint of life. They’d have time. He just had to hold himself back.[/font][/div][/div][/div][/div][/div]
 


“I’ll do my best!” Adelyn promises, something hungry in her own eyes. Or maybe that was just the excitement, the same energy that had her bouncing in her boots and tugging a little at her gloves. She’s never hunted in her boots and gloves, and her steps aren’t as silent as she’d like them to be as she starts walking in the direction she’d heard the sound coming from.

Sounds bounce oddly off the alley walls, the shuffle of her boots rebounding back to her again and again until she can’t stand it anymore. She makes a face at her feet, then glances at Todd as though measuring him up again.

“Don’t freak out.” She tells him in a whisper, already hopping a little to free her right paw from its leathery prison. The boot thuds to the floor and she makes quick work of the other, revealing two matching snow leopard paws. The soft white spotted fur disappears under the long hem of her skirt, but there isn’t much time for gawking as she races off at double the speed. “And keep up!”

The thief is still walking, she thinks. The shuffle-sounds haven’t gotten any quicker, and she can hear them a lot better with her steps nearly silent against the alley floor. Her bag still clanks just a little as she moves, but it’s quieter with the increased stability of not having to balance awkwardly within her boots.

 
Last edited:
[div][attr="style","position:absolute;"]
[div][attr="style","position:relative;left:-181px;top:11px;width:150px;text-align:center;border-radius:15px;background-color:#4d433a;border:3px #95877d solid;color:#4b0101;padding:8px;font-family:high tower text;"]THE CRYPTID

[img style="width:150px;border-radius:15px;" src="[URL]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/99/3e/96/993e9658902e9c15e968d9e7ad8845a5.jpg[/URL]"]

[font color="#4b0101"]Code by Illirica[/font][/div][/div][div][attr="style","display:grid;grid-template-columns:16px auto 16px;grid-template-rows:16px auto 16px;grid-template-areas:'CornerTL Top CornerTR' 'Left Main Right' 'CornerBL Bottom CornerBR';background-color:#4d433a;padding:6px;border:1px #95877d solid;"][div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div][div][attr="style","grid-area:Top;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div][div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerTR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div][div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div][div][attr="style","grid-area:Right;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div][div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBL;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div][div][attr="style","grid-area:Bottom;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div][div][attr="style","grid-area:CornerBR;padding:4px;"][div style="width:100%;height:100%;border:1px #95877d solid;"][/div][/div][div][attr="style","grid-area:Main;color:#95877d;padding:9px;"][div][attr="style","grid-area:Left;"][div align="Left"][div style="font-family:'georgia';"][font size="3"]For a man in several layers of clothes and old shoes, Todd was very quiet. He had enough experience to make himself practically invisible to any normal person. A shift in weight, care about placement of his feet, even as that didn’t seem to effect his speed, and he was almost silent. He imagined it was still noisy to Adelyn, whose ears were even sharper than his, but it tended to be enough for this kind of thing.

Unlike Adelyn. She started the walk not-quite-as-quiet, then, frustrated by her own sounds, stripped out of her gloves and boots. The soft fur shouldn’t’ve been unexpected, since Todd had recognized the scent from the outset, but now it washed over him. Feline. Predatory. Thick fur, sharp claws.

Even the monster was very glad he hadn’t tried to eat this one. Maybe she’d see that in his returned smile, the relief mixed with the reassurance that this didn’t change anything.

And then she took off at a padded run. After only a moment’s deliberation, Todd abandoned his shoes to follow her. He had a hunch she was as solitary a hunter as he was, but there was something mixed in, maybe from human experience, that let him follow her movements. Cooperation and trust. As he followed her, even that short distance, he managed to set her scent aside as white noise against the rest of the alley. There were other, more unpleasant smells as they traveled deeper in, but one became more prominent, the one that tickled his mind in that passing memory.

He picked up speed for two steps, caught up to her, and spoke while they moved.

His voice was very, very low. It was likely Adelyn would be the only person who could hear him clearly, given the circumstances.

[font color="#4b0101"]“Seems like we’re coming up on a regular spot,”[/font] he whispered, and maybe Adelyn would hear the crisper edges of the otherwise soft voice, [font color="#4b0101"]“something like a den. I can smell them everywhere. They come here often, so they probably have more than one exit. One of us can confront them, the other one can wait at the other end of the alley in case they try to run. You can pick.”[/font]

It was Todd’s money, sure, but Adelyn seemed pretty fired up about this. She probably had some steam to let off, and he’d give her the chance to do that. Whichever way it went, he’d resume his trot while they discussed. [/font][/div][/div][/div][/div][/div]
 


The wind through her fur feels heavenly after so long keeping her paws encased in thick leather. There’s the prickle-sting of fur pushed the wrong way for too long, but Adelyn ignores it in favor of rushing towards the faint sounds still echoing down the alley walls. She’s missed this terribly, and even if it isn’t quite the same the old hunting instinct has her heart racing in anticipation.

She forgets about Todd entirely until he catches up to her, speaking in a voice like the softest breeze. There’s something sharp in him, and Adelyn approves. There is only the hunt, in moments like these.

Her steps slow, claws lightly clicking against the alley floor before she catches herself. This isn’t the forest, where the dirt is soft underfoot. Her claws are likely to tear before the concrete does.

She tugs off her backpack, finally, and places it gently on the ground. It’ll only get in her way.

“You circle, I’ll get them.” She tries to keep her voice low even though she can’t manage the level of quiet that Todd has. She can’t tamp down on the confidence underscoring her words. She always gets her prey.

And maybe that thought should stop her. Maybe she should pause and consider that perhaps it’s different to think of humans as prey, rather than deer or rabbits or mice.

But there is only the hunt, and she has not yet considered the end of it.

 
He could feel the predator slipping through in both himself and in Adelyn. He tamped his own down through practice, well aware that it was for the best that he cover the exits. He was more familiar with the city. And there was a good chance this would be a lot messier if he did the confronting, in this state.

But Adelyn had a strong predator in her, and he whispered the same thing to her he’d been reminding himself: “Scare. Don’t kill.”

And then he disappeared down the next side alley with both speed and silence. He’d take advantage of the nearest rickety fire escape, and the street noises nearby, to pull himself up to the rooftops. He hadn’t told Adelyn that a smart thief would have a den at an intersection, but he had mentioned multiple exits. This way, he could cover all of them without the pesky business of corners.

At the center of an intersecting spiderweb of side streets, Rae sorted through the pawnable selection of her ill-gotten gains. One woman’s wedding ring, one man’s class ring, couple of probably costume bracelets, a pocketwatch (who the hell still used a pocket watch?), three regular watches, and two smartphones she’d already pried the batteries out of. A pretty good haul, not even including the cash she’d nabbed. She probably couldn’t bring the phones and pocketwatch to her usual guy, but she’d find someone in the next week.

In this corner of Pittsburgh, nobody paid too much attention to a lean-to tent made up of rags, or a heavily dressed teenager rummaging through a backpack. She made it work to her advantage, played on expectations and the like. Maybe she didn’t need quite as much as she could probably live off of with a week’s haul, especially in busy seasons. But money was… well, money, and she preferred to have too much of it than not enough.

Unfortunately, her good position had made her complacent. Even if she heard someone coming, she rarely looked up – mostly out of habit that acknowledging people tended to draw their attention to her. But now she didn’t hear anything or anyone, and tucked as she was in her makeshift blanket hut, ducking out of reach was going to be harder than usual if it came to it.

She wasn’t worried, though. She’d been at this for months and hadn’t been caught once. She knew the rules and the tricks and the game tended to fall in her favor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top