[ assigns this as before will finds him ig which means he's heading toward fox dorm. nebulously. he also seems to be kind of wandering without really finding where he wants to go.
he isn't...not open to her being a cat. he stops long enough for her to come jump and drape on him. he seems to be heading into the craft store though, and once there he's just...walking. luck is on the high side today, seeing how he seems to be gravitating toward shiny fake gems and casually slipping them into his pockets every now and then like an afterthought.
[she watches him steal things almost absently, curling up with him. after a bit, she starts purring quietly as they walk, like a little comforting motor. she's not very good at this, but she can tell that something upset him.
she won't ask just yet, because she likes to let people come to talking on their own terms, but she'll stick with him even if he's just wandering around stealing things.
eventually, she'll mumble:] Shiny stone on your right, sticking out of the bin.
[ he hears the purr and the line of tension in his shoulders drops just a little. he will carry tiny cat and continue to wander aimlessly. he's okay with not speaking a bit.
but he hears her, and he immediately sticks a hand out to loot the stone. there's no explanation to this. ]
The city? [ vaguely. he doesn't even need this garbage, he just wants to pocket it. ] Dunno. Maybe I'll get around to making that shrine for my dad like I've thought about after all.
Probably because we're the people who are supposed to help stop people who steal things.
[ the urge has passed, and so his hands slip into his pocket as they walk out of the store to go elsewhere. ]
...at home, it's bones and jewels. Shrines are just a place for prayer and so you leave offerings to honor the god you're worshipping. It doesn't mean anything here, I guess, but it would make this place a little more normal.
[ but she says that and there's a brittle sort of grin. ]
To be honest that's kind of always a mood, though it's been better lately. [ there's a pause. ] Be careful going forward, okay?
[ he's carefully reaching up to scritch her head from where she has become a scarf, though it probably feels different since he's usually not wearing gloves. ]
Whoever's watching us seems to have an ability to move us around wherever and whenever they please.
The car brought us back this morning, though I have no idea how when the place we went was a lot further than I thought. And it's not like we were taken there by car. We were just...suddenly there.
[ he knows she's curious. he knows she's always curious because nico di angelo has kind of figured out that nimona is about as close to a kindred spirit as he's going to find in this place and that both fascinates and terrifies him in a variety of ways.
it's why he doesn't reply. he simply adjusts her on his shoulder and leaves the craft store with his pockets full of random, shining objects. his hands slip into his pockets as well, and he merges back onto the sidewalk to slip back into the shadows like he's comfortable with.
he doesn't have to tell her. and he knows, realistically, he won't tell her everything because there are still some parts of himself he can't even properly articulate in his head, never mind out loud. but he also knows he does have to warn them. just so they're aware. ]
We woke up in a warehouse. In a city. Las Vegas. It shouldn't have felt familiar to all of us when Hans and Whisper have never even heard of it, but it did. It felt as though the warehouse was our hideout, the place we'd planned plenty of heists before. And today was the day we were going after a big, unknown treasure. We didn't know what it was, or where, but it was invaluable to us. We had to have it.
Oceanside didn't feel real. Being here didn't feel real. The only thing that mattered in that moment was being there, and accomplishing the goal like we'd believed we had before.
[she's pretty content with just letting it be, even if she wants to know, and so when he's quiet and just keeps walking, she settles back down and starts to purr again. this is fine - there's a lot of things she'll never tell him without being forced. no matter how much she trusts him, even when she knows she shouldn't, to save herself the heartbreak.
still.
when he starts talking again, she opens her eyes and glances at him, surprised, but. she listens. she always does.]
... That's fucked up. [is the first thing, but then:] Kinda like actors, except worse.
Yeah. I don't like having my head messed with. [ it's very bitterly said, like even if it was something more harmless than other things, he would very much prefer not to have that happen thanks. but he settles briefly. ]
Nothing was really a danger to us once we were there. But it still felt like we had to be so careful and move as fast as possible.
It's like...I could remember it, if I thought more about it, but it was an afterthought. Like I'd think about how I should have been back here but it didn't matter a few moments later. The life I was supposed to focus on was the life of a thief who had been on plenty of successful heists.
I dunno. I asked the leopard how many other people were going after the treasure we were and he said maybe three. I never saw anybody besides all of the people at the casino and the security guards.
Yeah, we bought a map from a leopard who always met up with us at a bar near our warehouse. It's where we always go--went? For our info. That's how we saw the layout of the casino.
[ you know i have to kind of cope with the fact that a talking leopard isn't exactly the weirdest thing he's ever seen in his life. ]
Yeah, I don't get it either. The whole place was filled with animals mingling around with people. Nobody said anything about it, and I guess it was normal for us at that point, too. The security guard was a rabbit.
[ and he just. makes a face. ]
Ultimate Curry. It was guarded in the bar by a bunch of lasers and everything.
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he isn't...not open to her being a cat. he stops long enough for her to come jump and drape on him. he seems to be heading into the craft store though, and once there he's just...walking. luck is on the high side today, seeing how he seems to be gravitating toward shiny fake gems and casually slipping them into his pockets every now and then like an afterthought.
they're simply...walking. ]
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she won't ask just yet, because she likes to let people come to talking on their own terms, but she'll stick with him even if he's just wandering around stealing things.
eventually, she'll mumble:] Shiny stone on your right, sticking out of the bin.
[helping!!]
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but he hears her, and he immediately sticks a hand out to loot the stone. there's no explanation to this. ]
...they make this easy.
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Who?
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[she does it anyway because she hates buying in, but.]
What goes in a shrine? I guess the jewels. [a beat.] Do you actually wanna, or is that like, code speak for I wanna die and become sludge.
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[ the urge has passed, and so his hands slip into his pocket as they walk out of the store to go elsewhere. ]
...at home, it's bones and jewels. Shrines are just a place for prayer and so you leave offerings to honor the god you're worshipping. It doesn't mean anything here, I guess, but it would make this place a little more normal.
[ but she says that and there's a brittle sort of grin. ]
To be honest that's kind of always a mood, though it's been better lately. [ there's a pause. ] Be careful going forward, okay?
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she's going to make a comment about the shrines, but.]
I - okay. Why? [she will be, but.]
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Whoever's watching us seems to have an ability to move us around wherever and whenever they please.
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-- What? Really? Did you go somewhere else? [that is the implication yes]
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You don't gotta tell me what happened.
[but. she's curious, she does want to know.]
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it's why he doesn't reply. he simply adjusts her on his shoulder and leaves the craft store with his pockets full of random, shining objects. his hands slip into his pockets as well, and he merges back onto the sidewalk to slip back into the shadows like he's comfortable with.
he doesn't have to tell her. and he knows, realistically, he won't tell her everything because there are still some parts of himself he can't even properly articulate in his head, never mind out loud. but he also knows he does have to warn them. just so they're aware. ]
We woke up in a warehouse. In a city. Las Vegas. It shouldn't have felt familiar to all of us when Hans and Whisper have never even heard of it, but it did. It felt as though the warehouse was our hideout, the place we'd planned plenty of heists before. And today was the day we were going after a big, unknown treasure. We didn't know what it was, or where, but it was invaluable to us. We had to have it.
Oceanside didn't feel real. Being here didn't feel real. The only thing that mattered in that moment was being there, and accomplishing the goal like we'd believed we had before.
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still.
when he starts talking again, she opens her eyes and glances at him, surprised, but. she listens. she always does.]
... That's fucked up. [is the first thing, but then:] Kinda like actors, except worse.
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Nothing was really a danger to us once we were there. But it still felt like we had to be so careful and move as fast as possible.
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... So - you couldn't remember anything about here, and you went on a heist?
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Did you do it? The heist, I mean.
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[ he will later find out exactly who they were but it's fine. ]
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[she obviously doesn't have a problem with him being like i hate losing because girl mood]
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[ you know i have to kind of cope with the fact that a talking leopard isn't exactly the weirdest thing he's ever seen in his life. ]
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Oh. [well, ok.] ... Weird. I don't get it. What did the treasure end up being?
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[ and he just. makes a face. ]
Ultimate Curry. It was guarded in the bar by a bunch of lasers and everything.
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