Recoup

[Kamar Deythal]

The cat darting away was no real surprise. It happened often enough when one opened a seemingly solid wall and stepped out into an alley.

The problem began when he motioned Chrishton from the Nook. Of course, this particular unkempt cat belonged to someone.

He closed his eyes briefly as the voice and cat rounded the corner again. The shift from regular sight to what he thought of as the night spectrum was always easier and faster if he had is eyes closed.

When he opened them, he saw a rather thick young lady, the cat draped over her shoulder. She looked down the alley, and he knew she had noticed them. It wasn't everyday that someone would be standing in an alley at this time of evening, and she was likely nervous.

She began shouting about the cat not being magical, before she stopped in mid-sentence and squinted towards his companion, who had just emerged from the entrance.

Kamar's right hand dropped to his side and slightly behind the billow of his cloak, hiding the dagger in it. Daggers didn't fly as nicely as his throwing knives did, but it would do in a pinch.

Before he could do anything, however, Chrishton responded to her sudden accusatory shout. Kamar shook his head. That's what he got for getting involved with someone who was known to have very little in the way of tact.

[Dorcas Tansy]

The shaggy cat gained his bearings, perched with his front paws on his master's left shoulder, his hind paws anchored on her right. His body curved against the back of her head, matted fur mingled with unwashed blonde hair.

Dorcas advanced into the alley. For all her ungainliness--heavy limbs, thick combat boots, adolescent slouch--she moved with precision and a presence.

Between long glances at Chrishton, trying to make out the sight of him, her gaze flitted to Kamar and back. That unfamiliar one moved his hands suspiciously and gave away the likelihood of his carrying concealed weapons, and yet she wanted to see this familiar one in the awkward robe.

Dorcas paused abruptly twenty feet's distance from them as clear recognition dawned on her face. She had at least had several moments walking forward to organize her thoughts and come up with something clever to say, or else she couldn't possibly have been witty.

"Looks 's'f the evenin's findin' ye well then, Auntie. Ye'll've last some weight then?" she retorted boldly, but less accusatorily than before. Vanity had it that she'd expect recognition to hit him as well.

She turned a cautious eye on Kamar and folded her arms across her chest. Such deliberate gesturing prevented her from the less desirable nervous fidgeting she might have done.

[Chrishton Radu]

"Lost weight?" Chrishton was anything but thin, and not proud of his gut. "Remind me ta stay th' hell away from yer auntie."

He recognized her before she did him, manifested as a big stupid grin on his part. It was hard to forget one of the few people he'd met in Marn who wasn't out to nab him or at least report him to the guard on sight. Alas, he had no idea what her name was. She no doubt had the advantage there, given his notoriety as the most wanted criminal around for two weeks and counting.

"Ya look like shit, girly. I didna bust ya outta jail so's ya could go roll in th' mud."

Quite the statement, coming from a guy who had lost everything, including the clothes off his back. Standing there, without so much as a pair of shoes, he was at least as dirty and smelly as she was, and had a number of cuts and bruises to boot. It was fairly obvious he was hiding in a hole like a rat.

He looked at Kamar, who was being the cautious worry wort. It was a good sign. At least someone was being careful.

"Dennison, meet girly. She's about as bad off as we are."

Jovial as ever.

[Kamar Deythal]

Kamar would have stopped her from advancing, but her being closer to he and Chrishton only made her a better target for a weapon that may not fly as true as many of the others on his person.

Once she spoke again, he relaxed, if slightly and not outwardly. Chrishton made introductions, and Kamar brought his hand out from behind his back, empty. He nodded slightly to the girl and spoke. As he spoke, he turned and shut the nook. Again, the wall was just a wall.

Kamar began imitating the crass way in which the two spoke, thinking that should someone see them together, they would surely remember a well-spoken 'gentleman' in the company of two crass individuals.

"Ye ken call me Sam-yull, l'il miss. Now, we shuld prolly git out this alley, 'fore somun decides ta check what three people migh' be meetin up in an alley fer. Ya got a place ta stay?"

He glanced at Chrishton for any indication whether he agreed with the plan or not, or whether there might be any hesitation on the big man's part.

[Dorcas Tansy]

Dorcas smiled stiff-upper-lipped, arched her eyebrows, drew in her chin. Recognition piqued her vanity. She ignored, for the moment, Chris's comment about rolling in the mud and nuzzled her cat's face with a prominent cheekbone. She eyed Kamar with a sidelong glance as she murmured to the purring beast.

"Sam Dennison then?" She took a posher tone with him than Chris. "Plezha, I'm sure."

She turned back to Chrishton. "This one's bowld, i'n't 'e? Calls me 'littel' an' 'e's weer'n my thome." She unfolded her arms to inspect her grimy thumb at armslength. "And so ye know, I do have a place where I'm stayin', not that it's really inny yer business. Jest that I wouldn' be callin' me 'as bad off' as ye."

Dorcas inhaled through flared nostrils and glanced about the alley. Her hands crept down to fiddle with the strings of the thick muslin apron tied around the waist of her shapeless blue dress.

"And wot're y'two doin' 'ere then, innyway?" She said with a quick glance at the seamless wall where a door had been moments before.

[Chrishton Radu]

The big man gave Kamar a blank stare that could shatter glass when he started talking with an accent that wasn't his and couldn't match Docas'. Chrishton was, of course, wholly unaware of his own speech impediment, which sounded no more genuine than Dennison's.

He looked back at Dorcas, and tried to figure out what she was saying, with moderate success. The parts that eluded him he ignored.

"Who us? 'ere? We're just uhh... goin' fer a stroll. We canna take a walk without yer bein' on our case? Beautiful countryside right 'ere. Nothin' purdier around." A rat scurred across the alley behind him and into a crack in the wall they had just come out of. "SO this place o' yers. Where's it at, girly?"

[Kamar Deythal]

It would appear that Kamar had missed the stare Chrishton had given him over the accent. The accent itself was actually quite well done, although it did have the touch of sophistication one with a moderate amount of education might have.

He smirked slightly at the girl as she babbled on about how insulted she was that he was pushing her, but he still remained alert and ready to move at a moment's notice. He needed to get out of this alley, and he didn't care if this long lost friend of Chrishton's might have a place to stay. As it was, he was ready to turn and walk out the other end of the alley.

The night deepened, and Kamar decided that it would do no more good if he were to continue in the conversation, so he let Chrishton take the lead. A few more minutes and a mostly safe place to stay might be theirs for the night. And if not, he might have to dispose of the girl.

He wondered if he might be able to let Chrishton know that if the girl wasn't convinced enough to let them come with her, they'd have to kill her. His usual first instinct in a situation wasn't to kill, but he would have to if he didn't want to go back before Moryldar before he had decided it was time.

Kamar wished Chrishton and the girl would decide what they were doing to do.

[Dorcas Tansy]

Whether the brogue affected by either gentleman was locally authentic, Dorcas would have no idea. Her accent was another one altogether, from a very different place with a common tongue. She was, however, beginning to gradually assimilate to the speech habits of the working class population of the city. It was just her luck that both men spoke with inauthentically acquired twangs, for if they spoke the dialect as a first language they would have easily noticed her muddled pronunciation and identified her as a foreign type. It was in her interest, perhaps, to come across as a local.

"Wellll . . ." she said carefully, her narrowed eyes roving around the alley before stopping on Kamar and then Chrishton. "Ye kin stap callin' me 'girly.' It's . . . " She paused before judging it prudent to give her name after all--"Dorcas."

The cat on her shoulders jumped down to her feet upon spotting a shifting of rubbish in the alley that hinted at the presence of a rat. He crouched near the trash, and Dorcas gazed at him as she went on.

"So . . . I'm supposin' ye're without a place to stay then." She was smarter than to disclose where she was located. "What're ye up to then, the two'v ye?"

She continued to fiddle with the greasy strings of her apron, lips pursed thickly.

[Chrishton Radu]

"Alright," Chrishton stopped and peered around the alley slowly in mock, "Dorcas."

He paused again, then peered at her because he was having fun peering. He made expressions with eyes eyebrows and various forms of squinting, and then snapped out of it abruptly.

"Actually," he carried on, voice booming, "we've got plenty a places ta stay. Ya know. But cause yer all soundin' like yer invitin' us over fer company I just figured thats what ya were doin'.

But if ya dun want us we kin jus' be on our way, eh Denny?"

He looked at Kamar, not giving Dorcas an answer to her final question.

[Kamar Deythal]

Kamar kept listening enough to know what was being said the two talked back and forth. He had a feeling of foreboding, something deep and primal deep in his gut. His eyes roved, his ears perked up. He began looking for quick exit routes; the most likely was the waist high crate, leaping to the opposite wall and planting a foot, immediately pushing up to the lower roof of the building next to the warehouse. It would mean leaving Chrishton ...

But if ya dun want us we kin jus' be on our way, eh Denny?"

He glanced towards the big man, then back to the girl.

"Aye, we war jus' bein frien'ly, t'was all. But I gess a pretty l'il lady like yersel' wouldna wan two big men comin' to 'er 'ouse, now woulja?"

Kamar glanced past the girl, into the street, but it didn't seem anyone was approaching from that way. The other end of the alley was blocked off by the back of another building. They needed to get out of the alley. Soon.

His instincts were rarely wrong.

[Dorcas Tansy]

Dorcas rolled her eyes heavenward in the classic adolescent gesture signifying exasperation with grown-up types. She then composed her mug into something a little cooler and haughtier, eyebrows raised lips parted stiffly, as she prepared to address Chrishton's parry. Her cat lifted his head from the pile of trash and looked at Kamar with a similarly cool expression on his small countenance; one triangular ear flicked perpetually front to side, either flicking a flea or surveying the sounds of his surroundings.

Dorcas wasn't the type to admit she might want friendly company, but working in a filthy apron all day is enough to wear down the pride of most teenagers. " . . . 'Snot like ye have to go igzackly now, izzit? I mean ye kin have a drink . . . 'r whatever . . . tell me what ye been up to . . . "

She rolled her eyes again as she turned her gaze slowly onto Kamar. "And no I am not intimidated by a 'big man' such's yerself when I've got practickly twelve inches height 'n twice over yer weight as advantage," she exaggerated.

The girl shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet, adding perhaps half an inch to her height, and nodded between the men. "I guess ye kin both come have a drink if yer so inclined."

Her cat suddenly bounced forward and stopped just short of Kamar's feet, looked up at the man wide-eyed from a crouch, and began to purr coarsely.

[Chrishton Radu]

Chrishton was more than willing to acknowledge his current predicament when he wasn't busy denying it for personal amusement. It was hard to deny anyway, what with coming out of a hole, looking like shit not wearing any shoes. When she finally came out and made the offer explicitly, a huge happy grin took over his face. Bigger than normal. He put an arm on her shoulder and directed her down the street.

"Oh ya've got no idea how badly I need that drink girly Dorcas." He wasn't giving her much choice but to get moving, although he had no signals telling him to run like Kamar's. The spirits were being quiet enough and staying out of the way. "An' boy oh have we got a story fer ya." He put his hand out in front of them both, swept it across the landscape dramatically. "Most wanted man in all o'Marn. Hunted like a fox fer weeks on end by some o the most powerful mages this side o' the Great Scar. Captured'n tortured! Doomed!"

Some workers from a nearby factory started eyeballing the trio from afar. Chrishton was making enough noise to grab their attention along with anyone else for at least a block in the otherwise empty district. He didn't notice or didn't care, too caught up with trying to impress Dorcas. He wasn't even sure if the direction he was pushing her in was the right way.

Danger was getting closer. The spirits knew it. They just didn't want to ruin the fun.

[Kamar Deythal]

Kamar crouched in front of the cat, left elbow on his knee, and put his hand out for the cat to sniff or rub against, whichever it wanted. He looked into the cat's eyes for a moment, mutual respect from predator to predator.

But when Chrishton started moving, taking the girl with him, Kamar bounced to his feet as if pulled by a string. Before stepping from the alley, his slender hands drew his hood up over his head to again hide his features. His eyes remained fixed to the growing shadows, though his improved vision was somewhat hampered by the electric lights turning on throughout the district. He could see well enough to penetrate the shadows, however, and kept a vigilant watch. No use getting out of that alleyway only to be waylaid in the open.

Kamar know where they were headed, and didn't much care. He was acting as lookout for now, as Chrishton played the fool for a debatably pretty young woman.

And he knew he excelled at noticing anything out of the ordinary.

[Dorcas Tansy]

The cat gazed coolly at a spot of dusty air just above Kamar's head and bobbed his head ever so slightly as he took in a scent--perhaps that of Kamar's hand, or just to get a feel of the empty air he stared at. When Kamar jumped up and took off, he lingered a few moments longer, as if still concerned with the particular swirl of air left behind by his cloak. The cat was also less afraid of getting separated from his master, because they seemed to find each other well enough when they did. He reluctantly turned and followed several paces behind the three.

Dorcas allowed herself to be led by Chrishton, but dragged her heavy feet just enough to illustrate that she maintained free will. She screwed her face up as the grinning oaf talked; his comments raised several questions. Her allowing him to ramble on dramatically was due only to her inability to decide where to begin her line of questioning.

Dorcas threw a gaze over her shoulder at Kamar, her eyes dull but appearing at least well-rested, an indication of the half-decent lifestyle she lived. Chrishton's personality was unusual, but this Sam Dennison's was downright odd. Her sourness shaken by this thought, she turned her gaze back on Chrishton. She was more intrigued than suspicious.

"So ye've disrupted th'way they're runnin' the lorr-inforcement in this place then, 'uh? 'Swhy nobody cares I got in trouble fer fightin'?"

She screwed her face up as they got out of the alley and into the open street and tossed a gesture to her right to indicate the proper way. By the stubbornness and insistence of this move, she seemed sure Chrishton was about to steer them in exactly the wrong direction. With this slowing of the pace, Dorcas's cat caught up to them and trotted off ahead in the direction his master had shown.

[Chrishton Radu]

He took her cue without missing a step and turned down the right way, still babbling away about his adventures.

"Hell yeah! They're so busy lookin' fer me they ain't got time ta find their own arseholes. Fuck knows what they're doin' now I'm right 'ere in the open but they only caught me once cause I let 'em. Fuckin' sat right there in the alley like I ain't had nothin' better ta do than get caught. Ya shoulda seen 'er face. Was all 'you'!"

He attempted to imitate Ryxa's dumbfounded surprise when she saw him, shoving his eyebrows as high up as they would go. His voice echoed down the empty street. The man didn't need alcohol, he was already drunk on something.

"I bet they're still pissy 'cause a' how their jail's got a big hole blown in the side of it now, eh?" He laughed. "I wonder what e'er happened ta that dragon girly though. She really tried ta take a bite outta me after..."

His booming voice trailed off. Something actually distracted him from himself enough to cut him short. It was the captain of the guard, and he was standing at the end of the street - alone - staring right at Chrishton like the man was too stupid to believe. Chrishton was obivious to any warnings Kamar might have been trying to give him.