Antarctic|Khelek

[shrikeswind]

The girl yawned as she rose from her bed, tail flicking to the side. She reached out onto the messy floor and grabbed her clothes. After getting dressed, she walked outside to let the cold wipe the sleep out of her eyes. The sudden chill stunned her for a split-second, then she proceeded to climb down, mind still in a glaze.

[aivea]

(I'm going to assume she's carrying a purse or bag of some sort since that is the most common means of carrying money in Naruta.)

A young man approaches her, seemingly engrossed in reading a book with a cloak draped over one arm as he walks. It seems he had left the house wearing it, but changed his mind and decided his clothes and jacket alone would be enough to stave off the morning chill. As soon as she's in reach, the one of his hands not holding the book carefully cuts the strings of her bag with a small knife and catches it with an easy grace. Immediately afterward, he begins to return that hand to under the cloak with the intention of slipping both bag and knife into the hidden pocket of the cloak before having either item in plain sight for too long.

[shrikeswind]

The girl calmly caught him by the arm, stopping him.
"Nice try, but I felt you going for it. Give me my purse back," she said, her cold voice augmented by the anger it held.

[aivea]

The man holds the purse again were it could be seen, and speaks in an even tone, "You should be more careful. Walking around with this held in the open is practically an invitation for theives, it would be better to carry it in a pocket or under something. How am I to know that if I give it back someone worse won't take it? If you can convince me that you'll be more careful in the future, I'll hand it back peacefully and be on my way."

[shrikeswind]

Arcta laughed. "Me? Be more careful? It's obvious we've just met. Take a look in that purse and tell me what you see."
On closer inspection, the purse proved to be empty.
"Even if I hadn't caught you it wouldn't have been much for you. Only reason I wanted that back was because I kinda like that purse."

[aivea]

The man chuckles and tosses back the purse. "Ah well, that was a bit of a mistake. I go to scold you for carelessness and turn out to be the careless one. Don't tell me you plan on keeping it that way... What brings you out without a coin to your name, anyway?"

[shrikeswind]

"You're wrong there, I do have money." Arcta chuckled. "Just not where you thought it was. However, I'm out doing my daily exercises of walking around aimlessly. And yourself?"

[aivea]

"Just my usual morning rounds to make sure everything is in order in this part of the city," he replies, a hint of amusement in his tone. "Making sure anyone who commits crimes on the street and does not right their wrongs is arrested or punished depending on the situation, and doing random checks of how aware the citizens are of the risk of pickpocketing... after my own fashion of course. What did I appear to be doing?"

[shrikeswind]

"Trying to steal my purse." It was hard for her not to sound annoyed with the question, stupid as it seemed to her, but she managed to hide it, if only thinly.

[aivea]

(Is there anything you would like to have happen in this thread?)

"Which is precisely the point of the exercise. If I appeared to be doing anything else, then I would have made too mistakes instead of just one." The man shrugs. "You're content just to wander about the city?"

[shrikeswind]

[[Yep, to build this into a much longer arc.]]

"Actually, I was going down the mountain for a while. I've been waiting for someone for a long time and will keep waiting until the day I die. Normally, I'd have brought my spear, but I had a feeling he'd be there today."

[aivea]

"Mind if I come along? Wait might feel like it's going by faster if there's someone to talk to or vent at while you're there." He looks at her quizzically, before asking, "What if he does come today? What is it that you're waiting for him to do."

[shrikeswind]

"Sure, if you want. Just keep your hands off my purse," she laughed. "If he comes, though, you get going, it's personal business."

[aivea]

"all right, then... I'll keep my hands right here." He makes an exaggerated show of putting on his coat and stuffing his hands in his coat pockets with a mock hurt expression. The man's not even remotely bothered, just being deliberately melodramatic and the grin that appears right in the middle of the attempt makes that all too clear. "Time to go? Even just the walk there'll beat just spending the day patrolling."

[shrikeswind]

"Yep. Since you're coming, what's your name?"