Second Thoughts: Theft

[x-velocidad.livejournal.com]

Gabriel, unable to help himself, steals from the wrong pair of mutants. [Backdated to Saturday night.]

Gabriel wouldn't normally have come here.

He liked a good divebar, really, but everything about this place was a little too constructed. The wear on the faux-leather stools seemed a little too neat, as if a well-meaning hipster had been trying to tear fractals into the surface. The dirt on the lamps looked hand-crafted. The bartenders were scruffy chic.

But ever since he'd run into Jean Grey-Summers, he'd been curious to know how other mutants lived. And so he'd ended up in this moderately priced dive-wannabe, sipping a PBR and scanning the crowd for signs of genetically abormal life.

Thornn was hovering in the back of the room, hands shoved deep in her pockets. God she hated these places, but Eileen had wanted to come in. And she could never say no to her.

But Eileen was in the bathroom, had been gone for less than a minute, and Thornn had already been approached twice with...less than savory offers. She just wanted to leave....

Gabriel had been trying to be good. He really had. No stealing from potential mutants. But as he looked around the bar (or what he could see of it, anyway), his eyes kept settling on the woman who seemed to be hiding in the back of the room. Or, more specifically, to the gold necklace and ruby-colored pendant that seemed surprisingly out of place on her neck. Something about it beckoned to him - maybe that it looked expensive, and that it'd make a great addition to his slush fund. Plus, the fact that the woman was alone and so aloof made her the perfect mark.

But he knew that — nope. Didn't matter. He placed his now-finished beer on the bar and watched her for a second. People started to move slower around him, and Gabriel knew he was in business. As the bodies around him slowed to a crawl, Gabriel moved toward the woman who, he now realized, was astonishingly furry and feral. Not that it mattered now - now that he'd settled on a plan, he'd carry it out.

He crept behind her, looking to both sides to see if anyone had caught onto him yet. Slowly (relative to his perspective anyway), he gingerly released the clasp from around her neck, then slid the gold chain from around it and into his pocket.

After a quick look at her tail and a stop at the bar to grab another can of PBR, he returned to his stool and pulled out his phone so as not to arouse suspicion. The world returned to its normal pace, and he tried not to look especially smug.

Thornn fidgeted, looking around with a small, pained noise. God she hated this. So much. She brought her hand up to fiddle with her necklace...

Only to find it gone.

"Oh no, oh no," she whispered, looking around, scanning the floor quickly. Where was it, where was it...?

The scent hit her nose right away, and her head snapped up again, sniffing the air. A young male musk...but that was nothing new. Far too much hair product. God if someone stole it he was going to be impossible to find...

Returning from the bathroom, Eileen immediately noticed something wrong with her girlfriend. Living together had helped to attune her to the ferals emotional state, but more than that, it was just obvious. "What's wrong?" she asked without preamble. She preferred to know what was going on, then they could better find a solution. Especially one that appealed to her.

"My necklace, my necklace is gone," Thornn muttered as she got to her knees to check the floor for it -- though she already knew it wasn't there. "I-I think someone stole it." She scrambled back up, eyes wide as she sniffed the air, trying to zero in on the scent that was strongest closest to her. How had he gotten it without her seeing?

"How did someone steal it?" she asked pragmatically. Thornn had a heightened sense of smell, surely she would have noticed! "I'm sure it fell off somewhere. Let's look for it and we can ask the bartenders if anyone turned it in," she knew how important it was to her.

"I don't know I don't know I don't know..." She muttered over and over as she sniffed along, following the scent the best she could -- her own scent (her necklace she assumed) mixed with something else. The person who had taken it, maybe? Or maybe they'd just found it and they were turning it in, like Eileen had said. that made more sense right? Right?

She grabbed Eileen's hand, determined not to be separated as she sniffed and made her way through the crowd, trying to stay focused. Finally she zeroed in on a man sitting at the bar. "I think he has it," she hissed to her girlfriend.

"That guy?" she asked, not skeptical since they were in a mutant bar, but cautious. "Then let's get it back," the necklace was important to her girlfriend, therefore, getting it back was a priority. Hopefully, it was all a general misunderstanding and things would be resolved quickly.

Thornn hesitated, eyeing the young man. After a moment she took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and walking over to him. "Excuse me." Her voice shook surprisingly little - in fact it almost sounded authoritative. Not bad.

Gabriel turned, beer in hand, to look at the catlike woman approaching him. His eyes widened, since he'd never quite seen anything like her up close. "Yes?" He asked, an eyebrow raised and his voice fairly even.

And just like that, all of her resolve failed. "D-Do you have a cigarette?"

Well, this was just weird. Gabriel tilted his head slightly. "Sure." At least it didn't seem like she was onto him. And there was something kind of thrilling about talking to the unknowing person you'd just duped. "Here." He stood and reached into the pocket of his black jeans, flicking open the top of a pack of Marlboros as he handed it to her.

Thornn took the cigarette she didn't really want, looking back helplessly at Eileen. She knew this man had her necklace -- he reeked of the same disgusting cologne and shampoo she'd picked up before. But she didn't know what to do about it.

Gabriel slid a cigarette out of the box and put it to his own lips. A cigarette sounded like a great idea, and besides, this was just getting uncomfortable. "Have a good night." Why was she still standing there? And who was this other lady? Weird. "Uh, I'm gonna just..." Gabriel just sidled around her, careful not to brush up against her or to step on the tail he had a feeling she probably had.

Seeing as how he'd already settled up with the barkeep, he made his way outside so he could take a few puffs before darting home.

"Wait a sec," Eileen wanted to sigh at Thornn's lack of backbone, but now was not the time or the place "My friend lost her necklace. Have you seen it? It's got a red glass pendant on it?" Let's emphasize that it's not worth anything. That was a good idea. "She it might've dropped over here."

"Necklace? No." That was a bit of a disappointment, but Gabriel tried not to let it show. Even if it wasn't worth anything, there was no way he'd whip the jewelry out of his right pocket now. He turned his head to face the more normal-looking woman, doing his best to look disinterested. "Check with the bartender. He might know something. Maybe someone turned it in." He pulled his lighter out of left pocket and shrugged.

Eileen turned to Thornn, what did she want to do now?

Thornn stared at the man for a moment before taking Eileen's hand and pulling her away. She knew he had it -- she'd caught a faint whiff of her own scent on him, but there was no point in causing a scene in the middle of the bar. "We'll wait for him to leave," she muttered once they were out of his earshot.

Now that was a better plan. As a scientist, Eileen was against violence, but as Thornn's girlfriend and knowing how much that necklace meant to her? Get it back any way possible, "Then we wait," she agreed, "Outside?" the weather was warm enough and it would be easier to see him come out.

"Outside," Thornn agreed, leading Eileen through the crowd towards the door.

After they'd left him, Gabriel rolled his eyes. His heart was pounding, the absurdity of that interaction made him certain he hadn't been caught. Lucky for him, too. Worthless necklace or not, he'd gotten quite the rush from the night, and that pleased him.

He'd stood for a moment before grabbing a crumpled bill out of his pocket and dropping it on the bar. Then, flicking his lighter to light his cigarette, he made his way out the door.