you got a way with words, you got away with murder

[heavyhitter]

Who: Ramir and you!
What: Shenanigans with a wanna-be villain, anyone?
Where: Anywhere through LA.
When: any time last month to next month man anything goes
Warnings: probably not!

i:

There's an art to this. You can't look like you're worried about being caught, that just ruins everything. You gotta play it cool. And not just cool, you gotta play it like you've barely even noticed anyone else on the street with you.

And you have to pick your target carefully, too.

Tourists are the best, the ones that haven't caught on yet. Tourists with a backpack hanging obliviously off a shoulder are the very best, but the square of a wallet in a back pocket is doable too. And if you get a golden opportunity with what's probably a local, well, you can't just pass it up.

Ramir has made her choice, and started an ambling walk closer in, hands pocketed. Maybe it's you she's drawing stealthily closer to, or maybe she's being a little less subtle than she'd hoped and is just working in sight of you — either way, she's aiming to be one wallet richer very shortly.

ii:

Okay, now she's got it, and it's genius. Genius, and surprisingly legal. Sort of.

She'd found a box somewhere, a crate, and set it up like a table. It had taken some doing, convincing people to arm wrestle for money. It's not much! Just a $10 entry fee, and if you win, $100 pay out. (Not that she'd had $100 when she started.) But eventually she'd gotten a crowd around her, which is the doing of her spirit of showmanship, and she's been able to keep her strength down to just above the person she's arm wrestling. Give them a show, make it seem real. Like maybe her opponent actually had a chance.

She's earned about $260 so far, and the day is still young. This? This is fun. She should've thought of this way sooner.

"Hey, come on! Check it out, I got an easy $100 for you!" comes her sing-songy tagline, directed at whoever may be headed down the street in her general direction, and her little crowd of amused onlookers provides the perfect backup.

iii:

Legality is fun, and she likes that she's pocketed a neat little $500 or so today, but Ramir never stays amused with any one thing for too long. Which is why she can be found strolling down an evening street now, eying the cars parked along the side. LA never really goes quiet, but evening gives a little cover. A little room to work with.

She won't keep the car, probably. She'll just take it for a little spin, see what it can do, maybe catcall any attractive people she sees... but she'll put it back where she got it.

Probably.

Her hand slides down the hood of a fancy red one as she passes it, and she eyes it speculatively. Yeah. Maybe this one.

iv:

Once in a while, in a great while, Ramir can be found doing something neither illegal nor shady. Sometimes she can be found doing something, like, say... relaxing on a park bench! Oh, the excitement. She sits with both legs folded under her and arms laid out along the back, looking pretty comfortable as she enjoys the breeze that's starting to pick up.

It's just an interlude, she'll be at something shifty again pretty soon... but for now, a quick break.

Comments

[hunter2_0]

"What are you doing?"

Unless Ramir has been paying very close attention to her surroundings, there is a significant chance that Artemis will seem to appear out of nowhere, arms crossed and lips pursed disapprovingly, looking between her and her intended target.

Attempted pickpocketings may not be her usual focus, but frankly, she's got 1) plenty of experience at spotting suspicious behavior and 2) WAY too much free time on her hands. She's just been standing here scanning this crowd for potential criminals for HOURS. Someone find this girl a hobby.

[heavyhitter]

Whoa. Yeah, okay, so that was out from nowhere. Ramir jumps a little, startled, then immediately pulls on the most overly innocent face you've ever seen.

"Who, me?" She looks around, like this chick could possibly be addressing anyone else. "I'm going for a walk! Why, what're you doing?"

[hunter2_0]

Artemis's eyes narrow. She is Not Convinced.

She almost replies "my job" before she remembers that she is not recognized as city-wide law enforcement here. "Reacting to an obvious attempted robbery," she says instead, with more than a hint of snideness, as if she can't believe Ramir thought she could fool her.

So maybe she's not totally used to nobody knowing who she is.

[heavyhitter]

"Whaaaaaaaaaaatttt?" That gets increasingly higher and trails off toward the end, finishing out with an exaggerated toss of her arms. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I think I probably just stumbled onto one of LA's resident totally nutso population. Do you talk to the pigeons, too? Do they have a lot to say?"

She grins as she talks -- clearly, this lady is not being taken too seriously. And what better way to get out of one potential bad thing than annoying her way into something else?

[hunter2_0]

Wow. Why do petty criminals feel the need to make everything so difficult? Artemis seems to take a deep breath, cycling out hot air for cool, and sets Ramir as the focus of a sharp, warning glare.

Her voice drops to a hiss. "This could be easy to resolve, you know. You just walk away, right now, and it can be over, but you are not fooling anyone and you are not helping your case here." She misses the days when 'making a scene' wasn't a problem. It made everything so much easier than... this.

[heavyhitter]

"Wow. That kind of sounds threatening." She hefts her eyebrows up extra high for maximum innocence.

"What'd I even do? I looked at a guy's butt, that's about it. And if that's a crime, girl, you better take me away and be done with it!" She thrusts out both hands toward her, wrists together. "Go on! I don't want to live in a free world where I can't even scope a butt in peace."

[pullingamiko]

Miko just happens to glance up from her phone, and just happens to be paying just the precise amount of attention that, for a moment, all that registers is a red car (which she's been keeping an eye out for anyway) and some girl touching it (which she wasn't expecting quite so much). She stops where she is, just a few feet off, and immediately starts to call out, more amused and anticipatory than concerned, "Yo, hey, you might not want to-"

Then she gets a better look at the car and, oh hey, she doesn't recognize it. "...actually, never mind. False alarm." She waves a hand dismissively and looks back to her phone, as if that will totally make everything that just happened make perfect sense to any random person.

[heavyhitter]

She glances back over her shoulder (still playing it cool, and hey, it's not totally improbably that this is actually her car) with a little frown at the sound of a voice, and... pauses. That's not really the "hey you knock it off" she was expecting. She waits a few seconds, like there's gonna be more, then half-turns toward Miko.

"...False alarm for what?" she asks, a little suspicious.

[pullingamiko]

"Okay, so-" Miko stops again, looking back up after a last couple taps. If she has an excuse to talk about this, she's taking it. Sure, she had legitimately wanted to warn Ramir about the risks of touching nice red cars around here, but if that turned out not to e necessary - hey, doesn't mean she's just going to leave it.

"Y'know how there are those giant alien robots that turn into crap? One of 'em is a red car - a little like that, not quite the same though - and he is an asshole." She shrugs. "Figured I should warn you, just in case. 'Cuz, seriously. He is such an asshole."

[heavyhitter]

She looks immediately interested, turning around to forget about the car and focus on Miko. Miko who, it should be noted, has pretty neat hair. Not bad.

"You've met him?" She grins a little, with slowly growing enthusiasm. "What one's that? I met the jet, the bitchy gray guy -- I haven't met any cars, though."

[pullingamiko]

Hell yeah she has neat hair, congrats on the Correct Opinion.

Her face lights up at the mention of Ramir's encounter with one of them. "Oh man, I think I saw that one, like, once. And the red guy's name is Knock Out - some kinda European sports car, and he's got these flame decals on his arms. Doors. Whatever, they are literally the same on him."

[heavyhitter]

"Really?" She looks impressed about the door flame thing, then glances speculatively over at the red car present. So his doors are his arms, huh...

After a few seconds of thorough consideration, she glances back over at Miko again.

"Where do you think they keep their junk?"

Someone ask to ask the important questions.

option i

[sufferist]

Ramir is probably scouting for victims when she sees this piece of work - a fully grown Alternia in dirty institutional clothing, wandering the streets like he has no idea what he's doing or where he is. His feet are bare on the concrete.

She startles him when they pass by each other, and he takes a few steps back until he meets the wall. He doesn't say anything, he just stares at her warily, like he's judging whether or not she's a threat. Quiet subvocalizations rumble in his throat - a subtle warning.

[heavyhitter]

Wow. You don't just sweep a gaze half-seeing over a guy like that. Ramir was going to glance over him and move to the next promising-looking guy, but instead the Alternian fully captures her attention. She stops when he does, because, again, how can you not. She stares openly, then cocks a grin at him.

"Hey. What's the haps, horns?"

That's totally how you treat an obvious alien, right...?

[sufferist]

He shies back a little when she speaks to him, like he thinks it's going to bite. He regards her warily, his ears folding back flat to the sides of his head.

"What do you want?" There is an edge of defensive aggression, but mostly he just sounds earnest scared.

[heavyhitter]

Okay, so he's twitchy. That's fine. Ramir talks to a lot of nervous, twitchy people. She lifts both hands, placating, then drops them to stuff into her pockets.

"Not much," she says lightly. "That's a shitty way to go through life, wanting shit all the time. Why, what do you want?"

[sufferist]

Man he is so not zoned for existential questions right now. Also it seems kind of bizarre asking that question to some vagrant wandering the streets in filthy rags but whatever. His gaze falls to the ground at his feet.

"I don't know," he mutters, but he's thinking about it now, not for the first time.

Option i

[wreckerscombine]

Rotorstorm might not have too much experience with pickpockets per se, but she does know when she’s being followed. And this girl’s been trailing her too long for it to be plain old coincidence. Even so, she doesn’t make any sudden movements to give herself away – wallet staying firmly in her back pocket.

There isn’t anywhere she needs to be, and if nothing else she’s getting curious. So in a snap decision, she starts slowing down to a more leisurely stroll and veers off her original course. The path she’s turned towards is still crowded, but not as claustrophobic as the main roads, and she’s hoping to fish for some kind of reaction out of this would-be stalker.

[heavyhitter]

She's pretty sure, like, pretty sure, that this chick is onto her.

She's also pretty sure that she doesn't really mind that. Whoever this is, Ramir kinda likes the look of her. So where she'd normally drop off and pick a target that's keeping to the populated areas, Ramir instead keeps right behind -- far away enough that it could be accidental, close enough not to lose her.

Game on, lady.

[wreckerscombine]

So…still gonna follow her, huh?

She should…probably be at least a bit worried that someone’s tailing her, but it’s almost flattering in a way. Not to mention more exciting than anything else that’s happened lately. Who knew - even in a city like this you could get bored.

Getting a better look at this girl might help her get a read on the threat level, at least. Outright turning around would be kinda obvious, so Rotorstorm slows down to a near stop as she reaches a long stretch of display windows – tilting her head and pretending to window-shop.

[heavyhitter]

Wait, is she onto her? Ramir can't tell. She's quick to slow down in turn, and busies herself with — aw, shit, she lost her temporary phone a few days ago, now what's she supposed to stop on the sidewalk to fiddle with? She ends up pulling a wad of paper out from her pocket instead (how did she even collect that much random crap, it's a mystery), scoots to the side out of the way of any foot traffic, and digs through it like she's looking for something in particular, with Rotorstorm kept firmly in her periphery.

You can keep moving again any time from now, lady. She just needs to get a liiiittle closer...

[wreckerscombine]

Out of the corner of her eye, Rotorstorm catches sight of someone moving to the side and there’s a pretty good chance that it’s her stalker. The reflections in the windows aren’t exactly crystal clear, so it takes a second for her to get a glimpse of anyone that’s stopped nearby. They’re still too far apart for it to really matter, except she can see that the girl’s…doing what? Too many people passing by to tell.

After few more seconds, she starts walking again – slower now, and keeping close to the stretch of windows.

casually heaps all of my characters on ramir

[neonmonstrosity]

Chris may not be the most observant tool in the shed, but he knows a grift when he sees one. He's almost content to just keep walking on - places to be, training to do - but the jeering of the crowd gets him to change course and head over to her box.

"Yeah?" He grins and rolls up his sleeve, showing off a very obviously mechanised arm, "sure about that?"

OPENS ARMS, TAKES THEM ALL. very belatedly.

[heavyhitter]

Oh-ho. Ramir has never tried her strength against a mechanized arm, and despite how this could totally blow her cover, she has to admit that she's interested. She's stronger than anyone else she's met so far, but is she stronger than a crazy robodude?

Still, for the sake of appearances, she swallows her grin and cocks a brow at him. "Okay, that? That looks like cheating to me, buddy."

The crowd, however, seems to be on Chris's side, that she give it a try. Disloyal asshats.

[neonmonstrosity]

"Hey, man. I'm just takin' you up on your offer." He's grinning, like he's not trapping her in between a rock and a hard place here. Not that he wants to be a dick, but hey. At least he's open about it instead of pretending he hasn't got an advantage here like some people. "If you don't wanna do it, no one's gonna judge you."

Yes they are. People are so fickle.