[PRP] Odds and Evens

[Catzandbirdz]

It was supposed to be a quieter day for the clown. Rouge had collected a fair amount over the past week, and now it was time for a week of lower profile. That meant performing at alleyway entrances, without the typical hollering to draw a crowd. Lower payout, sure, but it allowed for a quicker getaway if any uniforms or the usual less-than-friends were spotted. The hole in the hat had since been "repaired," if a rusty safety pin and some quick stitching with weathered thread could count as such.

On a rooftop down and across the street, a seemingly normal Pidgey kept silent watch.

Another passerby dropped some spare change into the juggler's bowl, which was today sitting atop a foot-high pedestal the clown had constructed out of the surrounding snow. Rouge grinned and halted the juggling in order to bow. "Thank you kindly, good man! Much obliged~" The stranger kept walking as if nothing had happened. So rude.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

In the middle of the bow, a pair of booted feet suddenly entered the jester's field of vision. The feet were swiftly accompanied by the metallic clink of more change dropping into the bowl. Something else fell as well, although it was much larger than spare change and didn't sound quite so solid. A plastic bag dropped with a soft thwump into the snow next to the make-shift pedestal, its contents partially visible through the translucent plastic material the bag was made of. At the very least the colors were easily apparent - black and red.

If the clown looked up, it would see a familiar face - the one it had deemed 'crazy guy who follows strangers'. "Hey you," Inigo said with a lop-sided grin. After a week being base-ridden with a set of crutches to deal with the sprained ankle he'd received upon their last meeting, he was finally rid of the things and could come back to the city. The first thing he did, contrary to what most people would have done, was purchase something for the pickpocket who'd stolen his wallet.  

[Catzandbirdz]

"Oooh, all the best to-" Rouge had started to say in a sing-song voice, but momentarily stiffened when something other than change hit the ground. At long last, the clown looked up, then straightened up to better study this person who was obviously out of his right-mind. "Are you in the habit of dropping things often?" the clown asked in a childishly curious tone, crossing one arm to support the other at the elbow, and touching an index finger to the chin.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Inigo stuffed his gloved hands into the pockets of his jacket. "Una pregunta buena. Ah, it depends," the obviously not-in-his-right-mind-crazy-person said with a shrug as his grin lessened into a smile. It was still a bit lop-sided. "But usually not. I do when it's a gift though. For you," he clarified with a nod at the plastic bag, still sitting innocently in the snow. Thankfully it didn't have any holes in the bottom of it.  

[Catzandbirdz]

Rouge looked at the bag... looked at Inigo... looked at the bag... looked at Inigo, "Sorry, Spanish, but this clown's not for hire." The jester picked up the change bowl, and both it and the contents disappeared down into the puffy pants part of the costume. All signs indicated that the clown was preparing to leave.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

It was Inigo's turn to be confused, and his expression obviously showed this. "For hire? What do you mean?" What would he even hire a clown for? Well, you hired clowns for little kid's birthday parties, but his little sister didn't even like clowns. "No no, this is just a gift." As if to emphasize this, he picked the bag up and lifted out the object it contained.

The object was a folded and rolled-up fleece blanket with a black and red design, obviously newly bought, and Inigo held the present out to the jester. "If it helps at all, we can be even now." The clown did give him that bottle of water and those pills that it should've kept for itself, seeing as how it obviously had to rely on the charity (voluntary or not) of strangers to stay alive.  

[Catzandbirdz]

Rouge continued to eye the "gift" with suspicion. Of course, since the eyes were as hidden as always, only the grim line for a mouth could be seen. The clown shrugged one shoulder and grinned. "Nope! Already even. Like a Plusle an' a Minun." With a wave over the shoulder, it turned and started strolling down the alleyway.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I could put it in your change bowl if that'd help," he offered casually, tucking the empty bag and the rolled-up blanket under one arm as he followed the jester, sticking both hands into his pockets. At least the clown was back to being nonsensical again. ...except that actually made sense. Eh, same thing.

"Ah, that's where you're wrong - we're not even," he reiterated, then with a flick of his wrist he was holding the blanket out on one hand from under his arm, the other hand still in his pocket. "Which is why I got this for you." Well, he got it specifically because the poor clown was homeless, but he did owe the jester.  

[Catzandbirdz]

"Didn't call any of those Growlithe-totters." The clown pivoted on the toe of one boot to face Inigo. "Thus! E-eeeeee- uh oh." The totally-not-suspicious-Pidgey on the roof was moving. Both wings, then the left wing, right, left, double right.

The grin dropped. If it was even possible, the clown suddenly looked... nervous. Then serious. Then displeased. "So... you did call them." It was odd, but the clown felt strangely... hurt. Perhaps they weren't so even after all. It was about then that a whistle could be heard coming from the street they had been leaving. Police. At least two of them, and being led by a third person. Rouge shrugged again with a smirk. "Didn't peg you for a Trapinch."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Growlithe-totters...? The confusion on Inigo's face couldn't have been more evident. "The what..?" Actually, no - it could. Why did the clown suddenly sau uh-oh? That couldn't be good. Oi, carajo, were those jerks from before back? "Call wh--"

The sudden, shrill whistle confused him more for only a second or two, and the moment he realized what it meant was incredibly obvious. His body stiffened as his head snapped to the direction the whistle had come from, the bewilderment dropping from his expression just as quickly as it morphed into a nervous fear. "Aha ha, you wouldn't," he said in a much more nervous tone than how he usually spoke, moving past the jester much more quickly than he'd been moving for the past week and made to pull its arm. Away from the police. "And you'd be right. Oi, carajo.. You couldn't pay me to call la policía." s**t, this was not what he'd predicted would happen when he came to the city today, not at all. He really had no desire to be arrested ever. Carajo.  

[Catzandbirdz]

Hold the presses, what? This guy was trying to get away from the police too? That was unexpected. Rouge silently allowed being pulled along, but some issues were quickly becoming obvious. Number one, this guy had hurt some part of his leg during their last encounter, and their running pace indicated that it had yet to fully heal. Number two, that injury was not going to be helped by running long distances now. And for number three... this guy obviously didn't know where he was leading them. Too many straight lines.

Still, might as well humor him. Not like the police some ways behind them were exactly track runners. "Can't pay ya anyway. Then we wouldn't be even!" Cue another grin, as if everything about this was normal.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

If Inigo realized any of the three things Rouge did, he showed absolutely no indication of any of them. Well, except the last one. He knew that one, at least. ...hopefully. "Nah, we're even now. I wouldn't call anyone on you unless I wanted to get myself arrested too," he explained quickly, since that was an easy thing to explain, and he made a random turn that seemed like it would lead them away from the cops. He really was going painfully slow, wasn't he? Actually yes, it was a little painful. Crap.

There was no way he could outrun the police if they managed to catch sight of them, so he finally calmed his nerves enough to stop and look at his fellow thief. "Where should we go? You know this city way better than I do." Now if they were in the forest, it would be an entirely different story. Completely different.  

[Catzandbirdz]

The jester grinned and gave a bow, letting the arrest comment slide for now. "Funny you should ask. This way, if you will~" Inigo was right. In a manner of speaking, areas like these were where the jester held court. And Rouge was nothing if not knowledgeable of its own domain.

That said, Rouge skipped down a narrow alleyway that was almost hidden by the large dumpsters on either side of the entrance. To one side were the angled, double doors leading down to a building's walk-up basement. Or was it? "Figured this one out a couple years back. Not the best, but it works and it's closer than some other options."

From the outside, it looked like a typical metal door setup, complete with chain and padlock keeping it safely shut. But Rouge didn't reach for the rusted old pull handles. No, Rouge went for the left side, pulling up on the two hinges. Both hinges came away from the cement with ease, revealing the stairway underneath. The stairway was cut short by where the building owners had long since bricked up the exterior entrance, making for a nice (albeit somewhat grungy) cubbyhole in which they could hide.

Being able to store a couple rolled up plastic bags with things in them in one corner-- as had been done-- was just a bonus.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The grunt was incredibly relieved that the jester didn't even hesitate to help him again. Then again, it was also helping itself at the same time, so that kind of evened it out a bit. Regardless of how even they were at this point, he followed the clown until they stopped in front of... what appeared to be a locked storm cellar. Actually, it was locked - good thing it had a two-way door. "That makes it better than some other options at the moment, huh?" He asked rhetorically, but wasted no time in climbing in. Surprisingly it wasn't too bad - cold and not as clean as he was used to, but considering the circumstances he wasn't about to complain a bit.

He was sort of surprised to find he was still holding onto the blanket just fine, but shrugged it off for the moment and made room for the jester so they could both fit, and tried not to kick the bags that he just noticed were there. "What's in those?" He asked, green eyes focusing on them momentarily. Despite the hiding place, he was still really nervous.  

[Catzandbirdz]

Rouge followed quickly after Inigo. A little work to get the hinges back in place and viola! Rouge turned its head to glance back at what Inigo was inquiring about. "Oh, those?" The clown flippantly waved toward the bags, though very little light filtered in at all around the edges to the door. "Don't worry. Nothing that will explode." A pause. "Supposedly."