[PRP] Odds and Evens

[Catzandbirdz]

Rouge, meanwhile, had sat with arms crossed through the whole thing. In truth, the clown had been completely surprised and wide-eyed, but all that showed was a stiff line for the mouth and turning of the head. "Ohhhhh-kaaaaaay....?" Rouge raised the swatting hand to point at the pig pile of police and turned to look at Inigo. It looked like the clown was going to say something, then rethought it and smirked. "Told ya we weren't camping here."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, yeah..." He was nervous again, but at least the cops that had found them were now having a nice nap. Hopefully a nice long one, with the emphasis on 'long.' "They can camp here instead," Inigo suggested as he half stood to pull the small Chimecho out of the air with one hand, and the psychic-type's mouth formed a small circle as its tassel wrapped around his arm. "On that note, we probably should find somewhere else to hide or something in case they're not heavy sleepers." He, for one, had no intention of getting arrested. ...or using Hypnosis on a couple cops all day long. Especially if anybody walked by.  

[Catzandbirdz]

"Right you are!" Rouge ducked behind Inigo to grab the small bags that had been stowed in the hiding spot. There wasn't much, and it was all combined into one. The clown then scurried out of the hiding spot, just as an exact duplicate of the clown came jogging around the corner. Well, "exact" if you ignored the bushy tail.

"And just where have you been trotting around?!" Rouge questioned the clone, knuckles on waist and pouting irritably. Clone-Rouge grinned with a chuckled, then morphed in a purple light back to Zero's true Zorua form. Rouge mirrored the grinning response, never having actually been upset. "Take care'a this for me, will ya." Rouge leaned over to hand off the plastic bag. Zero took it by carrying the handle loop in his mouth, then ran off and left the two alone with the snoozing police.

Once Zero was out of sight, the clown twisted slowly on its heels to face Inigo once again. "As for these twooo... Into the pit~?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Inigo watched the second jester arrive, and for a brief moment he was incredibly confused - until it morphed back into a Zorua. That's what they were. Huh, cool. He watched the dark-type run off with the bag, then raised an eyebrow at the clown's words. "Into the..-- oh! Ah, yeah," he said with a chuckle and a lop-sided grin. Since the jester was obviously shorter (and skinnier) than the cops that needed to be moved, the grunt took it upon himself to do it solo. So, he had no qualms stooping down to grab the blanket that had fallen to toss at Rouge. "Mind holding that while I clean up this mess?" He asked with a grin, but didn't wait for a response or reaction before he grabbed the first cop.

After a minute or two the police who'd found them were now 'camping' in the stairwell - it wasn't all that hard to move the two of them, really - so Inigo closed the lid before the small Chimecho moved to hover by his shoulder. "Alright, what now?" He asked of the jester. Should they hide again, or run or something? Obviously they couldn't just stay here.  

[Catzandbirdz]

"First!" Rouge snapped up something that was hidden in the black of the two boots. Holding it up revealed a black Sharpie marker. "Squigglessss!" Rouge answered in a hushed, conspiratory voice and face-breaking grin.

A moment later, the two faces of the police were covered in fake mustaches and smiley faces and clouds and ducks, and the door closed once more with a heavy creak and thud. Rouge looked rather proud of the work. "And now! We gooooo..." the clown rotated in place, and finally pointed in a direction away from the main street, "thataway!" The clown marched onward.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

A confused look fell away to a broad, amused grin as Rouge began drawing all over the cops' faces. Before the lid closed, Inigo tilted his head for a better look, then chuckled. "I think they look better this way," he mused aloud, then grabbed up the blanket before following after the jester. "What's this way?" Hopefully not more cops, but really he just wanted to be anywhere else than near here. Being back on base was safer, but it was just so boring.  

[Catzandbirdz]

Rouge marched ahead in silence, as if not going to grace Inigo's question with an answer. One corner, and two building lengths later, one building away from the next cross street, the clown at last turned on its heel at an alley intersection. "Main street is that way," it said, pointing down the alleyway to Inigo's right. At the end of the corridor, people absorbed in their own lives and shopping bustled by the opening. No one would notice someone emerging from a random alley, and if they did, they wouldn't care enough to think on it. Beyond them, a street with plenty of cars, and more people on the opposite sidewalk. Somewhere, a car horn was being abused.

"Lots of people. Great for blending. Mind the Tauros. Ciao!" The clown waved with a grin, and turned to instead continue marching down the alleyway to Inigo's left. Rouge was heading for a slightly less crowded street by going that way, but seemed to think nothing of it.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Hum? Oh!" Duh, back around to another street. Nobody would notice him, surely, and then he could inconspicuously make his way back to the SUV he'd taken out and then return back to base. No problems. "Gracias," he said with a lop-sided grin. Perfect!

Oh, wait a second.

"Here, you almost forgot this," he said as he held out the blanket once again. He'd bought it for the jester and there was no way he could forget to give it to the clown.  

[Catzandbirdz]

"No I di~dent~" came the sing-song response. The clown kept walking, hands clasped behind its back and swinging its legs high with each step. It didn't look back at the blanket in question.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

For a brief moment, Inigo was confused. For a brief moment, he'd forgotten the clown's stubborn behavior and outright refusal of his gift. For a brief moment, he had forgotten just who he was dealing with.

That was okay, because he could be stubborn too.

"M'not leaving until you take it," he said with a shrug as he turned to follow the jester, blanket in hand and the still confused Chimecho hovering at his shoulder, her long tassel wrapped around his upper arm.  

[Catzandbirdz]

Rouge was becoming even more convinced that this strange blanket-shoving person was crazy. That was okay, because many would argue that Rouge could be flat out insane.

The jester's pace quickened to a brisk walk. Surely Mr. Blanket would get bored of following eventually.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Unfortunately for Rouge, the quickened pace didn't bother Inigo in the slightest. He preferred to be lazy and walk slowly, but he had longer legs and therefore it was much easier to keep up than it otherwise might have been. "Are you not used to people giving you presents or something?" He asked, slinging the blanket over his opposite shoulder so he wouldn't displace the small bell-like pokemon still attached to his upper arm. What other reason could the clown have?  

[Catzandbirdz]

If Rouge had any response to that question, or any thereafter, the clown did a spectacular job at withholding it. The clown was also continuing to walk in what may have classified as an uncharacteristic silence. It barely batted a hidden eye when they emerged from the alley, crossed the street, and continued into another maze of back alleyways and side roads. For the entire trek, Rouge stayed well aware of the lost dog of a human still following behind. The blanket person wasn't exactly wearing stealth moccasins.

After a couple minutes of their two-person-and-one-Chimecho parade, they were entering an alley much like any other. The difference about this alley was the very obvious shadow of a sturdy person ahead. Even with the poor lighting, the figure standing behind a collection of rusty old garbage bins was very poorly concealed. The fact that the figure was at least twice as tall as the tin can containers may also have been partly to blame.

Rouge continued to approach, so far showing no sign of acknowledgement to looming presence ahead. The person started to move into Rouge's direct path: still nothing. It was actually somewhat ridiculous, the person had to be in Rouge's direct line of sight by then. At almost the last instant, when the two were seconds away from bumping shoulders, the person raised a languid arm, putting the hand to the opposite building wall and effectively blocking the path. If it hadn't been clear for Inigo before, he would definitely be able to recognize the figure as a woman with a suggestive smile by now. A very... shapely woman. "Hello, Jack," greeted the woman in a sultry alto of a voice.

The woman was a sight. For starters, she had to be about six-foot tall. Her mane of dark hair stood out in a wild frizz halo of styled waves and curls. The broad hips and shoulders suggested someone who could hold her own. The hint of pudginess to the muscled build spoke of how the woman did not often question the availability of a regular meal, nor did she need to climb buildings to guarantee it. Her neck, ears, wrists and fingers were adorned with gaudy costume jewelry that would put a jewelry clearance rack to shame. When the woman spoke, Rouge at last stopped walking, less than a foot away from contact, and perfectly eye-level with the woman's very generous (and well shown off) amount of cleavage. Everything about this woman screamed big.

That being said, Rouge beamed straight ahead, as if just then noticing the woman was there, hands still clasped behind the back, and cheerfully and enthusiastically greeted, "Hello, Mini!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Inigo shrugged as he followed the short clown. If he -- she? -- it? Whatever wanted to walk in silence, then he could too. As long as the jester didn't leave without taking the blanket he'd brought as a present. Luckily it still wasn't hard at all to keep up; even if Rouge was taking long, full strides, it was still shorter in height than Inigo, and therefore had shorter legs. He didn't mind having an advantage in this case.

Eventually, after several twists and turns down different alleys and pathways, they came to a stop in front of a giant of a woman... In more ways than one. He slowed his pace even as Rouge continued, but he halted when the jester did. Was Jack the jester's real name? He wasn't sure, but it was more than the clown had offered him. The teen watched the exchange with a slowly raising eyebrow, his confusion etched all over his face. He'd never been too good with hiding his emotions anyway. For the time being, however, he remained silent, content to watch the pair while he waited, hands in his pockets, blanket slung over one shoulder and Oriana clinging to the other.  

[Catzandbirdz]

For the moment, Inigo seemed forgotten. "What'll it be, hun?"

"Oh, how kind of you to ask, luv! How's about the usual goods?"

The woman, "Mini," took a step back, allowing more room for leaning forward. Her smile turned sly at forcing Rouge to now address her mask-to-face instead of speaking to the cleavage. Not that this position did anything for hiding said cleavage. Mini certainly did not seemed concerned by this. "Oh, I've got your goods," Mini replied, not once losing the suggestive tone or facial expressions, "if you have the pay."

"Don't I always?"

It was then, as Rouge materialized a few bills from seemingly nowhere, that Mini at last looked past the jester's shoulder, and locked eyes on their audience. Mainly Inigo. "And how's about you? Good looking friend of Jack's; that almost deserves a special deal."

Rouge knew it was all talk--this was Mini, after all--but the clown's hand still briefly paused in the process of showing the money that Mini wasn't even watching. This could get interesting...