Beaks
Wacky Woohoo Pizza Sadness Man
"Aaaand of course they're waiting for me there." Chase's eyes were barely ventured over the edge of the shack's uneven roof, but it was more than enough to see that the Sharpes had been kind enough to send some hired help to await the runner at their home.
The thoughts and plans buzzed around in the runner's brain like flies celebrating a fresh corpse, with each scenario forming, encountering obstacles, and falling dead and defeated next to their celebrated kill. The flies had all fallen after a moment or two, leaving Chase exactly where they started. The odds were good that for every hired goon Chase saw outside there was another one already inside, expecting the runner to try and sneak in quietly to retrieve what gear they could. Which admittedly, was exactly what Chase was there to do.
Cribbage fidgeted idly on Chase's left shoulder, managing to keep one eye trained on the runner while the other moved lazily from target to target. The little creature seemed finally tired of watching its handler mentally exhausting themselves, and spoke directly into the runner's overtaxed mind.
"You need to treat this like the loss it is. Your home, and everything in it, is now theirs. Even if you manage to sneak inside and take a few things-" The creature's tongue came out, wiping a fresh trail of mucous across its hide. "-which you won't by the way, it will only make matters worse."
"Meaning?" The runner gave the familiar an annoyed glance before looking back to the men and women sitting below.
"Meaning-" Both of the creature's monocular eyes fixed firmly on Chase. "-those brothers will not see this as you getting a few of your possessions before fleeing. They will see it as you stealing from them."
Chase turned to Cribbage with the start of indignant anger plain on their face, but it fell away quickly as the familiar's words finished. Of course it was looking at this objectively, the way Chase should have been looking at it. The runner didn't expect Elias to keep his word on simply letting them turn tail and disappear, but if Chase stole from the Sharpes now? None of the outcomes down that particular road of thinking ended well for them.
"Fine, I leave this to them. Then what? If my cache is still where I left it-"
"Which is a rather large 'if." Cribbage cut the thought off cleanly, then returned to waiting for Chase to reach the right conclusion.
"-if its there, great. The gear wasn't top shelf when I hid it, but I can get it in working order enough to find work." Despite the countless thoughts intersecting, colliding, or petering into unfinished and meandering ends, Chase managed to find one small piece of solace in what had been a thoroughly unsettling day.
"Thank you for talking to me like this, Crib."
"What other way would I do so?" The creature's reply held a note of confusion, which only made Chase crack a smile.
"No other way, I guess. I just enjoy getting to speak clearly to someone, even if its only in my mind." The runner took a few quiet steps backwards, easing towards the rear or the rooftop and farther out of sight of those below.
"Without your uneven speech." Cribbage's two eyes returned to taking in the world around them, a clear gesture of it trying not to put Chase on the spot.
"Yeah." With the place they had called home firmly behind them, the runner started off towards another corner of the undercity, and hopefully towards a change in the day's luck. The sun had long since set but Chase moved with as much speed and determination as they could muster, repeating a mantra of sorts as they grew closer.
"Get the gear. Get to Little City. Stay beneath notice."
"Feed your friend." The familiar's reply was sharp, but for the second time that day the runner managed an honest smile.
"That too."
[666 words (Unintended)]
The thoughts and plans buzzed around in the runner's brain like flies celebrating a fresh corpse, with each scenario forming, encountering obstacles, and falling dead and defeated next to their celebrated kill. The flies had all fallen after a moment or two, leaving Chase exactly where they started. The odds were good that for every hired goon Chase saw outside there was another one already inside, expecting the runner to try and sneak in quietly to retrieve what gear they could. Which admittedly, was exactly what Chase was there to do.
Cribbage fidgeted idly on Chase's left shoulder, managing to keep one eye trained on the runner while the other moved lazily from target to target. The little creature seemed finally tired of watching its handler mentally exhausting themselves, and spoke directly into the runner's overtaxed mind.
"You need to treat this like the loss it is. Your home, and everything in it, is now theirs. Even if you manage to sneak inside and take a few things-" The creature's tongue came out, wiping a fresh trail of mucous across its hide. "-which you won't by the way, it will only make matters worse."
"Meaning?" The runner gave the familiar an annoyed glance before looking back to the men and women sitting below.
"Meaning-" Both of the creature's monocular eyes fixed firmly on Chase. "-those brothers will not see this as you getting a few of your possessions before fleeing. They will see it as you stealing from them."
Chase turned to Cribbage with the start of indignant anger plain on their face, but it fell away quickly as the familiar's words finished. Of course it was looking at this objectively, the way Chase should have been looking at it. The runner didn't expect Elias to keep his word on simply letting them turn tail and disappear, but if Chase stole from the Sharpes now? None of the outcomes down that particular road of thinking ended well for them.
"Fine, I leave this to them. Then what? If my cache is still where I left it-"
"Which is a rather large 'if." Cribbage cut the thought off cleanly, then returned to waiting for Chase to reach the right conclusion.
"-if its there, great. The gear wasn't top shelf when I hid it, but I can get it in working order enough to find work." Despite the countless thoughts intersecting, colliding, or petering into unfinished and meandering ends, Chase managed to find one small piece of solace in what had been a thoroughly unsettling day.
"Thank you for talking to me like this, Crib."
"What other way would I do so?" The creature's reply held a note of confusion, which only made Chase crack a smile.
"No other way, I guess. I just enjoy getting to speak clearly to someone, even if its only in my mind." The runner took a few quiet steps backwards, easing towards the rear or the rooftop and farther out of sight of those below.
"Without your uneven speech." Cribbage's two eyes returned to taking in the world around them, a clear gesture of it trying not to put Chase on the spot.
"Yeah." With the place they had called home firmly behind them, the runner started off towards another corner of the undercity, and hopefully towards a change in the day's luck. The sun had long since set but Chase moved with as much speed and determination as they could muster, repeating a mantra of sorts as they grew closer.
"Get the gear. Get to Little City. Stay beneath notice."
"Feed your friend." The familiar's reply was sharp, but for the second time that day the runner managed an honest smile.
"That too."
[666 words (Unintended)]