On the Prowl (Kuro)

[thatdirtyhobo]

Krasus enjoyed summertime as much as the next person, really he did. Yet what he didn't like was when Loguetown with its place on the map, had the tendency to get a heck of a lot of unwelcome heat. It was easy to deal with for the civilians in town. Just go outside, close your coffee shops, take the day off. He glared forward, his brows heavy and a scowl on his face. A drip of sweat slowly tracing its way down his brow and onto his nose. It was hot, and with all the local coffee shops closed, he was cranky.

He strode purposefully down the road, taking in his surroundings. He was still on the job, and as hot as it was, he had a patrol to do. Just a few more hours and the sun would set, then the shops would open back up and he could get his coffee. He only had to last a few more hours. That's all. His lavender eyes scanned the surrounding area, hoping that he wouldn't spot any sort of illicit activity. What dirtbag in their right mind would commit crimes in this heat? He tried to rationalize that all criminals were allergic to sweltering summer days. Sighing heavily he conceded "That sounds stupid..." he grumbled under his breath.

Krasus was tall, and cut in all the right places. His face was gruff and his jet black hair in an untidy pony-tail. He made for one hell of a sight, and one dangerous looking marine. Most other marines in Loguetown preferred to stay shaven. He forgot sometimes, though his superiors usually overlooked that. After all, Krasus was strong, and a great asset to the Marines. That being said, he resented sometimes that he was put up to looking out for pickpockets on the streets. There were pirates out there and evil devil fruit users. Weren't they a more important target?

Checking his watch he decided to take a short break before resuming his patrol. There was a small tavern just a block ahead with its open sign still out. He strode up and pressed on the door. It swung free and he stepped inside. Krasus, wearing his basic marine uniform must have made a hell of a sight. On top of his gruff appearance he smelled of coffee, tobacco, grease and gunpowder. A few of the men in the pub shifted in their seats. One muttered a rumor that Krasus was a devil fruit user. Though true, Krasus ignored the comment.

He strode up to the counter. "You got coffee?" He asked, his eyes heavy and his head throbbing. The woman behind the counter gawked at him for a moment before nodding furiously. "Good, get me a pot of it and a whole bunch of ice." He said with a grunt, putting a small stack of berri's on the table. "Thanks." She nodded briskly and went off to procure the order.

[Kurosaki]

Why in the heck she had decided to return to Roguetown was beyond her. There was nothing here for her, really. There hadn't ever been. But Roguetown wasn't the reason why Christine was in the East Blue. This was just one stop to something much greater. The treasure of Woonan Island that was supposed to be quite a large sum had peaked her interest enough to return to the East Blue and track it down. But of course, the best place to stop on a journey like that was Roguetown to get restocked. Besides, she had started to get sick of spending so much time with the crew that she had hopped on board with.

Honestly, it hadn't been that bad of a journey. Despite the fact that the vessel she had traveled on had been a Marine one.

A Marine one!? Wasn't she a thief?

Well, they didn't know that. Also, once she had told them how much she wanted out of the Grand Line, while crying, some of the soldiers had felt so bad for her that they had sneaked her on board.

It wasn't like she had lied, though, right? She had wanted out of the Grand Line, after all. But not because she couldn't handle it.

Then again, her funds were running low because of her mishaps there. So maybe starting her journey again in the Blues was the best bet.

Scowling to herself as she remembered the failures of her last attempt at theft, Christine picked up her mug and took a sip of her drink. Her black eyes shifted as another person entered the tavern; a large man with his hair tied back into a ponytail and an unshaven look. The man ordered an entire pot of coffee and requested ice with it.

What, was he going to make a latte or something? He didn't quite look like the fancy coffee type though. Then again, you couldn't judge a book by it's cover.

Though something about him made Christine a little on edge. He reminded her that she was on an Island full of Marines and while she had gotten away with her petty thefts on the Island before she had split, there was still a slight possibility someone would remember her from her younger days. Most likely not, since, well she had been a kid. But still.

Once the conversation picked up again in the tavern, Christine leaned her head on her hand and rested her elbow on her table and just listened in on some of what was being said to placate her boredom.

"Did you see that guy with all the jewelry arrive on the docks, earlier? From his head to his toes," said one person nearby, peaking Christine's interest. Nothing of interest had cropped up until then. Mostly talks about fishing and what sort of injuries they had sustained getting the best catches.

"Yeah, looked like he was loaded or something. You don't think that he's some sort of noble?"

"I don't know, man, but he had some sort of body guards around him," replied the first man. "Must be nice to live in the lap of luxury, haha. Not like almost losing your hand to a giant tuna! Did I tell you about-"

That was when Christine tuned back out.

Though this man was being protected and most likely was someone very important, that didn't mean that it was enough to stop an thief like her. Especially if she waited for the prime opportunity to strike by tailing them for a bit. And who knew Roguetown better than her who had grown up so well? A few simple maneuvers and she could separate them, corner them off and be in and out so fast they wouldn't know what hit them.

Pushing her chair back and then standing up and shelling out some beri for a tip onto the table, Christine looked around casually before walking out of the tavern. She fanned herself with her hand. Well, it was certainly hot enough, now wasn't it? She was definitely going to work up a sweat today because of her target. She turned and headed toward the docks, intent on going down there to question anyone who might have seen the man with his entourage arriving.

[thatdirtyhobo]

Krasus listened quietly to the conversation. Honestly it didn't matter to him one bit why the person showed up in town. Nor did he care how much money they made. The only thing that mattered was whether or not they came to town to cause trouble, and if they were pirates. So far, he didn't have any evidence that lead him to a negative conclusion, so it didn't matter to him. It just didn't - ah! There's the coffee.

The woman placed a pot of hot coffee down in front of him. There was enough room to pour the ice that was placed next to it into the pot itself. He reached over, watching the young woman nearby rise and move to slip out of the room. Something about her stance, her poise, it reminded him of a cat in a way, someone who had practice controlling their own movements.

He crushed the ice quickly, pouring it into his coffee. It steamed for a moment before cooling down. He rose to his feet, the door shutting behind the woman, and he drank. The tavern fell into a stunned silence as he drank deeply from the pot, not stopping, even to breathe. He was a marine, drinking coffee was nothing compared to the binge drinking contests that often came up during time off.

Placing the empty pot down on the counter, he left another few berries next to it. "For your trouble, ma'am." He said, nodding his head and turning for the door. The cool liquid in his stomach, laced with caffene, made him feel fantastic. He breathed deep, a smile coming to his face, and he pushed the door open.

Looking to the right he spotted the girl, heading straight toward the docks. He strode quickly after her, raising his right hand and waving while calling out "Hey! Girlie!" he shouted, his left hand shoved into his pocket. "Hold up." He said aloud, walking briskly after her.

[Kurosaki]

It didn't matter to her who her target was if they were rich. That was the only requirement before she stole from someone. Be it Pirate, Noble, etc that part didn't matter as long as at the end of the day she got away swiftly and easily. In addition to that, of course, she first would gather up as much information about them so that she didn't get herself into a bind. She would still steal from a pirate but pirates were more likely to have fighting capabilities and be more of a nuisance to get away from.

As she started to walk away from the tavern, she got about a block down the way before she heard a shout for her to hold up. Some people in the crowd on the walkway looked at the large man in confusion as he briskly made his way over to the black haired woman. Christine stopped and turned with an eyebrow raised. It was the man from earlier that had ordered the pot of coffee. What, had he changed his mind about his order? She sort of doubted he would have drank it all in such a short span of time.

Because she didn't know what he wanted, she stayed in one spot with her arms folded in front of her and waited for him to catch up to her.

"The name's Christine," she corrected once he was close enough to hear her well enough without her shouting over the people walking past. They had all turned their attentions back to what they were doing. Christine placed a hand on her hip and looked up at the man, wondering what this was all about.

"Can I help you? Mr...?" she started, gesturing with a hand to try to coax him to fill in the blank for her as to who he was. She really wanted to know firstly if she should be worried but then reminded herself that her face wasn't well known at all since most of her crimes she had always committed at night.

The faster that he told her who he was and what he wanted, the better for her. That way she could still catch the relatively fresh trail from the rich man that had docked recently. Maybe forcing him to walk with her would be the best way but she didn't want to reveal her intentions or her interest in what had been said in the tavern so she stood there in one spot, feeling anxious.

At the worse case scenario? Somehow he decided to tail her further or hold out a long conversation? Well, that would be when she would use her skills to make it short. A few acrobatic maneuvers and she could easily flip over a nearby fence, scale that building next to them and use the rooftops to get to where she was going. She smiled as the old map of Roguetown that she had designed in her head came back to show her how easily she could make it there that way.

[thatdirtyhobo]

Krasus caught up quickly, striding confidently toward her. He rolled his shoulders casually, straightening the white coat he always wore with his Marine uniform. It hung heavy on his arms, and would have been terribly hot on this hot day if it hadn't been for that cold coffee he just had. Coffee always made him feel better, even if it seemed absolutely crazy, it always did. Maybe it was the caffiene in it, it improved bloodflow and so helped restore some normality to his body when he used is devil fruit powers.

Calling up his own mental map of the city he reasoned out the shortest possible course to the shore. She was taking at least the first part. He considered his options, but decided on an indirect role. "You seem to be in a bit of a hurry Miss. Heading to the docks?" He said casually, falling into step with her. "My patrol ends there, so I'd be happy to escort you. On a hot day like this there aren't a lot of people on the street, dangerous for a young lady like yourself." He said, putting on a polite a face as possible.

He gestured toward the path she had already set herself on. "Usually I don't do the day patrol. I'm a night shift guy. You know, pickpockets and cat burglars are my specialty." He winked, pretending to think that sounded impressive. Which was hogwash of course, no one was impressed by a guy who hunted cat burglars. That wasn't the point though. He wanted a reaction, a man who was good at catching thieves knew how thieves walked and carried themselves. A strong enough reaction was all he needed to press the case.

Obviously you're not familiar with how things work in My Loguetown... Krasus thought to himself. You're about to find out....

[Kurosaki]

Something him made her nervous. Maybe he was already onto her. Like a wild hunch that he had? Why that would be, she didn't know but she didn't like it.

He asked her if she was in a hurry and if she was heading to the docks. He offered to escort her because his patrol was ending. The Marine, which was now obvious by his method of talking about patrolling, continued on to say that a day like right now was dangerous because there wouldn't be that many people on the street.

Yeah, in broad daylight? Come on. Even if it was hot, there were going to be plenty of people at the docks because they had work to do. He obviously was looking for an excuse to tail her to where her destination was.

Christine looked hard at him, her eyebrows furrowed and a look on her face that read that she knew exactly what he was all about.

He went on to tell her that his normal patrol was at night and that pickpockets and cat burglars were his specialty. So, perhaps he had seen her before. Even though it had been so long since she had been on this Island. Who even knew? A year? More?

"Ah, pickpockets and cat burglars, you say? Sounds impressive," Christine said, chumming him up a little bit. She wasn't exactly lying. After all, it was difficult to catch someone skilled like herself. At least, she had common sense and some real street smarts that kept her out of the hands of men like this.

"Yes, I am headed to the docks. I believe that there's a person I might know there and I figured I would go see him," Christine said, looking all the world innocent as could be. She wasn't exactly lying. She didn't lie to people, but skirted the truth.

"It's nice of you to try to protect me, Marine-san. But I know that you've probably had a busy day full of all those big bad pirates and pickpockets. So, I'm good from here. See, you can even see the docks from where we're standing," Christine pointed out, a slight smile on her face as she pointed one long finger in front of them. Sure enough, a few ships were even visible from where they were now.

She continued to smile a little bit but her eyes were actually challenging him. How far would he push this? She was just an innocent person walking to the docks. Tailing her to see if she would do anything was pushing the boundaries, but once she told him that she didn't need his assistance, would he back off or would he continue to pursue it?