The sweet scent of the sea (Open)

[Adeline]

It was one of the few days this month when it wasn't raining, and, even though you couldn't see the sun, you could feel it trying to poke out from behind the melancholy clouds. Tired from her researching in the basement of Groves' (she was determinedly attempting to expand her reading ability), Adeline decided it was a nice day to venture outdoors.

Complete with her frock coat and tripoint hat, the tiger had travelled to the Walk, a place she hadn't been for a while. It was mid-afternoon, so after buying a name-brand beer from a street vendor (it wasn't nearly as good as the rum mix she could get at Angelo's, but she couldn't take that outside), she just walked along the street, casually watching all the people around her: the families out to stretch their legs and let their children release pent up energy, the pro-skyboarders risking the altitude and performing fantastic feats in midair, and the young couples walking along, perhaps a hot coffee in hand...

She hadn't felt so uninhibited in a while, and the scent of the sea was strong in the wind. Her frock coat was billowing backwards, and to innocent bystanders, if one were to look at her just right, she could be compared to the great pirate captains of lore. A reminiscent look fell over the tiger's eye, and she absentmindedly walked to the edge of the Walk, putting her hands on the railing and leaning slightly over, looking down, pretending she was back on her parent's ship, and they were sailing away from some coastal, tropical island...

She was 16 and she was looking down at the sea, sun reflecting off of it and giving the water that glassy, sparkly like surface it had on such beautiful days as this one. She saw a pod of dolphins (or was it a school, or a pack? She didn't know for sure) and longed to jump out into the water and join the swimming group. She was 16 and had never set foot in St. Lucent. She was young and didn't know the horrors of cold city streets and gangs and technology. She was free to roam where she liked, well where her parents sailed the ship, and she was uninhibited.

A hand reached out to pull her back from the railing and she turned to see the handsome young sailor who'd just recently been hired to the crew. He was a fox, and a clever, mischevious one at that. She had had her eye on him when he'd first arrived, and he made no delay in introducing himself with a charming air. She in turn had been pleasantly charming, and flirting had most definitely ensued. It seemed as if he was intent on continuing that flirting.

"You must be cold miss," he said to her, taking her hand and smirking, his golden eyes twinkling.

She laughed demurely, meeting his eyes. "It's too much of a beautiful day to let the cold wind keep me from enjoying it."

His smirk just grew wider. "You know, Miss Sumar, perhaps we could go down below and warm you up a bit...you could come back up later to watch the sea at dusk; I believe it is the most exquisite then."

She allowed him to lead her down to the cabin and into her personal quarters. Hours later they had come back on deck and watched the setting of the sun together. He was her first love. It was a wild, carefree, innocent love that seemed to last forever. It was a young love...

Groves' face swam into her mind, and Adeline blinked, stepping back from the railing. She'd almost fallen. Things were so different now, so changed...what had she become?

[faust]

Roy had become a creature of habit. Even now, back in his old living arrangements, he felt the need to get up at the same time every day, get out and go do something active. His home for the last few years was, if anything, a very well organized one. And it paid off too; Roy fully intended to keep the musculature that daily exercise gave him. Which is what brought him here to the Walk. Throwing on an old, ratty pair of pants and a shirt, he broke into an easy stride, past the strolling couples and shouting children. As he ran, his thoughts slowly turned to his current situation.

Just as he had feared, he had returned hardly recognizing anybody in the neighborhood. Those people he had known (and would still talk to him) were just a handful of old business partners and street punks, all grown up and hanging out in skyboard parks. Some of his closest friends were either in jail or somewhere else. Which effectively meant that he was alone; no friends, no job, and a black mark forever on his reputation.

When he stopped to catch his breath, it was near a tiger lady staring out to sea. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that she looked very distracted, like she was lost in her own thoughts.

A sudden motion caused him to snap to attention, reaching out and almost grabbing at her to keep her from falling, but he checked himself when he realized that she was perfectly fine on her own. "All right there, Miss?" He said, slowly and deliberately as though it were difficult to get the words to form.

[Adeline]

"Sorry?" the tiger asked, turning around quickly. She had almost been caught off her guard there and it took a few seconds for what the rabbit had said to sink in. "Oh, yes, I'm perfectly fine thank you...just thinking..." Adeline trailed off, not knowing quite what else to say to a perfect stranger...or was he a stranger? The rabbit looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place how. As a result, she spent a while just staring the man up and down, before suddenly bursting out, "Have we met before?"

It really was vexing her; this feeling of recognition. But, maybe she was just mixing him up with someone else. There were plenty of rabbits on the island; they reproduced so efficiently; perhaps she was just confusing him with a different rabbit. But then begs the question, how many rabbits did she know? And that was a low, low number.

Could she've seen a picture of him? Was he perhaps an apprentice Angel, an insanely young Council Member, someone important? She was getting ahead of herself with the paranoia. Here was just a nice, young, oddly familiar looking man merely looking out for another's well being.

Then recognition struck. She didn't know this man, she didn't think, personally, but she did recall seeing him, or someone vaguely similar, at the prison, when she'd gone there a few months ago to visit an inmate. Visiting the prison was risky; there were too many Angels about and it had the potential to shatter her wish of keeping a low profile. However, this man said that he had unreleased information about the Council that it was imperative for her to know. This man had, until recently, been an occupant of the prison. But Adeline still wasn't quite sure, too afraid of jumping to conclusions again, so she settled herself to wait for the rabbit's answer.

[faust]

"No." Most people would have put the answer more politely, but Roy wasn't exactly one known for his long speeches. He was answering truthfully when he said this, however. He had never seen this woman before in his life, and he had the impression that she shouldn't have reason to meet him either. Mostly, those who recognized him were just those bored people who had been watching the news when he was arrested; just another robbery gone wrong, barely even a mention on most news programs. There was, however, one editorial writer who insisted on using Roy's crime as an example of "Why I Think the World's Going To Hell" or whatever blowhard title he was using for his self-important rant. One of his new neighbors displayed a crooked sense of humor, leaving the article clipping on his doorstep. Suffice it to say, Roy hadn't figured out who did that just yet.

Roy was often bad at first impressions, but the tiger lady didn't strike him as the kind of person to be following the criminal underworld. And he really didn't want to go on a big song and dance trying to hide his status from her. Dully entertaining the idea that it would bring a swift end to any conversation, he said "I'm sure you haven't met me, unless you've paid a visit to the prison in the past few years." His face remained impassive, guaging her for some kind of reaction.

[Adeline]

Adeline nodded slowly. She had no interest or curiousity as to the man's reasons for being in prison, but it obviously couldn't have been too serious if he was already out of jail, unlike some of the former members of the Foundry, who most likely wouldn't be seeing the outside of a jail cell for a good many more years.

"I have visited the prison recently, within the last year. I needed to....converse...with a former acquaintance," the tiger said cautiously. She would stay out of his business if he stayed out of hers.

After a bit, Adeline was unsure how to continue. She didn't normally strike up random converstaions with strangers, much less strangers who had a care about her well being and made sure she didn't fall off two hundred foot walls.

She bowed politely. "My name is Adeline. It's nice to meet you."

[faust]

"Roy."

That was really all he had to say by way of introduction. What else needed to be said? After all, she already had his backstory for the past few years. There was really nothing overly complicated for him to say.

Looking at her, however, Roy had the impression that she wanted to talk. Crud. How long has it been since you actually tried to strike up a conversation with a lady, he asked himself. It certainly feels like an eternity. He let out a resigned sigh after a long, awkward silence.

"Sorry." He said at length. "I'm not exactly... a social butterfly. Nothing against you, miss; just the way I am. I don't want you to think I'm blowing you off or nothing. I just..." He remembered how his old friends described it. "I'm a better listener than a talker."

He paused, looking out onto the water as the wind picked up a little bit. He held back a shiver, having forgotten the sweat that now made musky stains on his shirt. "You should be careful with the acquaintances you make. There aren't that many truly innocent people in jail." He was tactful enough, at least, not to ask who she was meeting. She didn't seem the type to date serial killers on their deathbeds or something crazy like that, but that didn't mean she didn't have a boyfriend or something in jail.

[Adeline]

As Roy explained himself, Adeline nodded cautiously. "I know a great many people like you. In my case, it depends on the situation. I can listen when I want to and I talk when required."

Her hat threatened to blow away in a huge gust of wind, but she grabbed hold of the tri-point quick enough. With the altitude, and the ocean so close by, sudden bursts of wind were not unusual. Her frock coat billowed out even more, settling a little when the strong wind passed.

"No," the tigress replied, "there aren't truly innocent people in jail. However, there are a good many truly stupid people. I do hope you're not one of them. You're not captive any more however, so I do think that shows you must have more intelligence than most."

Too late Adeline realized that her last comments might have sounded degrading, but too late. Too many of her followers had ended up in jail, many of them stupid brutes, more animal than anthro.

[faust]

Roy sighed. "You don't need to look so guilty, miss. You have me pegged; stupid. If I was anything but, I wouldn't have gone to jail."

He ruminated on his own little burst of wisdom. If he had been just a little bit smarter, he might have noticed the trap before he had walked blindly into it. But then again, it was supposed to be just another job. He had no reason to suspect it was anything but...

He was trailing off into unpleasant memories. Hoping that his counterpart hadn't noticed, he cleared his throat. "One doesn't need intelligence to get out either. Just pretending to be a good guy is all they need. Of course, being smart enough to pretend might be a sign of intelligence, but..." Now he was talking too much. Inwardly, he raised an eyebrow. He hadn't guessed that it still got under his skin like this...

[Adeline]

The tigress had regretted what she had said, but Roy's replies only made her feel worse. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." she said, trailing off, in an attempt to redeem her self. "To accuse you of stupidity" was what she was going to say, but she didn't quite have the heart to continue. She barely knew this guy, and now she was just coming off as a bitch. Sure, she might not care too much; he didn't land himself in jail for something.

Adeline had no idea how to bring him out of his painful reverie, but she was going to try. If she failed, so be it, life goes on, but she was hoping to help. A sudden urge to have a drink came over her, but she shook it off. She'd been drinking too much. So much that she might soon admit she had a problem. "Intelligence comes in many ways," Adeline said slowly. "I was too harsh earlier. In fact, many people would consider me stupid, a good-for-nothing idiot. I personally think I'm a rather intelligent being, but, who am I kidding? I can't even read or write. Just because something happened to send you off to jail doesn't mean...I was too harsh, I apologize."

There. She had gone and admitted her deepest insecurity. The reason that the Foundry existed was due to this small, but very important fact: Adeline's lack of education. Otherwise, she'd be a crime-fighting Angel right now. But...as it went...

The tigress sighed. Now she really wanted a drink, and she doubted she'd have the strength to with-hold herself.