The Fox meets the Crow

[crow]

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter. The rain it the top of the giant ceiling of the mall. Not many people cared to listen and only if you really tried you could actually hear it. Pitter-patter, the rain continued on in a never ending pattern. The rain could keep such a steady beat and Lusa always wondered how it did that. As a fellow musician she could relate to the fast paced beat the rain would take on. Pitter-patter, pitter-patter. It would continue on, and on. Lusa didn't like being out in the rain though, her clothes couldn't afford to get wet most were dry-clean only, even some of her bathing suit. Oh, the strange things money could buy!

Lusa Bell loved clothes. Not was much as she loved the birds that flew around all the time. But again it was raining so she couldn't walk around the park and watch them today. She was wearing something weird and would stand out as always. Starting from her head she was a top hat with a purple band going around it. Moving further down her was wearing a turtle-neck blouse and a black bow tie. Above that was a deep purple vest that looked like something a butler would wear while serving his master. Below she wore gray dress pants with skinny black strips running down them all the way around. On her feet were black gladiator flip-flops. She loved her clothes right now she was on the hunt for an old fashion cane and eye glass that would complete the look. She hasn't been able to find one yet, but this was definitely her lucky day, she could feel it.

Around her neck was something precious to her. A long time ago when she still lived in Japan her great grand father had given her a necklace. she remembered what he said to her that time. "Lusa Bell, wear this and you shall be given good luck." She spoke aloud imitating his deep and smooth voice. She smirked as she felt the passer-byers glance in her direction. The necklace was made entirely out of gold, the chain and everything. A heart locket pendent was hanging on the end of it and 32k diamonds were encrusted on the heart. Inside was a picture of her when she was six and her great grand father. She giggled obnoxiously thinking about the past, and again more staring.

Lusa Bell craved the attention of the people looking at her. It was like her own personal brand of heroine.(Twilight moment)

She stopped by the fountain and looked in towards she could see her reflection and she smiled at it. "Hello me!" She said waving at herself, she giggled at the reflection copied her. "Your silly." She said continuing to talk to herself. She could feel more stares.

Maybe she was slightly insane.

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[fox]

Ridley Fox was in a terrible mood.

The day just had not been going right for him. This morning, he'd woken himself up by rolling out of bed and knocking his head on the nightstand, leaving a terrific bruise on his temple the size of a ping pong ball. Being the vain creature he was, he'd instinctively tried to cover it up that morning in the mirror, but his short red hair would only do so much; the abstract, purplish-gray shape was still more or less visible on his forehead.

He'd also burnt his toast this morning and spilled coffee on a nice pair of pants, meaning his stomach was full of burnt toast, and he'd been forced to drink orange juice in lieu of his normal morning pick-me-up.

Humbug.

And then it just had to go and rain, because today was a Tuesday, and Tuesdays were absolute bitches.

It was April, so of course it was cold, too, and after taking one step outside his apartment and being battered nearly to death with an onslaught of wind and rain, Ridley decided to double back and get a raincoat. Sweaters were not very waterproof, it seemed.

At last, clad in his favorite black rainjacket, he had stepped outside into the torrent beyond his front door, and had fought his way down the sidewalk for nearly a block before he realized... he had a car. Why the hell was he walking anywhere? He'd just gone through all that fuss to tramp down the stairs, go outside, tramp back upstairs, spend five minutes looking for his coat, put the damn thing on, tramp back downstairs - and he lived on the fourth floor! - and his memory had the nerve to let him walk a block past his parking garage before it reminded him he had a car.

The evil forces were definitely turned against him today, he reflected ten minutes later, as he jammed his key into the ignition of his car.

What he needed was to pull a good con, and then the day would be better. Yeah. He'd win himself some cash and use it to buy a half gallon of chocolate ice cream, and then he would take it home and eat it all and watch senselessly violent movies on TV. Sounded like a good plan.

And what better place could he think of to find suckers with cash than the mall?

Given, it wasn't the most ideal place - there was a challenge to it, in that it was inhabited with a lot of people. He had to be careful and diligent about his cons here, keep up the facade long after he'd gotten the prize... but that was the fun in coming here. The challenge was a thrill, and he liked thrills.

Approaching the fountain, Ridley tossed his head back to drop the hood of his raincoat and glanced around with a sly look in those sharp green eyes, the corner of his lips quirked in an impish smile. There had to be someone around here worthy of his attention, someone... oh. Well, that was certainly an elaborate costume the top-hatted girl had over there. Perhaps she had something he wanted.

He advanced on her slowly, trying to pretend that wasn't what he was doing.

[crow]

Lusa Bell was humming. She was humming to the rain now trying to keep beat with the fast pace that it was going at. "la, la, la-la-la, la, bum bitty, bitty bum, la, la, la-la-la, la, la." She continued rocking her head back and forth happily. Her fingers drummed against the rock side of the fountain in the same rainy pattern that played above her on the ceiling. It had multiple sounds that would play at the same time, and reminded her of something... But the question was. WHAT did it remind her of? Is that not the question? What did the rain remind her of? Yes, what was it? Oh, now that would bug her until she could remember what it was, darn it all what did that rain remind her of?

"Ah! A piano!" She exclaimed excitedly jumping up. Many startled peoples looked towards her before continuing on. "Yes, yes, yes! A piano is what it was. I can remember now. That good old, blasted piano!" She giggled clasping her hands together. "yes, yes. Bum, bum, bum-bitty-bitty-bum." She squatted down so that it was comfortable to reach the side of the fountain and began drumming her fingers as if a piano were really to be there. "Yes, yes. Very, very good!" She giggled again blissfully unaware of the man approaching her at the moment. Well for that moment she was unaware.

She looked up shocked that someone had approached her. People didn't usually approach just stare and keep going on their merry way. She felt suddenly very self conscious about what she was doing and what she was wearing. He was just there if he was expecting her to start the conversation that was not going to happen, her shyness was taking over all her movements. Lusa Bell couldn't even manage to look up at the man coming towards her. Darn it all, she was perfect fine when people didn't approach her, so why when someone wanted to talk to her? Why now?

Maybe Lusa Bell was insane.

She didn't want to think that way it made her nervous. Lusa Bell didn't want to think she was insane. She touched the locket around her neck. Well someone had called to her maybe if she was lucky he would compliment her. The locket was suppose to bring luck after all. So Lusa assumed that this was a lucky day. This man just had to make the first move.

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[fox]

Something about a piano...? Well, he wasn't terribly surprised. After all, he had found, in his years of observation, that the weirdest dressers often were the weirdest people, as well. Not to say that this was always true, nor that it was necessarily a bad thing - after all, it was pretty weird to have the constant compulsion to fraud people out of money and valuables, right?

Perhaps he wasn't the expert on normal, then, but he could tell this girl didn't fit the bill for "regular citizen." Then again, he'd seen stranger things in this city.

As he approached and she noticed him, his eyes went not for her face, not for her outfit, not even for her chest, but for her throat... and the beautiful, expensive-looking piece of jewelry that hung there. A great, gleaming thing of gold and diamonds and wealthy things that made him salivate, as if he were looking at a freshly-baked double chocolate birthday cake with buttercream icing and sprinkles shaped like dollar signs. The first thought that came to his head was, Mine. I want that. That belongs to me. That has to be mine.

He took very little notice of what the girl looked like. If he had, he would have found that she was attractive; and just his kind of attractive, too, not the ridiculous falsity of a supermodel. However, Ridley's hungry eyes were fixed on the necklace, and he could not be compelled to look at anything else.

At last, he tore his eyes away from the beautiful, shimmering thing on her neck and looked at her face, registering that she was his brand of pretty, but too concerned with getting that necklace to care. That thing would sell for... he didn't even know. Just calculating the sum in his head was getting him all jittery and excited. I want that I want that I want that I must have it it's mine.

"Afternoon," he greeted her with an easy smile. "I love your outfit. Very... Neo-Victorian."

So he knew a thing or two about Victorian fashion. It didn't mean anything.

[crow]

That person that approached her was staring at her, not that it would usually bother her, but he was just sooooo close to her right now. And just like not doing anything, what was he thinking? Would he make fun of her? She looked the other direction resting her cheek on top of her knee. She dressed this way for the attention, but when it came to actually talking to someone she couldn't muster up the courage to speak one word. She could feel him still staring at her. What did he want? Why was he just staring at her like that.? It made Lusa so uncomfortable. Why, why, why, why-

Wait what?

What did he just say? Something about her outfit, yes definitely that! He said something nice about her too! She turned towards him smiling. "You really like it?" She asked him excitedly, turning her whole body towards him. "It's not complete yet, but it's almost done. Can you believe that no story in this mall sells those fancy cane things." She shook her head in disgust. She clicked her tongue frustrated.

"Oh, what about you? You came to the mall so your obviously buying something. I could help you pay for something or find something." Lusa Bell smiled. This man seemed to be very nice, he had said nice things about her. Anyone that says nice things about her had to be nice.

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[fox]

Immediately, at the girl's response, Ridley felt his spirits lift. He'd found the perfect target - gullible, easily flattered, too trusting. That necklace would be his within the span of ten minutes, he could sense it.

"I love it," he informed her, his voice exuding a false, if convincing, honesty. "It's very unique. And it compliments you well, for your exquisite beauty is also quite unique." He grinned at her - not an eerie, creepy sort of grin, but what (to the average viewer) would appear an honest and cheerful expression. Ridley wasn't really much of a hormone-driven creature; as he didn't really care much for anyone, he never really bothered getting intimate, so he rarely used innuendos. Though he was complimenting her beauty and his eyes were hungry, he was after only fiscal gain.

At her further comments on the outfit and her suggestion that she spend money on him (the idea of which delighted him), his smile only grew, and his eyebrows raised a fraction into dark arcs over his clever green eyes. "Really? It's New York City, one would think you'd be able to find something somewhere. Wow." He put a hand on the back of his neck and looked down, laughing sheepishly. "Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that," he mumbled, his Irish accent showing through just a bit more than usual as his speech became less articulate.

Eyes flitting back up to the necklace - he'd hardly even looked at her face - he bit his bottom lip and leaned forward slightly, as if curious. "Say, that's a charming necklace," he commented. "It looks wonderful on you...are those...real diamonds?"

It was becoming so difficult to keep the greed out of his voice that the strain was almost physical.

[crow]

YAY!!!!!! Compliments.

Lusa Bell craved the words the man was spurting out. It made her feel good about herself and his compliments just kept on coming. He said he loved her outfit. "I really like this one to! It takes for ever to find all the right pieces before you can finally where it though. " She sighed. It was a pain to put together the perfect outfit, this one wasn't technically complete, but since it was only missing a few accessories. The more she thought about the more she thought that maybe she should have worn a completely complete outfit that she had already completed. /Oh well, can't go back now I would have to by an umbrella that matches the vest./ That is if she was to step outside in the rain.

"Oh don't worry, I have more than enough money for the two of us. Bout 15 hundred on me right now..." Hmmm... she had spent five hundred on bills and crap that didn't interest her so the rest should be for clothes and jewelery. "Do you have anything of interest?" It would be nice to give him something for saying such nice things about her and her clothes. To bad she couldn't do more. He asked about the necklace?

She touched the heart locket looking down at it. "Yes, of course. But that isn't the best part of the necklace. I'll tell you the secret about." She got up and leaned towards him cupping her hand around his ear so she could whisper the secret. "This necklace is good luck. Who ever wears it is granted good luck for the time they wear it." She backed away clasping her hands back together. Her eyes sparkled waiting for be praised again, she was just like a puppy.

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[fox]

Ridley grinned pleasantly at the girl. "Well, it looks perfectly fine to me," he told her. "And it looks rather fetching on you, completed or not. But I've never been terribly involved in fashion, so I can only admire." Of course, Ridley didn't care about what the girl was wearing at all...sans the necklace, of course. Admittedly, she did look good in what she was wearing, but he was more concerned with making a profit off his apparently gullible girl.

He could definitely get something out of her.

1,500 dollars...on her person...Ridley could practically feel himself salivating. "Well, it's only appropriate that such a beautiful young lady would have a good amount of money on her to buy whatever she wants. Pretty girls like you deserve to get what they desire." He was playing to her obvious attraction to compliments now; if he could get her wrapped around his finger, that necklace (and possibly the money) would be his.

As she leaned towards him, he felt his heart rate quicken just slightly and almost leaned away...but no, that would ruin the illusion. He had to stand firm.

He listened silently to her whisper and felt a smile grace his features once again. "Good luck?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "That's quite impressive. But I think it's giving me good luck today, seeing as I'm running into such charming young women." But it was Ridley's smile that was the most charming, so sincere it seemed as he beamed cheerfully at the girl, his green eyes still fixed hungrily on the necklace. "Might I see it up close?"

[crow]

Lusa liked this man a lot.

But something bothered her. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. She stared at the man for a quick second with wide curious eyes trying to figure it out. It wasn't the rain, it's sound was soothing to here and was helping the girl concentrate. It must be something about the man in front of her, considering she was completely fine until he came over to talk to her and started throwing compliments in every direction. Lusa sat down on the side of the fountain trying to figure it, almost forgetting about the man standing next to her. She rested her chin against hand staring off towards nothing. A habit that she tended to do when she tried to think real hard.

Oh, Yeah!!!! She remembered now. That was probably why she didn't feel right?

"Oh, yeah. My name is Lusa Bell. What's your name?" She might as well find out since she was going to get him something nice for saying nice things to her. He seemed like a good person, since he kept saying nice things about what she was wearing and stuff like that.

She adjusted the hat on her head proudly, as he commented on what she was wearing again. "I can make just about anything look good if I had the right accessories to go with it." She nodded confidently taking the hat off her head and running her fingers through her hair brushing it out. Taking the black hat she placed it on top of his head. "The black brings out the green in your eyes mister." She giggled clapping her hands together again.

/Yesssss!!!/ She was happy that she remembered to tell the man about the luck in the necklace, he had said even more good things about her and the necklace. She ran her fingers through her hair again nervously afraid that she still had hat hair from seeing how her looked on the person in front of her. "The necklace?" She was kind of reluctant to take it off considering how much she loved the locket. "、何をすべきかどうするか。 , What to do, what to do." She mumbled in both her languages. Then reluctantly she took the necklace off. "Here you can see it." She said, smiling politely way more serious than she had been from the start of their conversation. "Just be very careful with it. It's my most important belonging."

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[fox]

Ridley watched her actions silently, weighing his options, sizing her up, calculating and analyzing and trying to reach a solution to this scenario that would achieve the highest profits for him. For a moment, as she looked thoughtful, he wondered if she knew, and a sudden shot of panic went up his spine. This place was too public. He would have to take her somewhere...quieter, and then escape with the necklace while she wasn't looking. Yes. That was the best plan.

"Oh, yeah. My name is Lusa Bell. What's your name?"

Ridley was silent for just a few seconds, formulating an alias for himself, and finally responded, "You can call me Fox." His grin was eerily reminiscent of the creature he was named for, and those crafty green eyes of him didn't dispute the image. "Lusa Bell," he mused thoughtfully, looking up at the ceiling, then back down at her. "That's a lovely name. Any idea where it comes from? Is Bell your last name, or part of your first name?"

"I can make just about anything look good if I had the right accessories to go with it." Taking the black hat she placed it on top of his head. "The black brings out the green in your eyes mister."

"I'm sure you can. You seem the stylish sort." He winked at her playfully, watching her actions and seeming mildly amused as she placed the hat on his head. He adjusted it slightly and grinned again. "Does it?" he asked thoughtfully, then struck a regal pose. "Do I look...dashing?" He chuckled, resuming his former position and tipping the hat to her like a polite, nineteenth century gentleman.

He seemed surprised at her muttering in other languages and tilted his head again; the action seemed to be customary for him when he was curious. "What language is that?" he asked. "Japanese?" Though he wasn't as familiar with the Asian languages as he should have been (he did know a bit of different languages here and there - he had to, for his acts), he knew the general sound of each of them.

His mouth practically watered as she handed over the necklace to him, and he examined it with the eye of a jeweler, weighing its price. Needless to say, something of this value would be worth...a lot.

Mine. Mine. This is mine. It has to be mine.

"I'll be careful," he said, though his voice was distant, eyes fixed on the necklace. After a moment, he looked up, coiling the accessory into his palm, but not giving it back to her. He'd have to lull her into a false sense of security. "So, let's go shopping, shall we? We can look for those outfit pieces you need."

[crow]

Happy, happy.

The man seemed to be enjoying his time with her and that made her feel even better. Lusa liked the way this man talked almost as much as she loved the rain and the birds. The sound of the rain rain hitting the metal rooftop of the mall ceiling bounced around inside her ears drums, it suddenly seemed to be very loud and an annoyance. She couldn't seem to concentrate on him since it was so loud. Maybe she was just nervous that she had handed over her most precious possession to this strange, but he seemed nice enough, and borrowing it for today while they shopped wouldn't be that bad.

"It is very much, a pleasure to meet you Fox." Lusa smiled doing a little curtsy to him as she were greeting some sort of higher up. Though Lusa was sure that she was on a higher social standard then him in the first place. She still liked to do these types of gestures in front of people in the first place.

"oh, no! Bell is my middle name. My last name is Crow. Like the Crow Inc. my daddy owns it. Makes kitchen appliances. Ring a bell?" Oh Crow Inc. the source of her families wealth. Oh, course Lusa wanted to do something else. "But I want to be a musician or dancer personally." She was the freak of the family wanting nothing to do with business, but her parents still let her do what ever she pleased with large sums of money... What idiots.

"You look simply dashing Fox." She flashed a goofy carefree grin towards Fox and moved to one of the benches sitting cross legged on it looking at him. "I could find you something good to wear if you want." She nodded seriously running her hand through her hair again in a feeble attempt to reduce the on coming frizziness from the humidity and rain.

"I am Japanese." She said in a matter-of-factually tone of voice. Not that she meant it in any type of bratty way, but sometimes sentences just came out that way. Depended on what the question was and the time of day. In the evening she was more snappy, since Lusa was usually tired by that point of the day. She pouted crossing her arms over her chest staring at him intently. No meaning to the staring except to figure what colors would look good on him and what kind of image Fox could pull off. She was pinning it down to darker colors almost sophisticated gangster type thing.

She was pulled back into reality when he said that he would take good care of her necklace for her. That locket was very important to her. Not only for it's luckiness, but the picture on the inside was the only one of her and her grandfather. it was taken under a cherry blossom tree in full bloom. "It is very important to me, be very very careful." She said reinforcing the importance of keeping the locket safe.

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