[open] From the Cripples to St. James'...

[knowntohisfriends]

There's a right nip in the air when the Dodger steps out in the early morning to begin his business for the day. Well, his business, Fagin's business, it's all the same when it comes down to brass coins dragged from the bottom of pockets. He rubs his hands together, making a note to lift himself some gloves at some point during the day - if he recollects correctly, the ones from last year weren't really as decent as he would have liked. Not terrible, but for a gent of taste like himself, they weren't up to scratch.

Scratch... scratchings... pork scratchings. Hm. His stomach grumbled a bit. Looks like the sausages at the den weren't enough. Right, well that decided the plan for the day then. Breakfast first, and then on with the work of the day. The markets would be the best places to check. Maybe the one down by St James, folks would be too distracted to pay attention to a kid nipping among them.

Seemed like a good plan, and the Dodger grinned, adjusting his hat to just the right angle.

Right. Time for work.

Comments

[roddy_reinigen]

"Right. I'm sure they're bitter about that. Just as soon as they stop getting distracted by laser pointers to think back on it."

Sure, he'd heard that joke before, too. That didn't mean he couldn't make a jab at the attention span of an animal that he was used to thinking of as a big, scary predator.

[knowntohisfriends]

"Not all cats get distracted by those."

Yeah. He knew from experience. Evil little bugger that one was.

[roddy_reinigen]

"Good to know," he commented. "I'd hate to put all my hope in a laser pointer, just to get mauled anyway."

[knowntohisfriends]

"Big bloke like you gettin' mauled by a cat?" Is he playing dumb? It's never easy to tell with the Dodger, is it? Well, he wouldn't be the Artful Dodger if it was easy to tell with him.

[roddy_reinigen]

"Well, some cats are pretty nasty, and their claws are pretty sharp. I mean, I'd be fine," unless he was in rat form, but he wasn't going to tip his hand if it wasn't already tipped. "But it's not like I'd want to deal with a thousand tiny scratches."

[knowntohisfriends]

"Well, they'd be right painful, mate," the Dodger said, agreeing with him. "So I reckon, don't piss off any cats an' you might be fine. Unless you somehow get smaller than 'em, an' then you should think smart."

[roddy_reinigen]

Okay, that definitely sounded like this guy had some idea of what Roddy might be. The fact that he mentioned that Roddy might be able to get smaller than them, and the fact that he sounded like he was seriously addressing that possibility, was simply impossible to ignore.

"I don't do anything to piss them off. It's just that sometimes, they look at me and all they see is a small, fuzzy rodent."

A way of admitting it without actually saying in public that he was a shifter.

[knowntohisfriends]

"But you're you, an' no some small, fuzzy little thing," the Dodger replies with his usual type of grin. He can - kind of - tell when he's in the company of someone who can shift forms, but he generally doesn't let on about it. Unless it would help him out by distracting them from what he was doing. He's not making this guy a mark, but ... he might have noticed what he was doing earlier and better safe than sorry.

"Though reckon that's not the best sort of position to be in. Smaller than them."

[roddy_reinigen]

Roddy shot Dodger a suspicious look, wondering what the kid was playing at. Judging by some of the comments before, and his grin now, Roddy suspected he knew that Roddy certainly was a small, fuzzy thing at least some of the time. Well, two can play at the game of hinting, then taking it back.

"Yeah, well...then I guess it's a good thing I'm not."

[knowntohisfriends]

"'Course it is." The Dodger nodded in complete agreement. "Ain't like cats take a particular likin' to most people anyway, unless those people are feedin' them."

[roddy_reinigen]

"Yeah, guess that explains it. I've never fed them, and they're bitter."

Roddy then turned, heading down into the subway. If Dodger was going the same way he could, but otherwise Roddy was going to go away. After a quick check to make sure his money was still where it should be. Just in case.

[knowntohisfriends]

Course he wasn't going to rob the bloke who seemed to be keeping too close a watch on him. He was risky, but he weren't stupid. Pity though, looked like he could have had something decent on him. Plus the stuff about cats... It weren't all just natter for the sake of it.