Chance Encounters

[oncedevil]

There was a certain art to picking pockets, one needed a delicate touch, quick fingers and a mastery of performance to pull it off without alerting the mark. The act was the biggest part, amateurs ran, alerting everyone around them and foiling themselves. That was the issue Tony had with purse thieves. It was nearly impossible to swipe a purse subtly, and then what did you do with the rest of the contents? Everyone knew purses were more black hole full of old receipts and gum wrappers than actual cash. No, it took more skill to slip away with just a wallet, a little more intimacy. Perhaps that was part of why he liked it so much, the adrenaline rush of knowing that if he didn't pull off his act just right he was liable to end up with a broken nose. Or worse.

Now, by no means did he believe himself the best pick pocket ever, he knew better, he wasn't that arrogant. But he'd refined his art over time and learned how to pick out who would make a good target in a crowd. Not a large man, for one they tended to hit first ask questions later, and for another a fourteen year old kid was not going to be big enough to budge him. Women were out as well, but for more personal reasons. Besides, the purses always proved to be irritating. The absolute best choices he'd found were closer to his age, teenagers with cash and easily distracted. Rich kids could spare a twenty here or there, they rarely paid much attention to their surroundings, and a properly disarming demeanor could serve to be just the ticket to getting out scott-free.

Of course the problem with being so picky meant that opportunities were infrequent, but every now and then just the right mark turned up and Tony wasn't about to let it get away. It didn't help that he was getting pretty hungry, and a warm meal sounded mighty tempting at the moment.

When he spotted the boy he knew he'd be perfect, and made his move. Casual lazy stride, hands loose at his sides as he moved in at just the right moment to crash his shoulder heavily into the boy, aiming to fluidly extract the wallet from his pocket as he spun aside from the force.

"Woah, sorry man, didn't see you there."

Flawless.

Comments

[oncedevil]

"Funny thing about labor laws, everyone expects you to be over a certain age before they'll risk hiring you, insurance or some shit." That was the excuse he usually got. Not many places hired minors, even fewer hired under sixteen. And of those that did? Well they didn't want a scruffy starving kid hanging around. Figured he was a lawsuit waiting to happen or something.

He'd definitely underestimated Dirk, that was for certain. Someone his age with that level of awareness? Really unusual.

About time, he was starving! Well, okay, that was pretty much always, but today he'd actually get to eat so honestly that was pretty exciting. He ordered the largest burger he'd found on the menu, nothing too fancy, he wouldn't know what to do with fancy, and that sounded delicious.

Once she'd had their orders and was on her way, he turned his attention back to Dirk. "Gotta say, surprised you caught me. Not many people notice that fast."

[bronographic]

Dirk got himself a burger as well, letting her go off. He hadn't commented on the labor laws thing, it merely confirmed what he was assuming. Anthony had to be his age, or damn well close to it. Not even 16. That's... depressing.

When Anthony spoke up again, Dirk rose an eyebrow at him, before glancing to the side, "I make an effort to be aware of my surroundings and my own person. It certainly pays off."

He might not have noticed Anthony's approach, but he made up for it by being aware of his missing wallet.

[oncedevil]

Nope, not even 16. He made due when he could, but times were tough and cash was short. Sometimes you had to do what you had to do to survive.

"That's good, might save your life someday. You see a lot of people wrapped up in their own little worlds, like they don't even realize there's anything outside their bubble." Which was especially true when it came to people like him. A lot of people liked to pretend the homeless weren't there, treated them like they were invisible, or worse yet garbage that needed to be cleaned up.

But he wasn't about to go on a rant about that sort of thing. Again, the habit of not thinking too hard on it kicked in to keep his mouth shut.

[bronographic]

"Can't say I'm not wrapped up in my own little world most the time, I just know how to multitask is all." Which is actually true. Dirk was always pretty talented with balancing several tasks at once, and even if he was deep in thought, he still could keep his wits about him.

He grew silent, however, leaving himself to his own thoughts really as he looked out the window. Watching people walk by. He wanted to do more to help, but what honestly could he do? He didn't really even know this guy, but that didn't stop him from giving a shit. Sometimes he seemed to give too much of a shit, and there was no stopping it.

Was really troubling sometimes.

[oncedevil]

"Well, you're doing a better job than the rest of us, then." Tony replied with an amused smirk, but no mockery in his tone. He meant what he said, he just always tended to sound like he was joking around.

He let Dirk have his peace, growing silent himself. Tony never was very good at idle conversation, and was just as content with being quiet as being noisy. Dirk had already done more for him than he would have ever asked for. It was rare to meet someone genuinely generous, but somehow Tony knew that Dirk wasn't going to ask for anything in return.

It was strange to think he'd really like to talk to the guy again someday, even if he doubted it would ever happen. Now that he thought about it, it was kind of strange Dirk was out on his own like that, no group of friends or anything. Maybe he'd just interrupted him on an errand or something.

[bronographic]

He definitely didn't interrupt him on an errand, and it's more the former than anything. Dirk wasn't a very social creature, though he did on some level crave social interaction. He was just largely introverted for the most part, and not much of a social butterfly anyway.

He was always alone most the time, parents busy with work, not having too many people he'd called friends. Especially with the school he went to, he didn't exactly want to befriend any of them. His interests just weren't that of typical boys his age with the type of income his parents had. Somehow, with this short interaction with Tony, he's felt more comfortable with him than he had nearly any other kid his age... and this guy is a homeless pickpocket.

He wasn't sure what that said about him.

He really didn't get much more time to his own thoughts before the waitress stopped by to give them their drinks: Dirk having ordered himself a coke. He gave the waitress a quiet thanks before taking a drink, his eyes leveling on Tony. This silence had gone on far too long.

"So, are you usually around this area a lot?"

[oncedevil]

It said he was a pretty decent guy, as far as Tony was concerned. Not the type to judge someone's worth by their wealth, or severe lack thereof. If he knew more about Dirk, he'd probably feel a little bad for him. Being lonely sucked, he knew that quite well. Sometimes the nicest thing in the world was just being able to sit down and talk to someone without having to keep up appearances. Whatever those may be.

For Tony it was an orange soda, since they didn't have any berry flavors. It wasn't often he got soda, so he was admittedly taking some small advantage of the situation. Dirk had said get whatever he wanted, though, so he wasn't going to feel guilty about it.

"I move around a lot. You hang around one place too long, people start to complain. Why, worried I'll bump you again? I won't if that's the case." Nah, Dirk had been generous to him, he was off-limits now. You didn't take advantage of good people, there weren't nearly enough of them around anymore.