#c crow

Crow was normally very good at getting in and out but this shopkeeper had been rather persistent. Sure he took a few things here or there from the shelves and stored them in his jacket but it was nothing the store owner would miss terribly. If anything Crow needed it more then they did. The problem came when the store owner followed him out shouting after him and drawing more attention than he wanted. Crow took off with the man barely keeping up and shouting about him being a thief. Heads were turning his way but luckily he was putting more and more distance between him and the man who was quickly running out of breath. Everything would have been fine if he hadn’t bumped into some girl. “Fuck.” He grabbed her arm to stabilize her then dragged them both into the alleyway. He was quick in tossing his jacket into the shadows, “Sorry.” was all she got before he pinned her against the wall. He was doing his best not to touch her as he hid his face next to hers. The store owner soon arrived and looked around confused as to how such a tall person could disappear. They looked into the alleyway and saw a couple standing there and couldn’t help but curse at losing the thief, taking their hat off and smacking it against their knee before skulking back in the direction of the store. Once Crow thought it was safe enough he pulled himself away from the girl and went to retrieve his jacket from the ground.

Aylin had gone to return a few books to the library, and she, for once, had decided against borrowing too many more, instead just choosing a couple that easily fit into her bag. She’d sent Ceyda a quick text, asking what dinner might be that day, when someone suddenly bumped into her and promptly pulled her into a nearby alleyway, the only thing keeping her from screaming was his quick apology, though that still didn’t do much to stop her heart from racing, and she bit down on her lower lip as hard as she could without actively drawing blood. “I - it’s -” she shifted, moving her face towards the side, glancing over at the person who’d been following the person in front of her, doing her best to focus on what she could see, hear, and smell. “It’s fine,” she finally replied when they went to go and grab their jacket. “You okay? You’re not like, on the run from the law, right?” She offered a stifled laugh, “not sure if my aunt would be thrilled if I was helping someone escape, though also the police can be questionable, so….” she drew out the ‘o’ before taking another steadying breath as she finally focused on the tattoos on the other’s arms. “Is it too presumptuous to ask your name after all that?”

Crow pulled his coat up and shuffled toward her he pulled out a couple of packaged cupcakes from his pocket and offered it forth as repayment for helping. “Stole. For dinner. No choice.” He muttered as he waited for her to take the treats. Crow didn’t like leaving a favor unpaid. It made him feel like he was ungrateful for the help when he wasn’t. Though he wasn’t sure the girl would want stolen cupcakes when she seemed so concerned with whether or not he was a criminal. Not like he could help it though. It’d been a few months since he came here and no one would hire some kid without an ID, so he had to steal if he wanted to eat. Not like a stranger would know that, then again his slightly dirty appearance might have given it away. 

Crow paused at her asking for his name, he hadn’t been out of the cult that long but It was fair to tell her he guessed. If she didn’t want the cupcakes he could at least answer her question. “Crow. Don’t tell others.” It was better if she kept quiet. He didn’t know if his former family had tracked him to White Crest or not but keeping his name of the lips of as few people as possible would at least make it harder for them to pinpoint him here. Or so he hoped. He didn’t know if Sigas could track him or not then again if the demon could it would probably have hounded him to death by now. Still better safe than sorry. 

She shook her head at his offering, “no, I’m really all good - and sometimes I’ve gotta be specific about the types of food I eat, so….” Aylin let her voice trail off. “Besides, it’s yours, and I don’t really know you, so I think it’d be like, super rude to take food from you.” She pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “I’m not going to tattle on you, if you’re worried about that.” She scrunched up her nose. “I don’t do that.” Granted, she’d not had the proper and “standard” schooling experience that some books told her about, but Aylin liked to believe that even if she had, she would not have been the sort to tell on others. That didn’t seem like the sort of thing that helped, and there was nothing she valued more than helping others.

“I won’t tell, promise. I’m Aylin.” She offered him a soft smile. “If my aunt asks what I’ve done today, I’ll just say I met someone nice, but that’ll be it, is that okay?” She looked up at him, with slightly wider eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t even like to hurt bugs, so hurting a person?” She felt her body tense up involuntarily. Of course, she’d been raised to hunt, but that was werewolves, not humans, and not helpless bugs, either.

“Didn’t say you would.” Crow stared down at the rambling girl and stuffed the cupcakes back into his pocket. She was weird, everyone out here was. They all talked so much and took forever to get to the point, he wasn’t used to it. Aylin in particular seemed to like repeating herself. It wasn’t annoying though, but he couldn’t quite think of the word he would use to describe it. Not unpleasant, not overly enjoyable. Just fine. He guessed that would have to do. Her rambling was fine. 

Crow slipped his jacket back on and pulled his phone out, opening the contact list he slid it over; there were no numbers in the phone yet besides his own. “Number. Will text. You can call me. If you need a favor. Will repay your help.” He wondered why she needed to tell her aunt of their encounter but didn’t disagree with her suggestion. If that’s what was normal for her then so be it. He was hardly one to judge. He had never told anyone about his day, they all knew what he was doing at every hour. His schedule had been so structured these first few months on his own were strange and uncomfortable. 

“Okay, just wanted to make sure you knew.” Aylin sighed, briefly, “because the last thing I’d want is for you to think I’m bad, or something,” even though, she supposed, worrying about that when she’d just met a stranger was perhaps not the number one thing that she should focus on. Still, she couldn’t help who she was, and right now, that wasn’t the best thing to dwell on. “Good. Good.” She bit her lip.

She took his phone and quickly added in her number, though refrained from adding in her last name to his contact, simply choosing to go with Aylin, followed by a small moon emoji. “You don’t have to repay my help, honest, but I’d like you to text me, and maybe I can bring you baked goods, sometime? That way you don’t have to worry about people chasing you around, and I love to bake, so…” she trailed off. “Sound okay?”

“Why does that matter?” Crow didn’t get why she’d worry that a stranger thought she was bad. She barely knew him yet was fussing over how he viewed her. Was she doing something wrong? It was quite possible. He still wasn’t used to how people socialized out of the compound. He was wondering if it was because she was talking to a stranger. That didn’t make much sense, he’d talked to strangers before without any of them reacting negatively. Then again if the girl had to tell her aunt about talking to him perhaps her aunt was strict. He’d dealt with strict adults his whole life and knew it could be suffocating. “Are you okay?” He wasn’t sure what he’d do to help the girl out of her situation, but he’d definitely think of something if Aylin asked for help.

Crow was concerned for her well being but here Aylin was talking about bringing him baked goods. He couldn’t really say no to food especially with winter setting upon them soon, plus her bringing food could be a good way to check on her regularly to make sure her aunt wasn’t mistreating her. “Woods dangerous. Will meet in park.” He took his phone back once she was one. “Can’t text often. Charging is hard.”

“Because I always like to make the very best first impression I can.” Aylin shrugged. It was true, especially given the fact that she hadn’t interacted very often with others, and the idea of coming off as rude sent knots to her stomach. “I - yes, I’m fine! Just nervous is the main thing, and not used to talking to new people.” She offered him a small smile. 

“The park works for me,” she nodded, “I like it there. I mean, I like it most places that aren’t the forest at night, so…” Aylin trailed off, “but it doesn’t sound like you want that anyhow, being that you agree with me on the dangerous woods front.” She nodded again. “Makes sense! I won’t text you too too often, either.”

“Why?” Crow could care less what people thought about him. Did it really matter? Then again he never really socialized outside of his schedule before. Most of his interactions were quick commands or corrections to his fighting. Perhaps he was the strange one. He was learning that life was very different from how it was in the compound. Not that he really cared if people saw him as strange, he was out to survive not make good impressions. “Understood.”