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Post by Zuyuri on Mar 9, 2017 16:58:14 GMT
As Abigail continued her crocodile tears, Riku looked over at Sunshine. The blonde was at a strange crossroads; she was excited and terrified. For once, she was in the lead as a superior. A superior over someone she had a crush over. She shook all the giddiness out of her system, focusing back on Abigail.
"You had to steal them? Can we just see?"
Very reluctantly, Abigail opened her backpack. As Riku predicted, the rhombus cut jewels, including the Harlequin Diamond, were in place.
"Riku, call the security team," she spoke firmly. "We'll have them return the diamond where it belongs. As for you, young lady, we'll escort you there so we can talk...in private."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2017 3:03:55 GMT
Abigail's face crumpled at Sunshine's words and it looked like she began crying for real. Riku let his ears go back but otherwise didn't show his distress over the crying girl. He pulled out his walkie and called the security team, letting them know the location they were at and that the jewel had been found. when the team showed up Riku handed them the bag of jewels, which he had to prise out of the hands of Abigail, who seemed to give up when the jewels were no longer in her possession. Riku gently took the unresisting girl by the elbow and followed Sunshine to a private location to talk. He kept a close watch on Abigail to make sure she didn't run for it.
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Post by Zuyuri on Mar 10, 2017 18:59:03 GMT
Something didn't quite seem right. Abigail wasn't resisting, and she seemed just...slumped as Sunshine and Riku walked down to the security kiosk. The troll girl probably had a plan, it was just when she was about to execute it. She cleared her threat, turning off 'serious cop' mode and going into stage 1 of interrogation; friendly chatting.
"So...Abigail...is there any family in town?"
Abigail snorted. "Try my old man. He's always talking about the old days of trolls. At least here I can shut out that talk."
"Okay, what about friends?"
The word friends made Abigail tense slightly. Sunshine could feel the muscle move, but made no efforts to hold back. Friends; that was the motive for stealing, or at least that's what her body language said
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2017 0:24:25 GMT
Riku watched Sunshine go into friendly mode, though he noticed she was still tense around the girl and so he kept his guard up. Just because this was a little girl didn't mean she was helpless. She'd been successfully pulling off a chain of robberies for the last few days. He remained by the door, steady and vigilant for Abigail to make a move. "If someone needs medical attention, stealing jewels isn't going to make a big difference very fast, not even the big gems" he said gently.
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Post by Zuyuri on Mar 11, 2017 0:58:15 GMT
"Yeah, but gems that harness healing power could get the job done faster than the doctors," Abigail huffed defensively.
Sunshine gave Riku an approving nod. Good, he was playing the lecturer card, but in a gentle way. Motive was right in front of their noses. Had she had any free hands, she'd be writing this down. The last thing she needed was for the troll to make a great getaway. Another puzzle piece could have been paying the doctors Abigail was miffed about, Medicine didn't come cheap, so if the jewels were sold their worth, maybe it was enough to cure...well...whatever the magic was going to be.
"Yeah, doctors can be hard to find." Wow, Sunshine, way to be blunt about that, says the girl who heals with hair that glows/grows when you sing. She shook her head in silent scolding, clearing her throat. "What my partner is saying is...you meant well, but you still did something wrong."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2017 3:11:13 GMT
"But even the cheap healing powders can cure most general maladies faster than gems" Riku pointed out, and softened his tone. "What's the urgency? why steal all these gems? There must be a serious reason. Maybe we can help, if you'll let us" he had the money, he could find a good doctor for whoever this girl needed to cure. "I hope you realize just how much trouble you're in Abigail. Stealing is a big offense" Abigail's eyes watered.
"But I had no choice!" she said again and Riku gave a silent sigh.
"Who are you trying to help Abigail? Is it another kid?" Trolls were very protective of children. Maybe she was trying to protect another child?
Abigail shut her mouth again and gave Riku a silent stare. He looked over at Sunshine for help.
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Post by Zuyuri on Mar 12, 2017 2:46:18 GMT
"No choice? Everyone has a choice young lady." Sunshine's green eyes glittered; a sign she was about to get to her wit's end. The other side was telling her to tell Riku to back off on the 'help' card. Shadow had taught her promising help was an absolute last minute resort, like if the kid was bleeding to death. Abigail was crying, not so much bleeding, but the excuse of 'I had no choice' was starting to get old.
Riku brought up the tangent of heloing another kid, and that sent the annoyance back. Good; break one rule and follow another.
"Abigail, we're going to have to call someone if you don't cooperate," she warned. The Miranda rights were exercisable, but they could also be a huge weakness in cops figuring out what to do. The silent stare in Riku's direction was cold. This was something that had to be treaded lightly. "How sick is your friend?"
Abigail blinked once. Twice. She answered in a low barely above a whisper, "she hasn't woken up for two days."
"Is she in a hospital?"
...Yes."
Bingo. Jewels used to show doctors what was up. Jewels to pay a fine for bills. The holes were getting filled. "Okay. and does your friend have a guardian paying medical bills?"
Abigail fell into silence. Again.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2017 23:30:01 GMT
Okay, reviewing what he'd done and he knew he'd messed up. But he was still learning and that's why he was even here with Sunshine instead of alone. "Abigail, this is important" Abigail blinked at him.
"I know it's important! That's why I was stealing the jewels! For Michelle! She's just a little girl and nobody knows what's wrong with her! So I read in a book that jewels can heal and I've been...I've..."
Riku smiled at Sunshine and Abigail. He decided to get in a little more trouble. "If you return the jewels I'll see what I can do. I'm on the level of Voodoo King before anything else. Maybe your friend got some bad juju" he knew he was breaking the rules but he figured why not. If he could be of help he would.
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Post by Zuyuri on Mar 14, 2017 5:00:19 GMT
Riku had to be bluffing. He just had to. No cop was that stupid to offer up Voodoo prices they couldn't even afford. Not that Sunshine doubted his voodoo skils, but the bluffing was getting her...on edge. She was no longer looking at Abigail but tightening her lips in disappointment, choosing to look instead at the stockpile. The trail off got butt in by Abigail being hopeful.
"You think so?" Almost like a swipe forward, the jewel bag went flying cross the floor. Sunshine scooped it up and looked into the contents. Well, everything appeared to be accounted for. Some of the jewels were glowing; probably some energy had been absorbed since they had been nabbed.
Sunshine looked at her partner. "Speaking of juju, any chance we can turn some of this off so no one gets hurt?"
"Lady, that magic's helpful." Abigail scoffed rudely.
Sunshine gitted her teeth to avoid retorting back.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2017 17:06:11 GMT
Yea, he'd really done it now. But he didn't care. He'd make it up to Sunshine later. Or explain why he was offering. Though maybe he'd just set up Abigail with another voodoo priest he trusted and call it good. "Kiddo I don't know. But me or a friend will take a look at your friend and see what's what. If she brought home any mysterious object that might help in figuring this out" Riku looked in the back at the jewels and nodded. He reached into his special pockets and pulled out small packets of herbs. he poured some contents from the others into one bag, mixed it together and poured the contents over the glowing jewels, causing them to fade back to looking like normal jewels. "Helpful or not, they might heal someone who doesn't need healing" that would be interesting but not helpful to Riku and Sunshine at all.
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Post by Zuyuri on Mar 15, 2017 3:18:49 GMT
Okay, now Sunshine was getting where Riku was going with the offer of voodoo charms. It would keep the police out of the line of fire while also benefiting the thief. Clever. The disapproval turned into impressed, especially when she got a whiff of the herbal packets. Sure, they looked like tea bags, but there was no tea that sparkled naturally when it was poured out. Their thief just eyes the bag with her eyes wide. Tucking it into her pockets, she looked between the two of them.
"Take them to a voodoo priest like he said," Sunshine said. "We'll get these back where you belong. But next time you get caught, we won't go easy on you, okay?"
Abigail batted her eyes innocently. She turned to look the way she came, finally answering, "...Thanks, I guess." Without any other word, she slinked into the crowd of Magnolia, leaving the cops with the returned jewels. That uncertainty was expected. Police usually didn't help any red-handed thief and let them go. However, Louisiana law stated that minor thefts didn't leave an impact, but there would be an arrest. All in a day's work, she guessed. In the end, both parties won. Abigail got her cure for her sick friend and both Sunshine and Riku had an arrest to report.
"...Not bad for our first arrest," she smiled as she leaned against a post.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2017 3:42:42 GMT
“Consider this your only warning kid” Riku warned while wagging a finger. Abigail only rolled her eyes, thanked them, and slunk back into the crowd. Riku sighed. “I hope she and her friend manage alright” he said, and looked at Sunshine sheepishly. “I know you’re probably mad at me for offering my voodoo services, but it was all I could think of to convince her to give back the jewels quietly and we could hopefully avoid putting another kid in juvie. I’m sorry. Maybe I should have told you what I was doing” He chuckled and nodded. “We don’t make a bad team. I’d uh...I wouldn’t mind working with you again sometime” he smiled shyly at her and looked down. “Listen, Aqua and I always go to a little diner for celebration on good cases. Do you want to....well what I’m asking is....”
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Post by Zuyuri on Mar 15, 2017 16:23:49 GMT
"Look, I get it, arresting kids is hard. In the future, only use it as a last minute resort." Tha was all Sunshine could say as a scolding. The academy was a bit stricter with the policies, but given her partner had a soft spot for kids, it rubbed off on her. She was studying the contents, trying to remember which jewel belonged to which robbery, when all she hear was Riku say 'dinner' and 'what I'm asking'. Her cheeks flushed pink. Was this really happening? Was the cop she had a major crush on asking her out? Her heart skipped a beat. He may have been stammering, but she got the hint.
"...I can take a hint. I close up the bakery around 8 tomorrow. I'm free any time after that."
Whoa, where did this confidence come from? The arrest? Maybe. The fact there was hope for a crush to develop deeper? Sure, he was a giant rabbit now, but she still could see how he had looked before the transformation. It wasn't helping the giddiness a bit.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2017 16:39:48 GMT
"Okay, got it" he gave her a thumbs up. He hadn't liked being so hard on kids in the academy, seeing most kids as Weiss if she had acted out or had been born into a lower-class family. He'd absolutely doted on Weiss, she'd been his sole friend for so many years, that it was hard to divorce the image of her from looking at kids in tough situations. For instance, if Weiss had no other choice, he could see her stealing jewels to heal him. Of course, this would be before he got disinherited but whatever. His ears perked straight up at Sunshine's comment and he grinned like a fool. "Really? You'd be willing? Okay um..I know a place that stays open till ten. We can have dinner at nine, sound good?"
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Post by Zuyuri on Mar 16, 2017 4:25:27 GMT
Bunny grins. That had to be a new one. Sunshine laughed with excitement at the face Riku made. It reminded her of a book Wendy used to read to her as a kid, featuring cute comic-style bunnies complete with toothy grins. She still remembered how Riku's, um, other side had looked, so the image of him grinning doeply amid that pretty-boy grin made it funnier. "It's a date," she beamed. "So..." she heaved the jewels up onto her back, "who's going to send which jewels back to which home?" ((end thread))
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