ArchivedLogs:Cold Hard Cash

Cold Hard Cash
Dramatis Personae Corey, Jack, Kate, Laura
In Absentia	2014-11-20 Chilly walks and frosted thievery
Location <NYC> Central Park North
Central Park North is slightly quieter than its southern counterpart, being further uptown and slightly out of the bustle of the City - insofar as one can escape the bustle of the City even here, in the acres of green and blue that make up Central Park. The reservoir is in the northern half, providing miles of jogging and biking trails along the clear water, as well as benches for people to sit and rest. A winter chill has made an early arrival to New York, with the growing dark bringing with it a crisp, biting wind that heralds the chance of snow in the not-too-distant future. The Central Park ice rink has already opened for the season in the southern portion of the park, leaving the northern portion of the park relatively empty save for a relatively small number of people around the jogging trails that ring the reservoir. Off duty for the evening, and having had an opportunity to change out of her scrubs, Kate ambles at a relaxed pace around the walking trail, her gloved hand clutching happily at a large, bright pink travel mug. The piping hot beverage within issues forth a curling tendril of steam from the mouth of the mug when the diminutive woman is not sipping from it. Kate is bundled up against the evening's chill, a pink and purple puffy coat zipped up the front, a fluffy white scarf tucked into the neck of it for added insulation from the cold. A pair of dark skinny jeans are tucked into the top of brown riding boots, the top of a pair of white leg warmers peeking out above the edge. As she walks, Kate is occasionally glancing up at her walking companion, an amused smirk on her lips. "I'm just so glad that nasty lake effect snow missed us this time. Really not looking forward to trying to get to work in that mess," she says with a snort, her breath visible as a billow of white, "Just glad I didn't take the a job in Buffalo. Pretty sure I couldn't be seen above the snow out there now." She gestures with a gloved hand over her head, indicating the snow level. Cold! Alright, its not as cold as it could be, but for a Florida native like Corey it is still not the most enjoyable of seasons. Dressed in a poofy jacket in a bright blue with a wool cap on, the large man is doing his best to be warm and comfortable. A warm beverage steams in his hand as he walks beside the much shorter woman. "I don't know where they'd be able to push the snow to for emergency vehicles to get through it. You saw the firemen moving that pregnant lady on foot? Eesh, people on second floors could probably just climb out their windows and be on top of the snow." He chuckles at the thought of her below the snow level and shakes his head. "I think it was almost as tall as I am. They were saying a good six feet at least, and more on the way. I wasn't particularly fond of the few feet we had in years past all that much as it was." Shrugging, he glances about the park as he takes a sip from his coffee. Laura is out upon the rink, going round and round with the others who are enjoying the evenings cold festivities. Bundled up warmer than perhaps is necessary she seems to be enjoying herself none the less. A couple people have started to stop and take notice of her, commenting to themselves and point out towards her, a couple of the comments being made seem to be less than pleasant and one is heard saying, "Can you believe the nerve." The cold is really annoying Jack. He's still in the same jeans and hoodie he arrived in yesterday, hood pulled up to cover his lack of head. He's at least managed to acquire a pair of gloves both for keeping warm and hiding his lack of visible hands. He's near the rink for a simple reason. Easy spot to grab wallets and maybe even unattended winter wear. He hasn't spotted Laura yet but he's grateful for the meal she provided yesterday. He's doing better today with his pick-pocketing and looking for a new target as he lurks by the rink, watching the crowd and trying not to draw attention to himself. "Oh, I saw that on the news this morning. Glad they were able to move her, but, eesh," Kate agrees, shaking her head and taking a long sip of her coffee, "You'd likely get called to help move someone like that. I'm pretty certain they'd just lose me in a snow drift. Find me when spring melts off all the snow." Kate nudges Corey with her shoulder, glancing towards the skating rink a short distance away, "Wanna go watch? Haven't been ice skating in years, but it's kinda fun to watch." Without really waiting for a response, Kate starts towards the skating rink at her casual pace, continuing to chatter as she expects him to follow. "Have you ever been skating?" she asks cheerily over the edge of her coffee mug, "Well, ice skating?" As they approach the rink, she leans against the railing, resting her coffee mug on the edge, though it is still clutched tightly in both gloved hands. "Yeah, I'd probably be helping out in that situation. I know they mobilized the guard for it, but I don't think even a Humvee could get through that. Maybe one of those things from Canada? The Salamander or something," Corey says as he walks along towards the skating rink. "Not really. I've done roller blading a few times when I was younger, but never really did Ice skating. Wasn't really any ice worth mentioning down there. Just snow birds." He chuckles at his own joke and leans against the rink wall to watch the people on the frozen water. Laura continues to skate, seeming to not notice the attention she is drawing to herself. Some four or five people have pulled together to point at her and talk amongst themselves and after a moment its more apparent why. She skates along then there is a short blue of motion, a blink of the eye, and she is a few feet further along her path than she should be. Seeming the young girl is not noticing this as she continues to skate. A little irritated that the last wallet he picked didn't have any cash and only cards which were mostly useless to him, Jack continues scanning the crowd. He spots Kate first and considers her before Corey catches his eye. Jack peers from under his hood and smiles invisibly. Making sure the hood is up, he starts to approach Corey and tries to guess which pocket he'll have his wallet in. "I'm pretty sure we have those things around here, too. The giant fire dumpsters? They get enough snow out there it would make sense," Kate agrees, idly chatting about the weather as she watches the skaters out on the rink. "We should do it some time. It's rather fun. Chilly, but fun. Best part is getting to go for hot chocolate and cookies afterwards. And getting to warm up from being out in the cold," she says, bouncing lightly on her toes and leaning in against Corey's side at the last statement, a mischievous smirk turning up the corners of her lips. The faint blur on the ice rink draws her attention, and she glances up curiously, trying to figure out what is going on. "Huh. Rather wonder if she's meaning to do that. She's going to get arrested if she's not careful," Kate grumbles, her shoulders slumping a bit as she looks up and around, a paranoid glint in her dark eyes. Laura seems to have not known what was happening, or at least was not doing it on purpose as those watching her can see the moment when she realizes things are not as they should. Laura's watch starts beeping and Laura looks down at it, coming to an abrupt stop on the ice, her eyes focus on the watch and she then looks about quickly with trepidation showing on her features before she moves quickly (though not unusually fast) towards the edge of the rink and tries not to make eye contact with anyone as she does. Blinking at the blur, Corey frowns. "Guess she's from out of town and hand't heard about the power laws. I hope someone tells her before cops show up." Shaking his head, he tilts his head thinking about the skating. "Can try it some time. Probably would fall a few times, but at least we wont have to worry about getting hurt." He smiles and puts an arm around the leaning Kate. The raising of the arm lifts up his coat enough to show that there aren't any bulges in his back pocket at least indicating a wallet. Jack scowls slightly at the lack of wallet-bulge. That makes things a little harder for him. Seeing the way Kate looks around is cause for caution and Jack slows his steps. Shifting a little, he alters course and leans against the rink wall near Corey and Kate. Head down, he glances to the side and tries to spot any pocket bulges that might have tempting targets in them. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches sight of Laura and is surprised. He didn't expect to ever see her again. Kate blinks as the jump-skating woman stops her skating, curiously watching her exit the rink at an apparent normal pace. "Eh. Pretty sure we'd be fine with a few falls. Fun would be worth it," she says, looping her arm around his waist to rest on his side, "Here's hoping we don't get arrested for lack of serious injury after a skating outing." She snorts sarcastically, shaking her head and watching Laura again, her temporary hyper vigilance gone for now. "Oh good, she's stopping. Not in the mood for trouble tonight, even if it doesn't effect us," Kate says, shaking her head. Laura slips away into the crowed. Yep, totally bulges in Corey's pants, there must be things in his pockets, eeyup. "I don't think it counts for me. Otherwise I'd be arrested for leaving the house." Glancing at Laura again, and giving a nod to the nearby fellow before returning his attention to the small woman beside him, he hrms. "There shouldn't be a problem, I mean are people jerks enough to...wait, scratch that. Still I'll go with your hope. If she swings this way I'll let her know. Neighborly thing to do." He smiles but glances to his cooling cup of coffee, taking a swig before it goes too cold. Jack is half tempted to follow Laura and see if she's feeling charitable again. He loses sight of her though. Shaking his head, he turns his attention back towards Corey and his pockets. He considers his options before approaching the man. Focusing his telekinesis, he tries to push one of those bulges up a little. He's planning for a classing pick pocketing move, planning to bump into Corey 'accidentally' and try to snag what he can from his pocket. "So long as you don't start glowing or anything, I think you'll be fine," Kate agrees quietly, sipping at her coffee which is now starting to cool off a bit in the chill evening. "But yes. People really can be that jerky. They arrested Micah under these laws," she sighs with a shake of her head, leaning heavier into Corey, the cynicism heavy in her voice, the tone having been creeping into her voice over the past months. Kate hugs Corey's waist tighter, yawning quietly and raising her coffee mug to her lips again. A glance towards Jack lingers when Corey nods, but Kate does not nod to him. "That's only happened a few times," Corey murmurs and shakes his head. "What did they arrest him for? Being too nice to be a human being?" He finishes off the coffee, adjusting his jacket to keep away the wind a little better, not really noticing any tugging. "You should get some more sleep, I know being with me kinda cheats for you but not much replaces a full nights sleep. Have you gotten off the midnight shifts forever punishment?" He lets out another sigh, looking over the rink. On the plus side, Jack is getting some nice healthy carryover during his time waiting for thievery. Jack isn't aware of that carryover but he is feeling a bit better. He's just chalking it up to anticipation for now. Also unaware he's been spotted, the invisible teen shivers slightly against the wind. He keeps up his 'just walking' act and just as he's getting closer he fakes a trip to bump into Corey. "Oh man, sorry," he mumbles quickly, trying to snag whatever he can from the other man's pocket to stuff quickly into his sweatshirt pocket. "I think there's some ice on the ground here." "I know," Kate says with a nod and a sigh, "But still - would totally get you arrested now. And I didn't see the whole details, but it was obviously a mistake. Hadn't been following that closely, just heard about it on the news." The admonishment to sleep gets a snort, and she raises her coffee mug to her lips again, "I know. But I'm not sleepy, really." This is punctuated with a wide yawn. "And no, not really. Still mostly night shifts. I'm a branded mutant and all that jazz," she mutters quietly and sighs, "I need a new job." When Jack bumps into Corey, the motion also makes Kate jump, and she stares, long and hard at the young man, "You ok there?" Her dark eyes look him over, a genuinely concerned tone to her voice. Bumping into Corey is like bumping into a wall of muscle, but he seems more concerned for the smaller man. "Are you alright there? Not hurt are you?" He offers a hand to help stabilize the other fellow pretty much unaware. The wallet seems pretty old and beaten up though, not likely a jackpot winner. "Pretty bad weather lately, you should watch out," he offers another smile then looks back to Kate for any feedback she may have picked up. It was good Jack's face wasn't visible because he looks pretty surprised with how solid Corey feels when they collide. But he's still happy to get that wallet. It's quickly slipped into his pocket and he'll go through it once he gets away from the pair. Sure he feels bad about stealing but he's got to eat after all. Even as he speaks, he's making effort to keep his head turned away from Kate and Corey so they don't see there's 'no one' inside the hood. "I'm okay. Are you? Sorry again about the crash. I really have to look where I'm going," he says. "Yeah, really cold weather," he adds. Of course he looks like he's not dressed properly. Just a dirty hoodie and jeans with a pair of gloves. He's not even wearing boots. Just some beaten up sneakers. Kate's brow furrows slightly in concern as she looks over Jack once more, assessing, but doesn't say anything about what she sense. She just shakes her head to Corey, brows still creased in worry. "We're ok. You sure you're okay?" she asks again, keeping close to Corey as she eyes the young man. "Stay warm out there. Afraid the cold is going to stick around for a bit, and only get worse," Kate offers, a concerned, nervous smile on her lips. Glancing up at Corey, Kate shrugs uncertainly, "Should probably head home anyway. Getting chillier." "Yeah I'm fine. Take a bit more than a bump to hurt me," Corey says with a smile. "Have a nice evening then." It looks like he wants to say more, then remembering previous New Yorkers, he shakes his head and offers Kate an arm. "Yeah, we can head on off then. At least it's not snowing yet." He makes a face at that and shakes his head as he starts to head off. "Winter sucks like that," Jack replies. Even if it isn't technically winter yet. "I'm sure. Just a little bump even if it was into a wall of muscle," he joked, waving a gloved hand. "Have a good night too," he says, starting to walk towards a place he can get out of sight. He wants to see how much he's got and hopes it's enough for something warm to eat.