Tap, tap, tap.
Cold. Smells like smeone pissed in a freezer, then threw up on it.
Vermin skitters on ice and cobblestone. Four legs,two, tens. Doesn't matter.
Tap, tap, tap.
Snow and slush creak and squish underfoot. Horrid stuff. Always gets into the socks, no matter what you do.
Tastes like ashes and coal in the air. Someone cleared out a fireplace. Wish they hadn't thrown it out a window. That sort of thing never fails to put you off your breakfast.
Tap, tap, tap.
Denim and cotton brush over chilled skin. Just no way of getting warm and staying that way, in weather like this.
Footsteps echo off of walls and eaves. Easy enough to keep away from. Never know when someone might be tempted to pitch something unwanted out a window.
Tap, tap, ta-
"'Eah. Wot's this?"
Smoke. Acrid and biting. Stronger now, full of tobacco and tinged with even less savory ingredients.
Heartbeats. Six, distinct and separate. One laboring beneath unnatural stresses. If he's smart, he'll live for another six months.
"Little girl. Y'ain't ought t'be out a'wanderin'. They be dangerous folk about." Answering rumbles of laughter. "Y'bes' be lettin' us take care a'ya."
Smart obviously wasn't in great supply. A step back. Boots shuffle on stone from behind. "Aw, y'don' wanna be refusin' our kindnesses, girlie."
Pain. Exploding from a blow to the cheek, fast and hard enough to rattle teeth. Visor clattering to the streets, stars in the dark. "T'ain't nice t'shun a man's kindnesses. Might be 'urtin' our feelin's, y'would."
It's an odd feeling, the stretch of bruising skin and muscle over stinging bone, tasting blood. "One'a those days. Huh"
Fingers groped for and found the staff where it lay. Curled around what looked like wood, but wasn't. Warmth shimmered along the grain. "Thought it was gonna be boring."
Heartbeats racing. Shoes sliding over slick stone. Something sang a low-humming, single-note song in the air. Liquid splashed and splattered. Dust puffed, tasting of earth and clay and copper. Things made squishy thumps.
Silence. One beat left. Exercise felt good.
Tap, tap, tap.
Cold. Smells like smeone pissed in a freezer, then threw up on it.
Vermin skitters on ice and cobblestone. Four legs,two, tens. Doesn't matter.
Tap, tap, tap.
Snow and slush creak and squish underfoot. Horrid stuff. Always gets into the socks, no matter what you do.
Tastes like ashes and coal in the air. Someone cleared out a fireplace. Wish they hadn't thrown it out a window. That sort of thing never fails to put you off your breakfast.
Tap, tap, tap.
Denim and cotton brush over chilled skin. Just no way of getting warm and staying that way, in weather like this.
Footsteps echo off of walls and eaves. Easy enough to keep away from. Never know when someone might be tempted to pitch something unwanted out a window.
Tap, tap, ta-
"'Eah. Wot's this?"
Smoke. Acrid and biting. Stronger now, full of tobacco and tinged with even less savory ingredients.
Heartbeats. Six, distinct and separate. One laboring beneath unnatural stresses. If he's smart, he'll live for another six months.
"Little girl. Y'ain't ought t'be out a'wanderin'. They be dangerous folk about." Answering rumbles of laughter. "Y'bes' be lettin' us take care a'ya."
Smart obviously wasn't in great supply. A step back. Boots shuffle on stone from behind. "Aw, y'don' wanna be refusin' our kindnesses, girlie."
Pain. Exploding from a blow to the cheek, fast and hard enough to rattle teeth. Visor clattering to the streets, stars in the dark. "T'ain't nice t'shun a man's kindnesses. Might be 'urtin' our feelin's, y'would."
It's an odd feeling, the stretch of bruising skin and muscle over stinging bone, tasting blood. "One'a those days. Huh"
Fingers groped for and found the staff where it lay. Curled around what looked like wood, but wasn't. Warmth shimmered along the grain. "Thought it was gonna be boring."
Heartbeats racing. Shoes sliding over slick stone. Something sang a low-humming, single-note song in the air. Liquid splashed and splattered. Dust puffed, tasting of earth and clay and copper. Things made squishy thumps.
Silence. One beat left. Exercise felt good.
Tap, tap, tap.