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 Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:28 pm
Apparently October was a busy month for shoppers. Toby glowered as a particularly plump woman, preoccupied with listening to their child scream about 'Not wanting to be a Pumpkin for Halloween', brushed past him rudely. Thicker crowds also meant a harder time in general for the youth to get what he was looking for, the tightened security at the mall made it nearly impossible for him to well, you know, take what should be 'rightfully his'.
And speaking of 'rightfully his...'
It seemed one of his favourite shops, a curiousity store, was thankfully still mostly lacking in the customers department. He ducked and swooped around the handful of customers inside, keeping an eye on the single store owner, who seemed more preoccupied with blowing sleep bubbles out of their nose than actually paying attention to the lingering customers.
Toby snickered as the shopowner nearly awoke themselves as a particularly large snot-bubble burst into a loud 'pop'! Now it was time for him to decide what exactly to collect: he was always painfully, arduously careful with what he chose, not everything could go into his special collection in his hideout after all! His hand gently brushed over a few crystal figurines, debating a little bit before deciding they were a little too fragile.
A snort from the shopowner distracted Toby for a second, and as he quickly glanced at them, something small and shiny caught his attention. It was cute, almost girlishly cute, all two inches of porcelain cat-whiskers, ears, and tail. It sat on a podium with a collection of other similar colours: though none of them were as fancy as the black-toned green-eyed one, it even had a cute green ribbon for crying out loud.
Slowly, Toby made his way to the display. It was a little too close to the shopkeeper, so he had to be careful. A couple of meters off, he scanned all directions, pausing for a second to make sure noone else was keeping an eye on his less-than-honest actions to be. Soon, and then surely, it would be all his for the taking.
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:42 pm
It wasn't exactly her sort of thing, to go shopping (which her parents considered themselves blessed that she wasn't big on it), but her weekend was currently bland enough that a small shopping excursion was the only thing she could do to salvage it. Initially she had gone with her brother... but come on, who honestly in all of this planet WANTS to go shopping with their family? Not her, and so she had slipped away, and was conveniently ignoring the vibrations of her phone that notified her of the constant text messages her brother was sending her, trying to figure out where she was most likely.
Scanning her surroundings for her pesky brother, she thought she saw the back of his head and immediately made an escape route... into a store she'd probably never go in otherwise. The items were pretty, fragile and intricate. She imagined that it'd take one tap of her finger and most would shatter to tiny little bits. Experimentally she poked at a glass figurine, and was mildly disappointed that it did not break.
Now that she was in here... the only thing for her to do was shop. For a few minutes she scoured the store for something that was more to her taste, and was rather completely oblivious to the people around her. If they did not deem to make themselves interesting, she couldn't be bothered in the least bit to take interest in them.
With a sigh, she just about gave up on the little shop until her eyes spied something that was... okay, it was so sickly adorable that she'd be embarrassed to be spotted buying it. A porcelain, perfect little kitty figure, and in one of her favorite colors, black! When she wanted something, there was no indecision, and she went ahead and took it. Brushing past a boy she couldn't be bothered to glance towards more than once, she picked up the little porcelain cat and headed to the register.
In a matter of minutes she had successfully made her day thoroughly better, and smiling to herself, she held out her new purchase, observing it with pleasure. Later she'd have to shove it into her purse so her brother wouldn't notice and tease her for it.
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:56 pm
...
...
He-then someone- then- ok back up. What exactly had happened?
Toby did a mental checklist. He was going to procure his new item for his collection. Check. He was scouting the store out to make sure he wasn't going to get caught. Check. Some stupid girl came in, swooped past him, and took his freaking item. Check.
If he could have screamed in frustration, he sure as hell would have. He couldn't believe some girl would have the nerve to- wait, hold that thought, she was getting away!
Quickly, he scanned around, trying to think of a way to distract her. Short of a well-deserved lightning bolt of justice to their head, there was no way he could distract her without a full-out confrontation. He could always do the bump-into-them-take their-item routine if they weren't holding his prize in their hand.
Patience, Toby, patience. He glowered, sticking his hands in his pocket, trailing the girl in such a tantrum, it didn't occur to him how obvious he was being about it.
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:03 pm
She glanced over her shoulder once...
...
And then she glanced over her shoulder again a few seconds later.
Insert one long hell-of-a-stare-slash-weirded-out-expression.
Great, she had some kid following her (not that she wasn't a kid herself, but that was beyond the point right now). Her brow furrowed, she flat-out eyed the kid who seemed entirely unaware that she knew that he was following her. He seemed distracted by... brooding, over what, she could only fathom. Was he trying to devise the best way to hit on her (because if she was, she really was going to have to smack him), or was he trying to steal her purse?
Maybe he was just a creep.
Yeah, she'd settle for that. Pretending to be distracted by answering a phone call, she ducked into another store, deciding that it might be best to discern whether the boy was really following her or not before making a plan of retaliation. If she felt like it, she could just text Damon... but then again, she could take care of herself, and this kid didn't seem like much. Really, it could be another interesting way to spice up her afternoon.
She smiled, and it was hard to tell whether it was a pleasant expression or not.
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:41 pm
Eyes totally dead-set on the prize, Toby ran over several potential scenarios in his head. Nothing could ruin his moment of sheer disbelief at having his item stolen - oh haha the irony! - by someone else.
Wait, was she staring at him? He did a double take: she indeed, had the most blatantly 'I think you're stalking' me expression on her face. Oh crap.
There was a potted plant over there, maybe if he slid behind it... no not enough time! With a little internal sigh to himself, Toby resolved there was only one thing to do: confront her about it.
Or, he would have, if she hadn't suddenly taken her cell phone out. Mood lightening a bit as he realised he could take this to his advantage, Toby followed her into the next store, trying to act a little more subtle. From behind his position next to the gardening tools, he tried to make out what she was doing. Crap, he couldn't really see, between the stupid rakes and hoes, maybe if he leaned a little closer....
Crash! The whole stand came tumulting downwards, clattering in an ear-splitting ruckus. Toby turned a brilliant red, all objective forgotten as he clumsily tried to deal with picking up his mess. Oh, today was just not his afternoon.
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:58 pm
Sweet and wicked laughter burst from her lips as one of the stands came crashing down to the ground, and the culprit was left visible to everyone's eyes. Was she going to help him? Hell no. She was going to laugh at him until her cheeks turned red from mirth. She didn't even bother to cover her mouth and pawn it off as a cough or some sound of surprise. No, she just laughed, and did not feel the least bit sorry for the creeper. That's what he got for stalking her.
Eventually her laughter faded away, and with her free hand (the other covetously held the porcelain cat) she wiped away some tears of mirth. With her vision cleared, she got a good look at the unfortunate (and creepy) kid. He definitely look a little weird... not so much, but enough that she raised a brow at him.
This was it. She really was going to confront her newly discovered stalker. "You're completely obvious, you know?" She arched a brow at him, because she suspected that he very well knew that she had caught on to his game. It would be interesting to see how he responded, and at least in this setting there were people around her who would clearly come to her rescue if he did anything suspicious and wrong.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 4:26 pm
Toby struggled, fighting a loosing battle. They kept on coming at him, from all angles: even years of honed street-savvy reflexes were not going to save him in this situation. With a satisfied clunk, another large gardening rake indeed slipped from his already-busy arms and fell to the ground.
By now, his antics had caught the sales clerk, who took one look at the young offender and told him that "she would deal with it, please be more careful next time." Insert womanly sigh here.
Gratefully, Toby abandoned the rest of his battle with the Gardening Tools of Doom, and was about to merrily head his way when he found himself face to face with his, well, his nemesis.
He bristled, face sporting an unfortunately boyish pout. Could this day possibly get any worse? "I'm obvious?!" He resisted the urge to gnash his teeth, lowering his voice a bit for fear of attracting a larger crowd. Thankfully most shoppers had only paid a second's attention to the ruckus in the first place. "You're the one who STOLE my- er," crap, he hadn't meant to say that part out loud. Quick, think of something to cover it up!, "My attention." He finally finished, lamely, not realizing for a even second how wrong it could have been taken.
Oh man, his prize was right there in her other hand, if only he could reach for it...
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:15 pm
Delphine really did think that the sales clerk had gone easy on Toby, but there was nothing she could do to help fix that. Instead, she would take what amusement she could from the situation. Carefully she tucked the porcelain cat into her purse, her hands moving then to settle on either side of her waist. She tapped her black shoe against the floor, feigning impatience with Toby's home-made disaster. The laughter had died away, though it was hard for her to keep it off of her face. No longer did she feel threatened by Toby. He was a klutz, and really, he wasn't all that much bigger than her, and on top of that they were in a public place.
Yeah, he was no threat.
She blinked at the... awkward confession, if she could call it that. Delphine could only assume now that he was one of those crazy creepers that followed around pretty girls and snapped pictures of them and hung said photos up on their wall... She visibly grimaced, her eyes glancing quickly over his figure for a camera. Well, if he had one, she couldn't see it.
...Maybe she should be flattered by his attraction to her?
Ah... yeah, no.
"So you just had to follow me around like a drooling dog on the scent a fresh piece of meat?" If she squinted, she could just see the little dribble of drool at the corner of his mouth... maybe. She could convince herself it was there, either way.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:39 pm
Oh COME ON, he wasn't THAT obvious, was he?
Hesitantly, Toby wiped one hand over his mouth, wondering if indeed he was drooling. Ok no slobber, what the heck was she talking abou-
Oh, was his first thought. Followed by a resounding, crap. Oh man, did she think he was hitting on her?.
If possible, his face flushed an even deeper red. "Oh, no. No no no." He backed up slowly, laughing nervously. "Look um, miss. I think you have this wrong. I'm not really stalking you, I'm just-" No, he really was stalking her. "Uh, passing by."
Oh god, this was so lame. He might as well have a 'Hello, please arrest me now' sign stuck on his head. Quick, time to change topics!
Feigning giving in, Toby sighed, dragging it out as long as possible. "Ok, ok you got me. It's just that you," and here he pretended to look thoughtful, "REALLY reminded me of someone I know. You wouldn't happen to know a er, 'Jessica', would you?"
Ok so there was noone named Jessica that he knew. Sue him.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 6:00 pm
She knew that she wasn't wrong in thinking that this kid had been stalking her. COME ON, give her a little credit, it had been completely obvious from the second time she glanced over her shoulder and saw him. Delphine wasn't by any means a stupid kid, she had a decent head on her shoulders. This creeper had definitely been stalking her, and any excuse he made just dug him deeper into a hole. "I think I don't," she reaffirmed, a brow arching high upon her forehead.
The kid was BLUSHING, which meant he really did have a thing for her, otherwise he wouldn't have been embarrassed by her finding out. The only good thing about the situation was that he wasn't completely ugly, so she wasn't attracting the epitome of disgusting fogey stalkers. She could handle it if it was just kids.
"Uh....huuuuuuh, no, I don't know any Jessica." By the tone of her voice, she still didn't believe him. If he thought she was someone else, wouldn't he have called out 'Jessica' to her? Maybe she was analyzing this too much, but she wasn't about to trust the words of a wannabe-stalker. "Do you know a Jessica?" she questioned speculatively.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 6:27 pm
If he could wither more under her scrutinizing glare, he would have. Weren't girls supposed to be you know, shy about talking to strange people and stuff? Aw man, there was a reason he was trying to stay hidden...
Ok, how about making a run for it? His eyes darted left, then right, for an escape. He could just dart to that side and then-
-NO no no wait! She still had the cat! It was neatly tucked in her purse, all he had to do was distract her from it, and then it would be his for the taking.
Now the bigger issue was a resounding 'how'? Short of clubbing her unconscious, he really wasn't too sure how to quite resolve this current dilemma. Maybe if he talked to her more, it would at least distract her? He was pretty sure though she didn't sound very convinced by his last effort, it was gonna take some talking.
"Yeah," his voice came out in a squeak a couple of octaves too high. Toby cursed mentally, clearing his throat. "I mean, uh, yeah. My cousin's friend is called Jessica. She goes to that fancy all girl's school across the bridge or something?" He couldn't really remember what that school was called, but he hope it was abstract enough that this stranger wouldn't question it.
Even as he was talking, Toby couldn't help but continue sneaking glances at her purse, draped across her side.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:43 pm
She leaned forward, purse swinging against her side, to leer at Toby in a way that questioned his mental stability and well... his gender at this point (especially with that girly high-pitched note he had squeaked out). Delphine was hoping in a way that her scrutiny of him would be enough to chase him away. There was only so long that she could tolerate stalkers, especially ones that were... uninteresting. Sure, he'd given her a good laugh, but she didn't have endless hours in the day to give Toby what he wanted (or what she thought he wanted) - her attention.
"I still don't know her," she replied finally with a shrug that shifted her purse against her side. Still, the navy purse hovered close enough to her side that it would be tricky to get into it to retrieve the item she had oh-so wrongfully bought before Toby could steal it - if that cat had been real, it would have been purring over all the attention it got from having two people desire to own it.
Tilting her head curiously to the side, she thought that she saw... mmm, but no, maybe he was looking for an escape route. She hoped so.
After a few more moments he still hadn't left, and so she did the only thing that was logical. "Are you going to walk away or am I going to have to scream 'rape'... or something like that?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:55 pm
If he had ears and a tail, they would have been flattened against the skull of his head, (and possibly tail drooping). Obviously, the God of Thievery was on some sort of Halloween weekend vacation, and Toby was now facing accusations of 'stalking' and -wait what?!
He boggled. "Wait wait wait. You think I chased you all the way down here, to rape you?!?!" He wasn't too sure whether to be relieved or outright horrified. "God, I mean no offense or anything, but you're not exactly like, you know," he waved his arms in the air to emphasize 'womanly curves', "sort of material."
Dear lord, this was even worse than outright thievery. He might as well just come clean with it. "Ok look," Toby sighed, not wanting to be forever known to this girl as the 'would-be teenage rapist that wasn't quite, "I'll be honest with you. I was following you because you had something I really wanted, and I wanted to make it mine." Another sigh. "Since clearly you aren't willing to give it up, I'll just have to find another way to get it sometime, you happy now?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:09 pm
Hey. WAIT A MINUTE.
Her cheeks flushed red from the mixture of anger and embarrassment she felt at his belittling of her figure. She couldn't help but think it, despite it being so wrong of the thought to cross her mind... but she wasn't PRETTY enough to rape? What the hell was this kid's problem? Why was he stalking her if he didn't think her pretty and attractive? What the hell was he doing? She was righteously upset, though by all means she should have been relieved instead. But she had been INSULTED by some creeper. BY A CREEPER.
"I can assure you I've taken all the offense in the world," she replied tersely, and it seemed like the corner of her eye twitched with the power of her irritation.
And then the stupid creeper had the nerve to contradict himself! Jesus christ, she was getting fed up with the nutcase. First he said he had no interest in her... and now he was insinuating that he wanted her... "No, okay, you look, you little creep. You just shut your trap before I personally rip out your tongue from behind your teeth so you can't say another word. You will never get you want from me, and if you try I'll not only rip out your tongue, but another valuable asset." She glowered at him, attempting to be as horrible as she possibly could. She was NOT going to have some creeper fantasizing over raping her.
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:24 pm
Geez, what was her problem? He was just being honest about things! Shouldn't she be apologizing after having stolen something that CLEARLY belonged to him?
Finally deciding that backing out was probably the best idea at this point (the girl's slowly increasing voice was attracting a small crowd at this point, and he'd rather not end up in teenage jail), Toby sighed, resigned. Girls. A part of his mind briefly wondered what other valuable asset she could have meant (and here he patted down his pockets making sure that everything else had stolen was still there), but he really did not want to stay to figure it out.
"All right, geez, I'm leaving," muttering more profanities to himself, he turned away. As he started walking into the masses, he couldn't help but holler one last commentary over his shoulder. "EVEN THOUGH I'm the victim here!" Seriously, what was with all that talk about rape and such, is that what they taught nice girls in high school these days...?
Note to self, Toby thought, as sour as ever. He swore he could feel her eyes like daggers still trailing him. Never ever stalk a girl again, no matter how serious the situation.
Besides, he would get something cooler than that stupid cat-charm. And then show her up!
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