Lorne was trying to put the whole mess with the spider-like king behind him, really - trying to pretend the days he'd spent locked in a cage and battling for his life had never been. He was alive, all of them were alive, everyone he loved and cared for... no matter how much death he'd seen. They'd seen it too. It didn't seem fair to Nadia and Colin to shrivel up and cower about the experience when they'd gone through it with him. It was bad enough he'd been so little help there.

It didn't mean he was any less nervous walking to the store by himself that night, wishing for not the first time that he had just taken up his parents' offer to buy him a car instead of trying to make it on his own. He peered around each corner the best he could, hurrying along when he felt like it was clear. He would've felt safer as Mont Blonc, but pages didn't exactly go grocery shopping, and it really wasn't so far from his apartment.

Unfortunately for him, his fears weren't exactly unwarranted. In spite of his caution, out of what felt like nowhere, Lorne found himself pinned by a thicker, shorter man, brandishing a blade at him that flashed in the streetlights. "Wallet, " was the simple command.

Panic gripped him. Lorne's hands shook and his yellow eyes widened and he knew he should just really hurry up and give the damn man his wallet or do something but -

Daffupanda