[Closed] Stop. Pickpocketing time.

[meowbel]

WHO: Mabel and May
WHERE: Recolle Square
WHEN: Sunday the 17th
WHAT: Mabel is taking lessons from May for pickpocketing. For better or for worse.
WARNINGS: Nothing at the moment?

When Mabel was about for meet up with May, she already had some doubts in her mind. While she was desperate for make new friends on this network, she can't help but wonder if this was a good idea. Wasn't pickpocketing cheating and especially to those who worked hard for their money?

Either way, that didn't stop her from coming here. As she waited, there was a chance to back out of this right?

Comments

[me_matey]

Mabel would find May just as she described; orange beanie, black sunglasses, a hiking backback slung over her back, orange throw-back basketball jersey with just a sports bra underneath (it was still summer warm, sue her) and a pair of sea-print leggings that were finally the right color after some retrospec fixes. All in all, she blended in with the crowd pretty well, which was all the better for what they were about to do.

She had her own concerns of course. While May had pretty much no regard for the law or what was decided to be right and wrong by people with way more money and way more privilege than she was ever going to have, she did have to wonder if it was right to pass on the knowledge she'd gotten from her old man onto ostensibly normal kids. She was an ex-streekid (well, current streetkid considering she was homeless again). She'd had a life that sort of demanded that casual disrespect for the rules.

But... The girl seemed really excited to learn. How could she say no to that?

[meowbel]

It didn't take long for Mabel to spot her. Just like she said, she simply went straight toward the girl in the orange beanie! Although, unlike her, the younger of the two didn't do much to blend in with the others. Being someone who wanted to stand out, she made sure to wear a sweater when it was warm out along with some rather bright colours on it!

"Hi there, you must be the person I talked to the other day! The name's Mabel, it's really nice to meet you!" She said before giving her hand out.

While there was that feeling knowing that she might have done the wrong thing, she just really wanted to make friends. Hopefully May wouldn't say no to that!

[me_matey]

That sweater was... probably not conducive to what she was going to be teaching, all things considered, but May kind of loved it anyways. She pushed down her sunglasses a bit, smiling brightly as she took the offered hand.

"Pleasure's all mine, baby girl. Let's find a place to sit and talk, huh? I wanna get to know you a bit better before we get started."

[meowbel]

"Of course! I know I want to get to know you too!" With that, Mabel started to look around for a place to sit. Placing her hands around her eyes, she gave a small pout as she scanned around the area.

Eventually, that's when she found something! "Oh, oh! We can sit over there!"

[me_matey]

Innocuous, open bench. Alright. May took lead, plopping herself down after unshouldering her satchel and setting that between them. She leaned back, crossing her arms behind her head.

"So how old are you, again? I can't recall if I asked before."

[meowbel]

"I just turned 14 so I'm practically a teenager!" She said with a huge smile on her face before sitting down by the bench.

"What about you? You seem like you're a college student!"

[me_matey]

14. Practically a baby, May thought. Though when she was that age, she was on her own... she had no place to judge.

"Eh, no college for me, though I'm 23. Actually, I didn't do high school, either. I'm a certified drop out."

[meowbel]

With that, Mabel couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Really? You look like someone who knows a lot about life!" But then there was a pause.

"Then again, school isn't for everyone so I can't really say anything about that! But that just makes you all the more amazing though!"

[me_matey]

Amazing? Well that's certainly the first she's heard that.

"Not that I don't appreciate the flattery, kid, but don't you think it's a little weird to heap praise on something like that?"

[meowbel]

With that, she shook her head.

"No, not really? I think it's pretty amazing that you can drop out and manage to make a living!"

Not that pickpocketing was a good way to live but...!

[me_matey]

"Well, made a living, anyways...," May sighed, pushing off her sunglasses and taking a long hard look at the sky.

"So I guess you're earnest enough that I can come clean. That 100k? That's to replace my ship. I used to host tours around Peach Beach. It came back with the others, just... not in one piece, yanno?"

[meowbel]

For a moment, Mabel blinked a little.

"Ooooohhhh so that's why! But I still say that you could make your own ice cream and sell it to people! It's still a good way to make some money!"

[me_matey]

"Too much overhead, kid. I'd be at it for way longer than I'd want to be for something I'm not that passionate about, you know?" May sighed.

"But I guess at your age... you don't really need to worry about stuff like that."

[meowbel]

Then Mabel blinked at her. For a moment, that was when the younger of the two suddenly found herself a little speechless.

"...Is that suppose to be a bad thnig?"

[me_matey]

"Getting stuck doing something you don't actually love just because you need the money? It's the absolute worse thing. It's like living in a jail cell you built yourself," May hadn't exactly signed up to be giving deep life lessons to a kid she'd barely just met, and yet...

"This is getting a little heavy."

[meowbel]

"Not a bad thing! The more you know, the more you can get ready next time or something like that!" She said with a huge smile before crossing her arms a little.

"And this is Mabel's life lesson number one!"

[me_matey]

"Maybe. But even if I turned out alright, I don't really want all the shit I went through to happen to anyone else, specially not a kid like you," May chuckled.

"Besides, with your attitude, you're already going places. I'm actually not sure there's anything I can teach you. Unless you *really* wanna learn how to hustle like me."

[meowbel]

"Well hustling isn't that bad, right?" She said before giving May a puzzled look. "Yeah, I know pickpocketing isn't a really good idea but maybe we can do something else with it!"

Then she had a thought! "Oh, oh! How about finding another way for them to give us money instead?"

[me_matey]

"Exactly. It's a little more guiltless than liftin wallets," not that May ever felt guilt over that kind of thing, considering her targets were usually the already wealthy.

"Plus it flexes them brain muscles of yours better. Hustlin' is a thinking woman's game, ya feel me?"

[meowbel]

"Then you want to show me how it works? It can't be too difficult to hustle people, right?"

Mabel, what are you doing? Despite the back of her mind telling her that this was a bad idea, she can't help but be a bit curious too.

[me_matey]

"Oh it ain't easy, but you seem like a smart girl. The whole beauty of it is in convincing someone to just *give up* their money freely because they're confident in a situation that you've, personally, set up. When my old man did this, he did it with card games. He'd act like he was just a young, excited guy who'd never gambled in his life and trick all of the card sharks into running up super high bets." It's what eventually landed the poor fool in jail, but May conveniently left that part out.

Sorry about the late response, school has been busy!

[meowbel]

The more that Mabel thought about it, the more she started to ponder a little. "So in other words, you gotta be an actor to make sure that it'll go well! I think I can do that, I've been wanting to be an actress all my life so this shouldn't be any different!"

Mabel, what are you doing?

no worries!

[me_matey]

"Now you're starting to get it! So, let's see how smart you are... what's something we could do, right here, right now, with the resources we have at hand, to hustle someone?" May should have felt worse, but... eh.

[meowbel]

As Mabel looked around, she kept her eye out on someone that may or may not be easily fooled. Luckily, it didn't take her long to spot someone!

"Oh, how about that elderly lady? I think she might like my performance!"

Mabel...!

[me_matey]

"Hmm... Looks pretty loaded for a blue hair. Good pick, girl! So what kind of performance are you gonna do?" It almost seemed like Mabel had something in mind...

[meowbel]

"I was going to ask if she needed any help! She seems like the kind of person who wouldn't mind if somebody went up and said something to her!" Was this going to go well? Who knows!

[me_matey]

"That's pretty boy scout. Not seeing the angle, either. What, exactly, is she gonna give money away for?" May shook her head.

"How about this... she's gotta have something she needs help with, right? Something that would require payment, right? Since you're the sweet one, then it's up to me to create the, er... problem."

[meowbel]

"What kind of problem do you think you can make up?" Mabel pondered a little. "Although, I still don't really know about her giving actual money away..."

[me_matey]

"Hey, it's her money, right? She has a right to do with it what she wants! We're not stealing it or anything," May responded with complete confidence, grinning wide.

"How about this; we're sisters. We're lost in town and need enough money for dinner and a bus ticket. I'll put on the airs of Responsible Big Sis, and you just act as sweet as you are. Badabing, she pays out. They almost always do. So long as I wear my sunglasses, she won't be able to tell we're not related."