Tses shrugged. It was a gesture she seemed to use a lot, but that matched her personality. Simple, uncaring, non-committal. Life on the streets taught you to go with the flow, and if trouble came and caught up to you, well you just needed to run a little faster next time. Steal something and someone wants to talk to you about it without tossing you in cuffs? Shrug. Not her problem.

After walking a few steps, she paused and waited for the girl to catch up then let her lead. She didn't notice the wallets. If she did, she would have probably shrugged it off.

Shrug. It could be a lifestyle.

She followed Cara, trying to get rid of her apprehension. It was one thing that a simple gesture wouldn't fix. After spending hours locked up in a trunk a few months back, something about confined spaces sent chills down her spine. It was a good thing she was following the girl... her arms flickered with a small flash of green energy before she suppressed it again and they started down the stairs.

"I hear the rats down here can be the size of a small cat..." She remarked lightly, trying to get a conversation going to distract herself.

The woman fell into step behind her, and Cara led the way to the subway station confidently. It was a trip she made frequently, and she knew many of the other people making their way to the station by sight. Commuters that had the same, or similar enough hours to her that they frequently caught the same subway. There were strangers though, a multitude of them, and she kept her eye on Tess as much as possible so she wouldn’t get lost in the sea of people. At least it was off-peak.

She smiled at the remark and thought back over all the rats she had ever seen in subway stations over the years.

“Ah, no bigger than your average street rat, and they usually only come out at night.”

They descended the stairs into the fluro-lit cold, stale air of the station. Cara stopped for a moment to procure a ticket for Tess, then again by Hobo Joe and his guitar, his case was wide open and by the look of it, it had been a long hard day with little reward. She shuffled through the box for a second then placed two apples, a banana and a bag of carrots into the case. He stopped his singing for a second for a quick ‘thanks Cara’, nicely timed to his strumming, then continued the song. It was a new one, she hadn’t heard him play it before.

She smiled at Tess and indicated one of the benches with vacant space on it.

“It should be here in a minute or two.”

Usually it was on time, and the scrolling info screen said it would be there soon.

Once they were down in the subway, Tses stayed close to her companion. It felt odd: usually she was trying to blend into the crowd and it didn't matter who was closest to her. Unless they had something worthwhile in their pockets. She resisted nabbing anything for now, so Cara wouldn't unknowingly become a further accessory to her crime. While she chose the lifestyle for herself, she was polite enough not to force others into it.

"I don't spend much time in the subways, to be honest. They feel.... small." She remarked, folding her arms across her chest. She felt like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Although, cats didn't typically have the capacity to create tiny explosives when they were nervous.

The interaction with the guitar player was strange, but curious. It showed something of her companions personality and nature. Maybe the 'Robin Hood' idea had been a closer label than she realized. She wasn't sure what was going on with this girl. She let the thought drift around in her brain absentmindedly as they took a seat.

"Seems like everyone here has their little routines... Seems like it'd get robotic after awhile..." She commented, glancing around at the different commuters.

True, the rats would seem bigger if the subway felt small to a person. It was like an optical illusion, put two dots of the same size inside two different sized circles and people would swear the dot inside the smaller circle was larger than the other, even if you overlapped the dots, or swapped them between the circles.

Tess did seem uncomfortable though, and Cara was glad the subway was not delayed. It would be better to get her back out in the fresh air sooner rather than later. Thankfully it pulled up moments after they had sat down, and Cara had a few seconds while navigating the hustle and bustle of the people boarding the sub and those getting off to organise her reply.

“I think it’s more like the ocean really, it looks like its all the same at the first glance, waves coming in, waves going out, but the more you look at it, the more you see, little differences become interesting and important. Even though all the days can seem to blend together, if you actually think about it, you can spot the differences.”

The murmur from the speaker box in the carriage warned them that their stop was only two stops away, and Cara settled the fruit box comfortably against her hip. Good thing she had nice womanly hips, it would be much harder to lug the boxes of fruit around if she was a stick figure.

While Tses was graceful above ground, the subway clearly was not her element. Ducking around the mass of people and working her way to the seat felt like trying to crawl through mud, and she perched on the edge of her seat, restlessly drumming her hands on her leg. "I grew up in Chicago. Didn't spend much time around water and even since I came here I've only seen it from a distance. I'll take your word for it though." She remarked, and forced herself to settled back into the chair and relax her muscles. Crossing one leg over the other, she exhaled the breathe she had been holding.

So far the car hadn't caved in. Nothing to worry about.

"I just like the excitement of things being different. Even if it gets me in a tight spot, or bad situation, at least life on the edge is never boring. I'd rather die young than live forever without an adventure." She tried looking at this trip like that: just another adventure.

Then she started wondering what would happen if she blew something up down here... probably the entire structure caving in...

Back to the conversation.

Taking someone’s word for it wasn’t the same as actually understanding what they were talking about, really understanding, being able to visualise the scene she was setting, and therefore why the metaphor (or really simile) worked, creating further understanding through comparison. Tess was looking a little green around the gills though, like she might pop if someone sat too close to her, or if a waft of the sneaky subway fart made its way into her nostrils. Cara decided against trying to describe the subway movements like clouds in the sky and opted for checking the map on the wall to see how much further. One more stop.

“That sounds just a little too ‘YOLO’ for my liking, but I understand where you’re coming from.”

Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all, or something to that effect. Though, when it came to life, her personal opinion was that it was better to love what you had than risk it all trying to get some thrill seeking in. The carriage pulled away from the stop before theirs with only a few more passengers, Cara organised her box and bits and pieces to be ready to get off as soon as they stopped. Tess was looking quite unwell, and Cara didn’t relish the idea of her hurling on the subway (not that she had never seen it happen before, she just usually wasn’t involved) so better to be ready to go as soon as their station was called.

“Muur-mur-mur, mur muur.” Said the speaker box.

“That’s us.”

A single flight of steps and they would be back in the fresh(ish) city air.

“You ok?”

When the girl spoke of 'Yolo', Tses gazed at her as if she was speaking a foreign language. The Twenty-something year old lacked knowledge of popular culture, and unless it could earn her another dollar, such things didn't interest her. At least, it didn't use to. Lately, after a nasty breakup and life's problems in general, she was starting to question her own lifestyle. Stealing was all she knew, so of course it was her primary fallback. But beyond that? She may as well wander through the subways. At least the guy Cara gave food to could play music.

Finally, it was there turn, and Tses maintained a calm pace as they made their way to the exit. She gave a slight smirk when Cara asked if she was ok.

"'M fine. Just like the open air better. Bein' in the subway feels like being in a giant cage." She remarked, and breathed the city smells deeply. Never knowing what 'fresh' air smelt like, the open air was welcomed. "Where to now oh fearless leader?" Mistress of the fruit. Patron of the produce. Keeper of the -- she kept her jaw shut to avoid bestowing her companion with any of the punny titles.

True, there was something distinctly… oppressive about the subway, especially if one wasn’t used to it. Still, with the fresh air and dispersion of people Cara could get a good look at Tess’ face, and she looked far less green-tinged.

Fearless leader, lead on! She felt like she should have a hat, or a staff, or something equally impressive. As it was she held her fist in the air and marched, right to the nearest street corner, then she stopped, because she needed both hands for the box, and because she felt a little silly.

“Onwards! To that apartment block!”

It was a nice brick building, it even had a tree out the front, and the stairs up to her apartment were generally squatter-free and well lit. She led the way to her door, stopped to hunt for her keys for a moment, then led the way in. The apartment was small, but not tiny. Drying washing hung from airing racks about the living room and there was a small pile of dishes on the sink that were yet to be attended to.

“S’cuse the mess, wasn’t expecting anyone over.”

She plopped the box down on the kitchen counter and grabbed one of the airers (the one that was mostly underpants) and stashed it in her room, grabbing out her hand-recorder (affectionately nicknamed QuickQuotes) and a notepad and pen while she was there.

“So, do you want to order food first?”

She rifled through the kitchen draw and pulled out her selection of menus, setting them down on the coffee table in front of Tess. What good uni student didn’t have a takeout menu draw?

Evelyn started to wonder about her companion, especially when she started marching with her hand held triumphantly in the air. She was a different sort of energetic, somewhere between the girl who took her laser tag and that kid who ran into her and spilled chili on her at the mall. It was uncaring, happy, and rather carefree. Tses was a different form of carefree. It was just less smiley.

The building was fairly nice, at least better than her own, and Cara's place was nice. It looked lived in, which was surprisingly comforting. Tses' place was always clean, but that was because there were few possessions to make it dirty. She turned slowly in a circle as she considered what it would be like to really settle into her place and buy a few things. It would feel nice, and frightening at the same time.

As Cara brought over the menus, she scanned her eyes over the papers, the letters momentarily puddling in her vision. She hated reading anything, but at least she could recognize the food names. She disregarded the descriptions underneath then. "I haven't had Chinese in awhile. Anything is good with me though, I learn not to be picky." Considering half her meals were on the run, there was little time to consider what they were.

On the run usually meaning she was running past the individual, snatching their to go bag and running like it was nobodies business.

"You have a favorite?" She said curiously.

She wasn’t picky, that was a bonus. Cara looked over the menu, despite knowing most of it by heart, and narrowed their choices down to a few. She skipped most of the very spicy dishes (it would not be very professional to conduct an interview sweating and needing to stop for milk breaks) and those that she knew had a longer wait time.

“Honey Soy Pork is always a good one, or Chicken and Cashews.”

Not too spicy, not too traditional, nor too westernised. Nicely balanced. If Tess had no alterations, she moved to the phone and rang up to make the order. She rattled off the order and her details with a practiced flair.

Fried rice? Fried rice.

Once the order was complete she settled down in one of the couches (big cushy affairs taken from her parent’s spare furniture stash, none of them matched but all of them were nice and comfy) and indicated for Tess to do the same. She took out her notepad and pen and set up the recorder.

“We should have a little while before the food gets here if you don’t mind starting? Why do you think people steal?”

She had already answered this question out on the street, but having it on record made it all the better.

“Do you think stealing, or other technically ‘illigal’ acts are ever excusable, and why?”

Buckle down Tessy dear, she had a whole paper to write, and the more quotes the more marks.

"Honey Soy Pork sounds good." Tses agreed, and then waited while Cara made the order, a sense of relief taking over when she no longer felt like she was taking a reading test. Sitting on the couch, she curled her legs under her and made herself comfortable. It seemed like this could take awhile.

"Why do I think people steal..." Tses repeated, and started off with her list from the alley. Because they need to, because it's habit, and because it's fun. Then she considered if she had anything to add to it.

"I think most people start off somewhere. Majority steal because they need something, then from there they realize they can and do it because they can. I think sometimes, you do what you have to in order to survive. When I was younger I learned sometimes people just didn't care if you were hungry, even if you were a kid. Someone else's problem. So if I didn't steal, I wasn't going to live. When it's survival, it may not be lawfully excusable, but I wasn't going to feel bad taking someone's fast food bag when he could just buy another one." She started slowly, considering it.

The recorder was doing its job, the light blinking subtly, taking in the words spoken by the young woman. Cara took notes as she spoke, little bits that were easily quotable, and notes on how she could fit that into her overarching argument. The personal story behind Tess’ need to start stealing had the right pull for her argument, but there were slight tinges of sadness there that she would need to be careful of. She didn’t want to dig too deep and upset her, that wouldn’t be nice, no matter how ‘real’ the quotes would be.

“and do you think that because they have to, since there are no other options for them, that what they are doing isn’t actually wrong, even though society says it is?”

Because being forced to act a certain way surely shouldn’t be punished. She was sure there was a clause or something that meant if someone held a gun to your head and made you do something you wouldn’t get in trouble for it. Starvation was like a gun, the end result was the same… just slower and probably more degrading.

“Would you say, then that the blame lies with the people who don’t care enough to keep people from doing wrong?”

Tses muse for a moment, face pulling into a thoughtful frown. "I don't think it's wrong I guess if you do it for the right reasons. But even if it is, sometimes you just don't care the same way other people do. Society believes stealing is wrong. But I don't know if I always do. Scavenger rights: if you can't keep it, you shouldn't have it. Survival of the fittest. In a different society, what I do might not even be wrong. Ours just shares that mindset." She leaned forward on her knees, and shrugged. The sad feeling was gone, and now she was just talking about something that mattered.

It was odd, having someone listen even if it was just for a paper.

"But lets say, it is wrong. I shouldn't steal, I take a 50 from someone who now can't pay the rent, screw up their life. I'm a horrible person. I get that. But even if I sometimes go too far, and that happens, I've seen bigger problems and sometimes what's wrong isn't the main concern. There's an old lady who lives in my apartment building. Been alone for longer'n I've been there. Got more cats than she knows what to do with. Family left her alone, no money, no job, no resources. She was gonna get kicked out, live on the street. she was too old for that. Cat's taken away, she'd die of heart ache. So I stole for her. Paid her rent, make sure she's ok. Maybe it's morally wrong, maybe society thinks I shouldn't."

There was a slight fire in her eyes when she spoke of Meggy, a little bitterness over the conditions the old woman had to deal with. She was mistreated, and couldn't stand up for herself.

"I think criminals are some of the strongest people I know. They stand up for themselves, fight for things when others won't. You see someone people look down on and can't defend themselves, you stand up for them. When you do what you want to you spend less time questioning what everyone thinks about you, and more time acting. Sometimes, it gets you in trouble and you do things you don't. But then when it matters you don't hesitate and you can do what has to be done." She didn't know if any of that would help with the paper. Not that it mattered to her.

The blame lies with the people who don't care enough to keep people from doing wrong...?

"I think each person deserves there own blame. I steal from the wrong person, I take the blame for hurting them. Someone refuses to help me when I'm down and out, they take the blame for that. But I still take responsibility for my theft. I'm not going to tell someone it's their fault my life is screwed up. But I will tell them they're responsible if they could have done something and they didn't."

In hindsight it was a good thing she had set up the recorder at the beginning of the ‘session’, without it she would have only had a few half-baked notes as her interest turned to listening to Tess’ story, rather than noting the parts that could be used in her paper. The girl’s story was sad, although she didn’t seem to be. It was almost matter of fact. Old lady needed help, she did what she had to to help her. Her essay did seem to be taking on a Robin Hood hat, although, maybe if she deliberately avoided his name, anything to do with Sherwood or bands of merry men it would slide by unnoticed.

“That seems like a reasonable way to go. Have you even been confronted or caught when you were taking something you needed? What was the catcher’s reaction, if you had time to explain the why of what you were doing?”

Blame on the people who deserved it with a mix of personal responsibility-slash-accountability. That was healthy. She took a few more notes then paused to answer the door and receive their delicious food, then hand out the appropriate plates, cups and orange juice from the fridge. She would leave a little time to eat and drink before delving back into the questions.

The Honey Soy Pork really was quite nice, but not particularly filling, so she had bought the Chicken and Cashews as well, and that one really did need to be doled out into bowls. She was unsure as to Tess’ proficiency with chopsticks, so she brought over two pairs but made sure to bring forks as well. She could use both, but would probably go for a fork, less mess that way.

"Have you ever been confronted or caught while you were taking something you needed? What was the catcher's reaction, if you had time to explain the why of what you were doing?"

Well, that was certainly a loaded question. She mused on it while Cara retrieved the food and paid, trying to think of the proper answer. Once she had some of the Chinese food in her hand, she took out a plate and finally spoke. "I got caught a few times as a kid, but no one cared what I said. I learned with time to stop explaining myself, I guess. But more recently, I don't think I've had much issue. I got in a fight a while back, but I wasn't stealing for any good reason, so I probably deserved it. I've been picked up by police but that wasn't even my fault, so we may have disagreed on the matter."

Tses avoided the chop-sticks and used the fork. It was easier to eat with and she wouldn't look dumb dropping chicken all over the place.