It was a pretty normal night, all things considered. Ilari was having a few problems getting to sleep. Insomnia was kind of an issue of his, but nothing that got in the way too much. Seeing as how he did all of his work at night, he had acclimated to nocturnal activity. Because of that, when he decided to take a day off, he ran into the occasional problem of sleepless nights. It wasn't a big deal. Sometimes, he would go up onto the roof of his building and just watch the stars, feeling almost as if he was among brothers when he gazed upon the little specks of light in the night sky.

Other times, he took walks. That night was one such night. The streets were more or less empty; anyone he saw hanging around either seemed to have their destination plainly in mind, and they were in a hurry, or they were just sitting somewhere, no doubt waiting for a drug contact or something. Ilari didn't know. He avoided contact with such people, and he certainly wasn't going to stop and ask.

That's when he saw the place. It was a jewelry store - a surprisingly nice jewelry store - and it was just sitting there, door wide open for anyone to waltz right in. Ilari stopped in his tracks, staring at the door. Someone must have already robbed the place, or else the owner was incredibly absent-minded and had forgotten to close up shop. What an amazing oversight, to have left your store wide open in a particularly unfavorable part of town. On that train of thought, what was a jewelry store doing in a less-than-favorable part of town, anyway?

And why not just poke around inside, a little? If there was anything in there, it would set him ahead, and he'd be able to really treat himself to something nice, for dinner, once he sold the spoils. (Or if there was cold, hard cash in there!) And if there was nothing? If the place was picked completely clean, leaving Ilari with nothing to show for his little excursion? What did it matter? It wasn't as if he had somewhere to be, or something to do. It would be a great way to tire himself out for a good night of sleep, and the possibility of getting paid for his troubles!

So, of course Ilari was inside hardly a few minutes after he saw the place. Of course he was ecstatic to find an open cash register with a cool handful of twenties inside. And, of course, he was utterly delighted to find a few expensive looking necklaces laying underneath a few stands in a display case that had been broken open. It would put him ahead of his expected monthly allowance quite nicely.

As he moved into a back room in the store, he had to summon a light to his right hand. It was nothing flashy - just a little mock-flashlight to shine on his surroundings. While poking about in a few inventory papers and finding one or two trinkets to slip into his pockets, he entertained the notions of what his little sister would be able to do with some extra cash. Maybe he would be able to save some of that away, himself, to get her a birthday present, that year? She would be turning nine, wouldn't she? It had been so long since he'd last seen her, he hoped that he would be able to visit and hand-deliver her a present.

Ilari moved back to the front of the store and shined his light about, keeping it low, as to not alert anyone to his presence - though he didn't quite think that someone might see his light through the windows, anyway. He utilized his power to better check beneath overturned and broken displays, as he had come to the conclusion that the store had been well picked over before he found it. Whomever had gone over it, however, had done so quite hastily, as he had just found quite possibly the largest, most gaudy piece of jewelry he had ever seen. It was a necklace, and it was absolutely covered in rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, in a manner that looked more as if someone had thrown the necklace haphazardly together, rather than considered any sort of design or pattern. It's overall look was of no concern to Ilari. No, no, he was only concerned with the sheer amount of precious stones that had found their way onto the item. He estimated its worth to be well over a thousand dollars, and he was stunned, absolutely stunned as he turned the necklace over, checking for flaws or imperfections. He forgot his location, momentarily forgot his very place in life as he gazed at how the - surprisingly clean - necklace glistened under the crisp glow of his light. The store was a miracle, and that very necklace, Ilari could only take as some kind of strange twist of good luck. Karma, perhaps? But what could he possibly have done to deserve such a gift?

Emerald Lupin was in a foul mood, one only rivaled if one had a tiger injected with steroids fight a lion also injected with steroids over a piece of meat. Her walk was a swagger, a confident swagger with a look on her face that clearly said. “Come near me and I will rip your damn head off.”

Early in the month of February she had become one of the victims to the infamous bed and breakfast, put under massive amounts of mental torture at the hands of a set of crazy twins. The wolf girl hadn’t been able to get the incident out of her head for a while now and was currently taking it out on the criminals of New York. Typically, she would do this under the guise of Shred, but at the moment the consequences of beating up idiots and then calling the police was lost on the young woman.

As she walked down the streets of the bad side of town, she threw a baseball up in the air, catching it every time it came back down. She had found it earlier and decided to keep it for a little while. Besides it may come in handy if anyone was trying to steal anything and she needed to beam them with something.

Her confident swaggering stride took a stop at an open door to a jewelry store, causing the wolf girl to arch her brow. It was far to late at night for a jewelry store to be open and even so she doubted that they would want to leave their door open considering the part of town they were in.

Emerald walked into the open door to see a tiny bit of light glowing in the store. The person creating the light without a flashlight, she noted, was most definitely a mutant. She looked at the man for a second as he stared wide eyed at an extremely gaudy piece of jewelry.

Wow, really? Leaving the door open while you stand there and gawk at a necklace? how Dumb is this guy?

Taking this chance while he was distracted, the werewolf took the baseball and threw it at the man who stood there with the necklace and whether it hit him or not she still called out.

“You know, I’m sure if ya save up your money you’ll be able to buy that ugly ass thing.” The wolf girl told him, standing at the entrance with her hands on her hips. “So, any reason why you are trying to rob this store or are you doing it just for shits and giggles? Because if you’re doing it for shits and giggles, I’m gonna beat the ever loving crap out of you.”

The look on Emerald's face clearly stated she wasn't in the mood for games. She just wanted to do some 'community service" in order to let her anger loose on something and part of her hoped it wasn't going to have to be on this poor sap. He actually looked sort of weak and she didn't want to beat someone up as easily as she could rip a wet tissue.

Ilari's internal musings were completely interrupted when a baseball struck the floor by his foot. The sudden thunk snapped him suddenly from his reverie, and caused him to hop quickly to his feet. He whirled to face the newcomer, shining his light in her direction, as he was not aware that she had spotted it as his power, rather than a flashlight in his hand.

>> “You know, I’m sure if ya save up your money you’ll be able to buy that ugly ass thing.”

Ugly was right, but where the hell did she think he was going to buy it? Or did she not even look around the store before she started throwing words around? The place was completely picked over and destroyed. It looked as if it had been abandoned long ago, for the scum of the streets to take for their own.

>> "Because if you’re doing it for shits and giggles, I’m gonna beat the ever loving crap out of you.”

Normally, the threat would have given Ilari enough reason to escape the scene. He didn't want to deal with confrontation, especially not with a woman who looked as fiercely pissed off as the redhead did. There was no doubt in Ilari's mind that she really would beat the "ever loving crap" out of him. Or she would at least try.

So, run away, right?

Well, the redhead was blocking the door. Great.

Ilari's next idea, then, was to try and bluff his way out of the situation. However, something the newcomer said caught his attention. If he's not doing it for fun? That sounded like an opportunity if he ever heard one.

"Why would I steal anything for fun!?" he asked, very clearly confused by the question, or that was how he was presenting himself. He knew very well that there were those out there who stole out of laziness, greed, or for the thrill. He also knew that he wasn't one of them. "Of course I have a reason. I have mouths to feed and nothing to feed them with." That was all the explanation Ilari felt he owed to the woman.

Ilari then slipped the gaudy necklace into one of his jacket pockets and pulled his hood over his head. He was glad that shining light toward the redhead shrouded his features in darkness that she shouldn't be able to see passed. Even still, his hood hid enough of his face that he felt secure enough.

"Now, if you'll let me go?"

“Because there are people who kill people for fun and hang entrails on the walls as decoration in their spare time. Honestly, I dunno what to expect in this twisted world I live in now.” Emerald shrugged, leaning up against the counter.

While she wasn't planning on letting him go without questioning him more on that subject matter she did want to ask him a little about the mouths he had to feed. Most criminals used it as an excused to get out of a beating from her fists of justice, but she wouldn't let this guy get away with it if he was lieing. Emerald lightly drummed her fingers against her knee, watching the male curiously. Her own face, sharp Lupine features and all was clear to see in whatever dim light there was in the store.

It was clear by the way Emerald looked at the guy that she was clearly not in the mood for games. Nor was she in the mood for any excuses he could come up with in that possibly twisted little head. Though, Emerald really didnt think he was twisted, she had been wrong about people before. “Look, just show me a picture of your family or whoever you are trying to feed and I will let you go alright? Don t try to fake me out though, or do something stupid like run, I doubt you want me to chase you down.” Emerald explained, exasperation clear in her normally amused and fluid sounding voice.

Now while her words may have sounded harsh from another persons standpoint, especially say one of her team mates on the X men, she didn't really give a damn. This guy was breaking the law and if he didn't have a decent enough story behind it, she was going to pulverize him until he was a bloody unconscious torso on the carpet, leaving far to much of a stain for even Mr Clean to remove.

Well, that was colorful. Ilari was visibly shaken by the woman's gory reply, and he fell silent, staring at the strange female. He listened as she continued to speak, and felt that sh made a sound point. If it would bring him to safety, maybe it would be alright to show her a picture of his family.

That's when he spotted it. Thrashing angrily behind the young woman was a tail. At first, he could have sworn his eyes were playing tricks on him, but, then, he realized that it was a tail. Now, he wasn't stupid. He knew there were mutants out there with all kinds of different powers. He was one of them, of course. Ilari was never one to respect authority, especially mutants who thought they were authority, but, somehow, seeing that writhing, angry tail, he felt comforted, like the female mutant in front of him wasn't going to turn him in, just as she said.

So, he reached for his pocket, murmuring a quiet affirmative as he fished his wallet from his ratty jeans. He flipped the simple black wallet open and held it out, shining a light from his hand onto the pictures held within.

The picture was clearly old, frayed and soft around the edges, the photograph faded just a little bit. The picture showed a young man - Ilari - grinning and holding a young girl - his little sister. The picture was a few years old, as it was from Ilari's last visit to his family - his little sister's thirteenth birthday - five years ago. Ilari was nineteen at the time. The girl was wearing a new dress, a party hat, and a grin that spread from ear to ear. She was hugging her big brother tightly, causing him to look winded. Of course, he was hugging her in return, and he was making an odd face, as if he was speaking when the picture was taken.

"My little sister," he explained. "Katya. That's me in the picture, with her." He had no idea why he gave the girl's name. Perhaps it would give him some credibility? Despite his second claim, he refused to lower his hood and show that he was, indeed, the young man in the photograph.

"I don't have a picture of my mother," he added curtly, snapping the wallet shut. As he stuffed it into his pocket, he continued. "She's too injured to work." He didn't speak as if he was telling some sob story that he'd rehearsed a million times. He spoke as if he was tired of repeating such an awful truth. Indeed, he was. His little sister had gone almost her entire life without much, and Ilari knew that she deserved better. His mother, too. Both women - as his little sister was eighteen, at the time - deserved so much more than what they had. It was Ilari's personal mission to correct that problem.

Well, Emerald was not expecting him t show her a picture, she was not expecting him to be honest at all. But she had been wrong before and she could be wrong again. When she saw the picture it soon became clear that the young man had struck a chord with the young werewolf once he showed her the picture. Everything he was doing, he was doing for family, a tune Emerald knew very well. While she had heard a sob story before and she typically didn’t believe them, something about this man’s story made her want to believe him.

Emerald rummaged through her pocket of her jacket for a moment and pulled out a wadded up bill , she unfolded it and handed it the man, not really worried about any possible repercoussions for it. The Bill she gave him was a fifty dollar bill she had received from Moe, the last time she threw some idiots out of the dinner for rough housing. She had received money from him since then and she didn’t really need it, she never really bought that many material items anyways.

Here, send this to your family.” Emerald told him, small wolfish smile creeping across her face.

Perhaps it was her own hearts duty to her family, or at least to her baby sister that made her do this, maybe it was something else, but whatever it was Em was okay with it. She enjoyed the warm fuzzy feeling of doing a good deed or whatever that feeling was she was feeling at the moment. Em rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a picture of her and her own little sister, holding it out to the stranger, it was worn a little on the corners but It was a picture of young girl on her shoulders with short mousy brown hair and large red fox ears with a tail to match. The little girl was wearing bright red overalls and looked to be around 12 at the oldest 13. The wolf girl was grinning like a loon in the picture, her face not showing as much strife as it did now.

“That’s my baby sister Ruby and My name Is Emerald, nice to meet another protective older sibling.” Emerald told him, small smile on her face.

Ilari stared at the outstretched hand, his eyes a bit wide. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting. Slowly, he reached out to take the bill, and he gave a sharp intake of breath. He was overwhelmed by the woman's kindness, and all he could do was stare at the bill in his hand. He stammered for a full minute, then just looked up to the redhead.

"This is a lot of money to give a stranger," he informed her, sounding quite shocked. "How do you know I'm not gonna go spend it on drugs?" The tone of his voice wasn't sharp or angry, though the question was quite the snappish one. Ilari wasn't exactly used to dealing with people - especially ones that performed such kindnesses as giving him fifty dollars.

Shakily, he slipped the bill into his pocket. That set him much farther ahead than he expected. Things were looking good. Despite this, Ilari tried his hardest to keep from getting too excited. He was still wary of the mutant in front of him, as if she'd turn on her word and decide to beat him up, anyway.

"I'll put it to good use," he murmured, as if apologizing for his rather jerkish question.

"I'm Ilari," he offered, but kept his hands hidden in his pockets. He didn't want to offer a potential attacker his hand, no matter how nice she seemed.

A wolfish grin crept across Emeralds face and a laugh escaped her lips at his stammering. The guy was obviously untrusting of her generosity and honestly she didn’t blame him. But for some reason she found his stammering endearing in a way, she was glad she could do something that could baffle him, he looked like he needed to be baffled every once and a while. Besides, life couldn’t always be so normal for a mutant thief now could it?

“I don’t know, that’s the thing, but weirdly enough I think I can trust you to put that money to good use.” Emerald told him with that same grin upon her features as she had before. “ Also, if you were a drug user, I would’ve been able to smell it all over ya. It would have fused with your scent and make you smell freaking disgusting to a wolf girl like me. I woulda knocked ya out on principle.”

Emerald was laughing again, something she hadn’t done for a while since she had gotten out of the house of terror her and a bunch of the other younger teens were stuck in. This was when Emerald got an idea, a very devious idea considering Ilari was still rather nervous around her. Em started Walking up getting a very serious look on her face, trying to make it seem like she was going to slug him, even curling her hand in a fist to make it look more believable. However, she couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips as she stuck her hand out for him to shake.

“Nice to meet ya Ilari, I’m glad I met someone who makes me laugh even after the horrid ass week Ive had.” Emerald told him, that grin still on her face.

To be honest, Ilari was a little bit put off by Emerald's references to her mutation. It seemed weird that she would boast about such a thing, though she seemed strong enough that she could beat the shit out of anyone who tried to teach her otherwise. In a way, that was a comforting thing, and Ilari couldn't help but flash a weary smile.

"Shit week, huh?" he murmured, body going a bit slack as he felt more at ease. "Y'know what's good for that? I know this cheap little coffee place. It's open, like, twenty-four hours." He had been planning on going to get some, after he got some money, but, well, Emerald gave him cash, so why not indulge a little bit?

"Wanna go get some? Maybe talk about our shitty weeks?"