It was a clear cold Wednesday lunchtime in late November and Faye found herself sitting on a bench in one of the smaller parks in Soho wrapped up in a long black coat, pink scarf and hat.
She’d been doing it a lot lately, skipping out of school and just wandering the city.
The events of Halloween had left her shaken, It wasn’t the fact that she was somehow stabbed or the loss of memory it was because she could remember everything that people around her had said because of her power. Of course that had left some big gaps in the nights events but she knew enough that she had done things that she might not have done had she been in control of her body. If, and that was a big if, she went to a Halloween event next year she was going to dress up as something that could handle itself like a dragon or an Army guy.

Still, that was nearly a month ago, time to move past it. Smiling she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cigarettes before lighting one to the obvious annoyance of the middle aged woman eating lunch on the bench beside her.

You should go back to school her conscience chimed

No, it’s ok. It was there yesterday it’ll still be there tomorrow.
Besides the ‘survivors’ of the event where getting some slack and Faye was going to milk it for all it was worth.

So you’re just going to sit here and spy on people again then… Like yesterday, and the day before that.
Yup, there were quite a lot of people in the park today. The dry weather had brought them out and they sat in small groups or browsed the street vendor’s wares. Here and there she caught snatches of peoples conversations; nothing juicy just boring work stuff.

The middle aged woman finished her lunch and left, Faye moving her bag into the now vacant seat to ward off weird New York strangers.
Taking her gossip magazine out of her bag she began to read, half keeping an ear out for anything of interest, about the latest scandal in LaLa Land.

A gust of cold wind blew some of her hair across her face and made her shiver, looking up she realized that a lot of the people had already left the park. Checking her watch she found to her dismay that the movie that she was waiting for had already started half an hour ago.

“F#*ck!” she whispered as she gathered her things and snatched her bag of the bench.

Hang on! What was that tinkling noise?
Just some change! Leave it I’m gonna miss the movie!
Screw the movie its Miss Congeniality 3!

“you screw the movie, stupid thoughts telling me to look under the dirty bench. It’ll be change or screws or that big shiny engagement ring … Holy crap free ring!” grinning she reached out to take it but stopped her hand short.

Aren’t you going to tell me not to take it conscience?
Because you’d listen and besides free ring!

“welp that’s all the convincing I need…” she muttered to herself picking it up before standing and holding it up in the light turning it this way and that.
“wow neat I think these are real diamonds”

Jackpot
“Jackpot”

This day could not get any better.

Humans provided an endless source of fascination and entertainment for Raven. This particular afternoon she found herself in one of the smaller parks in the city wandering down one of the many paths. As per usual she had her bag filled with fortune telling supplies with her and Blackwing sat perched in a nearby tree. Often Raven would have joined him in said tree, watching and listening to the people scurrying below her from her perch, but today she felt like walking. Maybe it was a desire for exercise, of which she never got enough in the cold months of the year, or perhaps it was just a matter of it being warmer when she was walking than when she was sitting. Truly, she didn't analyze her motivations enough to really care.

As Raven meandered up and down the different paths, she kept her ears open to the conversations around her. The crows were thankfully mostly silent in their inane chattering which allowed her to focus on the far more interesting humans around her. She heard about all sorts of interesting things, from Katherine's upcoming surprise birthday party, to Steven's mother, bless her soul, who was dying from cancer, to Jessica's sister who had become addicted to drugs and was ruining her life. Most people didn't seem overly concerned with the prospect of being overheard, though that could have more to do with most people having little actual sense of hearing, as if cotton balls were stuck in their ears. How they managed to survive like that, Raven would never know.

Even paying attention to all the lovely stories around her, Raven certainly couldn't miss the tinkling noise to her left. Whatever could it be? Tinkling noises normally meant something metallic, which could either be coins or jewelry or sometimes things more bizarre like screws or other random bits of metal. Clearly it warranted investigating and without a second thought she turned abruptly in the direction of the noise and, even from her relatively great distance, immediately spotted the gleaming ring with the gem on the end of it. Oh, now that would get her somewhere with the crows she often negotiated with. They loved gold and gemstones, yes indeed.

Raven didn't have any thought about who the ring might have belonged to before it was dropped to the ground. If it had been carelessly dropped then its previous owner clearly didn't care enough to hang onto it, thus it was free game for anyone to find. As she approached the target of her desires, she spotted another woman that had also seen the ring and appeared to desire its possession. That woman, however, acted in rather baffling fashion, seeming to waver back and forth between taking the ring and leaving it where it was. Well, Raven certainly wasn't about to have any sudden pangs of conscience, that was an entirely human thing and an often utterly incompressible thing at that.

Unfortunately, just when Raven had made it to the ring and the woman standing over the ring, the woman decided that she would do the rational thing after all and picked it up. Well, there really was nothing she could do about that since the woman had gotten there first so, by right of possession, the ring was hers. Nothing she could do, that was, except bargain for it. "I spotted that ring before you picked it up and I want it. Are you willing to negotiate for its possession?" She sent a mental summons to Blackwing who landed in the tree directly beside her. She had learned that humans found her raven familiar to be rather intimidating and that could be used to good results in the game of bargaining.

God, he was tired. It had been what, one day? Two days since he had last slept? Three? Old habits were beginning to come back, and the days were starting to blend together into one big haze. He wasn't even sure what day today was. Monday? Tuesday? He knew it was November, but that knowledge did little to help.

Say one thing for Mat McGuire, say he was one tired man.

The cold weather was beginning to set in good and proper now, and for all of Mat's love and ideals of freedom, he had never had to brave a winter with snow before. Melbourne got cold. Melbourne got wet. But Melbourne didn't snow. Hell, Mat had never even seen snow, save one trip to the mountains with his family when he was a whole lot younger. Young enough that he could barely remember it. The realisation that he may soon be stuck in the type of cold that kills, without any shelter was beginning to set it. And the stress of that had brought back his somniphobia.

So Mat didn't sleep.

How he had ended up in the park, he wasn't entirely sure. Still, he was here now so he would make the most of it. By watching the people go about their business. He spied a blonde teenage girl light up a cigarette next to a woman who was trying her hardest to eat. Idly, he wondered whether or not the girl noticed the dirty looks that were thrown in her direction. Truth be told, she probably didn't care. The woman soon left and the girl took her seat.

Glancing around the rest of the park, Mat checked to see who else was around. Sitting on the grass, alone as he was, he wasn't close enough to anyone to eavesdrop on their conversations, though he did catch snippets. 'Drugs' and the name 'Jessica' floated to him on the cold wind, but that was all the information he could glean.

Another girl caught his attention, this one seemingly closer in age to himself. She almost looked like a gypsy, with her bright assortment of randomly coloured clothes, trinkets and pieces of fabric. Long black hair flowed elegantly down her back. She seemed to be leisurely strolling around, observing the park's denizens. Mat had to admit, she was certainly the most interesting thing to sight in the park so far.

Deciding he might try his luck for a cigarette, Mat pushed himself from the ground and brushed off the new suit he was wearing. Not that he smoked in particular. Still, it was something to do. Something to keep his mind off the need for sleep. As he made his way towards the blonde teen, he kept one roaming eye on the raven-haired beauty.

Suddenly, the gypsy lady stopped and turned towards the blonde. The blonde was hesitating to pick something up off the ground. When she finally did, she held it up in the air and a glint of light shone from it. A piece of jewellery, perhaps? The dark haired one approached the blonde, and as Mat got closer he could hear their conversation.

The gypsy offered to negotiate for object? Mat scratched his head and rubbed at his eyes. Something about the was she had phrased it seemed somehow odd to him, but he wasn't entirely sure why. Probably just the lack of sleep. Still, whatever the item was now had two women interested in it.

Might be worth taking a look himself. After all, curiosity never hurt anybody. And besides, he could gain a cigarette and a conversation with the dark haired one from the situation.

Two birds with one stone.

Just as Mat was about to approach, a giant crow flew overhead and perched itself in the tree next to dark hair. A crow, about the size of a bloody eagle! Mat paused, somewhat off put by the creature. Then, with a shrug, he continued towards the two.

“Excuse me,” he began as he approached the park bench. As subtly as he could, he rapped his knuckles against the steel armrest, bringing an image to mind. “Could I possibly scab a cigarette off you?”

A tiny steel man began to sprout from the metal of the armrest. No bigger than a few inches high. As it started to form, Mat sat himself on the bench and let the tiny sculpture break free, straight into his hand. Confident that the women hadn't seen it, he slipped the sculpture into his pocket, making sure to keep his mental connection with it active.

You never knew when it might come in handy.