Rupert didn't know what to say to that. Even his usual angry retorts were failing him. He was just glaring at her, scrabbling for something to shoot back, when the worst possible thing happened.

Detective Cassandra Elliot walked past. And noticed him--stopped--and turned towards them. She walked over with that half-raised eyebrow of hers that always meant she was going to say, "Good afternoon, Detective," in the driest tone physically possible for her. The raised eyebrow was for Oceanwolf. If it had just been Rupert, she would have gone with her poker face. Detective Cassandra Elliot: a bleeding-heart mutant lover who didn't appreciate being saddled with a zealot by Captain Myers. She was also the most professional cop he'd ever met. If she figured out who Oceanwolf was...

"Afternoon, Detective Elliot." Rupert greeted her smoothly, shoving his anger and frustration to the back of his mind. He sounded pleasant. It was probably the first time Oceanwolf would have heard him sounding pleasant. "This is my niece, Em. Em, say hi--this is my partner, Detective Cassandra Elliot." He was even smiling pleasantly. If Cassandra knew who Oceanwolf was, they'd have to try and arrest her. She was too dangerous to let escape.

...And Rupert had just tried to pass her off as his non-existent niece. Great.

Emerald noticed Rupert's sudden hesitation and arched a brow. She thought that the woman was Rup's partenr the moment she saw her. The Lupine female smiled pleasantly, hoping this woman would recognize her as Oceanwolf and tear Rupert a new one.

"Very nice to meet you miss." Emerald responded, a sweet smile on her face. "Im sorry if I seem a bit flustered but I just havent been having a good day and my buddy Rupert here has attempted to cheer me up."

"It's nice to meet you... Em." Cassandra said, with the slightest hesitation. She looked a little too intent for Rupert's liking. She knew he'd been researching the Lupin sisters lately--even though she thought they should be focused on more recent crimes, she'd still paged through the file he'd put together. The file, complete with pictures. Rupert was mentally kicking himself into a bloody pulp. If he was going to blatantly lie like the idiot he was, couldn't he have come up with a name that wasn't just a nickname for 'Emerald'? His only saving grace was that Cassandra couldn't possibly fathom why he'd risk his own neck to help a mutant avoid arrest. He couldn't, either. But hell, she was just so young still. How old had she been when she'd committed those murders? This wasn't something he really wanted to think about.

Time to distract Cassandra's attention. "Ever had a Tiger's blood shave ice, Detective Elliot?" He asked, offering his cup to her. It was getting a little melty. "Here, try some." At least the wolf was behaving herself. Just play along, he thought, you mutie freak.

Emerald smiled nervously at Cassandra, hoping she would take the bait. The wolf girl personally didnt want to deal with the law today so playing along would help. She stuffed her hands inside her pockets so the woman wouldnt see her bloody knuckles. It was from punching the fence and it was clear to see the scabs but some people just thought that when blood was on your hands you did something wrong.

The wolf girl silently hoped Cassandra wasnt one of those people.

"You should try it@ its really good!" Emerald smiled, "Uncle Grizzly Bear ate it so it shouldnt taste to bad."

Rupert felt a strong urge to pistol whip the girl. He'd seen bad cops doing that in movies and honestly, he'd always been a little tempted to try it. That 'Uncle Grizzly Bear' line was clearly an invitation. Somehow, he managed to contain himself. Somehow, he even managed to smile pleasantly, and chuckle. "Nickname," he said to Cassandra, like it needed explanation.

"I'd gathered," she answered levelly, poking her spoon into the cup of shave ice with an almost suspicious air. Eventually, she took a taste. "Not bad," she said, sounding slightly pleased. From anyone else, that would be roaring applause. She took another bite. Rupert idly wondered if she was planning to give his cup back at some point. He hadn't actually tried the stuff yet, himself. He'd been a little... preoccupied. Speaking of which. He turned to Oceanwolf, and smiled broadly. "So, how about looking for those shoes you wanted? I've still got forty-five minutes left of my break." He would like to get away from Cassandra, now. Please. Before she had any chance to get suspicious again.

Emerald smiled a bit at her 'uncle grizzly bear.' She knew he was proably mad about that but she wanted to mess with him a bit more. She smiled lightly, puting her hand behind her head nervously.

"Yea those new Roxy shoes at the Roxy store." Emerald responded with a small smile, "We better go get them before the store closes, its anual clearance day."

Rupert was ready to turn around and beat his head into the wall. An interested light had come into Cassandra's eyes.

"Really? That's today?" She began, smiling at the girl. Someone, please. "Would you mind if I tagged along with you and your Uncle Grizzly Bear?" Just shoot me now.

Emerald gulped a bit, intaking a small breath. She did know a place nearby that had the brandname Roxy in its name. It also sold some of her clothes she bought for after partys at the track.

"Yea I know a few people there. Im sure you can come if you really want to watch a teenaged girl walk around and try on clothes." Emerald replied shrugging a bit at Rupert.

Rupert liked that shrug. It seemed to say to him, Even though I'm a mutie freak, I reeeeeally agree with you--let's not have your partner tag along.

Cassandra, however, was well known for doing precisely what she wanted. Rupert humbly submitted Evidence for the Defense, Exhibit A: the fact she was still, without a word, and without any sign she thought it was rude, eating his shave ice. Just the fact that she was had already downed half of it made him want to try it. Evidence for the Defense, Exhibit B: what she said next. "I have a niece of my own who's about your age--just a little bit younger, I believe. I love going shopping with her. I can promise," she took another spoonful of Rupert's shave ice. He kept on pleasantly smiling, to hide the fact he was gritting his teeth, "I'll tell the truth about whether something looks good on you or not. Can you really expect that from Uncle Grizzly Bear?"

If that nickname spread around the station, he was going to kill someone.

"Well alright but if you want to see Uncle grizzly Bear to have a fit every time I try on something to revealing thats fine." Emerald said with a sigh. "I just dont want him shouting any obsenties at someone he works with, it would really be a bad sight to see....hey shouldnt you give him his shave Ice back? Or I could buy you one if you want."

Emerald looked over at Rupert with a small grin that said. 'see I can save your precious shave Ice.'

Rupert was caught somewhere between vomiting and amusement. Vomiting: because the mental image of the wolf mutie in something 'too revealing' was just... wrong. Amusement: because she'd just valiantly saved his shave ice. That was... also wrong. But funny. Cassandra handed back the cup with her poker face on. Rupert accepted it, not having to force a smile. Then, he actually tried it.

...That was good.

"That's all right--I had a pretty good taste." Cassandra said, her smile returning. Three-fourths of my cup. "Shall we get going, Em?"

...She never smiled for him. And she never used his name. It was always "Detective" this, and "Detective" that. What did the wolf mutie have that he didn't? Besides the cute puppy look. And a lack of zealot leanings.

((ooc: Feel free to God Mod us into the store with your next post, Em. )

Emerald smiled at Cassandra before they started thier treck.

***

A few minutes later they arrived at the store in which Emerald was greeted by a burly male dressed in a t shirt with the words fox written on it. He had brown hair and a brow go tee with brown eyes. As soon as he saw the wolf girl he bull rushed her and hugged her.

"EM! Im so happy to see you!" He exclaimed, putting the mutant down. "I heard about what happened at the track today, that was rough, they shouldnt have done that. You are the best racer in this town."

Emerald smiled lightly at him. "It sucks but I will get through it, thanks for your concern Tim."

"Dont mention it little red. You keep riding okay? You should show those offical morons whose boss." He called to her walking out of the store.

Emerald smiled a bit sheepishly before darting over to a clothes rack. It had various motocross brand names on it but Emerald was mainly looking at the ones with the brandname of 'Pawprint racing.' The company that her manager ran.

There was a black Lab tied up to a street sign, just outside of the store. Cassandra stopped to let it sniff her hand. Rupert had never been happier to have negligent owners tying their dogs up in the middle of city streets in his life. The way the store worker greeted Oceanwolf--and, in specific, what he said to her about racing--made Rupert's stomach compress down into a very solid, very sickening lump. He looked out the store window. Cassandra was scratching behind the dog's ears.

He walked up behind the wolf mutant, and hissed in her ears so that no one else could hear: "Could we ix-nay the Motocross? Cassandra's read your file. If we make it through this without her realizing who you are, I swear, I'll buy whatever you want in here. Okay?" He sounded half-pleading, and half in disbelief that he was even saying this. It wasn't too late to try and take her in to the station. In fact, now that they were off of the main streets...

Cassandra came in through the door. "Pawprint racing? What a cute name! I've never seen that logo before."

Emerald smiled a bit when Rupert mentioned he would buy anything she wanted. Now normaly Emerald wouldnt take that kind of bribe, but she was a girl and girls liked free stuff.

When Cassandra asked about pawprint racing Emerald smiled a bit trying to formulate a good lie. WHen she thought of one she grinned wider.

"Well Its a fairly new team of racing from what I have seen on TV and I heard the racers that are sponsered are pretty good, some even winning championships." Emerald replied, inflating her ego a bit looking over at the shoes, there was a pair of green ones with blue streaks down them.

"I like these...maybe Uncle grizzly can get me these." Emerald looked up at the cop pleadingly.

"I think I may have heard of them," Cassandra mulled, a little too thoughtfully. And since Cassandra had never expressed interest in Motocross where Rupert had seen, he had a bad feeling that he knew where this was going. "That's the team the young lady you're researching is on, isn't it, Detective?" That sentence was such an interesting statement about Cassandra's views: 'young lady' was how she described a dangerous mutant with a track record in brutal homicide, and 'Detective' was how she addressed her partner. Just once, he wanted to hear either the words 'mutant freak' or 'Rupert' coming from her mouth. "What was her name again?"

"Oceanwolf," Rupert supplied, because he didn't want Cassandra digging through her mind for the name 'Emerald'. "Hmm. I'm not sure, Em--those are rather... bright." He said, raising an eyebrow at her choice in shoes. Give him black shoes any day.

"Detective," Cassandra said simply, "you don't know the first thing about girl's fashion." She turned to the wolf mutie with a warm smile. "I like them. The blue stripes would bring out your eyes."

Rupert looked at the pricetag, and tried not to choke. "Looks like I'm outnumbered," he said with a less than hearty smile. "If you really want them, Em..."