I’m Telling You, Molotov Cocktails Work [Bunbun]

[Goldie]

Jin slammed another drink on the table and grinned at his group of friends, "And then, they all just ran away like I was the scariest boss on the street! It might have been the bees chasing me, but I'm a pretty scary person. Buzz buzz bitch!" He lifted his cup as they all gawfawed and poured its contents into his mouth. A big foam mustache was building steadily on his upper lip.

Baller!

"You ain't scary, Jin!" Clive slapped him on the back, "Unless people are smelling you!"

"Hey hey hey," Jin argued, "I'm so scary. Why you think I'm generally left alone? Because I'm making folks afeared of me."

"You mean afraid?" Another chimed in.

"Naw, afeared. A fraid is less scared than fear."

"Yeah, well prove it! When's the last time you did something big. Like real big?" Another round of drinks hit the table.

"I'm a big bad. Gotta lay low sometimes. Big Thief is my middle name." Another drink, another layer of foam. Gods he looked so good. Nobody had nothing on him.

"Can't be a thief if you don't steal nothin!" They chided him.

"Just wait! I'll go find something real special. Jin Big Thief gonna show you all up, just wait." And with the urging of his friends, Jin stood from the table and sauntered into the street looking for something big to steal. That would shut them up and pay for their next week's worth of drinks.

[Bunbun]

Clover frowned to herself as she stared down at her pendant, resting gently in her hand instead of its usual position around her neck. It had certainly seen better days- while the pendant itself was relatively unharmed, the chain responsible for actually allowing her to wear it had been damaged in a recent encounter with a less-than-friendly wild animal. It was for this reason that she now found herself wandering the streets of Ketra, searching high and low for somewhere she could get the chain repaired. Asking some of the locals for advice would probably go a long way towards finding one, but so far, her attempts at doing so hadn't gotten her any closer to her goal.

Theoretically, this was one of the few places where it should be relatively easy for her to communicate with others, many of the locals didn't seem particularly keen on interacting with her for whatever reason. A few of them even looked like they were afraid of her, which she really didn't get. Gods, what was with that? Did she really stick out so much for it to become this frequent of an occurrence?

She looked up from her pendant at just the right moment to witness a man stepping out into the street- perhaps she should try approaching him next. He certainly looked friendly enough, and his appearance stood out almost as much as her own- maybe he'd be a bit more sympathetic towards her?

Coming to a decision, Clover began to approach the odd man. She gave him a warm smile as she bounded up to him, raising one hand in greeting while the other maintained its grip on her pendant. It caught the light in a particular way as she approached, letting off a subtle glimmer as the light scattered off of it.

[Goldie]

Ha! This must be the luckiest day in Jin's life! No only was the evening gorgeous and wonderful, but some chick was actually coming to him for a change. And with a big sparkly awesome amazing necklace thing dangling from her hand to boot.

"Oh hey, you!" He waved exuberantly back at her, a big goofy grin spread across his face, "You're exactly who I was hoping to bump into, didja know that? Are you like some kind of mind reader?" He gasped, pressing a hand dramatically to his mouth.

He leaned forward, "Can you see my future?" he practically whispered. She must be a seer or something or she wouldn't have picked him!

This was better than the time he and his bestie had gotten free drinks because the barkeep mistook them for someone else. That night had rocked and he was always hoping it would happen again. Maybe tonight it would! Maybe she was going to be his good luck charm - she certainly was fancy enough for it!

[Bunbun]

(OOC: I'll be writing Clover's signing ["like this"])

Well... he was definitely friendly, alright. Maybe even a little too friendly- the way he leaned in so closely caused her to subconsciously shift away from him a bit and tighten her grip on the pendant. He was just... a lot. She immediately felt herself getting overwhelmed by the way he conducted himself, and there was a part of her that just wanted to turn around and see if she could find someone else to help.

But that wasn't really fair of her, was it? Oddities aside, he was at least being kinder towards her than a lot of the people she'd come across already. She had no right to complain if she was going to turn around and treat him poorly, so after shaking off her initial state of shock, she loosened her grip on her pendant enough for him to get a decent look at it before slipping it into her pocket to free her hands up for signing.

["I really need to get it fixed. Do you know if there's anyone around here who can help with that?"]

[Goldie]

Jin looked at her suspiciously, head cocked to the side as her hands moved in rapid, fluid motions. Oh great. Another one of those Adelans who didn't understand the true language of sign. Instead she just did these fancy little hand movements like she was casting a spell and for some reason people bought it.

But Jin knew better. And he'd teach her.

"You. Don't. Do. It. Right." He said while flailing his arms in big sweeping circles, none of that delicate stuff, that was for the birds.

"This. Is. The. Right. Signs. I. Will. Help. You." His words were loud. And forceful.

"Bird." He flapped his wings, "Sky," he pointed up dramatically, "Jin. That's me!!"

[Bunbun]

Clover went wide-eyed as the odd man began to raise his voice and flail his arms about, seemingly criticizing her signing while simultaneously demonstrating his own. That... could not possibly be correct. Right? She'd never seen anyone do anything close to that when signing, and she certainly couldn't match those signs up to what he was actually saying. Was he making fun of her? Or... maybe he was just using a different language? It would have to be a pretty obscure one, but it was at least possible, so she refrained from judging him too harshly for the moment.

The man introduced himself as Jin, and in a manner that seemed almost practiced, she responded by briefly pulling her pendant out, gesturing towards it with one hand, then pointing to herself.

Clover.

She quickly stowed the pendant away again afterwards, preparing to sign again- she wasn't convinced that he actually understood her, but it was at least worth a shot.

["I've never seen someone use those signs before. Are you able to understand me?"]

[Goldie]

He sighed dramatically and rolled his head back and then forward to make a complete circle before swiveling his head back to look at her.

"You use the way less cool signs, Necklace." He pouted, continuing to move his limbs in sweeping, awkward movements. Did he understand her? Eh. He could if he really wanted to, but the national sign language was just so uninspired and he lost concentration whenever someone used it, "Just be like me, yeah? We could be great together and school the whole country!" He ended with arms spread wide with a big grin.

Then he frowned again and pulled out a few of the signs that he did remember and liked to use on occasion.

["The bathroom is flooded. Shit everywhere. Run!"]

Followed by

["Your mother is a monkey and she stole my pants"]

And finally

["I am a little cheese"]

[Bunbun]

Clover's expression only darkened the more the man ran his mouth. Every. Single. Time. Why did it seem like everyone she met insisted on screwing her name up? There was absolutely zero chance it was that difficult to get it right.

And the way that he spoke to her- yeah, he was definitely making fun of her. How on earth he expected her to be able to communicate effectively using his nonsensical signs without simultaneously shouting at the top of her lungs like he did was beyond her. He was burning through her patience astonishingly quickly, but he was at least expressing an interest in talking to her. Maybe if she tried to meet him halfway...

Out came the necklace again, this time lying freely in Clover's palm. She proceeded to point at Jin, then at herself- hopefully recognizable enough as a request for help. The next part was probably the trickiest one, and she had to think for a moment before eventually pinching the broken ends together and mimicking a gentle hammering motion. Holding the ends together, she lifted the pendant up in front of him and allowed it to dangle freely- as if the damage had been repaired.

[Goldie]

Jin eyed the necklace, oblivious to the annoyance that the woman was feeling – how could anyone be annoyed? He was the funnest person he'd ever met and he's met a lot of people. Like the leader of the guard? Boring. Gods so boring. The bouncer who refused to let him into his favorite bar anymore because people were mad he was paying for his drinks with dancing? The worst. Super boring. The boringest of borings.

This chick, though? Eh....she'd be cool if she knew the right signs. For now though? He had more reason to be annoyed with her than she with him.

He was the bomb. Huojin, the coolest of the cool. But actually just Jin. Jin was lucky. Huojin was an idiot.

"That's a sweet necklace. It's a shame it's broken. I can probably fix it." And he reached forward and snatched it out of her hands, took half a second to pretend like he was trying to figure out how to repair it, and turned and began sprinting down the closest alleyway.

"BEST. DAY. EVEEEER!"

[Bunbun]

Oh, he did NOT just do that.

Clover stood dumbfounded for a moment after Jin snatched the necklace from her and made his exit, a silent rage quickly overtaking her. Maybe he didn't understand the significance of what he'd just taken from her- her name. He treated the whole thing like a game, shouting to himself like a maniac as he disappeared around the corner. But at that moment, she really couldn't give less of a damn about what his intentions were.

What she knew for certain was that she wanted it back. And that she was going to get it back. Immediately.

Jin might have had a slight head start on her, but he was highly underestimating her if he thought he was going to get away easily. She bolted into the alley after him at blinding speed, barely bothering to keep her head up as she focused all of her energy into catching up.

[Goldie]

Jin was practically skipping down the alley as he scrambled up a bunch of stacked barrels and hoisted himself over a windowsill and into some sorry soul's kitchen. No one was home which was a plus, but they probably shouldn't be leaving their home open like that – anyone could just break in and steal their stuff!

Jin left out a side door with a liberated sticky bun stuffed in his mouth and a new shirt under his arm. It really was the best day ever! He got a pretty necklace he could sell, a nice snack, and he would be able to prove to his posse that he was absolutely the best thief on this side of town.

Hell, on any side of town! He was the best! He was incredible! He was....

Tripping over his own two feet and tumbling down a small flight of stairs before landing in a big heap at the bottom. People stopped to stare at him openly and no one came to see if he was ok, but that was totally fine! It wasn't like he needed help anyways and he quickly stood up and threw his arms in the air.

"Nailed the landing!" he exclaimed with a stupid grin on his face.

[Bunbun]

Clover made up just enough ground to catch a glimpse of Jin disappearing through the window, and she wasted no time following closely behind. Fortunately for her, unconventional climbs like this had never been much of an issue for her. It definitely helped that she was on the athletic side, but there was also something about it that felt natural to her. Maybe she'd done something like this a lot in the past, but had lost that memory along the others? It was worth taking into consideration, but right now she couldn't afford to focus on anything other than catching up to Jin.

She made it through the house easily enough, gradually making up ground as she went. She maintained her speed as she approached the stairs, but was caught completely off guard by the sight of Jin celebrating at the bottom. It was far too late for her to bring herself to a stop, so instead she ended up going flying down the steps at full speed, skipping a bunch of steps before finally touching down near the bottom of the staircase. Her momentum caused her to lose her footing, sending her helplessly crashing into his shoulder before landing and crumpling to the ground next to him.

Clover lay still for a moment, seemingly knocked out cold by the impact, but it wasn't long before she pushed herself off the ground and lifted her head, revealing a twisted expression of shock, distress, and rage. She shakily got to her feet, still intent on confronting the thief, but she barely managed a single step before losing her balance and falling back down to her knees.

[Goldie]

Jin didn't know what hit him, but whatever it was was hard and fast and hit him as such an angle that it caused him to spin in a half circle before slamming into the wall to his right with a bang. Then he crumpled to the ground in an awkward heap and stared up at the stars that flashed in an otherwise star-less night sky above him. It took a few moments to catch his breath, but when he did, the smile returned and he found himself laughing loudly to himself from his position on the cold stone ground.

So engrossed in his joy was he that he didn't even realize Necklace had been the reason he'd fallen until he lifted his chin, head still on the ground, and craned his neck to look behind him just in time to see an upside down lady falling back to her knees, clearly injured.

"Oy," he called to her with a chuckle, "We musta gotten hit by the same thing! Maybe a Dragon or somethin'? Damn that hit hard whatever it was." Then, with a groan, he rolled to his side, then his belly, and pushed himself up onto his arms to look at her more closely.

"You don't look so good, you know? You hurt?" It was like he didn't even notice the cut that had formed above his temple from where he had hit the wall. He looked intently at her and ignored the blood that trickled down his cheek.

[Bunbun]

Clover's attention snapped in the direction of Jin's voice, and she shuffled around awkwardly to face him. Or at least, what she thought was him- in truth her vision was distorted enough that she couldn't make out much more than a vague shape. His voice, on the other hand, was quite unmistakable.

But... he wasn't trying to run away anymore. Why? Was sticking around to poke fun at her really worth the risk of getting caught? He was willing to steal from her and break into someone else's home in an attempt to get away, and now all of a sudden he was going to change his mind?

Following his voice, she stretched out her arm to demand her pendant back once again, only to come to a sudden stop when the shaky image finally came into focus. Immediately she noticed the cut she'd inadvertently caused, her gaze tracing back along the quickly forming trail of blood. Had he not noticed it yet? He didn't seem to be particularly concerned about it, but whether it was due to her own shock or out of genuine concern, she couldn't help but point it out, her hand coming dangerously close to touching his face.

[Goldie]

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know." He waved her hand off and then continued chewing the remaining pieces of bun that were still in his mouth as if he had only just remembered it was there. Then he glanced around and shuffled towards the rest of it that had fallen out of his hand during the fall. That, too, went right into his mouth.

"I don't look like an Adelan. I get it a lot. Something about my skin and my eyes or something. Maybe my hair. I'm just odd. I'm just me." He spoke eagerly as he chewed, not caring even slightly that some people might consider it rude. Nobody came between him and his favorite snack.

Then he paused, took a final swallow, and looked at her with a sense of renewed understanding.

"You....you wanted some?" Damnit he was rude!

He still didn't notice the blood coming down his cheek at all.

[Bunbun]

She could barely even process his response- something about being odd for an Adelan, she gathered, but she struggled to make out the details. What she was able to pick up on was him suddenly changing the subject and appearing to offer her some of his bun. His... stolen bun that he'd picked up off the ground and was eating without even bothering to wipe it off first. Was this a joke?

["No. I don't want that. I just want..."]

She paused, her gaze sweeping from one of his hands to the other as she came to a realization. Bun in one hand. Nothing in the other hand. No pendant to be found.

She was quite certain that she hadn't seen him put it away when he'd grabbed it from her, and she'd been hot on his heels until they'd crashed. It did not seem likely to her that he'd somehow found the time to stash it away while also climbing, running at top speed, and stealing whatever he pleased from some random stranger's home.

She started up again, her signing becoming increasingly difficult to read as her panic levels rose and the shock of the impact continued to rattle her.

["Where is it? What did you do with it?"]

[Goldie]

When Necklace didn't immediately reach for the rest of the bun he'd offered her, he shrugged and popped the rest in his mouth before sighing happily and rolling onto his back to stare at the sky that peered through the rooftops of the alley where they rested. It had been a good day, for sure. No, a terrific day! Not only had he proven himself to be an absolutely stellar thief, but he'd also made a new friend! And he was eating a delicious sticky bun that defied all other sticky buns he'd ever tasted in his life.

He wished he'd have grabbed two. Now that it was gone, he wanted more.

But Necklace was now waiving at him with those awful signs that people claimed was a language. Gods, why couldn't they just do it normally? Like normal people? Why all these tiny little finger movements that meant nothing? It was like trying to sprinkle sugar on a biscuit, not like words.

He sighed again, but this time exasperatedly.

"I don't know what you're on about. You hurt? You need help? If you wanted that bun you shouldn't have waited until now to ask for it."

Sheesh, why did he need to spell that out for her? Seemed like a pretty obvious thing to him. Well, she couldn't be angry with him when she was the one who took her sweet time.

"I can go back and get you one!" he pushed himself up with a groan and rested against the stone buildings for half a moment. The suggestion was anything but selfless and certainly for his own benefit more than hers. He'd take the whole damn tray this time! It would be a party!

[Bunbun]

Gods. Why did she even bother trying to get anything useful from him anymore? It was increasingly obvious that he was either unable or unwilling to understand her, and each of her attempts only resulted in her getting more frustrated. She shot him a glare in response to his offer, then traced a line around her neck before jabbing an accusatory finger at him.

It's missing. It's your fault.

Of course, her gesture could easily be misinterpreted as something along the lines of "I'm going to strangle you", but at this point she was far beyond the point of trying to communicate perfectly and, well... it's not like she didn't want to strangle him.

Clover managed to stagger back up to her feet shortly after Jin did, intent on heading back the way they'd came. It sounded like he was planning on heading back as well and, while she definitely couldn't say she liked him, he might at least have an idea of where he'd left her pendant. If not, then she could just ignore him... or at least that was what she thought, but she didn't get far at all before she felt her head start to spin and she very nearly collapsed once again, only barely keeping herself upright by clinging to Jin's side for support.

[Goldie]

Jin practically leapt forward when he saw his new friend stumble and awkwardly tried to catch her with one arm while using the other to keep his own balance in place. It was an unnecessary movement on his part because she was already close enough to cling to him, but he did it anyways and ended up smacking into her with a thud as their two bodies collided.

"Woah, woah, woah!" He cried as he caught her. Kind of. He considered it a successful catch despite not actually having to do anything; she had done all of the work. "Easy there, girly!"

He tutted softly and shook his head like a mother doting on a wayward child.

"Gotta take better care of yourself, Necklace. If ya don't you could get really hurt! C'mon then, lets get your something to eat."

No mention of the necklace that was nowhere to be seen. In fact, it wasn't even on his mind as he began steering her up the small flight of stairs and back towards the house with the sticky buns. Jin was a man of the moment and rarely thought of anything that wasn't in his direct line of sight. As far as he was concerned he had successfully swiped the necklace and that was all that mattered in the grand scheme of things. He'd still be able to brag to his friends about it and they would buy him a drink in celebration.

It was a good night.

He was a God.