Patience rolled his eyes heavenward and sighed. She really had not grasped exactly what Patience was. That she pitied him rankled and he didn't like it, but he knew she was looking at things from the finite view of a mortal. He was sworn to watch over her, though, so he wouldn't be walking away. He would take the bad with the patronising, and Zoe would not end up in jail or worse. Simple.
He finished his muffin and got up, walking away in the opposite direction. Unnoticed by him, a skinny, dark-haired man slipped into an alley up ahead and readied himself with a baseball bat.