WHO: Chance and Jackson WHAT: WHEN: Friday 19 August WHERE: Their apartment RATING:
Jackson had made them a relatively good amount of money this evening, between his sleight of hand tricks and the few people he had quietly pickpocketed before and after. It was far too easy honestly, given the size of the city. People never noticed small bumps and he hardly even did that with most of his jobs. A smile curved his lips as they entered the apartment and he emptied his pockets onto the table, examining the various things he had managed to obtain.
“Shame really we can’t use these credit cards. Tracing them would be too easy…” The only way they could manage it would be to do some transfers, and even that with modern technology was dangerous.
Chance had never been the pickpocket artist that Jackson was, but his ability to sense when things were going south at least could help keep his best friend out of trouble. He could also tell when Jackson was going to get a lucky pull. "We can sell them to Dog for cash. He'll probably be able to skim enough to make it worthwhile to him and we won't have to worry about the cameras."
Jackson nodded as he started making piles of what he had grabbed. Money in one pile, wallets in another, and the other contents of the wallets in a third. There were a few things that could be useful- gift cards and such, that the pair could either sell or just use for themselves. “So we did well today. We can head over to a casino sometime soon with our take if you want?”
"I haven't been kicked out yet, so we're good to hit it another time before I am." Chance examined the piles, thinking about how to dispose of things they'd gathered. "We could give them to little Bobby to return for tip money too. Keep the easy stuff, leave the cards and IDs and all. He might score a couple bucks for returning them.
Jackson nodded slightly. “Yeah, that would make sense. IDs have addresses, and the people will be grateful to get something back at least.” He would have to be sure he handled things carefully and didn’t leave fingerprints though in case someone got suspicious. He didn’t think he was in any database, but there was always a risk.
Chance's prints were definitely on record from the assault incident. The entire incident had been a mess, but he was glad Jackson hadn't been a part of it. It was the one time he was glad Jackson hadn't been with him. Jackson didn't need a record - or to have suffered through jail time. "Not too many, the ones that we think will be lucky for him. It's a risk to just throw them out though." And with things like this the longer they held them the bigger the risk.
“Not if I dumpster them.” He could go to food shop dumpsters and they'd be pretty safe. He laughed softly and shook his head. “This one is Jersey. I feel like they'd pay. It's hard as fuck to replace those with the required ID and all…”
"Just watch the cameras." Chance had a bad feeling about their usual grocery in this matter, though he couldn't place why. "Jersey… I still have mine - and at least one other but fuck did I pay a lot for it." He shook his head. "Your call, just don't use our grocery."
“No. Not there. The fast food places. No one wants to dig in those.” A laugh and he shook his head. “I'll figure it out. Maybe find a Wendy's and grab a burger while I'm at it.” It was more expensive but they did have good burgers. “I'm not stupid enough to dispose of them closeby.”
"For cheap burgers, theirs are the best." Chance agreed, starting to feel hungry just talking about the fast food place. "I'm just having a bad feeling about disposing of them." Chance admitted with a shrug. He caught sight of Ace moving to pounce on the table too late to stop her from making a toy of some of Jackson's piles.
“Then I'll be extra careful. Head to someplace that doesn't know us.” A grin and he ran a hand through his hair. “It's not a huge deal to go a little more out of the way and maybe wrap it in a good wrapper when I trash things.” Taco Bell maybe, because then it was wrappers that would much more easily crumple and hide- since they were bigger.
Chance grabbed the kitten, his hand becoming a toy as he tried and giving up trying to move her, causing him to give up. "I know you're smart. I don't meant to sound like I'm doubting. Fuck, you're better at this shit than I'll ever dream of." The truth was though, Jackson was the most important person in Chance's life though, and he never wanted his friend to go to jail.
“Like this.” Jackson moved to the cat and scooped her up playfully, smirking at his friend. The cat seemed to respond to him differently than it did to Chance, allowing him to pick her up and cuddle her at will. “I’ll handle that tomorrow, and I can do some grocery shopping too. We need some more frozen meals and maybe some fruit if I can manage to get away with some.”
"Ace loves you and sees me as a toy," Chance pointed out. "You make it look easy but you can pickpocket anyone… of course you can sleight of hand a kitten." He straightened the piles. "This'll give us good starting cash."
“She is a good kitty.” Jackson lightly nuzzled the kitten’s nose with his own and smiled slightly. He loved having the small cat, and she had situated herself quickly into his heart. “Yeah, I think I did pretty well today, all things considered. I mean, could have gotten more but I did okay.”
"No sense in pushing it. We've had good takes at the casino. And I am working to get into some games that should pay out too." Chance shrugged. "We're doing well." He knocked on the table.
Jackson smiled, though it was half hidden by the cat he was still cuddling. “We always seem to keep going, no matter what.” Because it was true. They had been down enough times that they should have ended up in a shelter or taken from their parents, and yet they were still out on their own and still had each other.
"Never were smart enough to quit, even when we maybe shoulda." Chance agreed with a grin. "Figures the cutest girl we meet has fur and falls in love with you." He chuckled, noting how besotted Jackson was in return. "I don't think I've been looked at as adoringly as you two look at each other.
“Giving up? Absolutely not.” A grin and Jackson rubbed Ace’s tummy lightly. “If we gave up we wouldn't have this little one, and I think if we survived after that we would be boring.” A shrug of one shoulder and he averted his eyes at Chance’s last comment. “Maybe one day. Ever consider a puppy?”
Chance laughed. "You take care of me… you want to take care of a dog too? Nevermind Ace is already less in love with me than she is with you - can you imagine her reaction to a dog?" Sure, Chance had wanted a pet sometimes growing up, but when he was the one taking care of his parents - and Jackson taking care of him. He'd never fixated on it like Jackson had. "Besides, I'd end up losing the dog when my next relationship ended." He was used to things being taken away from him after all. He expected it now.
“What was that, Ace?” Jackson leaned closer to the cat as if listening, then smirked at Chance. “Obviously she would eat the dog, she says. It would be a week of dinners.” Because Ace had already proven herself fierce against Chance’s hands. “And not if you let it stay here. Can't take what they don't think is yours, can they?”
"Then you'd really be the one stuck taking care of it. Or are you hinting you want a dog now so Ace has a playmate?" Chance teased. "She might prefer another kitten. She had to have a mom - probably siblings."
“Playmate, dinner, whatever she wants to make of it.” He stroked behind Ace’s ears next and shrugged again. “I'm mostly teasing anyway. You hinted you wanted someone to look adoringly at you, and dogs do that I think.”
"So do strippers when you have money." Chance teased. "So the plan is clean up tomorrow, hit the casino again, come back and celebrate with Ace?"
“Sounds right to me.” He nodded and carefully set the kitten down on a chair, his hand remaining to rub her ears lightly. “We’ve got the money for it at least.”
"We're gonna need it - she'll need shots and stuff soon." They might not ever seek medical care for themselves, but Ace was different. Chance wanted to make sure she was protected from everything they could.
“Yeah, though I think there are shelters that will do it cheaper if we go there.” Because they had kept the little kitten from being picked up by animal control, so it was saving the shelter a space for another animal.
"You've been doing your research," Chance teased. He was confident that they would be good kitty parents. Or at least that Jackson would. Chance paid for her initial toys and figured he'd be the kitty uncle with toys.
“Sometimes.” A shrug and he picked up a toy to toss at Chance. Ace took that as a hint to go play, chasing the ball as it bounced off the other young man’s head.
Ace bounced off his head in turn and went skittering after the toy. "Yup, I'm the toy." He shook his head as Ace slipped on the linoleum. "She's a spazz. Cute but spazz."
“She loves you too. I just saved her from the scary car. You brought her toys.” Jackson looked up at Chance, for a split second before he settled his face back into his ‘normal’ expression mirroring how he had looked at the cat. He would shrug it off, obviously, but the feelings were still there and he doubted they would be going anywhere.
"My beauty is not scary. And she's gonna have to ride in her to go to the vet, unless you were planning on taking her by bus." Chance broked no insult to his car. It was the most expensive thing in his life - the splurge he allowed after he hit a small jackpot at the casino. It was better to invest that money in something he'd get use out of, otherwise it would've just dripped away bit by bit.
“No, I don’t think she would like to go by bus.” Jackson smiled faintly at his friend, turning back to the kitten again now and teasing it with his fingers, absently playing with the animal and ignoring the comments about the car for now. “She is a good kitten.”
"She is." Chance agreed. If he'd realized how happy something like this could make Jackson he would've gotten him a pet years ago. Igt was important to try to do things to make Jackson's life a little better. He wasn't nearly as good about caring for his friend as Jackson was in looking after him, so he had to try harder at it.