Lake Rodney When you see me baby will you scream or will you laugh?

A broad span of sky reflected off the still waters of the lake, with the sun's glow barely warming the surface. The ice had taken on a yellow complexion where it had gilded the embankment.

Kapros was thirsty. He'd traveled far on his latest adventure and been waylayed by the smell of the water. He stood among the Tolkein-esque ferns and tired reeds, having pranced his way across the frosted earth to seek out what he needed.

He admired the lustre of the water for a moment before dipping his head to drink, yet even in that moment he was cautious. His eyes, which naturally looked as if they bulged from his face already, were wide and alert as he descended for a sip.

A wolf with large, gangly form of ruddy golden hues stole down to the lake for a drink. Sakari's watchful, golden gaze settled upon him for a moment, and she decided he was perfect. The raven stirred from the little nest she'd dug out of the cold, damp sand. She drew to her feet with an overly-dramatized shiver, getting into character. 

Showtime. 

Sakari pulled her front-left paw up to her chest and limped over to the edge of the lake. "Ah- ow!" she murmured almost under her breath, wincing inwardly and sucking air in audibly through her teeth. She lurched awkwardly into the shallows, gasping as the water splashed up onto her immaculate pelt of ebony. Before she bent to drink, she gave another mighty shiver, because the water was just so, so cold...

Practiced at her art, Sakari never once looked over at the lanky man to see if he had noticed her. If her ruse was working, he would come to her.

The shadow which moved to the edge of the lake, like himself, was something sharp of profile and rangy in build, and he caught a glimpse of it before the exclamation; though she was too far from him for the sound to register as any word Kapros took notice of her and swiveled his head to watch.

Someone of a purer nature might have been baited in by such a display. He could not tell if she was genuinely hurt or not — but the fact of the matter was, he didn't really give two shits. As she moved to drink of her own volition Kapros watched her for a minute longer, then when he'd rendered silent judgement, bent himself to drink at last.

The water was indeed cold. It coursed a numbing chill down his throat. While he drank he kept his ears turned to the shadow, his eyes glancing between the water's surface and the stranger. He was a fidgeting, anxious sort of fellow with enough life experience to make caution a worthwhile endeavor.

Sakari expected him to call out immediately. Everything about him said that he would be the perfect mark for this ruse; big, awkward, dopey... and all alone. She had expected him to practically trip over himself in his rush to come to her rescue. 

...Maybe he was one of those real socially-awkward types. She would give him more time. 

She lowered herself onto the riverbank, submerging her "injured" paw into the river in a show of numbing the pain. Although she still refused to look in the man's direction, every fiber of her being was keenly aware that he was there. In her effort to catch the words she expected him to speak, one ear swiveled his direction in a brief, involuntary motion. Sakari caught herself quickly, and she directed both ears forward once more. Shit. Had he seen that? 

Better safe than sorry. Sakari swung her head around as if she had "just noticed" the man standing in the river. She inhaled in a barely-audible gasp, and tensed her prone body fearfully.

Kapros was an observant creature by nature. He had to be — you could never be too careful around strangers. It paid to be attentive, to catch every glance, twitch, breath, and whatever other minutiae that others expressed. So no, he did not miss the twitch of that ear; he felt a familiar validity strike him in that moment.

With a quick glance to the water and back, Kapros made up his mind. He tread closer with an eager crawl and then stopped short of where the dark stranger lingered, one paw raised and body rigid, like some kind of pointing hound.

You there! He called to her — yes, it was a her! He'd missed her gasp completely by this point, but was pleased at the owl-eyed stare she gave him.

You're trespassing! By order of King Neb I must detain you. His tail swished once before taking a position of authority, meanwhile his snaking head raised up a tidge. Kapros knew how to assume different roles on the fly — its what made him a good grifter.

"You're trespassing! By order of King Neb I must detain you."

You've got to be fucking kidding me. Sakari's jaw partly slightly in an entirely genuine expression of surprise. 

King Neb, huh? For a king, he sure was garbage at marking borders.

"I- I'm sorry, I didn't- ..There wasn't a border..." Sakari stammered out. The fear was an act, but the confusion was real enough. The girl pulled herself to her feet, remembering to favor her "injured" paw. Once standing, she began to edge backwards. He wasn't moving toward her yet, but if his word was anything to go by, he had every intention of "detaining" her.

I'd like to see him fucking try.

Enjoying the look that crossed the strangers face a little too much, Kapros was about to continue the con when he began to chuckle, sputtering as he tried to hold in the laughter, but it pealed out.

Ahaha, oh man, the look on your face just now! His lofty tail dropped, then hung limp while the tip twitched. He side-stepped and looked to be trying not to fall over from his little giggle fit.

You really thought you were in trouble. Wow! I'm a good actor but damn, you're gullible. As he gathered his wits the humor leeched away. Haven't had a good laugh like that Inna while! Thanks, lady.

Mature Content Warning

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: vulgar language related to intellectual disabilities (not reflective of my personal beliefs) 

He began laughing, and Sakari backed away a few more steps. She dropped her "injured" paw to the ground, preparing to run. This guy was swiftly graduating from kind of weird to certifiably insane, and she wasn't about to fuck with all that. 

He chuckled out his teasing words, and as they registered, Sakari's look of fear and confusion contorted into one of anger. 

"Wow, really? I thought you were a retard at first, but turns out you're just a sick fuck. What kind of fucked up sense of humor--?" She cut herself off with a mighty huff and a shake of her head. 

Her own act had also fallen apart, thanks to her temper, but it was obvious that any more time spent on this mark was going to be a waste. 

"You're a shit actor," she grumbled, low enough that he may not even hear it. It wasn't even true; he had definitely fooled her, she was just too pissed to admit it.

Emotions played out as he expected. It was a glorious display: confusion, apprehension, then understanding, which brought unbridled rage; his laughter tapered as she erupted with all of this and more.

Ah, hah, hah. Sure, yeah, I'm bad. Think I can't spot a grifter when I see one? He motioned with his nose towards her ankle which looked miraculously undamaged. I know all the tricks, cheats, and schemes.

His tail waved behind him for a few beats.

What was your plan anyway? Damsel in distress routine complete with a free meal, via myself? His brow raised, which only made those big eyes look even more alien upon his sharp face. Nice try.

Sakari's tirade of rage and insults didn't even faze the guy-- in fact, he looked even more amused, much to Sakari's chagrin. 

She looked down when he gestured at her ankle, and she wrinkled her nose in annoyance. What was she even still doing here..? 

His assessment of her scheme was quite on the nose, and despite herself, Sakari found herself lowering her rump to the ground. 

"Well.. it usually works on--" She gestured vaguely at him with her miraculously-healed paw. "--Your type: lonely, awkward fuckwits." Despite her rather colorful defamation of his character, inwardly Sakari was intrigued. Perhaps it was his profession that he knew all the tricks, cheats and schemes.

She explained herself and he was already  nodding, mirroring her in a sit, and appraising her plan as if he hadn't just gone over it verbally already.

See, if you knew what you were doing, you'd never have made that mistake. He wasn't going to correct her view of him. He wasn't lonely (she was here!) but the rest of it? Pretty spot-on. Just the way he liked to come across. But hey, at least I didn't eat your face or something.

He sniffled. Where you from anyway? This place is pretty... he made a nyeeehh sound and scrunched his face. Looking around a moment, seeing the heavy clouds drifting closer and feeling the bite of winter coming in fast, and next to nothing else appealing about the place; yeah, this place was in the asscrack of nowhere.

"See, if you knew what you were doing, you'd never have made that mistake." 

"That shit's worked on every one of you so far, and even on a couple of packs," Sakari defended herself. She knew what the fuck she was doing. Promise. It was this guy who was different. He wasn't playing his part. She'd chosen the wrong mark, but not because she was stupid or new at this. Was it because he was possibly better than her? Nah.. he couldn't be. Could he..?

"But hey, at least I didn't eat your face or something."

"I'm not putting that past you yet," Sakari shot back. "You're still giving off some insane-killer-cannibal vibes." If this man wasn't like all the others, then.. what was he? Was he like her, or was he something entirely different? 

Despite her words, Sakari was still rooted to the spot. She even seemed a little more comfortable. 

"The place I'm from is just like this, but worse." Sakari answered bitterly. He wasn't going to offend her by insulting this snowy wasteland. "..You?" she asked, returning the question.

She was defensive. But she also gave a lenthy bit of personal history when it came to ploys, which he liked to hear. Maybe she wasn't entirely useless after all - if what she said could be believed. Entire packs, at her mercy? This quaint little girl? Hah!

Yeah, you could say that. I'm from somewhere a bit more mild, where I learned from the best. He was smiling a bit too toothily, maybe leaning in to the cannibal vibes that she implied he gave off.

The boss told me to spread my wings though. I was happy to see the world, test myself against the wits of others. What about you? He sniffed, more to suck up some snot but, he got a good whiff of her packless scent.

Got any good luck left?

Sakari was quite sure she had never met anyone like this before. He was trying to unnerve her, grinning like creep, which was just outright strange. Mostly, people either fell for her charm and were kind to her, or they would go all aggro and tell her to get lost-- usually with their teeth.

Strange as he was, it was kind of nice to be able to just be herself for a minute, without any acting or bullshit. It had been ages since she'd been able to let loose her inner voice. 

"..You learned from the best what, exactly?" 'Mysterious' was not this guy's vibe, it did not suit him at all. He didn't get to just drop weird tidbits like that without being questioned. "People aren't just the best. They're the best at something. What's the thing?" she pressed.

"Luck," she scoffed derisively when he asked. "Never had it, never needed it." Luck was a bit of a sore subject for Sakari.

One of the many lessons: don't give out the truth without a bit of work first. Or at all, if it can be helped. He'd left his bread crumbs and now the lady was starting to really ask after his sources; Kapros grinned as she fret, but did not share beyond what was already offered up.

Grifting, sweetie. Sneaking around, taking what I want, not being caught. Something I think you could use some lessons in. Oh, she had been pretty good; that limp was almost convincing! It was just too bad Kapros was such a suspicious creature, he didn't trust anything without proper investigation first.

That said, he liked what he'd seen of this one so far.

I went from being a nobody to being a somebody, and now I'm branching out. Wanna make a name for myself. You looking for the same, or are you here just to dick around with strays like me?

She narrowed her eyes at his suggestion that she could use some lessons, but she held her barbed tongue for now. She was much too interested in this new development to risk upsetting this guy... for the moment, at least. 

She swallowed heavily, attempted to disguise her intense curiosity with a perhaps overly-disbelieving tone. "So you're saying there's a band of sneak-thieves and con-artists out there somewhere? Just.. living together, and teaching each other how to be better at it?" There was a group for people like her out there? Sakari's heatbeat quickened. She had to find these people. She had to.

"Pffft," she scoffed again at the suggestion that she would want to make a name for herself. "The last thing I want is for people to know my name." The fewer who knew her name, the better. The longer she could fly under the radar, the longer she could remain in the same place, conning the locals and gathering the information on them, so she might con them even better. Once she was known, then the jig was up. The locals would tar-and-feather her and run her out of town, and she'd have to find a new place to begin again.

A shine caught in his eye. She commented about anonimity and he answered with a prompt, Well no shit, sherlock!

A scoffing sound hissed between his teeth.

A good sneak keeps their nose outta the limelight. Gotta come up with a few names to do that. His brow raised. You can call me Autolycus. Figure that'll be a name worth remembering?

There was that toothy grin again, giving him a possum face, splitting lengthwise. As if I go around parading my real name around!

He ignored her overly-derisive question, which of course, was the risk she ran when she spoke derisively. Still, his purposeful avoidance of the question-- the only question that mattered-- was particularly maddening. 

"Figure that'll be a name worth remembering?" he asked. 

"I dunno, I've already forgotten it," Sakari answered, equal parts peevish and facetious. 

She got the felling that he was talking her in circles, and that he had no intention of giving her the information she wanted. 

Fine. 

"I'm bored with this," she announced, before he could ask her for her own name. "See ya." She turned and beat a path for the nearest treeline. From the cover that the wood provided, she would watch the man and trail after him from a distance. If he would not tell her where the con artists lived, maybe he would lead her to them. 

exiting sakari and archiving, since kapros is inactive.