..........
I slowed my breathing and stepped lightly to the window, pushing past massive webs and putrid flypaper. I climbed up onto the windowsill, then hopped out, to the ground where—
Without warning, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around me, and a hand clamped over my mouth, muffling my shriek of surprise. A chin pressed into the back of my head, and there was something poking at my temple—a gun?
I opened my eyes—it was only a finger. In spite of my current position, I snorted with laughter and pulled the hand off my mouth. It fell away without resistance, surprised, and I pulled out of the restraining grasp.
“Nice gun, dude,” I said, smirking, turning to see the eyepatch boy on his knees, looking startled.
“I—erm, thought you were someone else—eh—sorry,” he mumbled, blushing. “My bad.” His one visible eye widened. “Hey, aren’t you that weird delinquent girl from the café?”
“Sure am,” I replied. I dug his wallet out from my pocket and tossed it to him. “Here, you dropped this off the dock, thought you might need it.”
He flipped through the wallet, checking to make sure I hadn’t taken anything. “Why were you following me?” he asked, looking up suspiciously.
“To return the wallet.”
He relaxed and retreated into a thick look. “Oh. Well, yes, I suppose that makes sense.”
“Yeah, it would…”
“Mm.”