casual thievery

Marian casually walked down the school's hallway, eyeing the lockers that she walked past and more covertly, the corners of the ceiling, searching for security. There were a few she had spotted, some of which were distances apart. God, it was so easy to pull some tricks down here -- you'd think they'd tighten it with all these "special students" running around. To the Shade's good fortune, she happened upon those that didn't have enough. After reaching a part where she was sure no camera could capture her, she stood on the side, appearing casual as she allowed her shadow to do her work. A few tendrils slipped into cracks of the lockers. There was such a lack of security. She'd expected they'd be more cautious but maybe theft wasn't a common thing here. Two quiet clicks sounded, then three doors opened for her which she ever so casually perused its contents. Books. School materials. Possibly a pack of blood on one? She wasn't interested to know. There were a bunch of other things she could care about, except perhaps a wallet with a relatively large amount of money in it and a few accessories she might be able to cash in. Marian chuckled quietly, stepping back as she allowed her shadow to close the locker doors, while she went off, pocketing her prize. Which would have been so easy, if it not were for an interruption blocking her way. It was a shorter boy; no one she had seen before. She smiled at him, "Do you need something?"

Marian slowly, dramatically turned her head towards the masked boy. Her smile didn't falter. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about, piccolo," she spoke, her tongue curling naturally the last word. She hadn't really noticed he approach, which she could completely respect, but she didn't particularly like being told what to do. The shade took a few steps back, creating some distance with the other. She almost couldn't help the sneer that threatened on her features seeing his get up -- but who was she to talk since she did have her "superhero" days at one point in her life before deciding it was getting boring. "Are you implying that I was stealing? My that's an accusation," she bluffed, raising empty hands at her sides showing nothing in them. "So who are you trying to be, hm?"

"No wallets here but my own," Marian claimed, her innocent grin appearing as a sneer for a quick moment before her expression calmed. She pulled her own, waving about the rather inconspicious floral patterned pouch with a personalized tag that had "Josie" written on it. "I didn't take anyone's wallet; don't be absurd," Though I did take the money and pocket that in particular. Surely they wouldn't miss it that much. She almost laughed when the boy said his hero name but managed to keep it quiet -- Dio, he was so into it. But she thought he could have come up with a better one. Marian remembered never having a name to go by when she went vigilante probably his age. Everyone just called her "the darkness" which, cool as it was, it wasn't a name she would have gone with anyway. The shade sighed softly, "Listen, ragazzino, I get you're trying to be the hero, but you're not going to make me confess to an accusation you have no evidence to just because," Marian declared, a shadow of a smile lingering as she spoke. He couldn't make her confess even if she was guilty, Marian thought to herself, keeping an inward snicker from slipping past her. "So since nothing really conspired here, why don't we just turn around and go our merry ways, d'accordo?"

Marian smiled as the boy admitted defeat. "You know, backing down so quickly after making an accusation is a bad habit if you're going to pull off your hero thing," she told him as he disappeared from her sight. A bad move, Marian would have thought. From that exit, she knew she couldn't trust that he meant it completely. She stayed there for a moment, almost as if she was waiting until the feeling of being watched came back. Not that... she would actually know for sure, but she trusted her intuition when it came to witnesses. Knowing the possibility of it though, Marian decided against pulling out any of the valuables she had hid away, and instead continued her way down the hall from where she came from, her hands in her pockets.

Marian stopped in her tracks when she reached a curve, reaching out to fish her phone out of her pockets. She didn't switch the screen on, but only raised it up to her eye level, looking like she was peering into her own reflection as she fixed her hair. The reality though was she was trying to look for anything out of place behind her, a.k.a. that little squirt that tried to interfere with her. If she could find a single sign she was being tailed, she wasn't afraid to call him out. Where are you, piccolo?, she spoke in her mind, looking intently at the dark reflective screen in the corners as she played with a lock of her hair.