Her eyes hurt. It wasn't from the late hour, of which she was accustomed to, or allergies, of which she had none. It was from all the damn smoke she had subjected herself to in the makeshift, questionably-legal casino. It was Mad Dog's casino, an infamous place that served strong drinks, heavy bets, and a thick cloud of cigarette smoke. It was a great place to hit up once every few months, but it wrecked her eyes for a day or so afterwards.
Clara Minnie ('Winnie' was her nickname on the streets) took great cares in her practice. Casinos were a treat, a rarity among her typical scams. When she did go in, she made sure to lose just enough sporadically rather than go on a winning streak. She changed her makeup, her hair color, and her clothes for every job. Given that she lived in a town that was more animals than humans, she made sure to even wear some false cat or dog ears and tails - depending on her mood.
She alternated between the human cities, where there were just humans plain as day, and the majority-animal cities. It was common then, part of their world, to have those who looked humans...but had distinct animal features. Clara was so very glad to have been born human, mostly because that meant she could wear so many more disguises - cats, dogs, turtles, ducks, foxes, and more.
And damn was she good at it.
For the past twenty-off years of her life, she had been out on her luck, forced to make her own as she had been forced to make her own security net. Clara didn't have a family, not really. The only few she considered family were the ones she considered close friends, the ones who had grown up with her on the street. They survived together, took beatings together, celebrated victories together. There weren't many of those around, her friends. There was one, and he was with her tonight.
Francis 'Frankie' Dillard was across the room, a distinctly average looking dog who no one would think twice to glance at. Simple clothes, simple glasses, simple skills. He, too, lost just enough to make it subtle when he won. He would keep 'breaking even', except for the times he managed a jump of a few hundred from cheating.
Francis and Clara, who had dressed like a cat this time, were friends from the beginning of their short-lived educational career. They met back in third grade, friends til the time of drop out at the age of fifteen, and close buddies every since then. Not that this was going to be relevant to tonight's game. The pair didn't know each other, didn't even give one another a second glance. They were the perfect strangers, just as they were the perfect pair of thieves.
Mad Dog's casino was a high risk, high gain place. Security looked frightening and seemed to be everywhere. Men with short tails, short tempers, and sensitive ears that picked up the slightest scrape of a card that shouldn't have been there. They were muscular and intimidating, and because of that, the pair made damn sure to blend in and act discrete. Just enough alcohol, just enough loss, just enough...simplicity.
Because if they got caught? Neither cared to imagine the answer. There had been stories of people disappearing if they were lucky - if they were unlucky, they finished off their lives in chains. Not out in the open, no, but with their spirits sucked out of them to where if they were to attend and serve at one of Mad Dog's private functions? No one would notice. No one would question. They were just like pieces of furniture, there to exist and not more.
It was getting late and Clara knew now was the time to leave with a profit. She wouldn't miss the smoke-filled room for the next six months or so. So when she stood, making sure to look a bit wobbly on her legs from the three martinis she had put away, she felt cautiously satisfied. The money she got had been swapped out with the chips. A very pretty penny indeed.
She made her way to the elevator, aware of a guard's gaze on her, and made sure to sway her hips just enough to make her 'tail' flicker. When the elevator door opened, she stepped in and hit the 'G' button for ground floor. It was only when the doors shut did she let out a breath she had been holding.
Francis would be out in the next hour or so. She would stay up and wait for him at their shared house out on the skirts of the city. Oh, they had saved up and scammed their way into that house. It was cute and cozy, out in the middle of nearly Nowhere. They had knocked out several thousand from the asking price because there had suddenly been documentation showing there was a drug bust there not too long ago. Of course the papers had been fake, but they had worked. Now they lived together, shelter taken care of solidly for the first time in several years. No more shelters, no more hiding in boxes, no more sleeping behind buildings or in alleyways. They had a home.
Ding.
Clara tensed. The elevator wasn't on the Ground floor yet, it had barely hit the second floor. Why was it stopping? By the time she had made herself look calm, relaxed, and no-where-near-as-sober-as-she-really-was, the doors opened. It revealed...a rabbit.
Not just any rabbit, but a dolled up one. She was a lovely, perfumed creature who wore a thick, plush white fur coat that looked as expensive as the house had been. Her hair was a soft pink in the light, poofy, and her ears, rabbit ears, twitched as her eyes landed on Clara. "Hello." She greeted, her voice sounding like cotton candy. Clara smiled and nodded, making sure to tilt ever so slightly as if it had cost her her balance. "Oh!" The rabbit reached out and caught Clara's arm just as the doors shut. "Are you alright?"
The sound of the women's high heels were loud in the small box of an elevator. The scent of her perfume was even sharper, filling up the entire area. From the movement, Clara caught sight of several shiny, pricey diamonds on the rabbit's wrist, fingers, ears...and her neck. But her neck was actually rather...modest. The necklace, that was. It looked more of a collar, a choker of velvet, with one single, thick diamond on it. How curious...and how expensive, Clara thought.
"Ahaha, yes, yes, just fine, dear." Clara smiled wide as she stood straight once more. "Had a bit much to drink...had to cheer myself up a bit from my losses. All in good fun though, you know. All in good fun." There was an appropriate amount of lag on her words, slurred articulation. "My, you look like you're going out for a night on the town. Absolutely stunning, you are!" The voice Clara used was fake, all of it. The tone, the accent, the emotion. Never the same one twice.
Assured that Clara wouldn't fall, the rabbit stood straight and absolutely beamed. "Hehe, thank you! Yes, I'm visiting with my best friend tonight." She looked positively radiant, brighter than the jewels she wore. "I'm sorry to hear about your losses though." Unlike Clara, the girl seemed to be very sincere.
Clara's grin was a bit more authentic then. "It happens." She brushed it off. "So a friend, huh? Well you be safe out there. There are- are, uh, there are lots of baddies around the city." Like the one in the elevator with her, who was wondering if there was a way to slip one of her rings off if Clara were to 'fall' again.
Ding.
"Oh, hehe, no worries there!" The rabbit said. "I have protection for me and Kitty. Oh, that's her name, my friend, Kitty. And how rude of me!" She exclaimed. The doors opened. "I'm Bunny."
Any thought of taking a ring off that delicate little hand of hers was instantly wiped clean from Clara's mind because there at the door stood another woman. This one, however, looked sharper and far, far more cynical. Short red hair, dark green eyeshadow that highlighted her vividly bright green eyes, a sophisticated nightclub outfit coupled with a fur scarf, and a look that seemed alert and suspicious. Her cat ears twitched and Clara felt as if she saw through her ruse.
"Bess," Clara introduced her false profile and shook the rabbit's hand. There was disappointment in her when she removed her hand and had no ring in it. "Nice ta meet ya Bunny." She smiled at the woman at the doorway. Clara had to be bland, forgettable.
"Kitty!" Bunny exclaimed with delight and all but threw herself to the woman to hug her. "Are you ready?"
As Bunny and Clara stepped out of the elevator, Kitty stepping out of the way, Clara felt a strange sensation. It was unease. That wasn't common to feel, but she felt it now, under Kitty's gaze. She thought it best to exit and exit quickly. "Well then, you two ladies have fun...and be safe." She smiled and started to walk away, focusing harder in making her false-tail swish, in making it seem like she needed to 'walk one off'.
Whatever the true cat-woman said to Bunny, Clara only barely registered the tone of her voice - deep, hypnotic, and seductive - before she realized what Bunny's 'protection' was. It was guards. Three of them not more than a yard away, three dog guards from Mad Dog, waiting for the two women.
Clara felt her stomach churn and she had to swallow a bit of panic and fear. They weren't looking at her - she was a nobody, after all - but at the women. Still, that meant...that Bunny was Mad Dog's. Clara was never more grateful to have disappeared into the night than she was at that moment. Still, those eyes, Kitty's eyes...they stuck in her memory and haunted her as if she were following Clara.