He slouched against the side of the building, lazily watching the people of the district go about their daily business. In Two, the Peacekeepers stood ramrod straight at their posts, ready for any sign of trouble, but here in Twelve, nobody cared that he chose not to wear his helmet or that his nightstick sat on the window ledge behind him. Most of them would prefer not to notice him at all.

Shifting into a more comfortable position, he nodded to the one-armed woman that sold her white liquor in the Hob. She smiled back at him and hurried to her small booth. The warm, meaty scent of rabbit stew began to spread from Sae's makeshift kitchen, and his stomach rumbled, but he still had forty minutes before he could leave his post. He mentally counted to a thousand, watched the mockingjays flying overhead, and drummed his fingers against the wall, anything to distract himself from the wonderful scent –

It had only been twelve minutes. Surely he could at least make a quick round of the Hob to check on everyone. He grabbed his nightstick, but put it back when he saw who was approaching. Now that could be a very interesting distraction indeed. He ruffled his red hair before moving towards the two dark-haired figures that carried a doe between them. "Need some help with that?"

"Yeah, thanks." The girl moved over so that he could grab the deer's rear legs.

He smiled at her friend, but the young man only scowled at him in return. Together, the three of them trudged towards Sae's booth. Her granddaughter hid behind the old woman's skirts and peeked out to look at him. The Peacekeeper winked at her, and the little girl blushed. He chuckled, and after he helped the two teenagers set the doe on the counter, crouched down to talk to her. "Looks like our resident poachers have been getting into trouble again," he said. "Think they should be in trouble?"

"No, no punishing anyone! I like deer!" the girl protested.

From behind, someone swatted his shoulder, and he laughed, lifting himself back onto his feet. "No, you don't think I should take you down to the stocks?"

She rolled her eyes. "I think you should buy some venison and get back to work."

"All right." He eyed the creature. "I'll take a couple pounds."

The dark-haired girl nodded, and Sae cut a section off the doe's torso and began to wrap it. "Five miari."

"You're not going to let me pay in kisses?" He allowed a bit of fake offence to creep into his voice.

The boy snorted, but his friend just shook her head. "Don't be stupid. Come on, cough up the money."

He started to dig the coins out of his pocket. "You're sure you want to miss this opportunity? Redheaded men are supposed to be the most virile." He puckered his lips.

She laughed. "Maybe some other day."

"Shouldn't you be at your post?" said her friend.

He turned towards the young man. "I suppose I should be getting back." With one last wink towards the two girls, he headed back for his station, checking his watch on the way. Good. Only seven minutes left.

.oOo.

A/N: So, did you figure it out? Are these too easy, too hard, or just about right? Please let me know – it's really hard to judge whether or not this is working well without feedback. This chapter was written using the Caesar's Palace prompt 'hob.' Thank you so much to hollyhobbit101 and TLWtlw for reviewing!

Chapter 1's character is Brutus.