It all started when Sheena realized she didn't have enough cash on hand to pay for dinner, let alone stay at the Aselia Motel.
That was always bad news at sunset in a new city. Not that there was ever a good time to realize she was out of options, but she really shouldn't have put off opening her tattered old wallet till she stood outside the inn. At least if she'd checked it before she got into town, she might have been able to land some sort of odd job instead of heading to a motel she couldn't afford.
Sheena wished she didn't have such a strong moral compass. Survival would be a lot easier if she didn't hate thievery so much, but then, there weren't exactly a lot of more savory short-term options for a runaway. She eyed the clock through the window to the lobby. It was almost six on a Freetday evening, so the downtown streets would probably be pretty busy.
Sheena heaved a sigh of resignation. "Come on, Corrine," she said, adjusting her satchel on her back and tugging gently on her beloved puppy's leash. The sooner they got this out of the way, the better. Corrine perked up immediately at his name, picking up his ball of sodden newspaper, and trotted along behind her as she led him a few streets over.
Time to get to work.
Parking herself by some newsstands outside a café at a street corner, and leaving Corrine to play with his paper, Sheena kept an eye out for anyone who looked notably wealthier than the usual crowd. If she had to steal, she'd rather pickpocket someone who was likely to have all the funds she needed. That way, she'd only have to avoid being caught once, and she also probably wouldn't end up taking anything from anyone who couldn't afford the loss.
It wasn't too long before Sheena identified her next victim. He didn't look more than a few years older than her, but he was certainly upper-class. His red hair, hanging halfway down his back, looked silky and smooth in the fading sunlight. More telling still was his outfit, which evoked the sort of contrived effortlessness popular among people her age—ripped white jeans, immaculately clean high-top sneakers, a form-fitting black t-shirt, and a rose-colored zipper hoodie with gold accents he'd thrown over his shoulder. (If that didn't scream I have way too much money, Sheena didn't know what did.)
Of course, the stranger also stood several inches taller than her and was clearly well-muscled, which could be a problem if she was caught, but Sheena didn't intend to let it come to that. No matter how little she liked it, over two or three years of constant travel, she'd practically perfected her sleight of hand.
But her skill level apparently didn't mean anything in Aselia City, because the law enforcement in this town was on point.
No sooner than Sheena oh-so-accidentally tangled herself in Corrine's leash and crashed headlong into the aforementioned rich guy than she heard a voice that most definitely did not come from her latest victim: "Hey, you, with the pink ribbon. Stop."
It was the first time Sheena had been caught in the act instead of after the fact. She froze with her hand still in the stranger's pocket, fingers clamped onto his wallet. What was she supposed to do? Withdraw her hand and pretend she hadn't done anything, or admit it and apologize? Nothing had actually been stolen, anyway, so they probably couldn't arrest her for the attempt. Could they…?
Before Sheena could arrive at a decision, the stranger deftly took her wrist and removed it from his pocket and then slipped his hand into hers, interlacing their fingers. His grip may have been surprisingly gentle, but his hold was a strong one, and the message was clear: don't try to run. "Evening, Officer Aurion," he greeted conversationally. Sheena stared up at him in astonishment, taking a good look at his face to try and gauge the situation. "How are you doing tonight?"
But the officer evidently thought little of pleasantries, gazing down at Sheena intently and crossing his arms. "Do you know this girl?" he asked, a quirk of an eyebrow was the only change in his stern expression. A shiver ran up and down Sheena's spine. Though he spoke to the stranger, he did not move his dark eyes from her face. Glancing away would only make her seem even more suspicious, so she forced herself to return his stare and pray she looked innocent.
The stranger only laughed lightly, squeezing Sheena's hand in a gesture of either warning or reassurance. "You think there's a girl in this town I don't know?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, and his bright blue eyes sparkled in mirth as she dared to glance up at him again apprehensively. "You do your job really well, so I guess I should thank you for keeping an eye out, but we're good. Now it's your turn to stop. You're scaring her." His grip tightened on her hand.
Officer Aurion's sharp eyes finally moved from Sheena's face to evaluate the stranger's skeptically. "Mr. Wilder, I'll trust you this time," he said, his tone somewhere between resigned and threatening, "but if you come to the station to tell me that your wallet is missing, I may or may not decide to forward your request to the proper authorities. Are we clear?"
"Crystal," said Wilder, still smiling slightly, though something about it seemed strained. "Have a good night, Officer." He lifted his other hand in something of a wave to signal his dismissal. Officer Aurion nodded once, shortly, and finally returned to his post, his eyes lingering on them even from a distance as if to tell them to move along.
Wilder evidently didn't need to be told twice. As the light finally turned, the small crowd on the sidewalk lurched forward, and he pulled Sheena across the street suddenly, ignoring her startled yelp. "I don't like him either," he said, an edge to his voice. Sheena glanced back frantically to find Corrine trotting after her obediently, his leash trailing after him, and breathed a sigh of tentative relief. "Let's just get out of his sight, and then we can talk this over."
Even if the idea of 'talking things over' had rarely sounded less appealing, Sheena had little choice but to follow Wilder as he led her into an alley between a corner store and a local bar-and-restaurant. "Cute puppy," he said, nodding toward Corrine. "I assume he's yours?"
Sheena nodded hesitantly, wishing Wilder would let go of her hand. She wiggled her fingers, hoping he would get the hint, but he either didn't understand or ignored the sign. "Y-yeah," she said, looking anywhere except his eyes. "His name's, um, Corrine."
"And what's yours?" asked Wilder, gazing down at her with an unnervingly unreadable expression on his face, but his tone seemed kind enough.
Taken aback, Sheena jerked her eyes up to his and cleared her throat. "Sheena," she said warily, and wondered a split second after the word left her mouth whether she should have offered him another pseudonym. Then again, 'Sheena' wasn't her real name in the first place, so she should be fine. She could always change it again if he somehow ruined this one for her.
Wilder nodded in apparent understanding, though something in the motion seemed distracted, as though he hadn't actually been paying attention to her response. (Sheena wasn't sure whether that was more reassuring or insulting.) "And you were trying to steal from me because…?"
Sheena frowned in confusion, glancing down at the ground again as she mustered the strength to shelve her pride. "I… I need the money," she mumbled eventually, though she still wasn't sure why Wilder had asked. Why else would she have tried to steal from him?
"No, no, I got that part," he interrupted before she could clarify her confusion, though something in his expression told her that had not been the case. "I mean, why me. There were plenty of other people you could have fooled, probably more easily. And they were all closer, too."
"You just… seemed like you could afford it?" Sheena ducked her head as her explanation curled up into a shy sort of question. "I—I'm sorry," she added hastily, realizing that she had not yet apologized. "I didn't…" She trailed off uncertainly. What was she trying to say? I didn't mean to? That was laughable, given that she'd just revealed her reasoning.
She started as Wilder actually did laugh, but rather than the amusement at her expense that she had expected, there was instead what looked like relief in his expression, along with… wonderment. What had she said that was so surprising? "So I'm just another rich guy to you, huh?" he asked, almost cautiously, and Sheena nodded hesitantly. What response was he angling for?
"Good to know," Wilder told her, breaking into her thoughts. "But really, honey, if you wanted to get your hands in my pants, you could've just asked." He chuckled, and Sheena's eyes widened, the heat rising to her cheeks, and tugged her hand from his grasp. "Anyway," continued Wilder, as nonchalantly as if such flippantly flirtatious comments were routine, "I was actually going to let you get away with it, but of course good ol' Aurion just had to stick his nose in my business. Again." His voice turned unmistakably sour.
Sheena blinked, torn between curiosity at the less-than-pleasant history his tone implied, and utter shock at his intention of turning a blind eye. Of course, the astonishment won. "Um, you were going to—?" But she cut herself off, second-guessing whether she even had the right to ask. Calm conversation was already far above and beyond what she'd expected, anyway. Maybe she'd better be satisfied with that, and not ask for any further explanation.
But Wilder nodded, looking faintly amused at her shock. "Well, yeah," he said, crossing his arms. "You look like you need it more than me. Which brings me to my next point." He leaned casually against the wall, and Sheena reflected that it was amazing how a rich guy like him could look so at home in a dingy alleyway. "We're going out to dinner."
She stared at him, thoughts freezing; it wasn't a question. "W-we're what?" she stammered, taken aback, just as she remembered his comment about her hands and his pants, and two and two clicked together. She may have tried to steal from him, but this was above and beyond what she could be expected to owe him, especially at the age of fifteen. Narrowing her eyes, she took a deep breath and settled into a combat stance. At least she knew where she could find a policeman.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa—relax," said Wilder, his eyes wide as he held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. Though his smile didn't disappear, it acquired a distinctly nervous edge. Maybe he didn't really know how to use those muscles after all. Sheena reluctantly stood down, gazing at him in search of an explanation, and Wilder let out a long breath after a short pause. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just thought, since you look like you could use a good meal, I could maybe pay for it. Since you didn't get away with my wallet like you wanted."
Wilder's tone was not altogether convincing. Sheena scowled at him as fiercely as she could, wishing Corrine would stop playing with his newspaper and look menacing for once. "I don't need your pity," she hissed, but of course her stomach almost drowned out her words with a growl. She had chosen to run away, so she had to deal with the consequences on her own. Accepting charity was out of the question, especially from guys like this.
"You may not look like you're starving, but you sure sound like it," said Wilder, eyeing her midriff, and Sheena hugged her arms to herself uncomfortably. "Come on, I think you owe me this much. Just one meal?" His voice was earnest and genuine, but there was a peculiar underlying note a little like desperation.
Sheena frowned slightly. If he was fighting this hard to take a pickpocket out to eat, he must be in really dire straits, especially if he actually did know so many other girls. If none of them would go out with him, even though he plainly had a lot of money and looks that might make most other ladies faint, there must be something deeply wrong with his personality. "Is it that hard for you to get a date?" she muttered, mostly to herself.
Wilder heard her, raising his eyebrows in apparent surprise. "Didn't you hear what I told Aurion?" he asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "There's not a girl in this town I don't know. You're not from around here, so of course I'm not going to miss a chance to get acquainted."
Sheena glared at him, and to her astonishment, Wilder instinctively flattened himself against the wall. She wondered fleetingly how many women had looked at him like that before, and for what reasons. "I thought you said you didn't mean anything by it?" she asked, as sharply as she dared.
"I don't!" insisted Wilder, eyes widening innocently. "Just… go with me on this, okay? If nothing else, we can walk back the way we came, and you can help me convince Aurion I didn't do what I just did," he added, just quickly enough that it sounded like an afterthought. "Think of it as helping bail me out, in exchange for bailing you out. Deal?"
Sheena pursed her lips, weighing her options carefully. Truth be told, honor was already fighting a losing argument against hunger. If she'd managed to snag his wallet, she would have spent it on food first, anyway, and even if what basically amounted to a date with a somewhat strange stranger wasn't her first choice, she did owe Wilder for helping her out. As long as he didn't try anything funny, there couldn't be any harm in taking him up on his offer, right?
The last of Sheena's willpower finally crumbled at the prospects of a good meal, and she took a deep breath. "Deal," she said cautiously, summoning what remained of her determination and looking Wilder in the eye.
His face lit up with a sudden but delighted smile. "Shake on it." Sheena extended her hand tentatively. Wilder took it once more in his own, but after giving it the customary shake, he brought it up to his lips and kissed her hand lightly. Her eyes widened, and she barely resisted the urge to snatch her arm back and slap him. The more he did things like that, the more second thoughts she had about going with him…
"Oh, and one more thing," said Wilder, and though he lowered her hand again, he did not release her. Either he was oblivious to her mistrust, or he was just really good at ignoring things he didn't want to see. (Sheena had a sneaking suspicion it was the latter.) "You can call me Zelos."
"Okay then, Zelos," muttered Sheena, and he gave her an encouraging nod, leading her back into the street by the hand in almost childlike eagerness. Tugging Corrine along after her, Sheena followed him helplessly, staring at the darkening sky. It was only her first night in Aselia City, and she'd already seen about as much of it as she wanted to.
What had she gotten herself into…?
