Scoops and Strikes, Tips and Tenpin [Bashira and Hanako]

"Huh... Like a full suit? That's... actually a really good idea! I could make a full sleeve as long as there's zippers on the shoulders!" Bashira admitted, already beginning to picture what kinds of fashion she might be able to pull off. This one had been designed for her as a favor, and she'd always appreciate that, but maybe there were professionals out there who could help come up with something fresh that would hide her identity and, perhaps just as importantly, wouldn't match the wanted posters that Christopher had commissioned so closely. "Dang, that's two I owe you!"

Hanako's confidence that she could achieve a new look was encouraging; her talk of shopping was also exciting, but a bit of a stretch, Bashira had to admit to herself. Being wanted made it hard to shop and having no money made it even harder... "Whatever! I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," she resolved internally, knowing that Hanako's guidance would be too valuable to pass up; she'd have to save up to make sure the shopping trip happened at some point. To that end, she was eager to answer any other questions. "I'm uh... Hold up," she grumbled, counting out numbers on her fingers. As a homeless person, she often failed to celebrate her birthday, and one who fails to celebrate their birthday occasionally forgets their age. "19!" she finally answered, sounding relieved that she'd remembered it. The answer was probably shocking, given her size, hobbies, and occupation. "Oh? Huh... Yeah, I guess maybe high heels are a bit of a stretch," she agreed.

The next question made her raise an eyebrow, as if the thought of why someone wouldn't want to bowl or that she, heaven forbid, might be wasting her time bowling had never really occurred to her. "Well, y'know... When you wanna roll something at someone! It comes up a lot in that vigilante business! O-Or so I hear," she corrected herself, looking left and right again to see if anyone had overheard her talking about vigilantes again. "Anyway, I guess that's fair. Kinda hard to use bowling that much practically if you don't have the arm-strength for it, maybe," she agreed, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Well, time to get back to it!"

Just then, Bashira made a startling discovery: two inspectors had come in, dressed in heavy coats and fedora hats against the cold. They were carrying a stack of papers in one hand, with drawings on the surfaces and large, cash values written on them. They'd blessedly stopped to talk with one of the employees near the entrance before going far enough in to see the lanes. "Craaaap," Bashira grumbled under her breath. Most likely, the two were just bounty hunters, which meant they were looking for villains. There wasn't often a cash prize associated with turning in vigilantes, after all. It could be, however, that they were here from the government, and had no intent of collecting bounties; they were just here to spot the faces on the posters and bring them in. Bashira liked playing those odds even less than she liked the split she'd had to bowl earlier.

"I gotta go and you probably don't wanna follow me," she grumbled dejectedly, placing her ball back inside the tray and hunching her shoulders so that her face wouldn't be seen if the guys turned and looked down the steps... although her horns were protruding regardless. "Look, I do wanna meet up again though! Where's good for you? Or, you know what, just uh, look for a TV store in the alleys around here... Real crappy place, you'll know cause everything costs ten times what it should and the window's busted from where crooks keep breaking in! I... uh... hang out in the back alley behind it!" she informed Hanako in a hurried series of details, leaving out the part where she actually slept and dressed herself back there too. "So if I can't find you, we can meet up there!"

Bashira was probably assuming Hanako had as much free time as she did, which was highly unlikely to be the case. Either way, she made for the back-door, to avoid the two men at the front. Once she reached it, she was forced to huddle her arms and head inward, just to get through the doorframe. She turned her head over her shoulder to look at Hana once more and contemplated a wave, before realizing her arms were sort of stuck anyway... so she just gave a simple nod instead and then finished shimmying out through the doorframe.

((WC 767))