Area 27 - Trouble at Home

[Topazia]

It was mid-afternoon, and the entrance to the secret base Area 27 beckoned to an ebony hedgehog. Shadow had spent the morning out and about in the city, going through a training route of sorts. Now that he exercised, the surly hedgehog entered the shelter in search for a drink to satisfy his thirst.

And he looked as grumpy as always.

[Gatorman]

Meanwhile, his crocodile colleague laid back comfortably in his chair. He drank a glass of milk while that old romantic jazz sound burst forth from his headphones. On the table was a half-finished cryptic crossword, parts of it slightly worn from erasure, and a half-sharpened pencil. He loved tackling puzzles; it was one of the few things that kept him busy outside of food runs and mysteries.

"So," asked Vector, "did anybody tail you? What is it you do out there, anyway?"

[Topazia]

Shadow eyed the croc as he went to get a glass of his own.

"Yo head's on backwards if you think Ah gots tailed. Quit 'cho trippin'," the ebony hedgehog replied, now filling his glass with water. It sounded mean, but in reality that was just how Shadow talked. It might have even been considered "friendly."

Shadow took a long draft from his glass. "An Ah scout n' sheeit, you knows dat," he added after finishing, and went back for another fill-up. It was one small grain of truth among practicing his freerunning, combat skills, weightlifting, and generally just being aloof and distant.

[Gatorman]

Vector shuddered every time he had to deal with Shadow's dialect. The croc would have admonished him, but balked over what Shadow could have done.

Shrugging his shoulders, he went into the kitchen to take inventory of food. "Any good leads? From what I see here we've got enough for a week or ten days."

[Jammerlee]

As the two spoke, one timid blue eye peered around the edge of the kitchen doorway. She had heard the voices from down the hallway, quietly creeping her way toward the source - careful not to draw attention toward herself. The owner of that unmistakable (and barely legible) accent was revealed, and the young human girl revealed herself through the opening with a gentle sigh of relief.

"Oh... there you are, Shadow," Maria said softly, quietly moving toward him with her arms clasped in front of her. "How was your training?"

[Topazia]

An ear swiveled at the sigh, and Shadow's head followed suit as Maria appeared. He blinked as he finished off his second glass of water.

"Borin'," he declared, finally setting down his glass with gusto. "Nuthin' much left down south a here," answering Vector and Maria's questions at once. Well... there was a bag of chips he found, but considering its notable absence now, there was no use mentioning it. It was also a route he frequented often, so his exercise had more or less turned into muscle memory at this point.

He was considering going out later that day. Or maybe picking a fight. Whichever came first.

[Gatorman]

"Good morning, Maria," Vector said, always happy to find another person to talk to. He further examined the pantry and tested out the water as a precautionary measure; the consequences of contaminated water were far greater because of the presence of a hydroponic garden. "Well, no water problems. That's the first bit of good news today, wouldn't you say?"

Vector then slowly paced away from Shadow and Maria, thinking of what to do next. "If we don't find anything soon, we'll have to explore the northern part of the city. Pity, as we were getting a bit of a rhythm going down there, so to speak." The group had accustomed by then to the ins and outs of the southern portion of San Grandia, which usually led to successful food raids; Vector hated to go out into unfamiliar ground, but with each report of little to no food by Shadow, going north inched closer to being a foregone conclusion.

[Val]

@sasparks@

The rattling sound of several locks being undone could be heard outside one of the doors further into the base before it slid open with a creak. A sandy coloured possum stepped out wearing a T-Shirt and shorts, wincing as his bare feet hit the cold floor. He closed the door with a heavy yawn before placing the key in his pocket. The last thing he wanted was anyone getting into his room.

As he made his way towards the kitchen his ear twitched at the sound of voices. A groan of annoyance escaped the possum as he recognised who was speaking. It was that ghetto spouting piece of trash who acted as a fur coat for his precious human. She was the main reason he insisted on having several locks on his door.

He’d only just finished meditating and he was starving, he wasn’t in the mood for any of their crap. The young possum held his stomach and felt it groan for food. He had no option but to just put up with it.

He walked into the room, initially trying to ignore the others and went straight to the cupboards to see what food was there.

[Topazia]

Shadow grunted, clearly not pleased by Vector's comment.

"North part's goin' be risky, if 'chu know whad ah mean." Shadow remarked, not that he particularly cared about the risks involved with going near high-security marks, but other people around here do care about that sort of thing so might as well warn them so he doesn't get yelled at later for no reason.

And then to make matters worse, a particular thrope had to walk into the room. The frown that played on Shadow's face became much more defined as his eyes trailed the possum.