Your Princess is in a Tower [Ryand'r]

[Elenaphant]

Ah, the open market! Fresh produce in season, sold by the farmers themselves. When it came to downtown Jump City usually it was a team activity getting what each person wanted but ever since they found out aliens were on their doorstep in the coming year well... It's been a slew of being busy and complications with public opinion. They took for granted how public they were allowed to be in their city prior to New Years. Now, especially a certain red-haired alien, making appearances outside of their duty (and sometimes even then) ran the risk of attracting trouble from the very people they were supposed to protect. 

Cy still didn't want to miss the opportunity to fill their barren fridge with good stuff. Being a broad six-foot half man half machine, for some reason people weren't so keen on approaching him with their protests. He gave off some sort of imposing, intimidating vibe he guessed. Normally, something he'd get grumpy over, but it had its perks. He could mind his own business as he went about the stalls. Victor Stone may have the reputation for Cyborg the Carnivore, but he could appreciate good veggies as much as the next person. 

He inspected a cucumber and decided it was the best of the bunch. He put it in his basket and whistled merrily. Yup, he had a feeling this was going to be a good day...

Tag: Sae that's your cue ;D

        

[Sae]

The hunger pains were what brought Wildfire out of hiding and into the daylight. Scavenging trash cans for anything that looked edible (and honestly who could tell on this planet) proved fruitless both literally and figuratively. So, daring to sneak away from the shadows of the alley where he'd been squatting, he tugged the hairtie from his ponytail. A curtain of long hair fell free on either side of his face, hopefully hiding his less than human features, particularly his eyes. He was well aware that he would still look strange in his tattered slave's uniform, but perhaps if he were quick and kept to himself, he might go unnoticed. Hopefully humans were as unobservant as they appeared.

* * *

Now that smelled like food. Sweet, sharp, and savory. Wildfire couldn't help but take a deep breath as he flew over the rooftops of the massive city. New, tempting smells washed over his pallet and his stomach growled. Whatever that was, he wanted some of it and before he knew what he was doing, he was flying down toward the market. The vendor who's produce had caught his attention was talking to a woman. A small child clung to her leg and she was handing him some sort of silver coins with strips of grey paper.

Oh, that's right. Currency. Money. Items to trade with. These were things he also didn't have.

Wildfire's stomach complained again.

...No problem.

Wildfire moved briskly toward the back of the open stand, watching the mother and the merchant attentively. Just as the woman was turning with her daughter to leave, he rolled one of the red fruits into his hand. The dealer barely seemed to notice him as he kept talking loudly with the woman even as she began walking away. This was too easy. Wildfire reached for a second fruit--

"Mamaa! I want an apple too!"

The little girl pointed a finger directly at the Tamaranean, catching him just as he was backing away and preparing to sprint off. The merchant spun around and Wildfire froze. In hindsight, he knew he should've bolted anyway, forget keeping a low profile, but something kept his feet glued to the ground.

"You'll have to pay for that, y'know," the man said. "They're a dollar fifty per--"

"I do not have money."

"Oh. Well, sorry, pal, but then you're gonna have to put 'em back. I can't make any donations today."

Wildfire's fingers twitched. There was no way he could get away with this without causing a scene and a few people were already beginning to stare. "I apologize," he murmured, but instead of setting the apples back where they belonged, he grabbed one of the baskets and flipped it. The merchant staggered back in surprise as red and yellow fruit spilled to the ground. Wildfire took his chance and grabbed two more apples before dashing off, leaving a shouting, stunned man behind.

"Get back, you thief! Hey!"

[Elenaphant]

As far as ruining a day went, petty thievery wasn't so bad--but not a great addition to an upbeat day. That, and Cyborg wasn't looking forward to a chase scene among so many fruits and vegetable stands. Things could get... squashed. Yet, duty called, and with the cry of 'Hey!' came the call to action. Cyborg put down his bag on the stand and kicked it into high-tail, dashing off after the only other person on the run. The crowds and cramped spaces under the tented stands made it difficult to get a clear view, but that's where Cy's red optic lens kicked in and...

...for a crazy second he almost thought he was chasing Starfire, which his poor still-beating heart couldn't handle after the last time she had 'surprised' them--but it was the hair that was throwing him off. Not many people had that shade of red, or that shade of skin tone to match. It could just be the lighting--it had to be, right? After all, as he started to close the gap between them a little more, he realized it must have been either a kid or a short dude. Definitely not Starfire, but that couldn't be...

That couldn't be a Tamaranean, right?

"Stop!" Cyborg called out, though knew it was somewhat in vain. "Don't make this difficult, just stop and we'll work something out!" He tried to reason. "Darn it kid, don't make me chase you o'er a couple of apples!" he practically grumbled.

[Sae]

Wildfire didn't have to look behind him to know that whoever was behind him was big and in hot pursuit. His gut twisted uncomfortably with adrenaline and it took all his willpower not to turn around and fight. It would be so easy just to blast away his problems, but turning a whole city against him was not number one on his list of things to do.

Weaving through the crowds, the young Tamaranean tried to lose the Titan in the masses, racing harder and faster toward the edge of the market as quickly as his legs could carry him. He was doing great, too, if he'd only kept his eyes set ahead of him, but one brief glance over his shoulder proved detrimental. Wildfire noticed a crate of strawberries--thankfully still covered--a second too late. His toe caught against the top mid-leap and down he tumbled as gracelessly as possible over onto the street. It would have been comical had the situation been different, but Wildfire was doing anything but laughing as his face met concrete and he rolled heels over head, dropping and bruising all but one apple on the way down.


// I apologize that this took so long! I'm going to be more active through the rest of the summer. c:

[Elenaphant]

Cyborg saw the kid go down and pushed harder, knowing this was his chance to get him. He had finally caught up to him and put an end to this Benny Hill chase, standing over the boy at intimidating height. He may look like six feet of scary, but his expression was concerned. "You alright?" he asked as he leaned over to hold out a mechanical hand. "I was gunna offer to pay for those apples, you know, though they look kind of beat up now..." he explained wryly, trying to maintain an easy-going tone as his pulse quickened. A closer look at this kid and he was almost sure of it; the resemblance to his friend at the Tower was too much.

He hesitated for a moment as he searched for the words; his Tamaranean was pretty rusty but he learned basic conversation. If he wasn't Tamaranean this all might as well be Greek to him, but Cyborg felt quite certain. "You are safe. No run." he spoke, with what was probably a horrible accent and definitely messed up the grammar on the last part.

[Sae]

Luckily for him, Tamaraneans were nothing if not resilient and the fall that should've scraped him up left him entirely undamaged... save his pride, of course. That would leave him sore for a week.

Vibrant green eyes gave a hostile flash as they turned up to face the stranger, the stranger who somehow could speak Tamaranean. Surprised, but relieved to hear his own familiar tongue, Wildfire gave a tight nod. The outstretched hand, however, he brushed rudely away and opted to help himself onto his feet. A warrior did not need help getting up, especially after humiliating himself so royally.

"I'm hungry," he said, speaking more comfortably in Tamaranean. "Surely the merchants here can spare a few of their..." What had he called them? "...'apples'." Wildfire glanced at the remaining fruits on the ground, bruised or partially squashed with small, hungry insects already beginning to attract. So much for that. "How do you know my language?"

[Elenaphant]

He should have probably guessed that his help would have been rejected. Sometimes, he'd act the same way, so Cyborg could understand. He simply let his hand fall and returned that nasty gaze with his own, unimpressed one. He's seen too much to be intimidated by a punk kid who was really probably just scared and all... Even if said punk kid could probably punch him into another street, if he was anything like Starfire and man--did he look like her. Did he just think all Tamaraneans looked alike or was there something going on here? Why else would they come to Earth? Unless...

"Still have to pay. Other places give food," Cyborg replied, but didn't quite wan to go into that now especially with his broken Tamaranean. He also didn't expect that a newcomer alien would know about community kitchens at places of worship--a lot of Jump City locals didn't know it either. In any case, they were moving on from the conversation.

"My friend Starfire --um, Kory... Princess? Princess of Tamaran taught me." Cyborg tried to explain, and then pointed toward the skyline. From here, there was a view of the harbourfront and beyond it a distinctly T shaped tower. "My home. She there. I take you her?" he offered.