On his way to visit an old friend, Roy felt like someone was following him. Walking alone, he couldn’t help but look over his shoulder, only to feel something rush past him on the opposite side, having had grabbed something from his pocket whilst doing so. Tensing up immediately, he whipped his head back around and quickly patted over his pockets, suddenly picking up his pace when he saw two children running off with what he could only assume was his wallet.
Breaking into a sprint, he followed behind them, cursing under his breath.
“Dammit, I’m getting too old for this shit..!”
It was the first time either of them had picked a pocket before, but without the support of the Ishvalan refugee camp anymore, Rick and Leo had little choice but to do whatever they could to scrape by for survival. They'd managed to get by on dumpster diving since they'd arrived in Central, but the city's shops couldn't discard everything they needed.
It was Leo's idea to target the man the two of them saw walking alone, though he'd talked his reluctant little brother into being the one to do it. Being younger and smaller, there was a better chance of him getting away unnoticed, he reasoned.
Unfortunately, they turned out to be wrong. Whether it was his inexperience or the man being more observant than expected, the boys heard him calling after them as soon as they'd run past. They'd been caught instantly.
Rick's heart leapt into his throat when he heard the man's shout, and he turned to look over his shoulder with wide eyes, panic rising as he started to catch up with them. Though he tried to keep pace with his older brother, the distraction kept him from noticing the uneven sidewalk until he found himself sprawled face-first on the ground, the wallet skittering from his hand into the road.
Rick's sharp cry of surprise stopped Leo in his tracks, and he turned back to see the man running toward his younger brother. Narrowing eyes into a glare, he rushed to his side, barring the way between the man and his fallen brother. Red eyes defiantly glared daggers at their pursuer, and he spread his arms wide protectively as if that would keep Rick out of sight.
Despite his heart pounding out of his at the impending confrontation, Leo stood his ground. "You leave him alone!" he snapped, sounding a lot more sure of himself than he felt. "Just back off!"
