This little girl breaks laws...

[teenytinyteme]

Ahhh. Chicago. Heart of the Midwest, if some are to be believed. Certainly not the worst place to come from.

Chance Adams would know, because she does come from the worst place to call your hometown. Peoria is a shithole if you ask her, and even if you don't. She'll probably tell you anyway

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[soldatceryi]

Ivan is enjoying this weather, and is thus out on a stroll around the city. He's keeping an eye out for the CLF freaks who continue to make the city less a welcoming place than revolutionary Moscow, but who he sees instead is Chance, standing by the corner he was about to cross the street at.

He doesn't sense anything - he doesn't have his wings out - so he jumps to the natural conclusion that she's a homeless human girl and therefore really none of his business. Still, with his board and lodging provided by the Hotel and still bringing in some money from odd jobs and martial arts classes (which became a lot more popular when the CLF started stirring things up), he has some extra cash.

So he pulls a crumpled $10 bill out of his pocket when he walks up to wait for the crosswalk, and offers it. "You look like you could use a hot meal," he says.

[teenytinyteme]

Chance doesn't know what to do when this man just gives her money. She's grateful, sure, but she has her goddamned pride.

"Um, thank you," she says, stuttering a little. "But no thanks. I... don't need this. Not like this. I mean..." she sighs. "I'd rather earn my own. But thank you!"

Because that totally sounds convincing, and not like she's just a pathetic little girl too proud to accept charity from strangers. Nope.

[soldatceryi]

Ivan raises his eyebrows, looking her over. Of course. He takes the bill back, rlling it between his fingers, but doesn't put it back into his pocket just yet. "You are old enough to work?" he asks. "Prosti menya, but you look very young. Especially to walk around looking as if there is nowhere for you to go."

He doesn't exactly mind that she doesn't want his money - he knows the sort - but he also knows that often, pride isn't worth as much as a hot meal can be.

[teenytinyteme]

Chance wrinkles her nose. "Seventeen," she lies. "Old enough to do some work, and I can pass for eighteen if I have to."

That's a lie. She barely passes for sixteen. Sometimes she still gets the 'thirteen and younger' menu at restaurants. But it's worth a shot, right?

"And, um... I'm looking for my aunt's apartment," she lies. "Because, um... my mom's on her honeymoon. For three months. Crazy, right?" She chuckles a little. These lies come more easily as she tells them! She is a demon after all.

[soldatceryi]

Ivan has a bit of trouble reconciling that little lie with the evidence before his own eyes but he won't call her on it. "Ah," he says instead. "You need directions, then? I've lived in the city for - some time."

He's not really a creepy man overly invested in your business, Chance. He's just... oddly chivalrous when it comes to human girls. Or people he thinks are human girls.

[teenytinyteme]

And then Chance pales, because she hadn't actually accounted for this guy to offer directions, even though she had just admitted to being a little lost. "Oh, um..." She licks her lips, looking away. She doesn't know anything about Chicago! She doesn't even have a fake address she can give to him.

"Well, that's the thing," she says, looking back and hoping to god he doesn't see through this lie. "Uh... on the, uh, bus up, I dropped my bag and the address must have fallen out. It was written on a piece of paper, see. So uhm... I don't really really know where she lives, but I'm pretty sure it's around here and uh... yeah. Thank you, though." The smile is more than a little desperate. Oh please believe her, please believe her.

[soldatceryi]

Ivan has to chuckle at that, patting down his pockets and withdrawing a crumpled and somewhat flattened pack of cigarettes. He holds one in the corner of his mouth as he lights it, shielding it from the wind with one hand, then slips the lighter and the pack back into his pocket

[teenytinyteme]

Chance fidgets, running things over in her mind. She knows that she should accept the offer, because who knows when she'll get a hot anything again? And he's being so nice and...

But she doesn't want to take advantage of him. And... she doesn't know why she's so hesitant to go, except then he says those words and she looks away, at her scuffed-up shoes.

"What if I'm a really bad person?" she half-mumbles, though it's loud enough to hear. Because what if? What if she's really a danger to everyone around her? He's been so nice, and she doesn't want to hurt him because she couldn't control her... powers or whatever.

[soldatceryi]

Ivan tilts his head at her. "You, I think, are a bit too young to be such a bad person just yet," he says, and reaches over to tousle her hair.

...which puts his hand very near her skull, and then he stops.

Heat. Demon.

His hand tightens on his cane, fingers automatically finding the hidden catch that would release the sword inside. His wings itch, pressing at his back. The little girl is a demon, and he's an archangel, and his instints are screaming to Do Something about this

[teenytinyteme]

Chance twitches a little as he reaches out to touch her and then doesn't. She's really uncomfortable now, because she knows she's wrong and he... he must know it too, although she doesn't know how. She keeps her wings in even though it's hard, and she... she doesn't know, but he must have figured it out.

"I... I guess," she says. "I mean... I don't know." She shakes her head. "Thank you for the offer," she says again. "But I... I really should, um, go."

Not that she has anywhere to go, but she doesn't want to be a burdern, and he's already figured out she's a bad person and... she's scared now.

[soldatceryi]

"To see your aunt, yes," Ivan says, and fishes in his jacket pocket for something. He pulls out a collection of crumpled receipts and wrappers, and from it extracts a business card for the Conrad Hotel. He stuffs the detritus back, then holds it out to Chance. "If you are more lost than you think, this is a good place to go for directions." He holds her gaze - or tries to - for a moment longer. "And to know that there are others who will be interested in being a good person."

Inviting a demon straight back to Archangel Headquarters might not be the first thing most people would think of, but Ivan has had long experience in the Russian army. And in that experience, the archangels would much rather the demons were where they could keep an eye on them if not working for them outright.

[teenytinyteme]

Chance takes the card quickly, stuffing it into her own back pocket. "Uh, thanks," she says. "Thanks a lot."

She's not entirely sure how to end this. And she feels bad, because he was so nice... even after he figured out she was a... well...

Freak.

"Maybe I'll see you around?" she asks, then winces because that's not really something to say to old(er) men. "Or, uh... Thank you."