DT Serum, Primary Testing In Progress

Echo walked down an ally until she reached a fire exit, using that to climb to the rooftops. It was quicker to travel this was, and she could see a lot better. It was one of the only things she hated about being short.

Primus grabbed the girl's arm as she mounted the roof and yanked her up.  Spinning around, he turned and slammed her against the wall of the maintenance hut.  "Hello, little girl," he smirked, holding her feet a good two inches off the ground.  "Remember me?"

Echo winced and whimpered in pain as her back slammed painfully into the hut. From her fearful expression, yes, she did recognize Primus. She struggled, but more to reach into her pocket than to escape. She didn't think he would let her escape unscathed, even if she got lucky enough to get out of his hold.

Primus caught her other arm and pinned it against the wall.  His eyes glittered dangerously only inches from hers.  "I was happy in retirement.  Bored, but happy.  I actually got to focus on something other than keeping me guts in my body.  Then you came along.  Give back what you stole, promise to tell no one, and I won't beat your skinny a-s to a pulp and drop kick your boyfriend's puppy off a rooftop.  Got it?  We can all leave happy.  If you give it back."  He never once raised his voice.  Never growled, never shook her.  Just the opposite.  He sounded unnaturally calm.

"What do you think I was trying to get?!" Echo snapped. "I was reaching to give you you're stupid wallet back! All I took were the joints and the money, and I was going to give you the wallet back as soon as I saw the pictures!" She didn't struggle once, other than when she reached for his wallet.

"You sold the joints?"  Primus finally growled in frustration.  "Dammit!"  He'd needed those!  They were the last he had, and he was hoping they would lessen the migraines.  He forced himself to calm down.  "I'm going to put you down.  Take out the wallet and hand it to me."

"Look, if you need weed, I know where to get you some, but I won't do it if you insist on being aggressive." Echo said seriously. She waited for the red head to let her down so she could return the wallet. "And for the record, Tramp is my friend. Not my boyfriend. He and Bobo needed a place to sleep for the night, so I took them to one of my safe spots."

"Friend, boyfriend, not a huge difference on the streets," Primus muttered, trying to keep the anxiety out of his tone and almost managing as he opened the wallet and picked through the pictures.  Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, he returned it to his pocket and looked the girl up and down.  "Not many hands slick enough to pick my pocket, even when I'm rusty."

"Not many are able to pin me down in such a short time." Echo retorted. "As far as pickpocketing, it's one of very few things I'm proud of." She took a better look over Primus. "I've never met another roof hopper before."

"I have.  Except they all went splat," Primus replied.  "You said you could get the weed.  That was dam fine stuff, hard to get ahold of."

Echo paused and nodded. "I know people. Only problem will be price. How much are you willing to pay for me to get it?" One of the unusual advantages of being friends with Tramp, she had discovered, was she knew where to get drugs, even if she never used them herself.

"What I gave you already should be enough, yeah?  Two joints of grand quality, a fair amount of cash, and not breaking your wrist without talking to you," Primus pointed out blandly.

Echo frowned. "The joints are already gone, and I have no money from that. So that leaves.... fifty three dollars and seventy-two cents. Are you looking for quality or quantity?" She asked. "I can get you good quality, like straight, no filler, top line... but you would probably only get enough for one joint, or I can get you decent quality, for maybe ten to twelve joints."

"Quality.  As many as you can get.  Good quality.  And I know my quality," Primus warned.  He figured she wouldn't try to cheat him, she was smart and he'd found her fast enough.

Echo nodded. "I'll find you when I get it." She said. "Now if you would please excuse me, I need to find some dinner."

"I'll meet you on the rooftop where we met the first time," Primus said with a touch of warning.  "The diner three blocks down gives out free food half an hour before they close.  It's that or toss it."  He turned abruptly and started off.

Echo paused. Should she trust him? She scoped out the restaurant first before she went to see if he was right about it. This very well could determine how long it took her to track down the guy for the weed.

A small group of homeless were already there, approaching the back door one by one then quickly scurrying off into the shadows with paper bags.  No one looked at Echo twice.

Echo checked the bag when she was a block away, examining the food inside. Satisfied, she got something else for herself and for Bobo before she returned to where tramp was crashing.

Bobo barked when Echo entered, scaring Tramp awake.  He rolled to his feet, instantly ready to run.  He stared at Echo wildly then calmed when he recognized her.  "Oh.  Hi.  I didn't hear you leave."  He yawned and pulled Bobo to him, hugging the puppy comfortingly.

Echo smiled. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you two. I got food for you guys though. Should still be warm even." She said as she handed Tramp the paper bag. "And I didn't forget Bobo." She set some meat scraps that were still fresh for the puppy on the floor, on a paper plate.

"Food?" Tramp asked, sounding a little dazed.  He was still high, but getting more lucid.  He investigated the bag, smiling happily.
Bobo had no reservations as he attacked the food excitedly.  One minute it was there, the next he was chasing an empty plate around the floor.

Echo laughed and smiled as she watched Bobo. "He's such a cute puppers." She adored.

"I think he's the best thing ever," Tramp said softly, a faint, genuine smile crossing his face as he watched his puppy.  A real smile from Tramp was rare.  Never before had he allowed himself to have anything.  If you had something, it could be taken away.

Seeing how happy tramp truly was, filled Echo with joy. "If you want," she offered, "you can stay here whenever you want. I know there isn't much here, but there's a roof and a heater, and would be safer than sleeping in an ally every night."