OPEN to all - robin hood comes home to roost

[callmeemily]

"Hey! Stop!"

Raleigh's walking Oscar - it's a long walk today, even though it's definitely making her leg regret it - and she doesn't even pause when she hears somebody behind her yell. It's the beginning of tourist season, and the sidewalk's full of people she doesn't know, and she's so worn out from the last week that she doesn't really have the energy.

"I said stop! I know you!"

Huffing out a breath, she keeps going; she hates it when people yell in public. She's got that Southern mentality, the one that keeps disputes behind closed doors where it's between the two of you and everyone else listening at cracks to figure out the gossip.

The last thing she expects is the rough hand on her arm that yanks her around. Stumbling, she catches herself on the parking meter that's next to her as the guy - mid forties, handsome in that New-England-Polo-Shirt-and-Sperrys kind of way - stares at her.

"It's you! It is!" Oscar's exploded into a barking, growling, half-grown dog between them, and the guy steps back as he raises his voice. "You know what I'm doing? I'm calling the cops. This is the girl who shot me! Back when we were medieval or whatever? She shot me and took all my money! She's a thief!" The tourists had backed up into a circle around them, with Raleigh, Oscar, and the guy in the middle. "She could have killed me!" He's pulling out his phone even as Raleigh protests and tries to explain as the people who're just staring at her shake their heads, and a phone, then another gets pulled out to film the whole thing.

"It's not- I'm not- I'm not a thief, I- It wasn't me--"

OOC: Raleigh's Fairy-tale shenanigans have come home to roost! Open to anybody. :D

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[just_another]

Joel's on his way to find Spencer when he hears someone shout and a glance in that direction shows him something he doesn't want to see. It's the wrong time, he thinks, for someone to be messing with the people he cares about and he's already headed in Raleigh's direction when he sees the guy who's following her actually reach out and grab her arm, and it feels like something small and furious just bursts inside his chest. For a long time he never would have considered himself much of a fighter, but now he suddenly can't seem to stop himself. Someone hurts a person he loves and all he wants to do is hurt them in return.

Maybe bad enough that they won't get up again.

"Hey," he snaps as he pushes his way through the small crowd that's gathered. He can hear what the guy is saying and for all he knows it's true, but that was a spell and he'll be damned if he lets anyone but the person responsible take any of the blame for it. "Maybe calling the cops is a good idea and all the witnesses here can tell them how you just grabbed a woman going for a walk with her dog."

There's a murmur of assent from the crowd and Joel's never been much of one for manipulation, but he can tell he's said the right thing. People in this town are still recovering from the spell, he knows that, but he also knows a lot of them are used to things like that. And he's not sure how many of them are going to be very sympathetic to a man who's just grabbed someone less than half his size.

"Are you okay?" Joel asks, looking at Raleigh.

[callmeemily]

The locals understand; it's just something about Siren Cove, all of this is just something about Siren Cove, that weird things happen here, that you can't predict or change any of them. The tourists don't, but the whole thing makes no sense to them; the guy sounds crazy, talking about when we were medieval.

Raleigh's trying to pull back Oscar, even while she's shaking her head, trying to explain - all while leaning on that parking meter, because he'd pulled her off balance enough that she'd stepped wrong. "Listen, I didn't- It's not like I chose--"

"You admit it! She admits it--" And then Joel's just there, he's here and the guy draws back just a little because he wasn't actually expecting Raleigh to have a defender. "The woman I grabbed is a criminal, buddy. It doesn't matter if it happened then or now, she stole my property, and could have killed me. I'd say that's a decent reason to try and stop her before she can hurt anybody else, right?" He looks around at the people around them, and it's not agreement that he sees; he's the one being filmed now, and Raleigh doesn't know what to do.

Looking over at Joel, Raleigh nods even though it's not really the case right this second. She hates what she did; she's hated it since she came back to herself, and she hadn't told anyone. There's that-- knowing that there were people in Siren Cove who would look at her and see what she'd done to them-- and also she can feel where he'd grabbed her from behind, and there's no time that's alright. Even before last year, it wasn't okay, but now it's worse.

[just_another]

"Look, I'm not in a very generous mood lately, so I'll give you one more chance to back off," Joel says and when he holds his hand up toward the guy his fingers spark. It's meaningless, it's a reaction his magic has whenever he gets emotional, but it's completely harmless since the demon has been banished. He's tried to use it the same way he did with the woman in the park who was rude to Spencer, the same way he did with Eli Jasper and Mark Fuller, but it just doesn't work that way anymore. All it is now is a release of emotion, but it looks threatening and sometimes that's the only thing Joel needs.

The guy nearly stumbles back and he looks to the crowd for help again, but Joel and Raleigh together are a sympathetic figure. She's small and sweet and kind to everyone who knows her, which is probably a good number of the people in this crowd given how popular her bakery is. And Joel's just spent four days frantically searching for his missing husband. No one is looking to support someone giving either of them a hard time.

"Did you... how can... I'll remember this," he promises, waving a finger at Joel, but his hand is shaking and Joel is fairly certian they've seen the last of time.

"So will I," Joel answers as he takes a step away, returning to Raleigh's side. He turns his back on the man, an indication that this conversation is clearly over.

[callmeemily]

Raleigh's staring at Joel, at his hand, and the spark on his fingers. Her eyes skip to the guy, but he's already backing away, and it seems like the crowd's suddenly decided that it's a non-issue anymore, since they've started going on their seperate ways -- minus the tourists who are gawking at their cellphones and the video they caught of it, but even they are heading off.

"I- I didn't think that was going to happen," Raleigh breathed, finally looking back at Joel. "I'm sorry, I should have... figured out what to do, I guess?" Handled it? Something? She's got no idea, but Joel coming to her rescue isn't something she'd been counting on. "Or just left, and let him just... be.... like that. I don't know." She winces as she shifts off the parking meter, and Oscar's winding around her feet, rubbing against her good leg after that surprisingly big show of bravery.

"Good boy. Good boy, Oscar. You're a good boy." She bends to rub his ears, then she looks back up at Joel again. "... What do I do now?" She doesn't know if he'll have an answer, but he might-- something Raleigh dearly could use some advice about.

[meowhistory]

Lena doesn't understand what's going on, standing there like a salt pillar (Lot, was it Lot?) And trying hard to work up the courage to step in. Because Raleigh is most definitely a good person and even if her only mistake is being recognised, she doesn't deserve such a treatment. So here she is, Lena, chewing her tongue on the edge of the entire situation.

Having other brothers makes being vocal a necessity, but she still surprises herself with her volume. "Hey! Why are you acting like a berserker?"

[callmeemily]

Raleigh's busy trying to pull Oscar back and not fall on her face, but the guy's brows furrowed together as he shook his head. "What? I'm not! She's the one who's the problem!"

He gestures at Raleigh, shaking his head. "She's a thief! She shot me, and stole every bit of money I had. She remembers it happening, just look at her!" He gestures at her, and Raleigh tries to take a step back, but her leg is protesting every step. Oscar's still growling, his hackles up as Raleigh keeps telling him no.

[meowhistory]

"Y- you-" Lena tries to recognize if her gesture is appreciated or if she should back off, but Raleigh is too busy fighting the usually more adorable ball of fur.

"That doesn't mean you have to jump her in public!", she blurts out. "And if it was the fairy tale, was it even real money? Why aren't you getting the police involved? Do you want justice or a public lynch party?" Oh God, she's being overly dramatic and it leaves her shaking.

[callmeemily]

"Was it real money?" That's a guy in the crowd, calling it at the guy, making him half twist around, looking between the unseen questioner, Raleigh, and Lena.

"I mean, no, but that means she's capable of that! She's dangerous."

Raleigh finally gets Oscar pulled back enough that even though he's still growling, he's not in danger of actually biting the guy, and her heart's pounding in her throat. "I'm not! I'm not. I'm not that person. Just- Just leave me alone!"

Her eyes jump to Lena, and she sucks in a deep breath. "C'mon, Lena. I'm going home." She's not - she doesn't want that guy following her, but she's not going to leave on her own, and she moves to grab Lena's hand, to pull her with her so that she's got someone with her.

"Hey! Stop, you can't just--"

"Dude, drop it, what the fuck do you want to happen?"

Raleigh's limping pretty badly, but she's pulling Oscar away with her, the crowd parting so they can get by.

[davin]

Davin comes across the commotion just as it seems to be breaking up. He keeps moving because he's very much avoiding stressful situations as of late, but he spots Raleigh out of the corner of his eye and he stops. She looks freaked out and Oscar is bouncing around like someone upset his human, so Davin bites his lip and looks both ways before crossing the street.

He moves slowly, thanks to his ribs, and he wrinkles his nose at a twinge of pain when he steps up onto the curb. Oscar barks at him and wriggles between his legs, rubbing up against him and jumping up to put his paws on Davin's knee. It hurts to bend over, so Davin just takes a step back and looks at Raleigh in concern. "Hey, are ya alright?"

[callmeemily]

The crowd's dispersed because eventually, one of the townies had told him to lay off, because obviously Raleigh was different than whoever the girl who shot him had been, and the guy leaned close and said he'd find her later-- it left her standing on the sidewalk, her skin pale and she's heavily favoring her leg from when she'd lost her balance.

"Yeah," she lies, not terribly convincingly at all. "Yeah, I'm--" She swallows hard and finally looks up at Davin, her face pale with bright spots of color on her cheeks. "I'm okay, uhm. How... how much of that did you hear?" She has no idea, although she knows it could be all over the next edition of the Cove, if she's not lucky. She hates that she's shaken, she's thrown by the whole thing, her brows furrowed together as she tries to catch her breath. "How're you doing?" Trying to change the subject, even though right now, everything was a mess.

[davin]

"Not much," Davin admits. "I've kinda been keepin' my head down. I was just grabbin' somethin' t'eat."

He holds up a bag of take out with his left hand, keeping the one with the cast held carefully at his side. His fingers are stiff and sore, and it hurts terribly when he hits his hand against something.

Raleigh is obviously upset and Davin steps forward with his brow furrowed, swallowing hard. He's sort of feeding off of her emotions, and it would do them both good to calm down. "I got enough t'feed an army. Why don't ya come have some food with me, aye? Oscar can come too, o' course."

[callmeemily]

She doesn't deal well with people grabbing her. She hasn't for almost a year, since she was taken, and it's rattled her really badly - not even talking about the cops, about everything she did when they were in that fairy-tale mess...

"Yeah. yeah, I- That would be great. I..." She trails off, her shoulders a little hunched because she knows that Davin's got more than enough on his mind already. "I have a lot on my mind, I guess," is what she finally says, her voice low and quiet. "So thank you."

[bachjones]

It's Alfred getting in on the fuss Bach was trying hard to ignore. Siren Cove, after all, and unless things are going to get violent in front of Isaac, he just can't care enough.

But their big ginger cat sees a small dog making a racket and it's enough for him to go investigate, big jumps smack in the middle of the situation. Probably even forgetting that he's a cat and the other is a dog and that it might not end well for Alfred. "Alfred!"

[callmeemily]

"Oh, my god," Raleigh yelps when there's suddenly a cat, right in the middle of the whole thing, and even the guy who's yelling at her seems to be confused. Oscar's so on edge that he snaps at it, and Raleigh hauls on the leash, wrapping it around her arm to pull Oscar closer to her. "Call the cops! I don't care, I'll talk to them, just leave me alone!" And she's trying to get Oscar away from the cat, with no idea where the hell it came from or why in god's name, it'd just jumped into a bunch of people where there's already a growling, angry dog.

[bachjones]

Bach's cat trying to befriend a very angry dog of his own size. This is why he will never have a normal life. "Alfred!" Stop head-butting the dog, you stupid cat. At least Cinderella had been smart enough to keep herself in one piece.

"Sorry, apologies, just a sec-" People are staring at him. Some are even laughing at him. "You try to get a cat to listen!"

[callmeemily]

There is no befriending going on. There is nothing going on, besides Raleigh trying to pull away Oscar, who is now going between the guy and the cat, and even the guy's staring at the cat. "What the hell--"

"I don't know!" Raleigh says desperately. "Oscar, Oscar come--" And that's when she realises that Bach's there, and of course Bach's there, because who else would it belong to?

[coopdetat]

If there's one thing, just one goddamn thing, that he knows for sure about Raleigh, it's that she would never purposely try to hurt anyone. She's been burned too many times herself to want to inflict that kind of pain on others, he's as certain of that as he is of his name, so when he sees some dickhead in a polo grab her arm, Coop is done with the situation before it really has a chance to begin.

He forces his way through the useless crowd, the one that's fucking filming because there's apparently nothing better to do like stop this asshole from getting physical with a woman half his size and half his age, and comes up behind Raleigh, placing a firm hand at the small of her back to make sure she stays upright as he shoves her aggressor away from her.

"Don't fucking touch her," he says, and he sounds a lot calmer than he thought he would but there's a dangerous edge in his tone that he knows the guy catches because he doesn't try to come at them again.

Instead, he points at Raleigh, his finger shaking as badly as his voice. "She shot me, she stole from me. You're defending a criminal, that makes you an accessory, you get that?"

"You look just fine to me," Coop answers dryly, looking the guy up and down, and it's true. He looks unharmed, just all kinds of antsy, and Coop doesn't know why the hell he would accuse Raleigh of all people of hurting him, but it doesn't matter. The long and short of it is that regardless of what the guy thinks had happened, he doesn't get to touch Raleigh like that again. "I'm going to tell you this once. Turn around, walk away. You don't talk to her again, you don't even fucking look at her again because if I found out that you have, you're going to be needing the cops for someone entirely different."

[callmeemily]

People coming up behind her and grabbing Raleigh is pretty much one of the things she hasn't gotten over from the stuff that's happened last year. Nightmares, fears about being alone, being outside in the early morning... all of that's settled itself out, but being grabbed from behind's still up there. When the hand closes on her arm and hauls her around, the color drains from her face and she's obviously scared. Seconds later there's a steadying hand on her back that makes her twist to look up at Coop's face, and it's only then that she pulls in a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, and he's shoved the guy away from her.

No sound comes out when she opens her mouth to say something- anything, past what's been said already, her defending herself, but Coop's already telling the guy not to touch her, and it's like something switches in the guy's brain, he knows that he can't do shit about the guy, but Raleigh's there, and that's why he points at her. What he says makes Raleigh's heart drop to her stomach. She didn't want to get Coop caught up in this, because she did it, she did the thing the guy is accusing her of. It was probably a stupid thought, that she could stick her head in the sand and act like it didn't happen when she'd shot a ton of people. She'd stolen more money than she'd ever seen in her life. Jewelry, gold - you name it, she took it. The only saving grace had been that as far as she knew, she hadn't killed anybody.

"You just threatened me! You threatened me, he got it on video!" He points at the guy who's got his phone out. "You're protecting a criminal. You'll both go to jail!" He's already pulling back; he's scared of Coop, but he's not just going to let this whole thing go, because to him? He's got the fact that he's right on his side. "She's dangerous, and you're defending her. I'm calling the cops, and they'll do something. Both of you, they'll do something!"

Oscar's straining at the end of his leash, and Raleigh's got it wrapped a couple of times around her wrist to try and pull him up short as he growls, his ears flat back. "Fine," she says desperately. "Call them, just leave me alone. He's got nothing to do with this, call the cops, and tell them exactly what happened, and if they want to talk to me they can, just-- don't touch me, and leave him alone."

[coopdetat]

"Gimme a break, dude," Coop retorts, rolling his eyes as he gestures to the same guy with the camera. "He's got you on video pretty much physically assaulting someone who's like, a full foot smaller than you, think that's going to make the cops believe that your charges are legit? You're goddamn right I'm defending her." He turns to look at the crowd that's already slowly dissipating now that Coop's attention on them, some people looking vaguely guilty that they've been watching as long as they have.

"Anyone here wanna take this guy's side? Anyone else wanna try to put their hands on her? Try it. No, seriously, try it, I'm begging you." The past week has been a shitshow with two of his friends fucking missing and no way to find them except through a goddamn dream so it's a really bad time to be screwing with anyone Coop cares about right now. Spencer and Davin are back, they're safe, and nothing could make him happier; but he's not going to let anyone shout at Raleigh like this, not over some bullshit accusations in front of an entire crowd of people.

"You're pathetic," Coop says, glaring first at the crowd and then at the guy who'd started the whole thing. "Every single one of you. So we're going to walk out of here, and you're going to let us because the second you call the cops, just know that your ass is going to be charged for assault before you can even get a word in." He can guarantee it because he has friends on the force, and Coop doesn't necessarily like to play that card, but he will if he's pushed. And he feels very pushed.

He takes a deep breath, try to soften his expression as he turns to Raleigh. "You okay? Good to get out of here? We'll go wherever, just lead the way."

[astra_inclinant]

Mira's headed to the store, when she spots an Oscar-shaped puppy out of the corner of her eye, and definitely Raleigh attached to him. She lights up; she's lifted her head, looking both ways to run across the street and call over to them when an angry shout is aimed in her friend's direction. Raleigh isn't reacting, but Mira's faced toward her and she can see the guy, shouting and red-faced, eyes fixed on her friend.

Everything in her goes still, focused like it's in slow motion. What is she watching? Mira starts to cross toward him, and the guy's hand is on Raleigh's arm, yanking her around like she's nothing, like she's offended him by existing.

Mira can't even hear for a second she's so furious, almost shaking with anger. She doesn't plan it, she just shoves her way through the crowd and beside Raleigh, arms crossed. "Are you joking?" she spits, "Just grabbing someone like that?" She looks over at Raleigh, who's in the middle of protesting, eyes wide. "Are you okay?"

[callmeemily]

"Mira, it's- It's okay--" It's so not okay, her face is the color of milk, and Oscar's losing his tiny furry mind because somebody's threatened his Person, and the guy's still putting himself in this.

"It's not okay. Your friend is a thief and violent, I'm calling the police." He pulls out his phone, looking between Raleigh and Mira.

"I'm not-- I'm not, I swear. I'm not who I was - I mean, you're not some rich medieval guy, are you?" She's looking between Mira and the guy like there's got to be an answer, but she doesn't know what to do.

[astra_inclinant]

It's not okay, though if Raleigh looked or sounded like she had it, Mira would back off; she deserves that much agency handed back to her at least. "No," she snaps back at the guy. "It's not okay. It's not okay to just grab girls on the sidewalk." She's leaning up toward him, stabbing a finger into his face. "Myself and everyone here just saw you assault someone. It's probably on Vine by now."

Raleigh's protesting, and Mira can tell exactly what's happened -- this entitled fuck was an entitled fuck in fairyland too, and Robin Hood Raleigh was a little more aggressive about balancing the scales -- but right now, she doesn't care. It's not Raleigh's fault. None of what happened then was something this Raleigh would do, not without provocation.

The guy is turning an ugly shade of purple and all Mira wants is to deflate him like Violet Beauregard. "You don't look injured to me," she says with a raised eyebrow, wrapping an arm around Raleigh's waist. "And even if I did believe you, I'm pretty sure the SCPD doesn't like people taking justice into their own hands. So call the police if you want to, all you are is some guy grabbing some girl he thinks maybe stole some stuff he never reported stolen."

[sylviedevereux]

Sylvie sees the circle of people up ahead and initially writes it off as a busker or something, but when she hears yelling, her footsteps hurry and she heads over. She spots Raleigh through a gap in the crowd and immediately puts two and two together. She's been waiting for this, if she's being honest, waiting for someone to call them on their actions. There were worse people in that fairy tale world, she knows that much is true, but she also knows they did some pretty shitty things that they were lucky to walk away from - until now.

"Hey!" she calls, elbowing her way through the crowd. Sylvie's not usually one for shoving and yelling, but she doesn't have a lot of options here. "Lay off her!"

[callmeemily]

Raleigh twists to look at Sylvie even as Oscar's trying his best to get to the guy. "Oscar, Oscar, stop- she says as she yanks on his leash, and she shakes her head at Sylvie. Not that she shouldn't be mad, but because Raleigh gets why he's anry. It's not like it was just a mistake - it was actually not wrong.

"It's okay, it's alright." She doesn't even know if she's talking to Oscar or Sylvie, but the guy butts in. "It's not alright. You're a thief!"

[sylviedevereux]

Eventually she manages to get through the crowd, ignoring the way Raleigh is shaking her head like she doesn't want her involved. Sylvie got involved in this when she stole the guy's back while Raleigh lined up the shot - and it was meant to be a distraction, something to whistle past his ear while to turn his head while Sylvie nicked his bag. He wasn't meant to get hurt, but something had knocked Raleigh's aim and it hit him in the shoulder. They should've stopped to see if he was alright, they definitely shouldn't have stolen from him, but they were like different people, and none of that mattered, then.

The weirdest part was waking up at the end of it all, waking up feeling herself again and in her normal clothes and in her own cottage, and still finding his bag stuffed in her closet. She'd been on her way to turn it in anonymously, but she supposes this is karma.

"Just let it go," Sylvie says again, and when she reaches them she drops the bag at his feet. "Here. No harm done, no?"