Chapter Text
Stone and nighttime. They went together like peanut butter and jelly (or a Scrap and a can of beans, in Vinnie’s case). Stone dreaded the daytime, he always preferred the nighttime, as would anybody else. It is calm, quiet, peaceful, everyone would usually be asleep or in their fancy over the top houses. Stone, however, would be outside, not in his alleyway abode but the rooftop of a random civilian’s home. He was an avid drinker, and smoker for that matter, and Skipp did not like it while Vinnie could care less. Stone always made sure the other two were fast asleep before sneaking out to the same rooftop, a lighter and a cigar in hand. He would light it and waste no time scarring his lungs away, the brightness of the full moon shining down onto his cold exterior; which he absolutely hated.
There was more to this boy than meets the eye, and Vinnie and Skipp had no idea what they were getting into when they decided to take him in. He would never really want to participate in any of Vinnie’s rightfully ridiculous schemes, stating that “he didn’t want to get in the way.” There was more to it though, and Vinnie day by day would get tired of it. Stone had barely contributed anything to help in their survival, and Skipp would always steer Vinnie away from lashing out at Stone. When they found him, they had no idea about his backstory, where he came from, or anything personal. Skipp respected Stone’s boundaries, and even with being given personal space by him Stone still did not like Skipp’s over-the-top demeanor at all (or him if we are being honest).
Nobody knew why Stone only wanted to work in the night, was it just a preference? Or it calmed him and gave him more motivation. Maybe because there were fewer people active, and it made it easier for him to go around looting the greedy town of Ramshackle? Vinnie always preferred the day, because despite it being busy it meant many opportunities to pickpocket random rich snobs. Though despite her best efforts, Stone would always find a way out of being in the sunlight.
Though tonight would not be so easy for Stone, as Vinnie surprisingly awoke from her slumber to find Stone had once again left the huddle pile. Skipp had always known about Stone’s whereabouts at night since he would feel his body shift about to get out of the pile, and Vinnie would soon find out too after Skipp had told her. He urged Vinnie to leave Stone be at night and to let him do his own thing and for a while she respected his wishes, but tonight she had to find the underlying cause of Stone’s mysterious habits. Creeping out of the pile and making sure Skipp would not wake up, Vinnie would look around for a singular rooftop that Skipp had mentioned he would always go to. And soon enough she would find the slim male up high, and a displeased Vinnie would mumble slurs to herself before making her way up to the top hastily.
Stone felt her presence from a mile away, it was not hard to distinguish Vinnie’s movements from Skipp’s, or even his own. He had known the two Scraps too well, and knowing how less lenient Vinnie was with his actions would know exactly why she was even bothered to look for him. He would take a quick, deep, puff from his cigar before letting out a loud breath, not even turning to face his friend.
“I knew you had eventually come to question me Vinnie, I may not like Skipp, but I respect his willingness to not question my habits. Why must you persist so much about this?”
And of course, without a second of silence Vinnie would go on a long, annoying tangent.
“You know why I am here, Stone. I was lucky enough not to wake Skipp because unlike him I am genuinely getting annoyed with your behavior! You never want to participate in my schemes, and it is hard enough for me and Skipp to do them on our own! You always make some bullshit excuse about not wanting to get in the way, when you swore, you would help us if we took you in! The only reason you are not by yourself yet is because Skipp believes that one day you will come to your senses and contribute to the survival of us and yourself! And to top it all off, you always ask for one of us to find an umbrella for you, in the daylight! I get that rich people use umbrellas in the daytime for shitty aesthetic, but you are the last person I would expect to waltz around with an umbrella!”
Stone, with a heavy, annoyed sigh would lay down his cigar to speak with a sharp tone in his voice.
“Vinnie. You are meddling in things you do not understand, and one of these days it could cost you a great deal, and even put Skipp at risk too. You ask too many questions, and you are looking for answers that just are not meant to be answered.”
Vinnie absolutely hated Stone when he talked like a smug rich person, and she scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“Quit talking like that! God you are more annoying than a bird constantly chirping its head off in the morning, why are you like this??”
Stone replied briefly.
“Because I, unbelievably, care about you and Skipp. I am only doing this to protect you, Vinnie.”
Vinnie was visibly pissed.
“Protect me and Skipp from what, exactly? We are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves, what are you so afra-!”
Stone would stand up as Vinnie spoke, not seeming to stop talking anytime soon until Stone crept his pointer finger against her lips seductively.
“Them.”
Vinnie could not even reply to Stone’s statement, he sounded so cold, and bitter when he spoke that single word. She was more confused than she was before, and she did not care what was at risk. She would figure out what was going on, even if it killed her.