[@Atalanta][@nightmare medx]

The nervous man's eyes flew wide at the mention of the auction house. A tick crawled across his face slow at first and speeding up as it passed his eyes. The smell of him was rank, long neglect overlain with the more recent stink of fear both glandular and urinary. Scared as he was, the ingrained reflexes of poverty made him reach for the second twenty, his hand freezing on the way towards it in an agony of indecision. His lip trembled violently and he seemed to strain to speak, the prominent Adam's apple working as though trying to swallow something unpleasant. 

A flutter of feathers sounded from above and a large sleek crow swooped down and landed on the vagrants shoulder in a parody of a pirate with a parrot. It looked its beady black eyes with Blythe, then turned its eyes to Ardi in an appraising glance.

"Caaaawp," the crow cawed, struggling mightily to create the P at the end of the word.

"Cawwwp, Cawwwp." [i]Cop. Cop[/i] The vagrant's lips moved in the shape of the crows cries, though no sound actually issued from his throat. The crow hopped down the vagrant's arm and clambered out onto his outstretched fingers. The homeless man moved not a muscle as the crow climbed over him, though his eyes were wide and terrified. The bird leaned out and pecked experimentally at the second ten dollar bill. It stamped a clawed foot and then looked up at the two women.

"Blaaaad," it cawed, "blaaad, blaaad." [i]Blood. Blood, blood.[/i]

"Caaaaaap blaaaaad."