Dust has a problem. To be fair, he has lots of problems, but this particular problem is becoming increasingly annoying. Whenever Dust is wandering around down the allies and backstreets of his seemingly favorite AU, delaying his return to the mansion, that stupid feral Skelton child somehow always finds Dust. It's been going on for weeks now.

No matter what dirty street he walks down, no matter how late it is, Dust hears the scritch scratch of bone tapping along behind him on the concrete. Nothing seems to dissuade the kid. Dust has considered using his magic to scare them off, but hesitates. He blames it on spending so much time around Nightmare's kid. Nightmare might slap Dust at this point for looking the wrong way at a kid. The constant presence is grating against Dust's nerves. He's started buying extra food from the fight club just to drop somewhere and distract the cretin for a bit. Even when Dust doesn't have food, it still follows him around.

Currently making his way down a particularly dank ally, Dust is surprised when he walks for more than a few minutes without a little shadow appearing in his footsteps. He feels suddenly stupid for carrying around a grocery sack of packaged food. Why did Dust even bother to stop at that gas station? I seems like last weeks's cussing match finally scared off the kid. Good riddance.

A loud commotion from the street ahead catches Dust's attention. With nothing better to do, Dust turns and adjust his path to check it out. The yelling gets clearer as he gets closer to an intersection. Some woman is screaming and cursing while, from the sound of it, throwing things. A metal trashcan lid comes hurtling out of the ally. It hits the concrete and bounces off the concrete with a loud crash. Low to the ground, a gray blur streaks around the corner and nearly crashes right into Dust's legs. The mass murder looks down in mild surprise. The dirty skeleton kid looks back up at him. The runt fell over himself to avoid hitting Dust and ended up sprawled across the ground. The bright blue spikes along his tail are flared out in agitation. Dust had flinched back at the near crash.

"Get back here you fucking garbage!" The woman is screaming as she runs around the corner. She carries a large metal pipe that she swings around.

The skeleton child shrieks in fright and darts behind Dust's legs. Dust almost kicks the kid when they grab at his shorts. The woman slows a little when she sees Dust, but the furious expression doesn't leave her face. Dust doesn't move or react. He's thrilled over the idea that this lady might be goaded into hitting him. Dust will enjoy ripping her limb from limb.

"Is this your kid?" the woman snaps, practically frothing at the mouth.

"And if it is?" Dust says with a mild challenge. He's trying to start a fight. It's always funnier when they strike first. Dust loves watching their expression change to one of absolute terror.

"You need to keep better track of him! The freak was digging around in my trash!"

"I'm not too bothered with what he's doing," Dust shrugs nonchalantly. "You, on the other hand, seem to be needing a little lesson over naughty language. What a foul mouth you have, bitch." Dust is no longer able to hold back his manic grin. One of his hands slips into his jacket pocket and wraps around a knife handle. Dust is sure such a blatant insult with earn him the reaction he's hoping for.

The woman sucks in a breath to scream back a retort. She freezes when her eyes lock onto Dust's face. His deranged expression reeks of death. Dust's body is practically vibrating with barely contained murderous intent. The woman's anger instantly chills into cold fear. She turns and bolts.

Dust takes a step forward to chase after her, eager for the kill, but he stumbles with the weight attached to his clothing. "Get off!" Dust growls. He yanks his leg out of the kid's grip. By the time Dust looks up again, the woman is gone. He didn't see which ally she rant into. Dust growls in agitation. He's pissed off that he lost the opportunity to put that woman in her place. Permanently. Dust's attention shifts back to the kid, ready to hurl some curse at them, but he stops. The small skeleton child has a large gash on one cheek that's leaking blood. He took a hit from the metal pipe before he could get away.

Dust's bloodlust takes a sharp turn into something he's rarely experienced. Dust can't quite describe it, but it does make him want to kill that bitch even more. "She's going to die if I ever meet her again," Dust angrily mutters, committing her face to memory. Dust lacks the ability to use healing magic. His soul is filled with too much HATE. Dust glares at the crack for a moment before he uses his jacket sleeve to wipe away the blood. The kid flinches when he's touched, but doesn't try to get away. It's a lucky thing that the crack isn't worse or spread to his eyes. Time and some monster food should heal it completely.

"You can have that," Dust says gruffly, letting the plastic bag of food slide off his arm and onto the ground. The kid doesn't hesitate now. He tears at the bag until he can get to one of the food items before beginning to devour it.

Dust has been using food as a way to stop being followed. He usually leaves at this point to wander around a bit more before heading home. Still feeling agitated, Dust instead sits down on top of a discarded crate laying a few feet away. He justifies it by the slim chance that the lady might come back. Dust sits quietly for a while, watching the feral kid.