Crossing Paths Again [JASMINE]

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Ali picked his hood up, making sure that it was covering his face for the most part as he was eyeing all of the townsfolk pass him by. He was always invisible to everyone, no one paid attention to a bum on the street. But Ali used that to his advantage. He was after all a person who got by by pickpocketing and stealing. Ali tried to pick his marks carefully. He usually tried to only take from people who seemed better off, who seemed to have enough to spare.

Just then, he saw her walking through a crowd, and he watched as she stuffed her wallet into her purse. Easy. Ali stood for a minute before he made a move, just eyeing the girl. Something was so familiar about her. But then again, ever since the new sheriff came to town more and more people were beginning to look familiar to Ali. He wondered if a new person coming to town is what shook some old memories in his brain. But it didn't matter if she looked familiar, and it didn't matter how beautiful she looked. Not that he noticed hat, at all. He smirked as he hopped off from the wall he was leaning on, tugged on his hood again, and began to sprint. He rushed towards her, swiftly grabbing her purse and pulling it off her arm as he then made a sharp right into an alley.

Ali stood for a second, huffing and trying to regain his breath. There wasn't a good thrill he got from doing things like this, like he assumed most common criminals felt. If anything there was this sort of pang in his heart, like he was going against his true nature. But, no matter what Ali seemed to do in this town, he couldn't catch a break. It was like he was fated to be this common thief for the rest of his life. He closed his eyes, sighing as he pulled his hood down roughly and opened the purse, beginning to rummage.

@jasmine

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Things were getting odd in Storybrooke. Ever since the new sheriff came to town, things happened that never did before.. such as the clock in the town square ticking again. It was broken for as long as Jasmine could remember. Something else that was happening, was Jasmine  having incredibly strange and vivid dreams. Some of them were of her living in a huge palace, which was a rather large step up from her little one room apartment she was staying in now. Another, was of flying across a lake. It seemed so real that she could have practically felt the water on  her fingertips. There was someone with her in the dream.. someone that made her feel complete. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. Since the dreams were becoming so frequent, she kept a journal where she documented everything she saw, and felt. It had to mean something after all..right? She kept the journal in her purse, that way when she was out and about, she could jot down things that she remembered.

She was on her way to the dance studio to get some cardio in. It would get her heart pumping, and it would help ease her mind for a little while. Currently, she was lost in thought, and maybe if she was focusing, she would have noticed someone running at her with intent on stealing her belongings. The moment she noticed her purse had been snatched, she whipped around to watch the culprit running off. "Damn it.." she muttered. Sure, she had her wallet in there, but luckily for her, only about ten dollars was in there. Her newest paycheck went right down the blouse, since her wallet had been so stuffed in to her purse that she couldn't find it until she needed it  just before she was mugged for a coffee at Granny's. 

Jasmine followed the man as quickly as possible, keeping up to the best of her ability. When he rounded the corner in to the ally, she wasn't far behind him. It wouldn't have been such a big deal, if it wasn't for that dream journal. She had like, three other purses at home. "Ya know," she spoke, trying to catch her breath. "That was kind of a dick move. I would have probably had to beat you right now if I was wearing heels. Whatever though, take the cash, just give me the purse back." 


@aladdin

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Ali thought he was in the clear. Usually everyone in Storybrooke was too nice and kind and..boring to ever follow him or chase him down. It's why he never really ran off too far. He didn't need to. His hand rummaged through the purse, grabbing random things as he searched for the wallet, his fingers rested on the spine of something hard. He thought was the edge of the wallet but it turned out to be a book. Ali pulled it out of the purse, eyeing it for a moment. His curious mind wanting to open it, but then he heard shuffling foot steps and loud clicking heels hitting the pavement. He shoved the book back into the purse and arched an eyebrow as he saw the girl..the same girl, round the corner to the alley way he was in.

She was clearly out of breath, and had a mouth on her. That caused Ali to smirk and let out a small laugh, though he held the bag away from her. "Well, I didn't expect that to come out of a lady's mouth." He joked. Ali eyed her again, this time he didn't really care if she saw, because clearly this was already weird and different and out of the norm and awkward. But, he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this girl from somewhere. She just seemed so..familiar.

"Well..this is..so you just want the purse back and I can keep the..." He eyed the purse, reached in for the wallet and opened it. And then rolled his eyes and sighed. "The eleven bucks that you have in here." He shook his head and eyed the girl again. "Make you a deal, since it's so valuable to you..I'll sell it to you." Yes. He was trying to sell her back her own stolen property.

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This thief was cocky.. and Jasmine wasn't in the mood. He seemed to be happy to keep the money, until he saw that there was only eleven dollars in it. She rolled her eyes, and scoffed. "Sorry, i'm not exactly rich." She muttered. That wasn't necessarily true, but he didn't need to know that. "Look, just give me the purse." She went to reach for it, but he pulled it back from her. Man..she wished she had some kind of guard dog.. or an exotic animal to protect her belongings. Unfortunately though, this was reality and she had nothing like that. "Really? You're so juvenile." she sneered when he told her he would sell it back to her. 

"That's the only money I have. And you're seriously asking me to buy it back from you? Look. I'm not in the mood for your games. Just.. I don't even care. Just give me the keys and the journal. You can keep everything else." She couldn't give him the check that was stuffed down her blouse. That was this week's rent! She'd be on the street for sure. "And if you don't give it back by the time I count down to one, you're going to seriously regret coming out today. ...Just take your eleven dollars and shoo." She paused. "Five....four....three.."

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Ali gave her a look, arching an eyebrow when he heard her small mumble about not being rich. He clearly was being a judgmental jerk. Which apparently was what this town turned Ali into. He rolled his eyes before exhaling an obviously annoyed sigh and shook his head. How did this happen? This never happens. Every day for as long as Ali could remember, he had stolen and basically the townsfolk had just dealt with it and ignored it. Now, since this Emma Swan person had arrived things were changing. Not just things...people. People were different now, brighter, more aware, almost like...like they were awakened. Ali smirked when she called him juvenile and he just raised the purse high above her head and just sort of smiled at her. "Okay, I'm sorry princess. It must be the immature little juvenile in me. I just can't help it." He joked, though he hadn't even really meant to call her princess. It just sort of came out.

He sighed again, suddenly feeling like he couldn't really do this to this particular girl. Even though he had no idea why. Even though she was counting down to him like he was a child. There was something about her. Something...Ali just couldn't put his finger on. He began to lower his arm and was ready to just toss the whole purse back to her when he spotted someone out of the corner of his eye. Razoul. He totally owed that guy a lot of money. "Crap. We gotta go." He blinked a few time shoving the purse back at her and gripping her hand. He knew Razoul would just assume that she was his friend or someone important in his life. So leaving her behind was out of the question. She needed to run. "Do you trust me?" What a stupid thing to ask, why did he even do that? But he asked it anyway before he began to tug her arm and sprinted through the alley way.

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Jasmine was getting really irritated with this little game of keep away. He was taller than her, and a bit quicker, which made it a bit more difficult for her to grab her purse. And just as she was on the verge of stepping on his foot, he called her 'princess', which would have made her angrier, but it made her pause for a brief moment. It seemed that he was mocking her, and yet, when he said it there was something.. different that she felt. She shook her head, and allowed the feelings she briefly had to roll away and let her anger come through. But she didn't really get a chance. 

Someone was coming. Someone that evidently, the thief knew. He said he had to go...they had to go. Why did she have to go with him? She didn't know him. He was a perfect stranger! And yet.. when he asked if she trusted him..something in the pit of her stomach told her to go. She looked back at the man who was coming toward them, then to the guy with her purse again. "...Damn. Fine, I'll go." She didn't know why she chose to trust the random stranger who just stole her purse, but here she was.. running with him to who only knew where. Hopefully she didn't get herself murdered. 

"Friend of yours?" She asked darkly as they were making their get-away. Clearly, he had quite a way with making friends in Storybrooke. 

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Ali was surprised the girl decided to trust him. But maybe she was feeling whatever it was that he was sort of feeling. Like he had met her before, like he knew that she would trust him. Which was insane. Storybrooke was just a small town, they must have bumped into one another at some point. That was all this weird feeling of deja vu was coming from. He continued to squeeze her hand, almost fearing that she would slip or fall or get left behind. And all he needed was Razoul to think he had some leverage. The ape. He rolled his eyes at the thought.

He let out a snicker, "Yea, a friend." He scoffed as he made another sharp turn through the buildings. He was nearing a hiding spot that Razoul was always too stupid to figure out. Which was great. Al was certain there were a good distance ahead of him. Once the reared another corner, he opened a door and lightly pushed her in the dimly lit room, closing and locking the door behind them.

"I may or may not have scammed one of his pickpocketers, Amarah." He said and gave her a face that clearly said he did. "We had a deal, we'd go fifty fifty..and I possibly decided I wanted 100%." He shrugged again. It sounded kind of like he was an ass when he said it out loud. "I mean, I felt bad about it. But we're all thieves. It isn't like we're honest. Not sure what they were thinking." He mumbled and sat down on one of the available chairs. He had taken her to one of his hideouts. It was an abandoned store near the end of town and they were in one of the back rooms. "You alright, Princess?"

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When the stranger squeezed Jasmine's hand, she felt her heart racing. It must have been because of the adrenaline rush of running from potential danger. That had to be it.  Whoever it was that they were running from must have been incredibly angry if the guy was just ready to grab Jasmine and run with her. Why did she have to get pulled in to it, anyway? The truth was.. it was a little exciting, even though she still wasn't sure of where they were going. Suddenly, she was pulled in to a dimly lit room, and the door was closed. She placed her hands on her hips, catching her breath. "Well..that was enough cardio for the day." Jasmine spoke, narrowing her eyes. 

He told her what he had done to piss off the monster of the man, and...well, that would definitely make someone angry. She would have given him a speech about how it was wrong, but.. apparently there was no such thing as honor among thieves. She sighed after finally catching her breath, and she folded her arms over her chest. "I can see why he's angry...but I guess you've gotta eat somehow." She resolved. He asked her if she was alright..and he called her Princess again. Once more, it sounded right coming from him for some reason. "I'm fine..just." She looked around the room, and watched him sit on a chair. She chose to stand for now. "Where are we?" 

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He looked over at the girl and couldn't help but smirk at her cute little remark. She didn't have to trust him, but she did. She had gripped his hand back and ran with him through the alley ways like a true little thief. He eyed her, and was really able to take her in now that they were just hiding out, and Ali couldn't help but notice that she was pretty, no..beautiful. He didn't notice anyone else in this town that looked like that. She was different. "I'll give you credit for running in those heels." He smiled and pointed at her shoes. He finally decided to give in and stood up walking over towards her and extending his hand. "My name is Ali." He said introducing himself.

He nodded. "It's never personal. Just business. And yea, it's sort of hard to live out here with no money." He rolled his eyes a bit. But there was truth in his words. It was never personal. You never mixed business with pleasure, and you trust no one. Though it seems right now, with this girl Ali was breaking all of those rules. Which probably was very unwise. But, he couldn't explain it. He sort of..wanted to be a better person. Or he wanted her to think he was one. It was weird.

Ali looked around for a good explanation about where they were. "Well...sometimes I crash here. Gold shut this place down when the businessman couldn't pay the rent. It's been closed for awhile." He explained and then heard shuffling of feet from the door. He immediately pushed Jasmine against the wall pinning her with his body, and pressed his hand against her mouth to keep her as quiet as possible. He was very close to her, and he could feel his heart pounding almost like it wanted to just explode out of his chest. Which was something Ali never felt before. He had to remember to take a breath, and shake his head to sort of shake himself out of it and eyed the little space where the door met the floor.

He could see a shadow on the other side just standing there. But it didn't appear to be as large as Razoul. But that didn't mean he didn't send one of his little minions out after him. He continued to hold Jasmine pinned against the wall until the shadow moved and Ali was sure they were in the clear. But he didn't pull away. Instead he still stood there in front of her, and looked down. He moved his hand from her mouth, but still kept her pinned, his hand then slowly trailing down her cheek.

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At this point, Jasmine didn't even care where they were, so long as she didn't have to run anymore. Her feet were starting to ache... she really should have chosen to wear more sensible shoes. Then again, if she knew she was going to end up going for a brisk run, she would have worn sneakers. "My feet aren't happy with me.. but if I didn't keep up, you would have probably just dragged me anyway," She gave him a small smirk. She couldn't figure  out why she was so relaxed around the man who stole her purse and essentially kidnapped her...but she was actually kind of enjoying herself. It was nice to get out of her own head for a minute. She almost forgot about that journal she had. The man introduced himself as Ali. The name chimed so many bells.. it was confusing. "Jasmine," she gave him a small nod. "Nice to meet you under these....weird circumstances." 

He mentioned that he never mixed business with pleasure, and she lifted a brow. "Oh, so you don't normally bring the people you steal from to a place like this to exchange pleasantries?" she asked with a sarcastic tone in her voice. As he explained where they were, she pursed her lips. It was a nice hideout for a thief, she guessed. It seemed to work for him. "So you--" she was suddenly in a quick motion pushed against a wall with her mouth covered. At first, she started swearing up a storm - things that one wouldn't expect to come out of her mouth - even though it was muffled by a hand..but that was only until she saw there was a shadow under the door. Her eyes went wide. Hopefully she didn't give them away. 

Her breathing was heavy as she stared at the ground, waiting for the shadow to leave. Luckily, whoever it was gave up and left. But Ali was still in the same position. Her eyes moved to his, and, it was like she was in  her dream again.  She felt at peace.. like everything was right somehow. His hand moved down her cheek, and she inhaled sharply. She didn't say anything...she had no words. It felt like she'd known him for years. He was quite handsome... maybe it was just hormones thinking for her. ...no, that wasn't it. This was something more. "Are they gone?" She asked in a trembling whisper. She made no move to push him away or move out from against the wall. Clearly, she had no problem being there. 

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It was weird, Ali wouldn't have pegged Jasmine to be the type that was able to run with the best of them. But, maybe that's where that saying came from, about not judging books by their covers. Because clearly her cover was gorgeous, but inside she had no problem getting dirty. Which, Ali admired. And he honestly hated that he did. It probably read on his face too, because he wasn't a good liar. At least not when it came to anything real. "Only because I like your company, Princess." There he went again, calling her Princess. But he couldn't even help it anymore, it just came out of his mouth now. No matter, that was probably going to be what he called her. But what was worse was that Ali admitted to liking her company. Because he did, it wasn't a lie. He had just met the girl, and already she had made his heart beat faster, caused him to steal casual side glances from time to time, and break all of his rules. He nodded when she introduced herself and smiled at her comment. "So, I stole your purse, gave it back, ran for our lives, and are now hiding out. This sounds like it can possibly be the best first date." He smirked. And he didn't even bother to retract his words even though he hadn't meant to call it that.

He wanted to say a quirky remark, but there was a part of Ali that kind of thought that would bite him in the ass. As if she would think he did seriously do this all the time, and he honestly didn't want her thinking that. Since she was very different from any woman he ever met. "No..no. I really don't. This is a complete first for me, you're a first." He nodded but then felt like an idiot. Maybe a quirky remark was a better idea.

Ali didn't even really care about who was or wasn't at the door anymore. Being this close to Jasmine was just...well it literally caught his breath. And yet there was something too familiar about it. It was a feeling he had been unable to shake from the moment he had seen her. Even when he had been surveying for people to try and steal from. She was the one person his eyes kept being drawn to. He should have know then that it wasn't a bright idea, but something in him was guiding him. Almost..like fate. Which was a stupid thing to think about. Fate had nothing to do with any of this. But yet, he stood here, his body pressed against hers, and her back against the wall of this dimly lit place. "I think so." He finally said coming out of his own thoughts. But still Ali didn't move. Instead he just stared down at Jasmine, slowly bringing his hand up to hold her chin lightly with his hand. He tipped her head up, his eyes slowly looking at her lips. This could end very badly for him. As in, she could knee him, slap him, and call whoever it was outside to finish him off. And he wouldn't be able to blame her. But, it was almost like he had no choice. And with that, Ali leaned forward, and pressed his lips against hers and wrapping his other arm around her waist.

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Jasmine had no reason to treat this guy differently than anyone else. And yet, she was doing exactly that. If anyone else were to call her Princess she would have taken offense to it, feeling like they were mocking her. And Ali might have been.. but she had to admit to herself no matter how strange it was, she enjoyed him calling her that. Even though, oddly, it felt a little too formal. "Princess Jasmine. You know, I actually like the sound of that." She said in a joking manner. But.. it did actually ring a bell somehow. Maybe it was something she'd seen in a movie or read in a book somewhere. He made a comment about all of this being a date. Jasmine quirked a brow, and lightly chuckled. "A date? Is that what this is now? You sure do have a memorable way of asking a girl out." 

Ali told her that this was a first for him. Clearly it was a first for her, as well. Before her dreams started, and she began to feel...differently about things, she would have never even thought of running off with some stranger. But she was feeling far more bold, and adventurous these days for whatever reason. "Good to know," this wasn't an optimal situation for...well, anyone, really. She was possibly in danger, because she allowed herself to get caught with a thief. Part of her was wondering why she just didn't leave to go find the sheriff... but then again, she couldn't even if she wanted to. Whomever was chasing them, was still outside..waiting. 

Jasmine was in quite a predicament. She was sandwiched between a wall and a stranger, and her heart was beating in a way she'd never felt before. Or.. at least..that she remembered. Everything felt like a puzzle, that was slowly situating in to place, and yet she still didn't understand what anything meant. Her eyes were locked on to Ali's, and her breath hitched in her throat yet again. It felt familiar, and yet new and exciting. At this point, she honestly didn't care who was outside the door.. she was too focused on what was happening with Ali. He leaned in, and he kissed her. The moment their lips touched, at first, her eyes widened but soon they fluttered shut. Strange visions flashed, as though she were watching a movie playing on the inside of her eyelids. She had kissed him before.. it was him. In her dream, somehow. She returned his kiss, allowing herself to get completely lost in the moment, if only just for now. One of her hands lifted, and she touched his jaw. It was so real.. but this had to be another dream since it was the same man.. didn't it?