The trash is getting gooey

"Excuse me?" A strangely calm voice called out from the other end of the alleyway, where the cast off light from the nearby street lamp shone and bled just enough to reveal a woman wearing a wide brimmed straw jingasa. Which would have been odd enough on it's own, but the black hakama trousers and a keikogi jacket, emblazoned with the Nakamura-ryū's logo, all tightly wrapped up with a belt around her midsection. Made her out to be some kind of modern day samurai or ronin. Especially with the wooden sword affixed to her side via a simple loop of hemp rope.

But she was calm. Like she was taking the event going on at her own pace, at her own speed. "Is something the matter?" She got up to the dumpster, head tilting to peer out from under her hat. "I was just on my way home and I couldn't help but overhear the....colorful shouting. Do you need help with something?"

With the arrival of a second person at the dumpster, a sloshing sound could be heard from within it. This causes the owner to give a puzzling expression to the girl. "No, but ya should keep moving if ya don't want the noise." The man takes a step back from the dumpster after stomping on the front wall and reaches into the back of his coat. Giving the woman another look so she'll take the hint, he pulls out the M1911 he had tucked behind him and aims it down at the dumpster. "It's garbage day, hahahah."

"Hmm? Ah, yes." She sighed softly as her expression shifted a little. The tiniest frown forming on her face. "Garbage day." She took three more steps, shoes tip-tapping quietly. "I also know," she spoke up, her tone, while pleasantly warm still, carried just the barest hint of a cold post-winter breeze. "I cannot let you discharge that firearm." Her hand fell on the handle of her bokuto, fingers sliding across the handle with practiced ease.

"So, I am going to ask you put the gun down and away. Be reasonable." By that point, she had slid into a drawing stance as the sound of rubber scraping across old, grimy black top was audible, even over the sloshing in the dumpster. And for a brief second, her eyes seemed to shimmer teal, like ghost flames in the dark. "Entirely your decision."

"On one part, yes. But I was." She lunged forward as she pushed off her back leg, fingers wrapped around her weapon's handle. "Also hoping you would be reasonable." Her words hung in the air for a second, the disappointment almost...tangible, as she unsheathed her effigy of a blade. The bokuto turned into a sudden blur, tinted with a faint teal halo as she brought the blade up. Then down, clear through the handgun's barrel. Before hopping back a few inches. The entire situation played out in maybe a second's time as Suzume brought her free hand up to adjust her hat, noticing it had slanted forward a bit. "And also, please. Be kind. "

The smile may have been kind, but her body language spoke only of regrets and pain, if he didn't take the one smart choice in this whole fiasco as her gaze shifted from him, and right over to the door.

Now, with that taken care of, Suzume turned her attention to the slime which, honestly, at this point, was far more interesting than some barkeep with a broken gun. The most important question in her head at that moment was simply. "Now, what exactly are you and why a dumpster?" Her expression was colored with wonderous puzzlement, brow cocked slightly as she started towards the goop, giving her blade a little flourish before slotting it back into it's holster with a soft ruffle of wood on fabric.

"On one hand, probably shouldn't have bisected that man's firearm. On the other. Willful negligence on my part would have been... inexcusable, if you weren't an amorphous blob."

Her question was answered. Not quite how she was expecting the reply. But as she waited, the creature regurgitated, at least it appeared that way to her. Brow cocking at the empty, and possibly a little soggy, fry box. Then back to the goo with a blink. "I think I get what you're trying to tell me. So you are capable of communication. And, quite possibly hungry." Before holding up a finger. "I think I got something..." She paused, before opening pulling the overlooked and out of mind, oblong shaped bag off her back. Looking like a large case for a collapsible pool que, but with extra pouches. She brought it around, unzipped one of the pouches, and pulled out an apple and an orange. Before promptly lobbing them in the goops general direction. "Was gonna be my snack after practice. But, I got more at home. "Dōzo omeshiagarikudasai(enjoy your meal)"

Exerting the last bit of energy the monster had to show what it was after was taking it's toll right away. The body of the slime was getting paler in color and looking more like water. A self preservation instinct to cut down the body and require less food to continue living. The slime was sure it was going to pass out next, but it saw the woman hold out two familiar looking items. If the slime had more energy, it would be unsure what she had planned with them, but then it feels them being dropped on top of it's body. On the outside, the fruit would be seen landing softly on the creature, followed by slowly sinking down. As the stem of the apple had disappeared, a small smack could be heard.

Showing clearly now within the slime's self, the orange and apple were being spun and gradually getting the outer parts of grinded off. The digestion of the slime was spreading the nutrients of the fruit evenly throughout itself as it's color had started becoming a deeper blue until it was impossible to see the fruits inside it any longer. This snack had given the slime enough energy to move as it wanted to again.

The slime had looked back up at the woman with curiosity and happiness because it had never been given food before. Deciding to act on it's instinct, the slime stretches itself forward to nuzzle against the woman's left leg, the two gold orbs were shining with joy.

Suzume watched with a blink at the digestive process unfolding right in front of her. She scratched at the corners of her mouth, eyeballing the blue goo for a few more seconds of curiosity, processing what she was a front row seat to. Before whatever it was doing, caused it to go opaque enough that she could no longer seen the last vestiges of the offered fruit anymore. With that seemingly done and with the fact the goo creature seemed alive enough to move about on it's own in mind, she started to move off.

Random good deed of the day done.

Until she felt it nuzzle against her leg, causing her to stop again, head craning to look down with a blink. Did. Did she just get adopted? Or did she adopt it? Questions for later she supposed as that lazy little smile creeped back onto her face. "I take it you want to come with me?" Well, it has been nice, friendly even, so she gave a little shrug and knelt down, opening one of the larger side pouches. "Well, I don't think I can quite say no to that....face? That is your face, right?" She figured it was a face, assumed the golden orbs were eyes, given the unusually intense expression currently and quite literally, shining through them. "Plus, you might need more than some fruit annnd, I don't think I can actually just let you roam about in this city. Too...dangerous."

Steel city was certainly a place. Sometimes called Gotham's uglier cousin and it certainly showed, with how that man acted with callous disregard for something else's life. Why was it so hard to be nice to people? Again, questions for later. Better to live in the now. "I think I have some leftover takeout in the fridge. I hope you have a big... stomach... or, are you just one giant stomach? Mostly cause I tend to order on a larger scale than most."

In a fluid motion, the slime watches and reacts to the woman's movements by jiggling as she spoke. Once she had opened the pouch on the case after holding it in front of the slime, it pushed forward into the pocket out of curiosity. Not seeing any food within however, the body of the slime retracts with a sadness from the glow of it's eyes being noticeable. The orbs look back up at the woman, paying attention to her smiling expression. There must be another reason she wanted the slime to get in her bag. The orbs move back to looking at the opening as the slime pushes itself back in, filling it out as it pulled the rest of it's body into the pocket. It wasn't sure what the woman wanted with it now, but it has been treated nicely by her twice now, giving reason to trust the human.

Suzume watched the creature as it figured out what to do. A small level of amusement in the form of a smile graced her lips as she watched it conform to the pocket, before picking the bag up, slinging it back over her shoulder and started off on her merry way, back to her homely slice of Steel city. The sights of Steel offered her no distraction. She'd seen it all really, the pretty lights and neon signs that turned certain streets and distracts into a gaudy, retina burning light show. The upscale, uptown area of clean brick, concrete and glass.

It was all really nice, sported that urban concrete jungle charm. But she wasn't interested in it. Not really, as she passed by chintzy bistro's and greasy spoon diners. She always had to stop though, to appreciate the sheer bawdiness' that came with the occasional adult store that just stuck out like a bruised thumb, or some colorfully salacious peacock. "People in steel city really don't have much in the way of shame. Or discretion." Then she remembered the man with the gun. "Or common sense. Do they?" Before breathing a soft sigh and continued on her way.

Putting the strip slowly behind her now, Suzume paused for a second once she was out of sight of most people, head craning slowly left and right. Determining that the coast was clear, she roughly slapped herself on the sternum with a sharp exhale, before resuming her journey back to her home in Little Japan. But now, each step seemed to make the world seem a little bit smaller, the closer she got to her home district. Except the world wasn't getting smaller, Suzume was just getting bigger.

Not just bigger, but more distinct in appearance. Raven black hair faded away into a soft teal-green while her irises, the same hue of green, flaked away, revealing amber-gold beneath. But most importantly was perhaps the appearance of a large, asymmetrical horn jutting from the right side of her forehead, like a flesh-toned obelisk.

By the time she put her first step back into Little Japan, there was no more Sumiye Shimamoto. Instead. "Suzu-chan" Came a cry from one of the street food vendors, who waved her over. "You're back! So, how'd your practice go today?" The hanyo woman looked down at the much smaller, much more fragile old man and smiled. "It went well Mr.Hidaka." She exclaimed with a nod, before reaching into her bag, avoiding the pocket that contained a certain goopy passenger before pulling out her wallet and retrieving about a hundred dollars. "Also, can I get about ten dozen takoyaki?" She looked at him looking at the money, before craning his head up to meet her eyes with a bemusedly amused expression. "Eating for two, now?"

"Well yes, but actually no. I've just worked up a bigger appetite than usual, and you do have the best takoyaki around." "You mean the only Takoyaki around? Nyo-ho-ho-ho!" "That too. Ah, could you get your grandson to deliver it to my apartment? I have to do some chores that I've been putting off for a bit." She gave him a pleasant little smile and a curt bow of her head, fingers deftly pressing the wad of bills into his hand before she started to waddle off. "You know he's going to want a tip Suzu-chan!"

"I'm aware! It'll be the usual!" Before she vanished around the corner, dipped into an alleyway and reappeared on an entirely different side-street. "Home sweet home." She muttered to herself as she ducked through the threshold, strode up the stairs with a hop in her step and in a fluid motion retrieved a key from her pocket, not the bag, and jammed it into the lock with a satisfying click and pushed the door open.

"Welcome to my humble home. I have some left over takeout in my fridge you can consume with reckless abandon." Before pointing at the fairly sizable refrigerator that shared the far corner of her apartment with a stove.