Seated all too comfortably on the ground with his long legs splayed out before him, Jewel leaned back against the dampened wall of a building. People passed him by on their way down the crowded street, tripping now and then over his boots. Every time they did, his head lowered just so, and he played his best attempt at being asleep.

Didn't do much good when he was holding a guitar. Did even less when his fingers didn't freeze in their playing, but the choice to believe his weak attempt was up to them.

Most people didn't care to exert much more than the effort it took to send a glare. He didn't look rich enough to rob, dressed like he was in old work clothes, and he didn't look defenseless enough to kick without earning a kick in return.

Jewel watched the crowd pass by lazily. Played the makings of a song he'd heard on one of the ships he'd taken to get here, or at least the remnants of the melody he'd parsed from their singing. Something European, he guessed, and didn't bother to figure out if it'd been anything more specific than that. It all sounded the same to him anyway.