Work Text:
It didn't take long for Neal to discover that everything in life was free, and that price tags could be safely ignored. Getting things only required some effort. A wallet swiped from somebody's pocket required good timing and nimble fingers. Breaking into the Met to swipe a Rembrandt, on the other hand, required weeks of careful planning and surveillance.
It would take him a lot longer to learn that the things that really mattered had always been free. Love, friendship and trust were there for the taking. But they required a lot more effort than anything else he'd previously attempted.