A Little Rain Doesn't Keep The Thieves Away [Amora Jade]

[Therizo Tafos]

20th day of Winter 513 Syna was but a few hours away from her exit behind the restless ocean in the west, as Therizo walked from the graveyard towards the old apartment in the Sunset Quarters. His father was waiting for him there, he knew; a mind full of ghastly scenarios concocted by the minute to explain his son’s delay. He was not paranoid in those fears, Therizo had to admit; the Akalak from their second day in Sunberth had made that abundantly clear when he threatened his life for little more than the mark on his hand. It is good perhaps that he worries; that way, he has at least the relief of my return to look forward to all day. The appearance of the first decrepit building upon entering the city’s outskirts startled him. Its crumbling plaster and windows blocked by wooden planks appeared foreboding for reasons he could not quite explain. Something about not knowing what hid behind the walls of the long forgotten houses made his heart beat faster. He sped up his going. It was hard to make a step without stumbling into one of the puddles that the rain had left behind, after having poured for the better part of the day. The water splashed up his legs, as he hurried down the street. At least it isn’t cold enough for snow, he thought as he glanced up at the gray - Yet. The first flake was sure to fall sometime in the following days, but he preferred not to think about it. The apartment was chill enough at night as it was, and he was not looking forward to spending his money on lumber just to keep from freezing. He held his cane under his arm and probed at the left pocket of his coat to make sure that the mizas he had put there in the morning had not disappeared. The clank they made as he twitched his fingers to verify their presence made him look around nervously. He cursed under his breath, deciding not to count them for fear of attracting one of the many thieves he imagined crept around Sunberth at any given moment of the day. * A drop of rain fell onto the back of his hand. Another chilled his cheek as he glanced at the sky. Then another. Soon they came too fast to count, settling on his hair and soaking the fabric of his worn black coat. “Damn it!” he murmured, looking around for something that would serve as a shelter until the worst of the shower was over. He spotted a house whose roof extended far enough to keep the ground under it dry. Though he did not like the idea of loitering around for longer than he had to, he disliked the notion of getting sick in a place such as Sunberth even less. Raising the coat over his head, he ran towards the house, leaning on it with one shoulder.

[Amora Jade]

One cure for a freezing winter day was the nice relaxation of a hot spring, and that's exactly where Amora found herself. The steam filled the entire room and was so thick it was hard for her to see three yards in front of her. She sank herself deep into the heat and let all her stress and worries wash over her. Being able to find time for this sort of relaxation was a difficult thing to do at times, but was definitely worth it. The only thing that could make it better - ale. Amora reached her arm above her head and found the cold mug sitting on the edge of the tub behind her. She brought the wonderful liquid to her mouth and let it heat inside her body while the water did it's job heating the outside. "Mmm..." The ale flowed down her throat like water, sending a pulse of light intoxication through her brain. It was a wonderfully familiar feeling that she escaped to often in this beautifully brutal city. -- Several bells had passed before the public hot springs began to see a few more faces than just her own; there was no way she was going to stick around and risk being vandalized. Amora lifted herself from the tub and quickly found her towel and clothes, then let down her hair from the knot she kept it in to shield it from the water. The wonderful warmth was shocked clean from the girl's body as she opened the door to exit the establishment. It knocked the breath out of her and froze her mid-stride for only a moment. "Damn winter..." Amora cursed under her breath as the slipped her wool hood on her head and tightened her coat around her to keep the air from freezing her. She took long strides and kept her head down as she made her way down the streets, she wouldn't have even noticed anyone else was out and about hadn't she heard the wonderful chime of coins making contact with each other. Almost unconsciously, Amora followed the sound. Once she caught the guy in her sights she began to stealthily tail him until she thought it'd be safe to try and steal from him. It was almost a routine for her now that she was becoming more and more used to by each season that passed. Suddenly rain began to pour down into the city, forcing her victim to run for cover on the roof of a nearby building. "So much for easy coin.. gotta work for this one." Amora decided that the only way she was going to be able to inconspicuously slip her hand into his pocket would be to instigate a conversation first. There was no way that she could be the only other one on the street and he not notice his pockets were being filtered through. Amora quickly ran to the same place he did and plastered a big, fake smile on her face and coupled it with a laugh, "Rain come outta no where di'n it?" She took the wool hood off her head and squeezed the water out of it. Note-5 SM public bath, -4CM mug of ale. OOCSorry if it's a bit bleak, there are two kids and a newborn here and my head isn't working like I'd like it to.

[Therizo Tafos]

OOCI assumed that Amora will be the one to push the conversation to suit her ends. I'll write more dialog from her on out though. The rain fell heavy and thick, its drops bursting in to a thousand smaller ones as they collided with the street like so many tears of mourners who brought their dead loved ones to The Dust Bed. Therizo though it strange that he would think of them as such, since crying had never been what he associated with death. Perhaps the surroundings were beginning to rub off on him. Every passing day it became more apparent that the hard people of Sunberth where as different from the ones he knew in Blackrock as the cities themselves were. Such a dismal place, such indurant people and yet still they cry when Dira comes for them or theirs. "Rain come outta no where di'n it?" the laugh came suddenly to bring him from his contemplation, and the woman who produced it bore a friendly smile. He had not noticed her approach, though he was relieved that it was not some bulging brute come to take off his head for one petty reason or another. Once she took off her hood and occupied herself with squeezing the rain out, he got a better look at her. She seemed of an age with him, something he was not used to seeing working at the graves; at least not without a broken skull or a dislocated jaw. He returned her smile, though he kept it reserved; he didn’t know the girl after all, and did not mean to trust her right away. Nothing in this city is to be trusted on pleasantries. he though, Admittedly, it does rarely come to that. Most likely, she’s just another one caught off guard by the rain. He looked around at other houses; most roofs had enough space beneath them to hide from the downpour, and she could have chosen any of them. Or this one. He decided not to think too much of it. He was getting too paranoid these days, and it would perhaps do some good to converse freely every once in a while, without assuming negative intent on the part of his interlocutor. “Quite, yes,” he answered somewhat absently. “Though it has been raining for most of the day, so I guess it was to be expected.” He looked away. The rain had not abated one bit; in fact, it seemed to have only gotten worse - with sounds like someone splashing a whole bucket of water onto the roof, coming from above. Therizo passed his cane impatiently from one hand into the other and spun it halfway around, once or twice between his fingers.

[Amora Jade]

The enchanting sound of the coins clinking together still rang in her mind as she tried to fool the man. It was a long shot, but she thought she could put on the fake act she used to when she was a child while selling things for her mother. Amora would change everything about herself when trying to fool someone: her smile, her voice, her grammar.. something about the lack of intelligence mixed with a friendly smile seemed to always do the trick. It never made any since to even the thief herself how her mother knew such good grammar without having much education, maybe it had something to do with the large amount of people she had to come in contact with. Regardless of how exactly her mother knew how to speak properly, she was able to teach Amora to do the same. For a moment she thought her cover was blown when he mentioned it had been raining all day. "Damn it! How could I forget something like that?" Quickly she played it off, "Yeah I guess I figured once it done stopped itself it were gonna stay stopped for good." She kept her smile wide as she looked at her target, silently assessing him to see how he moved. If she could watch him closely enough she could find the perfect chance to grab her treasure. Amora knew she'd have to come up with something quick to ease the awkwardness of the moment. She leaned up against the wooden building and watched the rain hit the street. The sound was relaxing, she almost wished she hadn't left the apartment at all that day so that she could have slept to the lullaby of the rain. She cocked her head and looked back and the man, "My name's Jade."

[Therizo Tafos]

Therizo looked back at the woman as she shared her thoughts on rain, and her assumption about its stoppings and goings. He nodded and gave a smile, such as one would give a child in acknowledgment of some piece of youthful wisdom it had just uttered, and for which it was expecting affirmation. The way she spoke, as if paying no mind to rules set by convention, combined with the relentless smile she bore made any suspicions he might have had before subside. He concluded that the girl was utterly harmless, as well as a bit daft - ignorant perhaps of anything that might dampen her mood. He thought as well of the possibility that she was a beggar, and her life depended on the ability to appear amiable enough for people to feel guilty, should they fail to offer her some pittance. Therizo cringed at the thought. The money he had was money he needed, and he could not afford to give it away. If she asked, perhaps he could tell her that he has nothing on him at the moment; that was something beggars had to hear all the time, he imagined. He reached at his left pocked reflexively, but stopped himself before his fingers could disturb the coins inside enough to reveal their existence with a clank. He moved his hand away slowly, back to hanging at the side of his body, hoping that his gesture hadn't been noticed and correctly interpreted, and looked away once again to see if the rain was close to stopping. It showed no such signs. "My name's Jade." The girl wanted to talk it seemed. Perhaps it was rare for her to find somebody to speak with, who wasn't rushing to attend to more urgent business, or brushing her to the side, and was seizing her opportunity now, while the downpour kept them both under the roof. He felt sorry for this imagined beggar girl come to talk to him out of the loneliness that she had accumulated on the streets, along with whatever meager coin people gave, and so figured he'd indulge her with a conversation about the mundane topics that likely interested her. "You can call me Therizo, Jade. Nice to make you acquaintance." He extended her his hand, and coupled it with a smile that betrayed some condescension on his part, though it was not, and would likely not appear ill-meaning. "What brings you here then?" OOCWe could say that, at the end of this thread, Therizo is going to end up... --- ... Jaded.

[Amora Jade]

The rain was steadily escalating and making it more difficult to hear her victim. To be able to lure him somewhere he could easily let his guard down would require that he actually be able to hear her. For Amora, this would be the most difficult pick-pocket yet. Out of the corner of the thief's eyes she could see his arm move slightly, slowly. It was as if he was trying to hide what ever movement he had just performed. The girl quickly put her guard up in fear that he was checking a weapon under his coat. "Has he figured me out?" Amora had to try hard to control her facial expressions as she tried to seem completely calm. It had been a long while since she had to act like someone she wasn't to retrieve coin, and she was a bit rusty. "One sudden movement and my dagger will be in his stomach." Amora felt from the outside of her coat the dagger that was strapped to her leg underneath, just to be sure she hadn't accidentally placed it in her backpack. Amora flinched a bit when Therizo extended his hand towards her, thinking he was about to grab her. So that he didn't suspect anything of it, she tried her best to cover the flinch with a shiver and then accepted his hand shake. "I was jus' headed on my way back home. Tha' rain is what had me stopped. I figured dat' since you was over here I outta join you. Keep ya some company since we bound to be here awhile." She smiled and shrugged a bit, looking at the building they took shelter near. It looked really easy to break into, and it didn't seem like anyone was inside. "Maybe if I can get him to look away for a couple seconds I can get it open..." The thief looked back at the man to keep the conversation going, "You?" Amora nonchalantly shifted herself to where her back was in front of the door, then she dropped her backpack from her shoulders to her hands. If he were to seem suspicious of it she'd find a way to play it off. OOCHa! I like that

[Therizo Tafos]

Though she followed it up with a shiver, Therizo noticed the way she flinched at his polite gesture. It seemed unlikely that the cold would spur her to shivering at the exact same moment that he extended his hand. Was she afraid of him? Did she imagine that he meant to harm her? Yet there was no reason for such a fear; after all, his manner towards her had been nothing but courteous in his endeavors to yield to her quaint sociability. "Back home". Even with them being what they were in Sunberth, Therizo did not imagine that this girl had much of a home to return to. He knew that some unfortunates for whom even the apartments of the Sunset Quarters were a luxury lived in tents close to the Slag heap, though he had never, and did not intend to visit that part of the city any time soon. He looked her over once again. Her clothes were not the torn rags of a beggar, he noticed; most of all not of one soliciting a livelihood in a city where strangers were more likely to extend their hand in taking than in giving. It was possible, he supposed, that someone could have gifted her the wool she wore out of concern for what would happen to the poor girl when winter struck. If not, was there indeed a job out there for one such as her? "Perhaps..." Therizo blushed; the thought gave a new perspective on the words "keeping him company" that she had used to explain her choice of shelter. He decided not to inquire about the matter, as he could not give her any money regardless of what exactly it was that she was. "You?" He blinked at the question, having forgotten for a moment what it was that it pertained to. "Euh, I was on my way home as well," he stumbled, regripping the cane in his left hand, "From the graveyard." Jade dropped the backpack that she had been carrying. "I work there," he added after a pause, turning and pointing pointlessly in the direction of The Dust Bed, the location of which the woman probably knew. Despite that, he wiggled his index finger a few more times towards the cemetery. "Uhm, the rain is horrible isn't it?" he added to snap himself out of the befuddlement that his incessant conjectures had landed him in, the composure that he bore before slowly returning to his face.

[Amora Jade]

The boy seemed to be in his own head as he spoke again. Amora assumed he was probably trying to think of a reason to just run home in the rain to get away from her. That would mean she would lose her coin for the evening. The thought of the time she spent trying to keep him here being wasted annoyed her beyond belief. "I have to get this door open. Maybe if we can get inside..." As soon as the man looked away to motion in the direction of the Dust Bed, where he apparently was employed, she flipped open her backpack she still held behind her and reached her hand inside, feeling around for only a moment to grab a lock-pick and the tension wrench. She fumbled with them in one hand and tried to slide the pick into the lock of the door, but without her other hand free it was of no use. Quickly she slid the tools into her coat sleeve when he returned his gaze. All she needed was for him to not be looking directly at her, then she could use both hands to pick the lock with her back against it. "..the rain is horrible isn't it?" It was obvious the boy was trying to make the situation a little less awkward, and in a passive way it worked. Amora was trying her best to keep him occupied so that she could 'earn' her coin. It was odd for her to actually try so hard for anything at all, but the investment of time and acting made her not want to waste the opportunity. The rain hit the ground like rocks, it almost looked like it would be painful to be standing under. Amora dropped her bag onto the ground beside her, noticing she had some fruit inside it. Maybe that would serve as a good enough distraction. "Yeah it sure is. I'm so glad I'm not standin' under it right now." She motioned towards her bag and smiled again, "Say, you are hungry ain't ya? You just got off'a work and all..." She reached down and grabbed two apples, extending her hand to him to take one, "..this rain stopped ya from gettin' home to eat."

[Therizo Tafos]

The splashes of rain carried by the wind to crash into the roof above, came in ever shorter intervals, and it seemed that Makutsi had yet an infinity of droplets stored in her reserves, waiting to be sent into the winds of Zulrav at her whim. Therizo could hardly hear a thing other than the weather, and so missed the sound that Jade caused with her rummaging while his head was turned; thusly ignorant of her machinations against him, he suspected nothing as she motioned toward the bag she had been carrying when she first approached. He could not see what was inside, but extrapolated from her words that it was some kind of food. She was not a beggar evidently, else she would not be so willing to share her ephemeral food as carelessly with a passing stranger - least of all in the looming days of early winter. Not that it mattered now, as it was quite clear that it was not the intent of soliciting valuables from him, but merely a combination of chance and sociability that brought her under the same roof as him to shelter against the rain. He reached for the apple that she extended towards him, "Thank you; now that you mention it I haven't eaten in a while." The fruit looked somewhat worn, having been stuffed into the bag to bump against the one Jade had taken for herself. Therizo lifted it up towards his mouth, but stopped a moment before it's alluring red skin could touch his teeth. He furrowed his brow a moment, waiting for the girl to take a bite before he would feel it safe to do the same himself. The taste was sweet and ripe - or at least it seem so to Therizo who had not had the chance to savor a single fruit or sweet thing in his time in Sunberth. It was sad to think that such a simple thing had turned from a mundanity to a luxury as the scenery around him turned from marble to wood and crumbling rock - a luxury that this woman, who he had assumed a beggar girl was now providing him with. He smiled at the irony of the situation, before proceeding to silently eat the apple, savoring every bite in silent nostalgia, sometimes looking at the rain to see if it was letting up. As he finished the last bite, he dropped what little remained onto the ground, and looked at the woman that give it to him. "Thank you," he smiled; then, pondering once again, added, "You haven't poisoned it have you?" The question was intended half in jest and half in order to inspect her reaction. The query would have been bizarre enough, he hopped, if groundless, and shocking enough if not, to make it clear by the expression on the woman's face whether he should act against her or not. The thought that she could have handed him the compromised apple and eaten the other one to trick him seemed pretty far fetched, given her demeanor and the fact that what he had on him probably wouldn't have been worth the poison used to acquire it. Still, the possibility was there, and he regretted that he had only thought of it after it would likely be too late to do much more than retaliate.

[Amora Jade]

A flood of relief washed over her as the boy accepted the fruit. She hadn't even thought about the fact that it was unusual and suspicious for a stranger to offer someone food- especially in a city like Sunberth. Amora noticed a slight hesitation as the boy lifted the apple to his mouth. Quickly, she took a big bite of her own to reassure it hadn't been tapered with.Though the thought that poisoning him would have made the situation much easier occurred to her. She could just wait until he passed out and then rob him of everything he had on his person. Amora moved quickly as Therizo's attention was turned to the fruit and the rain, she slid the tools from her sleeve and backed against the door once more. She held the apple between her teeth and used both hands to handle the equipment. First the tension wrench- the thief placed the head of it into the bottom of the lock. Second the pick, Amora placed it into the lock with her other hand above the wrench, then began to move it around rhythmically. The girl worked as quickly as she could; the feel of the click sound the first pin inside the lock made as it moved into the 'unlocked' position came much sooner than she expected. The second and third pins moved only a couple ticks later, that's when she realized the lock was worn. "This had been picked quite a bit..." The boy finished the food and was beginning to turn his attention back to Amora. Frantically she pulled her tools from the lock and slipped them back into her sleeve, then removed the apple from her mouth- taking a big bite in the process. "You haven't poisoned it have you?" A laugh burst out of the girl before she had the opportunity to control it. The thought she had earlier tickled her mind when he mentioned poisoning. "Nah I didn't go and poison ya! Not everyone in Sunberth is bad ya know?" It was true, not everyone in the city was bad, but she wasn't one of the few. Amora continued laughing and used the light mood to hide her planned actions as she leaned against the door she had just unlocked. The knob was too worn to keep the door shut without being locked so with the pressure from her body pushing against it, the door swung right open. The girl stumbled to keep her footing due to the door coming open must more quickly than she originally anticipated. Once she had her balance again Amora looked into the entrance of the dark building, then looked back at Therizo. "Well would ya look at that? The door wasn't even locked. Must not belong to nobody..." The thief looked out at the rain before returning her gaze to her target, "I s'pose it wouldn't hurt nothin' if we went inside. We sure to catch a cold if we stay out here. We can leave as soon as the rain stops." Amora gave the boy a reassuring smile before stepping inside the entrance. She examined the area and noticed how empty it was. A bit of light from the lanterns that burned outside flooded through the cracks between the wooden planks that blocked the two windows on either side of the building. It was able to illuminate the inside just enough to see how little there was. Just an old wooden table and three chairs placed directly in the center, then a hearth on the back wall. "Probably some building used for interrogation..." The thought spooked her, but she didn't let it show. Instead she just simply made her way towards the hearth.