Free Advertising! (Canali)

[Essik]

30th Day, Summer, AV 511

Pale blue eyes looked out over the rooftops of Sunberth, watching the hues of the sky changing from their vibrant oranges slowly down to the bring pinks as the sun sank further under the horizon. The time would soon be perfect for enacting the first stage of his plan, but he had to be patient for a little while longer, waiting for the perfect time where it was bright enough to see what he was doing, but dark enough to give him good cover from being spotted while he worked. Even in Sunberth, people would get upset with what he was about to do, especially the people who owned the building that he was going to be working on. So he had to wait a little bit longer. But still, that left time to check things again. He wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong. The last thing he needs was to be suspended umpteen feet over the street below and have his rope give way, casting him down to the cobblestones very unceremoniously.

Essik moved over to the anchor that he had fastened his rope to, checking the knots over again to make sure that they would support him while he dangled over the side of building. He looked over the bucket that he had and the contents inside. It would take careful work to shimmy down the rope and perform his act without spilling the contents to the street below, wasting the money he had spent on them. He sighed and nodded slightly to himself. He’d pulled off trickier feats before. This would be one more.

As Essik looked up once more, he smiled. The sun was at the perfect time. The streets were quiet now. Not many people liked to venture out of their homes at night, at least not the ones who couldn’t defend themselves from a cheap shot from the shadows. So he knew there would be little chance of getting caught, so long as he didn’t hang around too long. So, he quickly tied off the bucket to his belt letting it hang down a little before he threaded the long anchored rope through his belt. He walked over to the side of the building, slowly starting to walk his way down the side, using his belt as a pulley to create the proper leverage without using too much effort to keep himself suspended.

Carefully his hands worked the rope as he made his way down the masonry of the building, stopping at roughly the half way point. He wrapped the rope around his left arm and hand, keeping it tight so he didn’t slip before he reached down to the brush that sat inside the bucket, lifting it’s paint laden bristles free of the thick liquid before he started to make large brush strokes along the side of the building. He knew this wouldn’t quite be a quick job, but he was sure that no one would pay any mind, so long as the owner of the building or his thugs didn’t happen down this way.

This was only the first building of many that he was going to hit, though. Free advertising was free advertising. And he was going to need as much as possible to get the circus up and running like he wanted to. So…. It was down to guerilla marketing.

Essik continued to paint as the light continued to fade, taking time to readjust the rope on his arms to keep himself from getting to tired as he hung there. The paint from the brush dripped down to the street below in small drops whenever he lifted it free of the bucket. But he wanted to work quickly, so that was the least of his worries at the moment. So long as his slogan was completed with a margin of artistic talent to it. He didn’t want the whole thing to look cheap and crappy. That would set a bad image for his efforts. He wanted it to look half-way decent when he was done with it. But that meant keeping track of the paint on the wall and the bucket itself, not in between.

Quickly he made his way along the wall, walking back and forth along the bricks to plaster his message across the hard canvas. He made sure to keep his feet out of the wet paint. There would be no use in putting paint footprints across the wall as he worked. He didn’t want to have to come up with a creative way to cover them up. Before too long though, even with his careful path, he had the whole thing painted across the wall. The message he painted covered the wall in large bulging text.

“The Circus Still Lives!”

It wasn’t anything too incredible. Just enough to start sparking interest in the whole thing. Evenetually, as the nights continued, he’d keep putting up more across the city, maybe even hiring some real artists to do some good work for him for a price. But that would come later. For now, Essik hung there for a moment, looking back and forth to take the whole message in as it stretched from side to side across him. A small, satisfied smile crept across his features as he started to work his way back up to the top of the roof once more.

What he hadn’t realized was the fact that the knot holding the bucket to his belt had loosened through his work and as he started his ascent up the wall, the whole thing came loose. Essik looked down ot he street below as the bucket tumbled downward before impacting on the cobblestones, spraying paint and parts of broken wood across the street below him. Essik growled to himself, looking around for a moment to see if anyone would care enough to investigate.

[Canali]

Today had been a good day. Sure, not the best and definitely could have been better, but it was a good day on Canali's part.

She had managed to avoid being mugged or robed, an amazing feat on her accident prone behalf. Having wandered off to view the slave market earlier, Canali had needed a disguise. Tying back her hair, dirtying her face, keeping a hood up, and sliding on the barely any bigger pants she had taken from a thief had done the trick. This had given her the ability to slide between people at the market, from tent to tent. What she had seen saddened her. Malnourished souls with haunting eyes ranging from child to adult. No elderly. Most likely killed off at the earlier chance. A senior could do none of the hard work a master would want. People were haggling and bidding over the prime stock. Glad she had left Katahr at home, Canali slid into the crowds.

A young, almost toddler, child had been particularly skinny. Her "pen" had been situated near the back, because she was of the less wanted stock. Having trusted her dark outfit to hide her, Canali snuck back there; cautious and wary of alerting a vendor of this. At first the child refused to glance towards her or even acknowledge her. Almost on the verge of giving up, Canali had slipped an apple into the holding pen. Even though the child had paid her no mind, she casually scooped up the apple, crunching into the juicy goodness. A dribble of juice had trekked down the slave's chin, but was not swiped off with the dirty hand. Eyes twinkling at the look of pure ecstasy on the child's face, Canali figured the slave had not eaten such a fresh food in quite a while. Nor one so pure. However, their time was cut short when a nearby slave warned them of the vendor's arrival.

Having tucked tail and skedaddled, when Canali looked back the malnourished child had hidden the apple. Ignorant of this fact, the vendor paid her no heed. Turning on her heel, Canali sidled off; disappearing into the crowd between customers.

No, the day had not been the best but Canali had made one person slightly happier even though they were in such a bad situation. As she strutted home in a quick pace, Canali was aware of the growing shadows and the lack of people. Not the best circumstances to be under, but could not be helped. Keeping her hood up and head down, Canali stuck to the shadows; near to the wall and away from alleys. Being stabbed in the back, literally, was not her idea of fun. Neither was staying out after dark in Sunberth. The last time; she was almost raped. Pushing the scarring memory to the back of her mind, Canali kept her eyes peeled as much as she could. Garbage littered the ground, animals dug through trash, and houses were shut up tight.

Then the sky fell.

Crashing against the ground and splattering in many directions, the object clanged and echoed down the empty street. Jumping back father into the shadows, Canali was aware of a several wet spots speckling her face. More than likely her cloak as well. In the milky light, she touched one finger to her cheek and came away with the liquid. Colored liquid. Paint. What would paint be doing hitting the street like it did? Curious, but more than a little scared, Canali made a casual move to glance upwards, barely moving her cloak's hood. Alerting the person to her presence was not a good idea on her part. Spotting the man dangling above the street, a frown marred Canali's pale face. What was he doing? In this light, she couldn't see the words he had drawn.

Backtracking to the closest alley, which was very close indeed, Canali spotted what she was looking for. An old, rickety fire escape. Little more than a single ladder up, starting at about three feet off the ground. Eyeing it, she wondered if she truly wanted to know who this person was. No, but curiosity still overtook her and Canali jumped upwards; clinging to the softly creaking fire escape. Hoping it wouldn't fall apart with her on it Canali pulled herself, hand over hand, upwards until her feet hit the bottom rung. Then she climbed, testing each step before actually putting her weight on it. More than one gave out, but fairly soon she had reached the top of the building. Spotting what the dangling man had left behind, Canali made her way over to it; plopping down on her stomach to inch closer. Nowhere near enough to give him a way to pull her over. Peeking over, Canali stared at the man, hoping she hadn't startled him too bad.


"You spilled paint on me."

[Essik]

Essik watched the ground carefully as he hung there, motionless along the wall. His eyes darted around carefully, picking their places to search so that his peripheral vision had a high probability of catching anyone moving around as he searched. Unfortunately, his eyes were focused in the wrong direction as the dark shadow slipped into the alleyway beside the building.

Essik set about pulling himself up. He had a bit to climb back up and climbing up was always slower than going down when using a rope to climb a sheer wall. So he started moving his way up, step by step, synching the rope through his belt as he worked back up toward the roof. After a moment, a soft sound clattered through the streets for a second, a faint sound from a closer source than the distant din emanating from deeper in the city. His eyes looked about once more as he held himself still, watching and listening carefully. It sounded like soft brittle wood breaking and clattering across the stones. Essik’s eyes narrowed for a second before he continued on his way up, trying to hurry his pace as much as possible.

The faint hiss of his boots scraping along the masonry of the wall had apparently covered the sound of the other rungs breaking because he never noticed them as he closed the distance to the lip of the roof. He took a second to look back down, surveying the area one last time before he finished the trek upward. It seemed that he had been blessed so far. Not a person had wandered through these parts yet. Or at least he hadn’t seen anyone and no one had pointed him out.

So, the sound of a voice issuing from the roof above him brought a quick reaction from him. His left hand tightened around the rope, holding him secure in place once again as his right hand pushed forward. It was a reflexive action that started before he had even turned his head to look up. As his eyes swung upwards from the street below, he quickly pulled his fingers back from the trigger for the needle launcher on his right bracer, instead, bringing his right arm around to hold onto the rope, hoping that she didn’t catch the slight change in motion from the act of moving to poison whoever had intruded upon him to the act of steadying the rope that held him in place.

Carefully he looked up through the darkness, picking out the features of the woman who peered over the edge of the building. The ambient light from the city, and the pale dim light of the moon highlighted only a fraction of her face. But he knew that she was a woman, and she wasn’t presenting a threat yet, at least that he could see. For all he knew she had a dagger poised over the exposed end of his rope, ready to cut it and send him falling to the ground like his bucket had. But, Essik smiled after a moment, letting his smooth, low voice issue in low tones as not to be heard too far away,” You’ll have to forgive my mistake. I was simply finishing up painting the walls of the building here. The bucket got away from me in the dim light. I’m terribly sorry that some of the spray landed on you, Miss…?” he trailed the off at the end of the Miss, asking her subtly for her name.

[Canali]

Giving the man a dubious look, Canali gave a mocking chuckle. "Painting the side of a building? At dark? In Sunberth. Makes perfect sense." Her melodic voice echoed in the darkness, even though she was speaking softly. An undercurrent of laughter trickled through, lacing her words. Even with the soft lighting flickering against her high cheekbone, the top of Canali's cloak hid anything from the mouth up. As she watched the man propelling against the building, Canali was reassured that he was doing something wrong. His sweet talking words threatened to persuade her otherwise, but Canali wasn't stupid. Sunberth wouldn't waste the money to re-paint a building, much less in the dark when the criminals came out to play in the streets.

Curiosity made her linger over the edge, though, in hopes of spotting what he had written or drawn. Though it was clear he had been on the defense, ready to attack her if necessary, Canali couldn't figure out what weapon he had. Not a dagger, because he wasn't holding it like most would. Tilting her head to one side in puzzlement, the cloak hood followed suit, laying against her pale cheek. Several flecks of yellow were sprawled out on her skin, seeming more like freckles than actual paint. Somewhere, far below, a trash can tipped, echoing through the silence. Aware of his easily spotted position, Canali scooted backwards into a sitting position. "You should probably get up, then, if you're out of paint." Somehow she doubted he was completely out.

Taking the time of him scaling the wall, Canali looked above to the sky. Billions upon billions of stars winked back at her, though several clouds marred the beautiful view. How could so many twinkling objects exist up there? What held them? Had a god stitched them to the lining of the sky, throwing it like a blanket over Mizahar when the sun went to sleep? Were they summoned by a great mage each day, his only job consisting of flinging them into the sky above where they hovered until morning? Would the mage retrieve them at sunlight, using a giant ladder?

Brought back to the present by the man crawling over the edge, Canali stared hard at him. A lean body, shaggy, black hair, and dirty clothes. The painter looked to be only a couple inches taller than her, perhaps not even that much. He seemed no better than most in the city hygiene wise. Judging him as the type of person who believed he could smooth talk his way out of anything, Canali made a vow to be cautious of whatever he told her; to suspect him of lying or twisting his words. Totally distracted by a flicker of a shiny object, Canali narrowed her eyes at him. Had the shiny come from him? Running her eyes quickly over him, Canali found the object of her interest. An earring. A loop decoration hanging from his ear. Staring at it, Canali was barely aware of him actually coming to a stop. Most likely not the best idea of letting her guard down; this man could kill her.

Popping back to the present, Canali spoke a single sentence even as she pushed the hood of her cloak off of her head, allowing the dim light to flicker off of her unmarred face. She kept her long hair tied back, though. Using the sleeve of her cloak, Canali wiped the smeared dirt off of her face, relishing in the feel of fresh air hitting her face. "I'm Canali. Just Canali. And you are…?"

[Essik]

Well, she hadn’t bought the lie… that was for sure. He could almost hear the mocking laughter in her voice as she asked her questions about the ‘reason’ why he had been on the wall. But even the phantom laughter, that he wasn’t really sure was there or not, was a very pleasant sound, seeming to set him at ease as he dangled there. But still, he hadn’t really expected her to. His hopes hadn’t won out over his expectations. So, that was one strike. But it didn’t seem to faze her that much. So that was at least a little bonus. But still, Essik waited for her next move. He still didn’t know what to make over her as she waited there, blocking his ascent to the roof. His anxiety about the situation was growing with each second. Was she some thug, wanting to try and rob him while he was helpless? Was she an assassin from the town, come after him for some reason? He had no answers right now and it was fraying at his nerves as he hung there, nearly helpless. The only thing he had to his advantage at the moment was that his might be able to get one of his spring blades into the mortar of the building to stop his descent should she cut his ropes.

Then, the sound of a can knocking over in the alley jerked his attention back downward. The sound cascaded down the quiet streets in a wave. Essiks eyes darted about once more, working to pick up any other movement. He didn’t even look back up as the woman spoke once more, ushering him to the top of the building again before she moved back out of sight for the moment. Essik sighed heavily for a second before he returned to his climb upward. As he crested the lip of the roof, he saw her sitting there, looking to the sky for a moment before she returned her gaze back to him. Essik was glad that he hadn’t worn his usual work clothes for this, just a set of regular clothes he had grabbed from his mentor’s manor. But still, he wore his bracers and his boots. He rarely went anywhere without them. The bracers were tucked carefully under the sleeve of the thin shirt that he wore, keeping them, for the most part, out of sight.

As he slide over the side of the building back to kneel on the roof itself, he quickly set about pulling the rope back to the top, coiling it up next to him for easy carrying. He was aware that she was starting at him for the moment from under the shadow of her hood. He was slightly unnerved by the fact that she could see his face, and not hers. But it happened from time to time. So he set himself to gathering his supplies back up about him and making ready for the trek back to his place. He use the rooftops as much as he could to travel back, so he wasn’t too worried about anyone seeing him that way. The wall had been the only part of his mission where he would be exposed for too long. And it seemed that nothing had happened besides getting the attention of this woman. But still, he made sure to keep tabs on what she was doing. No need to let her creep up behind him and put a dagger in his side.

He turned to look to her once more as she spoke her name in a slightly delayed response to his question. He smiled again looking over her face now that she had removed the hood for the moment. She was definitely very attractive. Her dark hair seemed to shimmer a bit in the dim light of the city, giving it almost a deep brown tint to what was surely black hair. There were no scars to mar her features, but what seemed to be almost a haunted look from her storm grey eyes. Essik was glad to have the light to his back, for the most part, highlighting her features more so that he could get a good look at her. He was glad to be able to put a face to the voice, and then a name to all of that, even if he couldn’t be sure if it was her real name or not. “It’s nice to meet you Canali. I’m Essik.” He bowed his head to her before moving away from the edge, taking all of his things with him,” I am sorry to have gotten paint on you in my clumsiness. Surely a few Mizah would help to put things at ease? To pay for new clothes. I don’t think that paint will wash out very well.” His motions were hurried as he went to putting the rope across his body, draping it over his shoulder and under his right arm. He picked up the other jar of paint that rest next to where the rope had been anchored and looked to her before digging into his pocket and pulling out a few coins to hand to her,” But I really must be going. It is late, after all. I need to get back home before the more… unsavory people take up residence in the streets.” He chuckled. He was stilling to the persona of a simple painter, one way or another. He’d started off that way and would stick to it until the time came where he might need to defend her or himself.

[Canali]

"Essik." The name rolled off of Canali's tongue, twisting it like a foreign language and creating an almost "Ay-sick" sound. Repeating it one more time just to get the hang of it, Canali tilted her head sideways at him, grey eyes watching his movements with curiosity. "Where did you get your name? It's so… Unique; exotic." Perhaps his mother had given him the name upon his birth? Though she had known many whose names originated from a socially adopted family, or someone who had rescued them. Though Canali's mother had named her after a long lost friend who committed suicide, perhaps Essik's father had named him? Then again, Essik could have renamed himself. In the city of Sunberth, one might change their name to avoid an assassin or to start over in a new name; a new life.

The man seemed to be trying to escape with slick words lathered in persuasion. Watching quietly as he gathered his equipment, Canali found the almost melodic words soothing and entrancing. The soft tone of his voice made her want to hum along or make him sing. He would be good with young children. Snapping back to the present, Canali's eyes twinkled when he offered the mizas. Of course, to buy her clothing. A woman could always use more clothing. Long lashes hid grey eyes as she glanced at the money. It was too dark to tell how much was there, but it was still money. Accepting the mizas without comment, Canali tucked them into a pocket beneath the large cloak's hidden folds. Wiping off a tad bit more grime from her face, Canali almost sighed in relief. It felt so much better to not have the dirt and grime covering her skin like before.

"You're lying." So blunt and to the point, the words came out sharper than intended. Eyeing the can of paint in his skinny hand, Canali raised one eyebrow back at him. "If you did not intend to stay out, you would have brought one jar of paint. Not two." A light pause as another creature of the night passed below. Lowering her voice slightly, Canali continued, "Don't try and tell me you had to have multiple colors, either. They're the same color, and the second is unopened." Verbally, she backed him into a corner; Mentally, she grinned and physically Canali hadn't left the spot she had been standing in. At his note of the more dangerous criminals in the streets who came out to play at night, Canali was glad the dark cloak hid her movements of running her fingers over the dagger, which had been strapped to her thigh.

Only an idiot would go out into the city of Sunberth without a weapon to protect themselves.

Pushing a stray strand of hair away from her face and behind her ear, Canali would have smiled a feral smile had she not been worried about the man pulling some sort of stunt. "You're not going home, are you?" Without waiting for a response, Canali continued bulldozing her way with blunt statements. "No, you're not. My reasons before stand the same here. I have nothing better to do and if I leave now, I'm more than likely to get robbed, molested or worse. You wouldn't want to do that to an innocent individual, now would you? Some mighty men might be a tad bit ticked and have to seek revenge." Most people in Sunberth wouldn't think twice of saying yes, even if they did feel a bit of guilt. "Now pay me fifteen gold mizas to head off into the dark and never speak a word of this." A light glint of the tip of a dagger flashed under her cloak.

[Essik]

His name? Really? He’d never been asked about his name before. He’d just always had it, ever since he could remember. They’d called him that at the orphanage his entire life and he just accepted it as fact. He shrugged to her question slightly,” I don’t know really. I never knew either of my parents. I was raised in an orphanage while I was young. The head mistress their said my mother died when I was born. Never really knew anything about who my father even could have been. Never really cared to, either. Petcher must not have been too concerned about the whole thing, huh?” Essik chuckled for a second as he watched Canali as she stood there. She took the mizas that he offered, but who wouldn’t really. In a place like this, when you got offered money, you generally took it. Especially when there were no overt strings attached. It was only a simple 10 mizas anyway. So it wasn’t like it would break his bank or anything.

But still, even after she took the money, she didn’t leave. She tucked the money away and stood there, as if waiting for more or something. A curious look crept over his face, his head cocking over to the side for a second as he waited for her to make some kind of move to let him by. Was she really going to try to hold him here or something?

“You’re Lying…”

What did she say? Did she call him straight out on his little story? By the gods she had balls… straight up calling him a liar. To his face, even. He recoiled a step in genuine shock, his jaw dropping open slightly for a second and his eyebrows pushing down deep in a look of almost disgusted surprise at her words,” I beg your pardon?” His couldn’t help but let the words slip louder than he really wanted to. His shock overcame his sense of good judgment for a moment. But he caught himself, readjusting his stance a little, straightening back up a bit,” If you must know, I didn’t know how much I was going to get done tonight, or how well the paint would spread over the surface. I didn’t know if it would take one jar or two. And of course they’re the same color. You wouldn’t paint the outside wall of a building more than one color? Not around here, anyway.” But she continued her little tirade actual destinations. Even if he was actually planning on going anywhere it, it wasn’t like e was going to inform her about it. And the one thing he hadn’t really been lying about was getting thrown back in his face.

Then the demand came out. He knew there was something more that he liked about this woman that he hadn't been able to place before. That last sentence sealed it, though. She didn't petch around with things. She was going to blackmail him about this whole little escapade. His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped fully open in unashamed, shocked amusement. Even his his jaw agape, the smile that stretched across his face could easily be seen. But that changed the instant he saw the reflection of the dim light flicker across the blade of a weapon under her cloak. In the blink of an eye, his finger hit the trigger of the spring blade in his bracer, extending it forward to it’s full length in a fraction of a second. His face flashed to a look of grim warning and lethal intent just as quickly,” Now now… there is no need for anything like that, Canali.” He smirked wickedly for a moment, looking out from under his eyebrows to her. He didn’t move from his spot, just readying himself if she tried anything foolish. “ Now… Let’s get this straight. Where ever I am going to is of no concern to you. I actually didn’t plan on doing any more painting tonight, though.” His voice was low again, cool, calm, collected, like the calculating look in his eyes. Everything about him was of ready as he stood there,” I already paid you a good 10 miza, and you’ll be happy with that. I’m not paying you another silver on top of that, even if I had any more in my pockets. So… I suggest that you put away that little trinket you’re hiding, and I’ll put this one away, and we can talk like civilized people for a moment.”

Essik stood there for a moment, waiting for the woman’s response for a second before a brief movement caught his attention. Out of the corner of his eye, in the corner of the building, the small hatch from the interior of the building flipped open and a head stuck out. They way that the light glinted off the top told Essik that he was bald. That was bad news. He was the owner of the building. The man looked over, catching the two of them standing there for a second,” Boriss, get up here. Intruders!” Essik cursed under his breath for a second, taking a second to step back and hurl the jar of paint at the man, watching the glass jar flip end over end in its travel. The man in the hatch ducked just soon enough to avoid a direct strike, but the jar hit the hatch, shattering into a dozen different sharp, jagged pieces, all coated in odd paint that rained down on the man and anyone who might be with him.

Essik looked to Canali again,” I hope you can run girl, because now is the time. Follow me…” And with that, he pushed past her, heading over to the adjacent side of the building at a dead sprint, planting his lead foot ad the last second to jump over the short distance between the buildings. Essik risked a quick glance over his shoulder for a second, looking to see if Canali was following. If she was, he wanted to make sure she was close enough for him to double back to her if Mr. Boriss caught up to them.

[Canali]

Canali was bluffing. Though the sharp dagger had been strapped to her thigh, the nimble fingers hadn't slid it out of the makeshift sheath. No, while the movement would have been easy, it would have also been very noticeable; Even with the loose cloak. Instead, thinking quickly, she had slid two fingers over the sides of a silver miza, creating a point looking shape. With the right twitch of her fingers, it glinted just like a dagger would. Enough to give the illusion of a weapon. Though she hadn't expected Essik to grin with what seemed to be amusement but could easily be mistaken for feral and ferocity, Canali kept a poker face; harder to do so when his own weapon came into play. She had not seen that type of toy before, but knew simply by the look on his thin face that it was dangerous. Something Canali didn't want to test. However, she kept a casual stance, calmly tucking the fake-dagger back into her cloak with his words. Never did her grey eyes leave his as her actions were stealthily done. A voice screamed in her mind he was lying, there were more mizas on him. Canali knew when to count her cards and when to fold. For now, she would fold under and push later for the mizas she was certain he had hidden in a pocket somewhere.

Head jerking to the side, Canali's ponytail flew wildly when she moved to spot the man who had spoken. Beside her face, the jar of paint went flying, creating a whooshing noise. Jerking back, heart thumping wildly in her throat, Canali nearly gasped in fright. So close was the jar she could practically feel the glass kiss her porcelain cheek. Night was closing in and now it was not nearly as light as it had been earlier, but Canali's eyes caught the jerky movement from the yelling man. Who was he? A thug meant to safeguard the building? The owner? Had he spotted Essik painting and decided to come investigate or had her own bell voice led them up here? Aware of Essik's smooth voice coming in the distance, Canali barely caught what he had said before she was pushed to the side. A small stumble, before she caught herself and followed. This man owed her mizas, after all! Besides, naïve but not stupid, Canali knew the dangerous men would cause her more harm than she believed Essik would.

Clad feet smacking against the roof top, Canali pumped her arms at her sides. Eyes trained on the short wall and open gap between buildings. Must not have been more than three or four feet. Enough to stand with one foot on each rooftop. Putting a little hop into her last step, Canali tucked her right leg onto the retaining wall before launching across. Unfortunately, she hadn't planned on Essik not moving. Blankly aware of him looking over his shoulder, Canali bounced into him; taking his thin frame down with hers. The air was knocked out of her lungs, but this pushed their two bodies into the shadows. Her dark cloak blended right in, and was luckily flamed out while Canali had been flying through the night air. Trusting Essik to get the memo, Canali tucked her head into his neck. The dark thickness of her hair would hide his pale and shining skin, while her own cloak fabric would hide hers. Controlling her breathing to short and nearly silent puffs of warm breath only, Canali's lungs burned at the stress.

"Shhh…" The statement was little less than an exhale, barely noticeable and definitely not heard if her lips had not been right next to Essik's ear. His shaggy hair tickled her skin, but she forced herself to ignore it. Sneezing would give them away. Hell, any movement would give them away.

Aware of more than one man talking, conversing, Canali nearly stiffened. It was a physically taxing adjustment to stay calm and relaxed. Loudly, her heart thumped. These men would not hesitate to kill them; to slice their throats with sharp daggers as if neatly cutting through an apple. "Where'd those petching thieves go?!" came from the same man who had found them a few moments ago. Too low for Canali to hear, another person responded. The words sounded like he figured they were gone in the night or had jumped cleanly off the building roof. "They must be over there somewhere. C'mon, Boriss," whoever that was, "let's go teach 'em a lesson!" Grunting unhappily at whatever the second man, "Boriss", said, several curse words and grumbles came from him. Boriss must be the man in charge or at least holding more authority than the thug who was glaring into the darkness. Canali's skin crawled and she could swear the man was looking directly at her. What seemed to be several bells later but was really only several chimes, the two thugs headed back towards the hatch they had come through. Slowly, and looking over their shoulder after if expecting Canali and Essik, the "thieves", to attack at any moment.


Finally, they disappeared back down, still grumbling and talking. Laying still a moment longer, ears listening for the sound of them coming back up, Canali scrambled off of Essik. "You okay?" Yes, the woman who had just tried to mug him, and failed, was concerned about his health. Go figure.

[Essik]

Well this was definitely different than what he had planned. He hadn’t meant to stop running when he had looked back to check on Canali, but in the darkness it had looked like she was going to miss her footing on the side of the building. If someone didn’t do it frequently, it would be easy to misjudge the placing of a jump and end up falling straight off the edge of a building. It had happened to Essik once before in the beginning. Thank Akajia that it had only been a single story building. The landing had still been rough, and he’d been out of action on his training for a few days recovering from the heavy bruising before his mentor had shoved him back into the training regime. So, he’d been more than a little worried when he thought she would plummet between the buildings to the ground. This building was quite a bit higher. Making a mistake at this height could be lethal.

So his mistake of stopping was only confounded further as she smacked into him with her landing, throwing them both backwards. Essik spun as he stumbled, working to try and catch the woman as she fell forward. It didn’t work to o well as they both hit hard against the surface of the roof. As he hit, Essik’s head rocked back, smacking hard against the surface under him. Essik closed his eyes tight, gritting his teeth to fight back a grunt of pain as they came to a halt. He wasn’t quite sure what was happening for a second. He knew that Canali was holding him down, but that was about it at. Perhaps she was working for the building’s owner, now holding him down in his attempt to escape. But that hadn’t seemed the case…

After a moment, the pain ebbed away, at least the immediate pain. His head still pounded like a rhythmic drum, but he could handle that. Once the sharp pains had subsided, Essik was able to take full stock of the situation. He lay on his back with Canali half over him. He could feel her long cloak drapped across him as well as her hair across his face. But it took him a moment longer to realize that her face was pressed against the crook of his neck. He knew it wasn’t the time, or even close to the place, for such thoughts, but he had to admit, it had been a long time since a woman had been this close to him. Essik was never a man to pay for the companionship of a woman. He was not desperate. He just never found time for relationships or the like. That didn’t mean that he didn’t enjoy the sensation of having a beautiful woman pressed against him as such, even if they were being hunted at the moment.

Essik’s nose twitched a tad, trying to get one of her hairs from underneath it without really moving. He had to admit, he hair was soft. He had always been a cleanly man, ensuring he bathed regularly and took good care of himself. But he hadn’t found anything to really help his hair. Soap was nice and all, but it left his hair feeling slightly rough at times. He’d have to make sure to ask how she managed her hair once they got out of this. And then there were the scents as well. The soft locks had a wonderful aroma to them. Not perfume, really. Something else… herbs maybe? Yes, that had to be it. Her hair had the lingering scent of herbs and spices. Essik smiled a little to himself. So she was a cook, or at least working in a kitchen a bit. He had to admit, he’d take those aromas over the overpowering scents of perfumes almost any day of the seasons.

Essik didn’t notice that his hands had been resting at her sides until she moved back. He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed their pursuers had left. He prayed that he hadn’t nuzzled her with her cheek as they lay there. That would have been a little awkward it seemed. But as she sat up, Essik continued to lay there for a moment, looking up the skies above,” Well, I just got to spend the last few chimes with a beautiful woman lying against m under a wonderful night sky. So… in retrospect, I’m quite okay.” He chuckled just a little to himself As he sat up, taking a moment to rub the back of his head as the dull throbbing took center stage once more,” The landing could have gone a bit better, but that’s how things go, I suppose. I’m just glad I retracted my spring blade before we collided. That would have been bad for one of use, if not both.” He sighed a little, looking to her once more,” Are you ok? I’m sorry I stopped, but I thought you were going to fall.” Essik was always one to worry about the well being of others unless they were a direct threat to him at the moment, or a name on one of his contracts. She was neither, and he doubted she ever really had been, so he wanted to ensure she was alright.

[Canali]

A bellied laugh burst from Canali. This man was obviously disillusioned. Remembering about the two thugs, Canali shushed herself to quiet down more. Not wanting to attract the attention again, Canali pushed to her feet, extending a hand out of politeness to help Essik up. "I'll be sure to perfect the landing next time," she teased, eyes twinkling in amusement. Perhaps her good mood radiated from the fact that they hadn't been caught? Adrenaline? This was insinuating there would be a next time, but Canali ignored the little tidbit of information. "You hit your head; you're rubbing it. Are you sure you're okay?" Concern drew Canali's eyebrows together. Brushing her cloak back, to untangle it more, Canali really did hope he was alright. She didn't have her a lot of stuff in her backpack today; the medical stuff was missing and so were many other things she normally kept in the leather pouch. No way could she help him if he were indeed hurt.

"I'm perfectly fine. Sorry about, uh, tackling you." Though he had been comfy. Grey eyes strayed away from his form, to peer over the rooftops. In a long line, most of the buildings in sight were connected to this one. Small walls in between, but easy to step over. "There is no way down on this side of the street. We'll have to keep building hopping." Without waiting for him to respond, Canali tucked one arm through his in a dramatic fashion, at the elbow. Swinging around, she set off, practically pulling him along, towards the next building. Humming under her breath for a few moments, Canali burst into a random song.

"Is there for honest poverty,
That hangs his head, an' a' that,
The coward slave, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that,
For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toil's obscure and a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that!"

The song was slow, with a light swing to the words at the end. In Canali's high soprano singing voice, the words rang clear and solidly, with a faint tinkle. Though she was using her head voice, Canali's chest rumbled. A few cracks here and there on certain low notes, but all in all, the performance was very well done for having not warmed up or anything else to prepare her voice. Trying to remember all of the words was hard, so Canali might have substituted one or two. Her father used to sing it to her, when they slept in the streets. Canali had hated trying to fall asleep with the sounds of thieves and criminals nearby. Though this had heightened their chance to be found, Canali used to fall off to sleep with it echoing through her. Ignoring the grime and dirt coating her skin was easier, also.

"What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an' a' that,
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man, for a' that,
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their tinsel show an' a' that,
The honest man, though e'er sae poor!"

Song here