PM to join Smash and Grab. (Marcus Drago)

[Hayl]

30th Day of Summer, 514 AV. Hayl had been watching the fruit stand in The Merchants Ring for the better part of the day. It laid a little ways off from the Café Fleurs, where he was sitting sipping on some Rooibas Tea that the waitress recommended. Hayl sort of stood out. Despite wearing his good clothes, and bagging his beggar-look, he was the only man sitting at the café. The other patrons were wealthy women complaining about the service, or talking about their ridiculous hats as if they were religion. He tried not to be too distracted by their gossip, even though some of their snide remarks were pretty funny. “Look at Jessa over there with the dead possum on her head.” He heard one say, “I swear to you she stays put with men like a cat in a bath.” Hayl fought back spewing his tasty tea all over the place. If nothing, from the day, he found a new source of entertainment he could revisit at some point. He pushed the bickering voices out of his head and focused on the fruit stand. The sales-man yelling at people as they ran by. Without words it looked almost like he was yelling at them to stay back and would even take a few steps to chase them off, and it looked as if he was going to assault them with whatever fruit he was trying to sell them. One time a man, who seemed to be in desperate need for some fruit, practically ripped it out of the shop-keepers hands and threw copper at him while he ran away. “This was the moment of truth. Do we put it in the pocket, or do we actually store it somewhere?” He fought himself from rising out of his seat as he watched intently. The man picked up two stray coppers and went on the back side of his stand. There he bent over and took some time before standing and reassumed his role, harassing passersby with his produce. “So I know now he puts it in something. Now to see what kind of method he stores his earnings.” Hayl waited until the opportune moment to get a visual. Suddenly an old man hobbled up to the stand and the two started yelling back and forth. The fruit salesman overly excited about his product, the old man trying to repeat back what the salesman was saying, “Eh? You have a boot for mail?” Hayl slapped a silver and swooped from a distance walking past the man’s field of view. Then quietly but almost at a sprint came back up nearly touching the back of the man. He then picked up an apple and dropped it in a manner so it would roll behind the stall. He chased after it bent over like the apple was out running his reach, but when he finally laid hands on it, he admired the backside of the stall. A simple drawer with a loop nailed into it. When the drawer was closed, the loop mated with a matching loop and the salesman put a key fitted lock box with a curved metal shackle penetrating both loops. Hayl debated about lifting the key off the salesman, but he quickly realized that the only metal parts to the stand were the lock and the loops. He could probably yank the lock out with his hands or kick it, if not smash it off with something heavy, snatch the money and be gone before the man would return from his lunch break. “Hey, no one goes back there!” Hayl shot up from behind the counter taking a huge bite out of the apple, “Mmmmm… This is the best apple I ever had.” Despite the dirt it acquired from the roll, “Here take the silver, keep the change.” Hayl said as he smiled and flipped the coin to the surprised man, and then walked away taking another bite. The sun had gone way past noon, and the man had not even left the little stand to piss. “This man isn’t human…” he mumbled. Hayl had alredy donned his beggars cloak, hood concealing his face, in a place where no one was watching and found a broken wooden plank that he would use to crack the lock off. He sat in the dirt at the corner of the ring that held the best visibility of the shop, holding trembling hands out. He actually acquire 4 copper in the time he waited. Then finally he saw it, the dance. The universal I need go right now, toe hop. And as quick as lightning the man provided a “Be Back Soon…” sign from nowhere, slammed it on a vacant portion of the stand, and bustled around another shop’s corner. Hayl knew it was now or never, he snatched up the broken plank and held it like a club, and walked swiftly towards the abandoned stand. He smiled under the shadow of his cloak, “Nothing can stop me now…” he whispered.

[Marcus Drago]

Summer 30th, 514 AV

Marcus decided to take a little walk around the city of Ravok and get use to the area he lived in. He ventured far, making sure he went no where near the city center. He wanted nothing to do with the Black Sun or their trained dogs, the Ebonstryfe. Twelve bells rung and he discovered he was in the the Merchants Ring, standing in front of a place known as Café Fleurs. People were just leaving and going back to their work, and the sun was glistening in the large lake that rested below Marcus feet. He wore a large white coat but kept his hood on, covering his golden hair and blue eyes. He wasn't hot underneath his clothes, the temperature in Ravok was always a little bit cold, but never hot enough for a walking man to break a sweat.

Marcus stayed quiet, making sure to give every greeting man, woman, and child a wave. The only sound that radiated from him was boots, clicking when landed on the ground, and his stomach, growling ferociously. He spent too much time walking and now wanted something to eat and a nice place to rest. Lucky there was a place known as the People Market in Marcus sight. He would grab a quick meal and rest while eating it.

He moved ever so casually to an orange stand. The woman who was running it was too busy turning her back and gathering other products to notice what was going on. Each step he took only made the woman more aware of his presence, so he didn't move too fast. Marcus boot made noise, no matter what type of ground he stepped on in this city, but if he knew how to steal in boots then he would know how to steal in anything else. As soon as he was close enough to the stand he grabbed an orange, making sure to go after the large juicy ones, and placed it neatly inside his coat pocket. Unfortunately, the woman noticed and was readying to scream “thief!” when another customer came her way.

This customer was demanding and a rushing the woman to get things done, and she didn't like this. Within a chime the two were going at each other, argument after argument, and it only got more violent. That bought Marcus just enough time to walk away successfully. It was a close one, but he escaped untouched and with lunch to boot.

Marcus found a good spot on a bridge and hopped on the handle. Grabbing his dagger, he slid the sharp blade carefully inside the fruit and began sucking on its nutritious juice. He kept his eyes on everyone who passed by, keeping his guard up so no one could attack him. He got strange looks but it seemed that he was safe to live another day.When he was finished with the orange, he threw it in the nearest dumpster and jumped off the bridge handle, walking to the little Cafe near him. He was ready to head home, but noticed some odd activity on the street next to him. A man or woman, he couldn't tell by the cloak, holding a plank and heading behind a…. fruit stand? Was could this person possibly want with the stand that required a plank to retrieve it? For some reason this interested Marcus. Maybe coming down here wasn't a bore after all.

He prowled as silently as he could to the man, his boots making small noises as he lightly stepped on the ground. This time he was crouched so his shoes wouldn't make as much fall noise. The lower he was to the ground the less force his feet would make to land on the concrete. When he was close enough and behind the man, hopefully without being noticed, he had a huge grin on his face. “So is that how you rob merchants or is this your first time?”

[Hayl]

Hayl made his way behind the stand. He kept all his focus on the corner of the building that the owner of the stand, who Hayl playfully called in his own mind ‘fruit-man’, had darted around. When he finally reached the locked drawer, he verified how easy the lock would be to break-off by tugging on it. He pulled pretty vigorously with one good yank, noting how flimsy the thin wood was on the front of the drawer that the lock loops were nailed into. Hayl was ready to attempt breaking the lock, with confidence the metal loops would snap off the soft thin wood. He raised his tool and was about to strike when he heard, “SO IS THAT HOW YOU ROB MERCHANTS OR IS THIS YOUR FIRST TIME?” He hesitated. Leaving his arm lingering in the air as if frozen in the act he was about to commit. ‘Who in their right minds would stop a thief like this?’ If it was the Stryfe, they would have been more formal and yelled a chain of commands beginning with the word “Halt!” If it was another shop-keeper or simple bystander, they would have just simply attacked Hayl. He couldn’t be sure, but the confusion mixed with the embarrassment of being snuck-up on he felt the next appropriate action would be to bash the audacious creeper up-side his head, while he had his weapon in hand and ready to strike. But before he could flinch a muscle to carry-out his less than thought through decision Hayl, still focused on the corner of the building, saw the fruit-man rounding the corner with his hands in his pants stuffing his parts back into place after using them. ‘How the petch do my full-proof plans, always end up like this.’ Hayl thought. He couldn’t be caught any more red-handed. About to smash open fruit-man’s earnings for the day, while fruit-man himself stood about a hundred feet away, mouth agape and hand in his pants, with his eyes shocked and locked on Hayl’s. Not to mention the fellow who snuck up on Hayl had put the cherry on top of this shyke dessert was still mouth-breathing down Hayl’s neck. Run or commit, it was time for the decision, and decide he did. Hayl smashed the lock with one swoop, ripping the metal loops straight out of the flimsy wooden drawer. ‘Thank the gods something went as planned.’ Fluttered his mind as splinters went flying, and a few copper coins dribbled out the hole now ripped into the backside of the stand. Upon successful destruction of the lock, Hayl would use the beguiling event to hopefully distract the would-be assailant at his rear, and flow a swift back kick into his abdominal region almost in unison with smashing the drawer. Hit or miss the technique would provide ample distraction for Hayl to scoop out the small pile of coins into his satchel and take off into a dead sprint. Hayl was trapped from the rear with the man who skulked up on him, the backside of the fruit-stand on Hayl’s right and a wall of buildings to his left. Hayl’s only narrow path he could go was in front of him for about twenty feet until the fruit-stand ended and Hayl could veer off to the right. Hayl took off running opposite of the lurker that was behind him, unfortunately this meant that he was running towards the fruit-man. Fruit-man finally came to his delayed senses from the entire trauma that was reigning in on him and burst out “Hey! Ma money!” And ran towards Hayl to close the gap. Hayl tore off towards him throwing wildly the wooden plank at him. The plank was reasonably deflected by the fruit-man swatting it away reflexively, as Hayl intended. Hayl used the opportunity to complete a running round-kick on the man’s left side about bicep level, not to injure him, but to push him into the wall to the fruit-man’s right. It worked better than Hayl expected, as the fruit-man hit the wall he collapsed against it and went to his left knee allowing Hayl to spin around him and continue running unhindered. If the creep had recovered quicker than expected he could be on Hayl’s heals, especially with the bit of the delay the fruit-man caused Hayl, and since the creep was so quiet, Hayl didn’t want to take that chance. He ran to the other side of the Circle, pushing bystanders fiercely aside as he tore through the evening crowd. Two or three he knocked off their feet, one being an elderly woman that he had a pang of guilt for until she bellowed “You gutter shyke!” to him a few seconds later, he took that to mean she would be fine. He found a sliver of an alley between to shops and had to turn sideways to shamble down it. The small alley connected with another larger one, big enough to run a wagon through, and Hayl banked left down the darker lighten portion. A few steps later he found a stack of crates to run around and press his back against. He drew his left dagger with his right hand and pressed it, while clenched in his fist, against his chest. The flat-side of the blade ran up his collar bone and the cold metal tip touched the base of his neck, he used that felling to project the imagery of him pressing his cold blade to the base of the creep’s neck, if the creep pursued and ran passed the stack of crates that Hayl hide behind. Not to hurt him, just to scare him and get the information out as to why he would follow.

[Marcus Drago]

Summer 30th, 514 AV

The man paused in place, not saying a single word. It’s as if Marcus voice caused the stranger to freeze in fear. Maybe he thought Marcus was going to arrest him or get him into trouble. That seems to be every thieves thought when they are caught. The man looked to his side and Marcus followed with his own eyes. Another man that looked as though he served food, with a large white apron around his neck, was messing with his pants and walking towards their direction.

The thief that was next to Marcus tensed up and, before Marcus could react, a foot came flying into his stomach. This caused him to fall to the ground and cough for a bit of air. Marcus looked up only once to notice the thief now running towards the man playing with his junk. He couldn't believe that he had just been taken out like that.

He cursed himself for not following his first rule of stealth, never sneak up on someone unless you had plans to kill them. Now he was on his knees and in serious pain. He wondered to himself if he could let this go, if he could just forgive and forget and go about his days, but the only answer he could come up with was HELL NO.

Planting his toes firmly on the ground, Marcus launched himself towards the thieves location. He stayed tip toed the entire time so that he could have enough speed to catch up to the assailant. His breathing was heavy, but he managed to take in a large amount of oxygen every once in a while to keep mocing. The thief knocked the man he was running at to the side and turned around the corner. The man yelled to the top of his lungs, “THIEF THIEF,” while Marcus passed him and made two Ebonstryfe guards who relaxed on the other side of the lake aware of what was going on.

Instantly, Marcus sighed as he soon followed the perp through the crowed and the small alley way. He had to put some effort into not throwing up from the heavy loss of energy and oxygen of running while injured. He had a small wound that would heal over time but it still caused immense agony at the moment. The guards didn’t follow Marcus through the almost compressed alley way, maybe because they didn’t want to put in a large effort to capture him. Marcus noted that some guards in this city were lazy and too cocky with the fact that they were well trained to take offenders down. Some just didn’t want to deal with an outsider like Marcus and left him alone most of the time. He was never caught by the Ebonstryfe guards, but now they were hunting him.

He passed a large crate but turned around suddenly to see if the guards where behind him. Nothing as of yet. He kept moving, walking slowly in the direction his back was pointing to, but stopped when he saw what seemed to be a shadow of a cloak hanging from the ground. Instantly he thought about the thief that took him out and decided to test the waters- see if the shadow from the crate was actually his.

“I can see your shadow thief. The Ebonstryfe are coming after you.” Marcus stayed away from the crate, but close enough so that the man could hear his words. If there was anything he learned today it would be to stay as far away from potential threats as possible. He told him a lie, in actuality they were coming after him, but he didn't want the thief having an advantage over his words, even if it was small. “You can either work with me to escape, or you can get caught. No matter what, the Ebonstryfe will hunt you down until you are dead. Plus the clerk saw your face from close up and he can paint a picture of you for the dogs of Ravok. Do you really have a wish to die by the blade of justice? Best to take a mercenaries offer while you still can.”

No matter what, the guards wouldn't listen to Marcus if he told them that he had nothing to do with the robbery. Non citizens weren't given the right of trial or to defend. If he was caught in the middle of a crime, then he would be punished on the spot. What a cruel world they lived inside the lake city. Where people who are not Ravokian can't walk the city streets in peace. This man was Marcus hope of escaping this situation alive, he had to figure out some way for him to cooperate.

[Hayl]

A man ran past the crate, unfortunately he did so backwards voiding Hayl of his opportunity to attack him at his rear, yet Hayl felt the darkness should be thick enough that he could have concealment sufficient enough for the man to not identify him. The man was definitely not Stryfe, and this lifted a significant weight on the thief. He had a pretty solid record of steering clear of the goon-squad, as he calls them, and wanted to keep it that way. Hayl could also tell he was not a citizen of Ravok, so the Stryfe inquisiting the man was, or at least should be, just as much as unwanted as Hayl being caught. The man however locked eyes on Hayls location and then said his words at the thief. Hayl heard his words from the shadow that the thief concealed himself in. The man clearly had some skill in the art of subterfuge; other-wise Hayl would have one hand over the mercenary’s mouth, and the other grasping a blade at his neck. Even still the self-called mercenary wasn’t exactly the smartest wretch to wander the streets. He was alone with an armed man in a dark alley, and also didn’t appear to be holding any weapons. The very nostalgia of the setting sent strange shivers down his neck. The last time Hayl met a stranger in a dark alley, it was very similar, yet Hayl was the unarmed pursuant who ended up receiving a couple of scars. Hayl delayed his emotions until he could tactfully attain his goal and decided to act upon the man before the opposite happened. He shot from the darkness and closed the distance between him and the mercenary. Hayl held his blade just under the man’s chin “You say I need work with, or for you?” he asked a question, more or less rhetorical just to get the point that across that the thief was not one to be manipulated. The absent sound of foot-steps approaching caught Hayl’s ear, “Where’s your goon-squad at to come and arrest me? You think they give a shyke about a produce salesman who probably isn’t even a citizen?” He would lower his dagger, but keep it clenched in his hand just in-case the interloper had any ideas, “What do you really want?” he said sizing up the mercenary, taking note of the sword. A dagger against a sword would be a new fight for the thief, and ever since his run in with the lunatic from a few years ago, he wasn’t much the type to look for a fight. Hayl fought when he needed to, but his youthful yearning for it was over, he would much rather steal his wealth and run with it. He would stay his ground though, if he needed to. In the end, the man in front of Hayl did pursue him… un-armed so this would lead Hayl to believe that the man didn’t want something that involved force, and as long as that belief held true, Hayl would humor the man by listening to what he really wanted.

[Marcus Drago]

Summer 30th, 514 AV

A blade pulled unto Marcus chin, Different type compared to Marcus own, and now the man had an advantage over him. He wasn’t intimidated by the rather tall man, just surprised at how things played out. Marcus made a mental note to learn how to move away from an assailants before a dagger can get close to his throat.

He calmly raised his hands in the air to show he did not mean any harm and stood in place. Best to give the stranger the power then rip it from his grasp than die a useless death. “You say I need work with, or for you?” His common was obviously poor. “Where is your goon-squad at to come and arrest me? You think they give a shyke about a produce salesman who probably isn’t a citizen?”

Marcus could hear the faint sound of foot steps and figured that the man could to, but found Marcus more of a threat than any guard this city could conjure. Ironic was the word that came to his mind, flattery as well. A confident smile showed on Marcus face but disappeared when his mind floated back to the situation he was in.

“What do you really want?” Drago carefully sized the man up trying to figure in what way could he possibly escape this predicament. He noted how the mans blue eyes seemed to fall every so often, showing a sign of sleepiness. Was the man ready to fall asleep? If so then Marcus could make use of this and take the man into the nearby water.

Marcus also thought about waiting it how to see if the guards would find the two in this position. But the guards didn’t seem to give two pieces of shyke about him. Plus the waiting game wouldn’t probably work out in Marcus favor. This man didn’t seem like the type to wait patiently for someone who was chasing him to make up their mind on whether they wanted to speak or not. His look told Marcus he had nothing to lose if his dagger met the blond haired humans neck, so Marcus came up with a different approach.

“What do I really want? That depends on what you really want. Money, sadly, is the only thing I can give you.” Drago stared into the beggar's eyes, not blinking a single bit. “Not mine though. I am poor and have no money on me at this moment. You can search me but I doubt you want to take the dagger away from my neck how hard you’re holding it.” His hands still remained up and his eyes remained planted on the mans. He took only a little break from the stare down to breath in deeply and cover his pupils with his lashes. “If you’re interested. Move back and lower the dagger so we can talk. If not then kill me. But look into my eyes and ask yourself if you will get away alive.”

His hands were ready. The minute the dagger doug into Marcus skin he would grab the man’s tunic and shove his own dagger into the mans head. All the man will do is take away Marcus oxygen, which will give Marcus enough time to kill before he himself dies. He also had nothing to lose, no one to take care of. Marcus was ready for death, but was the man?

His eyes moved down to the thieves dagger as he finished his last words. “I don’t wish to die, I wish for a thieves help.”

[Hayl]

Hayl lowered his blade after staring into the man’s face for a moment, “Threatening me, then asking for help isn’t exactly the most chivalrous thing to do, even if I am holding a dagger to your throat. Who sneaks up on a thief anyway, unless they are attempting to stop him or they have a death wish.” Hayl could tell that the man had little experience in the area so he scaled back a little, but kept the blade pointed at him. “So you say you want money…” Hayl thought about it for a moment. “Well, if we are going to work together, I’m going to need two things.” Hayl said and then began to cough furiously. He coughed into his left fist, and even bent over to help mask him sheathing his dagger. He didn’t like other people seeing where he hid his weapons, and usually he doesn’t have to worry about concealing it because… well the witness is dead. So while he was doubled over he slipped the dagger into its sheath and coughed loud enough to cover up the clicking sound. In the split second the dagger was replaced he cupped his left hand with his right to make the cough a little more convincing. He persisted for about 5 seconds before standing up straight and swallowing, “Gah... a fly…” he said and then continued speaking as if nothing happened, both hands free of any weapon. “Firstly, I want to know where all of your weapons are… I don’t have to show you anything, and don’t expect me to. I don’t owe you anything. You want something from me; you got to be the first to show a little trust.” He smirked, “I promise you, for whatever its worth, I will not attempt any further at harming you, unless provoked.” Hayl made his demand really to test the outlander. Nobody in Ravok has just one weapon. There are two kinds of people in this city, those who expose all their weapons and those who lie. The latter being the more dangerous, even if it is Hayl’s preferred philosophy, he didn’t want to take any chances. If the man in white showed Hayl at least one other weapon, that would begin the facet of trust between the two, and Hayl would at least feel comfortable breathing the same air with him. “Secondly, I need a name to go with all your brooding and fool-hearted attempts at acquiring my aid.” Hayl had it in mind to make up one for him, like block-head or meat for brains or something, but he decided that this may be interesting; working with another person in the larceny business.

[Marcus Drago]

Summer 36th, 514 AV

The man lowered the dagger a bit, but not enough to make Marcus feel relaxed. He then mentioned how Marcus did an idiotic thing that could have resulted in death. Luckily Marcus actually did have something he needed help with or the ground would have been filled with blood. Marcus was, hopefully, safe for now but the thought still made him stare at the ground as though he was having animosity towards himself.

“So you say you want money….” The man said causing Marcus to look at him with both of his brows raised in curiosity. Was the man really willing to hear Marcus out? “Well if we are going to work together I’m going to need two things.”

Drago nodded to assure the man he was listening, but quickly stood back as the strangest thing occurred.The tunic wearing man suddenly began coughing uncontrollably then bent over continuing what some would call a coughing rage. His cough was so large that Marcus swore his ears were readying to bleed .

When the he finally rose from his choking trial his only words of explanation where that a fly flew into his mouth. “I guess we should start covering our mouths whenever we speak in this city,” Marcus said non sarcastically. He was trying to make friends with the thief even though he was a horrible liar. What Marcus big concern about was the man’s transition from the grasp of a dagger to having nothing in his hand.

Many scenarios ran through Marcus head about where the dagger was placed. He could have kept it in a patch on the inside of his coat, he could have some type of wrist sheath, or he could have it somewhere inside his sleeves. Marcus also made a mental note to watch the man’s movements in desperate situations. Where the man’s hand goes is where he keeps the weapon.

The man then proceeded to ask Marcus for the location of his weapons were and, with an angry grin, Marcus folded his arms. This statement seemed to piss Marcus off a little since he was asking the blond hair human to give all the trust reason, yet Marcus received zero. With a small blow of air, but large enough for the man to notice, Marcus thought carefully of how he was going to answer the man other than his original answer ‘Hell no’.

“Sorry but I can’t give you the first thing. My weapon is kept hidden for the same reason yours is. Plus, telling a thief where something is hidden is never a good idea for anyone because of the whole thief thing. What I can tell you though is that I have a dagger, assassins, that I bought quite a while ago.”

Marcus moved his left hand that was bald into a fist out, only extending his forefinger. “One dagger. Not good enough for you?” He shrugged, “Trust is a chance. You can know where my dagger is, but how do you know that I won’t kill you when your defenses are down? I can know where your dagger is, but how do I know that you won’t try to kill me when my defenses are down? I promise you a lot of money and you're going to have to take a chance to receive that large amount. You promise your services and I am going to have to take a chance and hope you don’t fuck me over.”

He then thought about the second thing the man wanted and with a little hesitation answered. “I go by Ghost. Many believe it is a fake name and they are correct. I don’t give my real name out to everyone because I do not like it. If you ask anyone about my real name then they will just raise their arms with a questioning look.” Marcus turned his head from the man staring at the area around him. The sun was beginning to fall and less and less races walked the city. The streets were becoming peaceful and less rowdy. No guard bothered him about what recently happened and Marcus began questioning of the guard that was chasing him really cared.

“The real name is Marcus. Don’t call me that around others. And if you don’t believe that it’s my real name then your just gonna have to take that chance. Do you want money? Or do you wish to rob rolling markets your whole life?” With that said Marcus waited for the man’s answer to everything the he just stated. He kept his hands on his hips, resembling the look of weariness though his real goal was keeping his fingers near his dagger. He wanted to make sure he was prepared for the man if there was a move for Marcus life.

“By the way, I am also gonna need something to call you, fake or not.”

[Hayl]

If Marcus didn’t want Hayl to know his real name, he probably shouldn’t have told him. Hayl revels in his ability to find irksome monikers for people, friend or not. “Alright, Marcus, I concede. I trust you that you do only have one hidden dagger. It helps that since you’ve made a coherent conversation with me up to this point, that meaning you couldn’t be a victim of brain damage or the sort seeing as you snuck up on me, and if you wanted to kill me that would have been the time to do it.”He smiled brightly, “You’re simply just a beginner thief with a death wish.” Hayl folded his arms and took a breath to relax. Hayl would give Marcus the benefit of the doubt. Marcus could generate a dagger out if thin air at this moment and attempt to plunge it in Hayl’s chest, but Hayl felt comfortable enough with the situation to act himself and avoid bloodshed. Murder was not above the thief, but he avoided it at every turn, even if it meant risking his life. “Hayl is my name, and that’s my real name. I’m not too keen on fantasies where I think I am more legendary than I really am.” Hayl does this thing when he meets a new acquaintance. He alienates them, even insults them. He feels that if a colleague is worth his time, the colleague will accept Hayl’s brash attitude. Sometimes a bad first impression can be a good thing. It’s easier to be likable when people have low expectations for you and you find them worthy enough to try. Besides, anyone who takes themselves too seriously aren’t exactly the person Hayl feel’s he would want to be caught in a bad spot with. Those are the kind of people who will cut your ankles to make you an easier catch, while they run away. “Okay, so before you explain to me how we rob the Captain of the Stryfe or something ridiculous of the sort, understand that small time is easy. Little money beats no money. I’m all for taking what I can get, but I’ve been somewhat successful up to this point by not making a name for myself. I intend to keep it that way.” Hayl pointed his thumb over his shoulder, “Plus did you see that guy’s set up? He deserved to get robbed.” Hayl remember the feeling of the satchel and knew that there was little money. He looked extremely foreign, maybe from the desert to the east. People from this city strayed away from those they don’t know, Hayl should know, he’s a foreigner as well. He held up one more finger, “My last stipulation is that I don’t rob from those who don’t deserve it. That man will bounce back fine after this. Or at least get smart and move on to a more trusting city. I may be a thief but I don’t rob from the helpless…And no killing. If you plan to rob someone and there ends up being a body when you are done, you failed.” He made a mental exception in his head about a particular incident years ago, but kept that to himself. Hayl rested his back against the wall of the alleyway. “Okay so lay it on me, what’s your genius plan to make us rich?”[/color]