| Thief x IF:SS | What Lies Beneath | 1-on-1 rp |

The night was the same as it always was, many people still milling about on the streets with the ever watchful guards keeping an eye out for any ne'er-do-wells. Many of the latter had prominent guard posts and so were usually easy enough to avoid, especially so from the rooftops. Very rarely did anyone have incentive to glance up. It was here that Ashe often spent her time and tonight was no different.

Her steps were light over the tiled roofs and wooden catwalks and beams. She had to take care not too make too much noise around windows with lights flickering inside, even more so when other people could be heard on the other side. All it took was one loud cry for help before the guards would start looking up and knocking an arrow or two.

Between her fingers she twirled the stolen watch, some trinket that Basso had sent her out to fetch for some other client. Why it was so important didn't matter to Ashe. The soft ticking of it helped fill some of the silence, not that Ashe minded either or. Too many sounds often left her tense and snappish anyways.

Familiar enough with the city, Ashe was able to make her way over to the Crippled Burrick easily enough despite the fact that small details were fuzzy over long distances. It was fine, she didn't need to read the signs anyways, few as they were. It was something Ashe had long since grown accustomed to and accepted, despite the fact that it was still quite annoying when she had to partner up with someone.

In no time at all she'd arrived, the familiar fire roaring nearby to chase away the shadows. The crackling of the flames only reached her ears for a few seconds before she'd made her way into Basso's current residence. The sooner she turned the pocket watch over to him the sooner she could go about the city's roofs again. Sure enough he was there, rummaging around for something in his desk while Jenivere was on her perch nearby, feathers ruffled.

"You're hiding the good jobs again aren't you, Basso?" she accused almost playfully.

The look on Basso's face after he'd jumped, staring at her for a moment as if she were a ghost always amusing. The man always seemed so frustrated with the way she snuck on in whenever she paid him a visit and she had to wonder if any of the other thieves he served a fence to might do the same to him. With as quickly as he recovered it couldn't have been a seldom occurrence.

The night seemed a long one, Garrett having finally stopped to seek out Basso again. He stood a distance, occasionally moving about the room as they spoke. Their conversation was interrupted at a point, a woman's voice calling out.

Basso, not so surprisingly flinched at the sound. No one seemed to respect his request to use his door in favor of sneaking inside. It was always a tad amusing to see the reaction.

The man stared on indignantly before he waved her off. "Perhaps I'm merely saving those jobs for people far more skilled than yourself," he answered easily, motioning to Garrett as he did so.

"I want no part in your squabbles," Garrett replied, dry sarcasm lacing his tone, "I'm merely here for the job."

Once again, he moved about the room carefully. His eyes flickered toward the woman for a long moment, studying her. She looked confident though he could only assume from appearance. The way she presented herself here, after all, could be a far cry from how she acted in her work.

(¯´•._.• [ x ] •._.•´¯)

Opal moved down the streets of Seattle carefully. Since they had been cleaned up and most of the D.U.P forced out, Seattle almost returned to normal. There were still those protesters and murders of conduits, all concerning for both conduit and conduit supporters as well as what few D.U.P officers that lingered.

Opal was able to walk the streets easier with any worries of being heckled. She couldn't speak, couldn't call out for help either, so it had always been a concern of her parents where she went. To quash that worry, she wore a whistle around her neck.

She flipped through a little bit of origami paper she'd bought. The colors and patterns were rather pretty and she was excited to use them. A grin lit up her face at the thought.

Opal tucked the parcel under her arm, picking up her pace. She still had some ways to go before she reached home. The streets were busy with all kinds. She toyed with the idea of detouring, for the fun of it. It seemed like a long while since she was able to.

Basso recovered quickly enough, the annoyed expression left undeterred. As he gestured to another man in the room, hooded and dressed in leather—much like her, he cut a rather lanky figure. Ashe didn't dwell on this long, sparing only a passing glance before her attention was on Basso as she strode further into the room.

Clasping her hands over her chest, the pocket watch still clutched in one hand, she said, "Basso! You break my heart! Such little faith in me?"

The unnamed man had spoken quickly after, declaring that he wanted no part of this line of thought. Ashe merely surveyed his face, nothing the black around his eyes to better keep his facial features obscured in the shadows. She and many other more professional thieves took to the same method as well.

"I don't think you've been given much choice in that, honestly," she said, sounding half-apologetic and half-amused.

With that tended to and out of the way Ashe strode toward Basso, ignoring Jenivere fluttering her wings loudly from her perch nearby. Certainly the bird would be nipping at Basso's fingers soon enough if the man wasn't careful though Ashe wondered how long that would take. Some days it didn't take nearly as long as others. She supposed it all depended on whether Basso remembered to watch his fingers or not.

She placed the watch on the desktop where the metal glinted off the nearby candlelight. It was a pretty gold color though a little scuffed. Ashe figured whatever made this watch important enough to snatch for Basso would net her at least a decent enough bit of coin in return. While Basso examined the little trinket she turned back to the other thief in the room—for he couldn't be anythigng else with that build, demeanor and clothing.

"I don't believe we've actually met before," she pointed out simply and left it at that. If he wanted nothing to do with her so be it, many lifters kept to themselves nowadays anyways unless their fence had them on the same job for whatever reason.

----[x]----

It was weird, being out on the streets so freely again. The sun was bright that day, blinding to him. He'd been intent on playing more of Heaven's Hellfire but he'd been coaxed back outside by Delsin. Funny how that had worked considering it had only been over the phone too. Delsin had long since headed back to Salmon Bay anyways, leaving Eugene back in Seattle.

At the very least things weren't as crazy. Eugene just had to keep reminding himself of that even if he was in the habit of glancing around nervously, gnawing on his lip. It probably didn't help that he had his hood pulled up and his hands shoved in his pockets. He probably looked like he might be up to no good but Eugene just liked to keep his head down nowadays.

Though he kept his head ducked, he kept glancing around, his feet moving quickly. He probably looked like he was runnin' from something now. 'Oh well, the sooner I'm inside the better,' Eugene decided. Things might have calmed down a little for conduits like him but there was still trouble around all the same. He'd rather not have to try to get out of trouble for anything that might come up.

Rounding a corner he had to stop on a dime, almost running right into someone. His eyes widened and he quickly back pedaled, ducking his head and pushing his glasses back up his nose. The girl was pretty, her long hair in a loose ponytail and her blue eyes rather wide.

"S-Sorry... about that," he stammered out, peeking up at her carefully.

Much like others he knew, the snark was thrown around easily. Many had to harden up to Basso in the past and got used to how sense of humor over time.

Garrett moved back, listening to the pair. A subtle shake of his head followed though he was no less amused.

"Ah, you wouldn't be the first, girlie," Basso boasted in response, chuckling deeply, "Never again though!"

Garrett snorted but said nothing more. He folded his arms over his chest, waiting for this conversation to die down a bit. The banter was nice but he did have a job he needed to be getting done.

He waved her words off easily and said, "well at least we're both quite aware of that."

She'd placed the trinket on the desk leaving Basso to examine pocket watch. She had to have some amount of skill if Basso put any stock into her at all.

The question rang out and Garrett studied her for a long moment. He finally shook his head in return and replied, "no, we have not. I suppose it would only be polite to give my name," he paused for a long moment, studying her again, "too bad I'm not the polite type."

(¯´•._.• [ x ] •._.•´¯)

Opal was about to round the corner, tucking another parcel of 'lucky star' paper into her bag with the other pack when someone nearly ran right into her. She halted quick, wide eyed for a moment.

She blinked, taken a back for a moment. His words were rather soft spoken and he looked hesitant as it was. In some respects, Opal thought of him as a mouse.

Opal waved her hand, trying to say it was alright. She didn't have a pad of paper to write on and wasn't going to use her new origami paper just yet either.

Instead, she tugged her phone from her pocket and turned it on. It was easy to type out a message on the phone and show it to him.

'It's alright,' the message read, 'I wasn't looking where I was going either. My name's Opal. Who are you?'

Opal rocked on her heels than, a little nervous. She wasn't so used to interacting with others but she was friendly. Several years of harassment from school kids had left a mark. Regardless, she tried to make the best out of life.

Ashe shook her head a little, letting her hands drop to her sides. Basso would be inspecting that pocket watch for a minute or so, probably just to make sure it was the right one or that it was worth anything at all. Sometimes it was difficult to tell what he might be looking for when he said nothing no the matter but so far Ashe hadn't been turned down when she brought him what he'd asked.

Instead of commenting on Basso's statement she'd instead turned her attention to the other thief. There was a moment in which she offered a shrug in return. Basso had a habit of including everyone nearby in a conversation, if they were so necessary to it anyways. If this guy was worth his salt, and she had a feeling he was, then she wanted to figure out who he was and how good at the thieving game this guy was. It was becoming increasingly obvious that he wanted nothing to do with conversation though.

"Ah, lovely man," she said simply, clasping her hands behind her back as she waited. What she was waiting for Ashe couldn't say though. Sometimes Basso didn't mind a bit of chit chat and other days he had another job right from the get go.

Ashe spared a passing glance at Basso and his pet bird before turning back t to that other man again. It felt like she should know who he was but Ashe couldn't begin to figure out why. Had she heard his name somewhere before? Ashe would know if she could catch it.

"I hope you're not planning on kicking me out so soon now, Basso," she mentioned after a few seconds, turning away from the stranger for the first time.

----[x]----

Eugene didn't think too much of the fact that she wasn't saying anything. Maybe his babbling was putting her off or she just didn't like the look of him and wanted to leave as quickly as she could. Either option was entirely believable to Eugene anyways.

He blinked, watching as she tugged out a phone. Was she going to ignore him entirely now? His shoulders had slumped at that thought. Maybe if he hadn't chosen the thick-framed glasses he wore he might get more attention from girls. Maybe.. Eugene liked to think that was part of the reason anyways.

Surprise flitted over his face when she held the phone up, words already typed into place on the screen. Eugene wasn't sure what she was doing this for though he took care to read what she'd texted. Eugene furrowed his brow, glancing between her and the phone after a long minute had passed. He found he wasn't quite sure what to do or say now.

"Ugh, I'm-I'm Eugene," he stammered. He pointed at her phone before he continued to say, "any reason you're using that? N-Not that you need to answer that or anything!"

He cleared his throat then, ducking his head. His hood and glasses helped to shield his face from view, he was sure though he couldn't be sure if he wasn't being entirely off putting or not to Opal. Lots of girls his age didn't seem to think he was much to look at from what he'd gathered after all. Still, this girl hadn't ignored him entirely.

"Dorky name, I know," he said suddenly, rubbing the back of his head and nearly pulling his hood off.

Basso took his time with the watch though with the trinkets he was brought, this wasn't a surprise. More times then not, he wanted to be sure that what was delivered was not fake. One would have to be a rather inexperienced thief and Garrett had run into his share of those.

The young woman's attention turned to him again, however brief as it was. It seemed, like himself, she couldn't quite sit still.

He shot her a slight smirk though it wasn't much. At least she had a sense of humor. There were some in the past who were simply overly confident and took things far too seriously. While he could be much of the same, he at least relaxed a little as well.

"Well, you've both made the room feel cheery and warm," Basso taunted easily, a chuckle leaving him. He tucked the watch away. "Suppose I should be thankin' you for a job well done."

Basso waved her off easily, sparing a glance between the two. "Why would I shoo away such lovely company," he replied sarcastically, "Be nice to the girl Garrett. Who knows, maybe I'll make you work with this one."

Garrett shook his head in response. Basso knew very well how he worked though that didn't mean he was teamed up with another thief here and there.

"And you know very well I prefer working alone," Garrett answered, "though I suppose I'm not going to get much word in edge wise."

(¯´•._.• [ x ] •._.•´¯)

Opal had watched him, noting the way he ducked his head and looked so awkward. He seemed like such a shy one though she couldn't say entirely. It wasn't as if she knew him, after all. She could only really judge on appearance.

She nodded when he introduced himself, a grin tugging at her lips. When he'd asked about her way of communication, she started to type the answer. She was quick having gotten used to this through the years and showed him the phone again.

"I'm mute," the message read, "and not everyone knows how to sign, so this way makes it easier on everybody I 'talk' to."

Opal tugged the phone back, still trying to look friendly. Eugene seemed uncertain and while she couldn't blame him she had little intention of causing trouble. She was rather pleased, in fact. Without a voice, it was far too easy to keep to herself.

She took to typing in another message, trying to be quick before she showed it to him again.

"It's good to meet you though, Eugene," it read. She shrugged her shoulders pleasantly after the second line, "My parents decided to name me after a rock. I think we're both a little alright with the lame name thing."

As Basso handled the watch Ashe and her fellow thief had taken to eyeing each other. Though he kept his distance and noticeably had little to say to her he did smirk a little after her comment. If nothing else Ashe would count that as a small victory. If nothing else this stranger wasn't completely immune to any small charm she might have, truthfully Ashe didn't think it was much to begin with.

There wasn't much else said before Basso turned back to them, snarking on about the atmosphere that'd settled over the room. Ashe offered a lax shrug to that observation. Ashe held out her hands in a mock shrug, an accompanying nod of her head as if to say "oh well."

"Come on now, my sunshine-y face brightens any night, Basso," she shot back.

Her hands fell back to her sides after that, Basso going on about playing nice with each other. At the mention of being possibly put to work with this Garret Ashe's eyebrow raised. She knew that name well enough, he was the best thief in the City. 'Well, no wonder Basso's passing me over,' she mused. Ashe had to fight back the rush of inferiority that threatened to catch her up.

Glancing briefly at Garrett, Ashe said, "If I didn't know you were the one getting the good jobs I'd be more inclined to agree."

She offered a smaller shrug in return for the look she got for that comment. It was true enough though. Ashe was trying hard to prove herself to Basso around the City, but with the small jobs she kept getting it was proving difficult. It wasn't helping her any, especially so for her self-esteem.

----[x]----

Eugene could only wait while Opal fiddled with her phone, tapping the buttons at her own pace. She seemed like she'd done this for a long while with how at ease the motions looked as she did them. All the same Eugene couldn't imagine having to use a phone all the time to say what someone needed to say.

All at once she was holding the phone up to him to read, several inches away from his face though closer then he'd expected all the same. He flinched, blinking at her before realizing that there were new sentences on the phone. He took care to try to read it quickly but even then she'd turned it back to her to type something new in just as he reached the end.

"O-oh, I see," he stammered out again, feeling embarrassed. Maybe he shouldn't have asked after all.

The next message took her a little longer and Eugene found he could only wait. When she did reply he couldn't resist shaking his head. She thought Opal was a weird name? At least it was better than his! Heck, even Delsin's name sounded better to Eugene than his own.

Shaking his head, he said, "Opal doesn't sound like a dumb name though."

A moment after that Eugene shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling dumb for saying that alone. Maybe Opal didn't quite like her name and who was he to argue about that? To him it didn't sound so dorky though. If nothing else plenty of girls had rock names as far as he knew.

All he could do now was wait for her next answer, however long she took to type it up on the phone.

That familiar deep chuckle rang out again after the young woman spot. The banter was a good change of pace since Garrett's last job. He left this unmentioned for the time being.

When his name was brought up, Garrett spared her a glance. There was a note of understanding on her expression. Surely she had heard of his name. It wasn't so much of a surprise however.

Basso waved a hand easily, moving around his desk after she had spoken. "What better way to prove yourself then tagging along with a master thief, eh?" he asked.

Garrett snorted slightly in response. "The last time I tried to teach someone, Erin became the not so grand result," he argued in return, "thus why I remain wary of others tagging along."

Again, Basso easily pushed the comment off. It wasn't so much of a surprise anymore. The man had a way of convincing others. That was what Garrett had gotten used to through the years.

"Ashe, she is better," Basso defended easily, motioning toward the woman again, "a little bull headed, if you know what I mean, but takes her work seriously. Eh, Ashe?"

(¯´•._.• [ x ] •._.•´¯)

Opal rocked on her heels again, a bit of habit anymore. She grew antsy in one place. The DUPs being around so long left her especially so and getting out for fresh air was nice. If Eugene found the habit strange, he didn't say anything about it.

She shook her head, offering a light shrug in response. She was mute and there wasn't anything she could do to change that. She'd long since gotten used to it, the ridicule she received at times, and the way she had taken up communicating.

The disagreement of his name said a lot about him. Still, she worried that she'd done something wrong and looked to change the subject. She started trying to find something talk about when she noticed his shirt.

Carefully, she typed in another message before showing him the phone again, "You're a gamer, right? You like Heaven and Hellfire?" She smiled in hopes that that would gather his attention for a bit of conversation. "I've dabbled in it but I've never been very good."

No, those kinds of games she didn't have a lot of patience for. She dabbled more into Pokemon but did appreciate other games out there.

Basso didn't wait long before he was moving from behind his desk, ignoring the squawking Jenivere as he did. While Ashe knew she hadn't picked up some fake or look-alike to this particular watch it was a relief when Basso spotted nothing wrong with it. For as long as Basso had been her fence it had always been that way even when she was positive that she'd brought back exactly what was asked of her.

At Basso's insistence that she tag along on at least one job with Garrett she gestured to Basso and looked to the other man as if to reinforce Basso's point. While she felt better when she worked alone she couldn't deny that this was an opportunity for her. Perhaps if the master thief had a good opinion of her skills she might get some recognition for her hard work. There was nothing as hurtful as being passed over and ignored even if the people she was working with was just a small group of the whole City.

The mention of an Erin didn't help matters after that much. Ashe's brow furrowed and she glanced between Basso and Garrett, barely listening to what the first was saying now. She'd had a run-in with an Erin before, both of them going after the same painting they'd heard rumors about around the City and it hadn't ended well for Ashe.

"Now, wait," Ashe said, disregarding Basso's question entirely to instead gesture to Garret. All friendliness was gone from her now. "You trained Erin? My last encounter with an Erin left me with a group of guards to deal with on my own and a lame wrist."

Ashe didn't watch either man long for their reactions, instead running her hand over her mouth and closing her eyes. Her wrist had never really fully healed and it left her with several problems and pains when she worked on the jobs Basso handed her way. She'd never mentioned it, fearing she'd be given far fewer jobs or let go entirely. Whether or not Basso had any ideas of why she'd been more or less missing in action for nearly a month wasn't something that Ashe had snooped about for.

----[x]----

Eugene stood there, unsure of what to do now. Opal was fussing with her phone, looking at him and then at it. Maybe he should just get going before she just flat out told him to leave. He'd been waved off rudely or just dismissed entirely by pretty girls before and he didn't expect this to be any different. He'd at least made conversation with her, as short as it was.

Before he could excuse himself and hurry away Opal as holding her phone up again. He blinked, glancing over the message as quickly as he could. He read fast but she seemed to drop her phone when she expected someone to be done reading too. He wouldn't complain, Opal probably didn't want to hold it up until her arm got tired anyways.

"Uh, yeah! I'm-I'm pretty good at it," he said, glancing down to tug at his shirt, "maybe I might have seen your username before at some point."

It was unlikely but it at least gave him something to say. He wondered if he should keep talking about Heaven's Hellfire or not. Though she said she dabbled in it that didn't mean anything. Lots of people at least tried it because of a significant other played it or their friends did. For all he knew she might not even be big into any games.

"What did you think about it...?" he wondered, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Instead of replying to Basso's praise, Ashe had latched onto something else entirely. Garrett stepped back and began to wander again. He only paused briefly in thought before glancing at her again.

"I had a hand in her training, yes," he replied, "she never listened to me however and from what I've heard, still hasn't latched onto any of my teachings."

He paused, studying Ashe carefully. If she had a run in with Erin, there was little reason to explain how Erin acted. She was an arrogant woman.

Part of him was a little curious of what had happened. He kept that to himself however. Whatever had happened did effect her however. It was easy to tell from her reaction and annoyance.

Garrett shook his head. "It was a shame," he continued carefully, "she has potential but is overly confident."

"And why I keep pairing you two together," Basso added, glancing between the two, "You both need to patch things up eventually, eh?"

Garrett snorted in response, shaking his head. "That will not be happening anytime soon.

(¯´•._.• [ x ] •._.•´¯)

Opal grinned as the conversation turned for the better. She worried that maybe he thought she didn't want her around. In a way, she understood that. Some people just thought she was brushing them off when her motions were to simply show she was listening.

She tugged the phone back and started typing up her reply. She really did wish she had her notepad. Opal hadn't really expected to 'talk' with anyone either though.

"I don't know," it read, "It's been a long time since I've played. But my username is WhiteRabbitParadox."

Opal was a little proud of the name and it showed. She hated seeing the 'stupid' ones or the ones with numbers tacked on the end. She liked seeing the more original ones.

She nodded, waiting on him to finish up before she'd tug the phone back and repeat the process. "From what I played, I really liked it. I just never have the patience to keep myself going. I love the designs of the angels and demons. Admittedly, I used to summon them just to watch them. A little lame but I've seen people do worse." At the end, she had tacted on, "I play a lot of Pokemon too."

Garrett's answer did not help matters. Because Erin had refused to listen to whatever he'd taught her Ashe had difficulties to this day, even something as simple as drawing the bowstring back was painful most days. She didn't make any mention of that however, afraid that Basso would refuse to pass any more jobs her way if he found out. Ashe didn't know any other way to live other than lifting.

Instead of saying anything more Ashe just stood back and listened to the two men. From the sounds of it even Garrett had problems with Erin despite being her mentor. If not for Basso it sounded to Ashe like Garrett might have decided to cut his losses with Erin's teaching altogether without looking back.

"As enlightening as this has been," she interrupted, "the night is still young—kind of—you got any other jobs for me before I dash?"

As she mentioned leaving Ashe gestured to the nearby door, waiting like that for a long moment. If he had something later it was always a simple matter for Basso to send Jenivere with one of those small bricks, a message scrawled on the back of it. Even if the bird gave him trouble she was still a trustworthy messenger for sure.

Her gaze drifted from Basso to Garrett briefly, her eyes shadowed by her hood. The candlelight only stretched so far in this room after all and she'd stepped back a bit closer to the door. Basso usually didn't linger around too long before mentioning any new job, if he had any of course. Then again he could very well be waiting for Ashe to leave to give Garrett something too.

----[x]----

Opal was quick to type her answer though the username she gave wasn't one he was familiar with. He'd seen plenty of Alice in Wonderland themed usernames of all kinds but that one didn't ring any bells. Eugene shook his head, offering a shrug.

Without a further moment spared she'd taken great pains in typing out something new to him. Eugene stood back, hands in his pockets and waited as he had before. It seemed like it was a longer process this time around and he wondered why that was. Was there something particularly important that Opal wanted to tell him? Eugene couldn't imagine what it might be.

His gaze turned to those around him, still unsure of being around so many people. He'd gotten used to being looked down upon and even if Delsin had helped to ease the barrier between normal people and conduits there still was a lot of hostility towards conduits. Eugene could only wonder if it was people's fear of what they didn't understand or something else that kept that aggression alive or not.

Though a few eyes met his Eugene was quick to look away or duck his head. It wasn't until Opal held up her phone again did he turn back to her, ignoring the crowds that passed as best he could. Did any of them recognize him from the situation months ago? It wasn't all that long but then he had been mostly in his angel form to help Delsin too...

Opal's newest message wasn't very enlightening. The mention of the angels and demons in the game drawing her eye and then some mention of Pokémon. Eugene offered a shrug, unsure of the latter game. It wasn't like he'd dabbled in it often enough.

"I don't know much about that one," he pointed out, "wasn't much of a fan of the creature catching I guess..."

Ashe didn't appear pleased with the answer. Garrett could not say what had happened between her and Erin. Whatever it was, it must have been serious enough. She was frustrated though Garrett could not offer anything in terms of help.

Most of the conversation was push to the side in favor of another job. Ashe didn't want to linger on it and she must have had her reasons. Garrett decided not to pry into it. Surely simply asking Erin would get him enough answers. She ran her mouth quite a bit after all.

Basso waved her off easily at that, "not at the moment," Basso answered easily, "don't cause any trouble I wouldn't."

The man chuckled again, walking back toward his noisy bird. He'd be on his way soon enough, looking for other interests to attend to. That was the only reason Garrett had lingered for so long.

"Perhaps I'll be seeing you about," Garrett taunted slightly, a bit of teasing in his tone. If she had any amount of skill, he might be wrong.

(¯´•._.• [ x ] •._.•´¯)

Opal shuffled her weight a little. He must have been a bigger player, as unimpressed as he seemed. She tried not to let it discourage her. It'd been a long time since she'd actually clicked with someone, even if it was over minuscule things.

"Did you see the angels flying around here though?" came her next question. "And the one big one too. I wanted to come out and see what was going on but my parents were perfectly content in having me stay home.

She spared a glance around when he did. Was he looking for someone? It hadn't taken him long to duck his head again. Maybe he was just an anxious one. It was hard to say.

Still, she bobbed her head in reply, typing in another message, "It's not for everyone, I guess. Some probably find it mundane," at the end, she tacked on, "Are you waiting for someone? You keeping looking around. Am I keeping you from anything?"

Opal didn't want to hold him up if that was the case. That would be rude and for all she knew, he didn't want her company. It was quite a bit of assumption but she didn't have a lot to go on either.

Basso wasted no time in denying have any jobs to pass along at this point in time. That was well and good now that she knew there was at least a slim chance of being put on one with the master thief of the city later on. At least, she hoped Basso hadn't been blowing hot air about that just to get under Garrett's skin...

"Basso, you don't cause enough trouble sometimes," Ashe pointed out teasingly. With that she clasped her hands lightly and stepped closer to the door. No sense in lingering here for the time being. "With that said you know where to find me."

Her steps were light along the stone floor, halting only when Garrett called out after her. She hadn't expected him to say anything further, in fact he seemed intent on saying only what he felt was needed. At least that was what Ashe had observed of him in those few minutes. Glancing over her shoulder she spotted the lanky man standing where he had been the entire time, arms folded over his chest.

Despite herself, the annoyance at the recollection of meeting Erin washed away and she scoffed in amusement. Only a moment had passed before she started off again, waving over her shoulder.

"Only so many places in the city to hide in," she called back before she was out the door.

It was a simple matter to slip out of the alley by the Crippled Burrick after that, heading to the place she called home. It honestly wasn't much, just some abandoned building and sooner or later she'd have to pack up and move when someone in the city expressed interest in tearing it down or repurposing it. Until then it was the closest she had to a real home and at least it was a roof over her head.

----[x]----

Eugene shuffled, uncomfortable at the change of topic. Of course he'd seen the angels, he'd been the cause of those! Well, that and Delsin on one or two rare occasions when he was in a pinch. People still weren't entirely friendly about conduits here, he'd rather not mention any of that out in the open. Opal might have felt safer considering she didn't exactly speak like others did.

"I caught a glimpse on the news," he said evasively, offering a shrug as he did.

From the corner of his eye he spotted her glancing around when he did and his heart leaped into his throat. Was he being too obvious? He didn't like being out here, just standing out in the open. In truth, Eugene would be more at home when he was back at his computer, a mouse in one hand and the keyboard shortcuts at his fingertips.

He shook his head, taking a moment to push his glasses back up afterwards. "N-no, I'm just not a... a people person..."

That wasn't entirely a lie though not entirely truthful either. It was complicated, he decided. He didn't mind people but didn't have the social skills anymore to feel comfortable talking to them for long periods of time, especially so with the last few years of conduits being treated like they were lower than human. Not to mention he did better at interaction when there was some kind of device transferring all the words or images.

There was a long pause then as Opal took the time to answer him. He shuffled his feet, keeping his eyes on his shoes for the most part now. Maybe it was better if he just stared at them instead of glancing around so obviously like he had been.

Garrett hadn't expected much in reply but what he got was promising. Her steps were light, proving to him that she might be far more skilled than Erin was. That was a relief in and of itself.

Then there was what happened between her and Erin. That was something he was rather curious about.

It was pushed aside for the night. He had a job to attend to now and that was his focus. No sooner had Ashe left did he follow. The night went by quickly as he hunted down what Basso had asked for.

Returning it the next night, I found some solace in stealing minor things. Just little trinkets left laying about as if the owners really felt they would be protected there.

A scoff left him as he paused for a moment, toying with a rather pretty little necklace in his hand. People really weren't smart. If they wanted to keep these trinkets protected, they would have put them in a safe.

It wasn't like those were stopping him either, however.

Pocketing the necklace he moved on just as quietly as before. No one would know he was there and they would be missing a fair few of their belongs to boot.

(¯´•._.• [ x ] •._.•´¯)

He seemed nervous, more so then before, when she mentioned the angels. She didn't inquire as to why. Whatever it was, she wrote it off as a trivial matter and nothing more. What business was it of hers, anyways?

Regardless, she bobbed her head in a nod when he did answer her other question. Opal could understand that. She had hung around people much like him and even she was nervous around some of them. Years of unable to defend herself verbally took their toll.

She quickly typed a message up in response. She didn't want to hang around here if so many people made him uncomfortable. Maybe there was a better place they could go.

"We could find a quieter place, maybe?" the message would read, "or, if you're in a hurry, we could exchange numbers?"

Opal wasn't sure if she was coming off too strong or demanding. She tried not to fidget nervously. It was hard making too many connections with people when they found out she couldn't talk. Not that it wasn't impossible, she did have a few friends. Still most didn't want to wait around for her to type or write something in response to what they had said.

The day after had passed uneventfully and the evening that followed was quiet. Jenivere had not been sent out to find Ashe and no little bricks littered the splintered windowsill when she looked. So without much else to see to Ashe took to the rooftops, picking around a few windows here or there. Once or twice she broke in, prying the window in question up enough to slip inside. A few trinkets worth taking could be found in even the most dreary of houses, at least usually.

A few hours passed in this manner, the pouches at her belt weighed down a little more than they had been before. In the place of the more expensive things she stole Ashe made sure to leave a feather behind, a calling card of sorts. With Garrett running around and dominating the jobs Basso had to give Ashe had to be a little creative to become memorable in the eyes of the city collective.

Now she sat on the edge of one of the higher roofs, clear out of sight of any guards on patrol. Between her fingers she twirled one of her remaining feathers. It was a dull thing, black and probably from a crow. Her favorite feathers were kept tucked neatly away for her collection.

If it weren't for the fact that her wrist had begun to ache badly enough to draw tears from her Ashe might have continued along for the night. At least one more house had been her goal but even that had to be put on hold. It still ached, the throb seemingly in synch with her heart beat. Ashe did her best to ignore it, toying with the feather instead. It didn't work as well as she would have liked.

Perhaps a little childishly she swung one of her legs back and forth as she waited for the pain to lessen enough to continue on. The way into her 'home' was through the rooftops after all.

----[x]----

He was finding it hard to sit still but then he always did when there wasn't a controller in his hand anymore. Perhaps he'd grown more anxious than he'd though he had. Eugene kept his hands shoved in his pockets for the duration of the conversation to boot.

Only when she'd held up her phone for him to read her next answer did Eugene's fidgeting lessen. It was a little hard to read when one was bouncing on the balls of his feet. His heart leapt into his throat; was he being too obvious? Maybe this was why people liked to pick on him. It wasn't like Eugene had any sort of confidence in reality to make them stop, it made him an easy target he guessed.

"I think I'm late to co-op with a few buddies on Heaven's Hellfire," he said, trying to explain away his fidgety behavior, "maybe if you still have the game and pop it in I could find you there."

To say he was a pretty well-known player was something of an understatement. He did his best to keep younger and newer players from being PK'd as it was and so he often had a few party members to rely on every day. All the same he sought out his own phone, digging through his pockets for it. He never seemed to stick it in the same one.

"W-What's your number thought? Just in case you don't have it or something," he stammered, feeling weird to be adding a new phone number to his contacts list.

Garrett moved along the rooftops easily. They were familiar to him. Being up here, it was something of a comfort. Here, he could see and witness everything down below. That's how he liked it.

He paused, catching a dark spot out of the corner of his eye. Another figure sat in wait, kicking her legs back and forth. As Garrett approached, it didn't take him long to realize who the figure was.

"I suppose you're done for the evening?" he asked carefully making his way toward her. The slate rooftops were damp with dew but he didn't slip, "Funny. I'd have normally seen you go around until dawn and sometimes, even longer than that."

Garrett sat down beside her, toying with the necklace he had snatched. He'd make a good profit on it when he could. They were little pickings. It would be good all the same.

"Something the matter?" he inquired after a brief moment, "Or is all getting to be too much to keep up with?"

A light taunt here and there wasn't out of his character. It was in some way, a little bit of goading. They sometimes had contests to see who could steal the most or make the most profit. In some sense, this was no different then those times.

(¯´•._.• [ x ] •._.•´¯)

Opal didn't want him to be so nervous. He was the jumpy type, not so much a people person it seemed. In that regard, she would try not to rush him. Opal was well aware she could come off as a little too quick when she had to shove a message in someone's face every time she wanted to talk.

When he did respond, it seemed a little rushed as well. She listened intently, easily able to do that much. He offered her to play a game with him later if she could. Opal nodded, sparing him a large smile. She wouldn't have minded that at all.

She quickly typed up a message. It didn't take her long to hit all of the buttons. She'd become used to this form of communication a long while ago.

'I would love that,' she had typed, 'It'll be a shame though. I won't be able to do too much talking there. But I think I can deal with that.'

She pulled it back only for a moment to jot down her number. This time, she wrote it on a piece of origami paper. It was an easy task to fold it into a little bird. With that, she took his hand a placed the bird into the palm of it.

Opal grinned at the confused expression on his face. Opal patted his hand before she would turn and head on home herself. She would do her best to get one when she could. Making a new friend seemed like such a hard thing. She was happy to make just one, even if he was a little awkward.

The night was quiet, barely anyone venturing this far across the roofs tonight. In a way Ashe took solace in this. For the most part she’d been able to hide away her weak wrist since the original injury had healed but if Basso got word about it he might just hold off on any good jobs because of it.

Lost in her thoughts, twirling a feather between her fingers for something to do, Ashe was unaware of the soft footsteps behind her. It wasn’t until a somewhat familiar voice rang out did she jerk, turning to blink at the dark figure. What little skin was exposed was very pale in the moonlight and he kept his distance.

“Seeing me around?” she echoed, ignoring the fact that Garrett had caught her off guard so easily. “Keeping an eye on me then?”

The last question was more of a taunt than anything else. She hadn’t struck Garrett as the type to keep any sort of attention on her, especially after their impromptu meeting at Basso’s. Perhaps she’d struck more of a first impression than she’d thought originally. Then again, many thieves took to the rooftop ‘highways’ too, it was quite possible he’d seen her up here time and again from afar and she’d not realized it.

Ashe shook her head as Garrett interrogated her further. A pang of fear ran through her for a short second. An irrational though it might have been but for a moment she worried that he might have somehow known about her wrist.

“Oh, please,” she commented in an off-hand manner. “Just giving others a chance for a good find or two is all!”

It was a little surprising to see that Garrett hadn’t taken the chance to wander off just yet. It was well-known that he took to keeping to himself whenever possible. It’s what made it so hard to get to know him much less glimpse him most of the time.

----[x]----

Eugene waited patiently for Opal’s answer, aware that she might need to take some time to type out a reply. It wasn’t like she could just talk and make things smoother. No, there had to be these lulls in conversation with her. In a way, Eugene didn’t mind this too much other than the fact that it kept him out in the open like this for longer than he’d like. It was a nice pause to breath at least.

He blinked, jerking in surprise when she held up the phone as quickly as she did. Opal had obviously had practice using this method to communicate.

A small smile appeared on his lips when he read the answer. At least she wasn’t snubbing him. It had been a long time since a girl paid much attention to him. Someone as cute as Opal definitely caught his attention, especially so when she was so friendly!

“Ah, there’s always the chat windows in the game you can use,” Eugene mentioned, rubbing the back of his neck. It did little good when he had his hood up like normal, the cotton fabric meeting his fingers instead of skin and hair. “At least it should still be a feature in the game…”

He watched as she pulled her phone away only to tug out a sheet of paper. It was a colorful scrap—all bright pink with lighter flowers spread over one side of it—and on this she jotted down what must’ve been her number before handing it over to him. Eugene felt his heart skip a beat as he glanced down at the number. It didn’t look fake.

Grinning up at her he suddenly felt lighter than air, having a cute girl’s number in his hand. ’And one who plays Heaven’s Hellfire too!’ he reminded himself giddily.

“A-Ah! Walk home safely!” he called after when she started off, having patted his hand before she did so. Only when she was out of sight did Eugene start off, finding the place he called his home nowadays. He’d feel more at ease when he was in front of a monitor, the room lit up by the glow of it.

Garrett walked along the rooftop carefully. He snorted to her light hearted response. It was a bit of a game, taunting each other continuously. If anything, he had some amount of respect in her. There was no reason not to, at least, not in his view.

"Maybe," he answered easily, sparing her a glance. A small smirk tugged at his lips at that. Of all things, she still seemed to be in a good mood.

He saw a flicker of something flash across Ashe's face. Panic, fear? it was something of a mixed thing. Garrett couldn't find it in him to blame her. If things hadn't gone so wrong, she would be at top shape. She had been injured near beyond repair.

He shook his head, trying to push the thought aside. At least that upbeat tone returned. Ashe recovered quickly and that was important in their profession. She knew what she was doing despite her injury.

Garrett offered a chuckle in response to her words. He liked that side of her, something to keep up with. The woman always had a bit of a spark to her, after all.

"I'm sure that's the case," he replied, crossing his arms. He glanced out at the city, listening to some of the voices that echoed below before he spoke again, in a teasing manner, "They'll have to learn how to keep up, then. One of the best thieves around and she's not even at full health. Of course, I could beat you any day, well or not."

(¯´•._.• [ x ] •._.•´¯)

He looked a little relieved when she handed over her phone number. She had every intention in finding him during the game when she could. Things weren't entirely too busy at home. Opal would find the time when she could. Besides, it wasn't as if she has a whole lot to occupy her time otherwise.

Opal nodded in response to his words. At least they'd be able to chat that way, even if it took a moment for her to type out her responses. Even if there was something that took time, she was still happy.

As she started back down the street, Opal heard him call out about staying safe. She turned, giving a brief wave and a smile before carrying on her way. She found herself smiling as she went. It was nice to make a connection with someone. It seemed like a long time since she had a chance to...

Opal shook it from her mind, carrying on home. She heard a lot of conversation as she went. Some were buzzing about the conduits. Opal never really understood why those people were so persecuted. There were some bad ones but...not all of them, right?

The rest of the way home was mostly in her silent thoughts. It wasn't as if she could stop and really chat with many people so most days, she wandered when she was bored. This was no different but now, she had something more to look forward to when she got there.

With that thought, she hurried on home. Doing a little gaming before night time wouldn't hurt anyone. Besides, she was excited to talk to Eugene. He didn't seem like a bad guy, just a little bit shy. Opal sometimes found good people that way.

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