Closed [The Spot] A Favor to Ask (Hayl)

[Yoona]

58th Day of Summer, 514 AV

Yoona wasn't one to enjoy taverns and the like. The allure of good food, good drinks, and potentially-good company didn't draw the Chaktawe woman to the nearest bar like it seemed to draw others, the ones who were more susceptible to their need for companionship or desire to wash away their troubles with a swig of alcohol. She could find good food anywhere, had no particular taste for drinks, and had no want of companionship. Bars were usually loud and rowdy, anyway, filled with all sorts of unsavory characters and eventual drunkards whose mouths and hands would develop minds of their own. And while there was no doubt in Yoona's mind that she could best a few men during a brawl, she didn't want to be bothered.

On this day, however, she was choosing to make an exception to her unspoken rule. On this day, she would willingly head into a tavern, but not to drink herself silly or beat some over-confident brute to a pulp. Yoona was seeking help, for a job that she knew she wouldn't be able to do on her own. And if what the townspeople said was true, then The Spot would be the perfect place for her to find someone willing to offer their assistance.

Ruki had been against the idea as soon as she'd told it to him, and he made sure to voice his displeasure as they made their way there.

"I just don't understand," the hyena said as he trotted alongside Yoona, his head lowered. "It'd be so much easier to just run over there and do it yourself. One of these bozos will probably charge you. You don't have any money!"

'For your information, I do have money,' she retorted, giving him a narrow-eyed glare. 'It's just not with me. When I have my things back, I'll have my money, too, and then I'll happily pay the person. It shouldn't cost much.'

"You don't know that..."

Choosing not to reply to that, Yoona kept her eyes focused on the road, or rather the sidewalk, ahead. Not too far in the distance, she could just make out the floating building, its outer walls looking ragged and old, but the seemingly-constant flow of people going in and out of its front doors convinced her that it wasn't abandoned. Quite the opposite, really. The people she overheard every now and then seemed to praise the place.

Chimes later, the Chaktawe woman walked into the tavern with her chin tipped up a little, a certain skeptical glaze falling over her void-like eyes as she briefly scanned the interior. It was bustling with activity, as she'd thought, with barmaids wandering to-and-fro, mugs clutched in their hands. Ruki decided to sit down next to her, taking a few looks around for himself before he looked up at her. "So, what do we do now?"

'That depends. Which one of these men in here looks like a thief to you?'

The hyena tilted his head a little at her, his ears perked straight up. Then he turned and swept his eyes over every able body in the vicinty, seeming to eye in particular the men who were the most buff and battle-scarred. There were plenty of them, too, but they all seemed to be invested in their drinks. That was when Ruki's eyes fell upon a somewhat-tall fellow who was sitting by himself at a nearby table. He had his head down, so it was hard to see his face, but when the guardian narrowed his eyes at him he could just see the glimmer of the thin, metal chain that hung around his neck. How curious...

Ruki motioned toward the man with his head. "How about that guy? Looks pretty thief-ish to me."

Yoona followed the hyena's gesture and blinked at the man in question. Interesting-looking. He was bound to know something about thieves, if he wasn't in the profession himself. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

With her mind made up, the Chaktawe woman headed over to the man, her arms crossed against her chest. She wasn't the best at negotiating, but if this stranger was willing to hear her out then she was sure that she'd make it worth his while. Yoona understood the concept of paying people back for their good deeds. ...in certain circumstances. If he got the job done without being a jerk, for one, or at least pointed her in the right direction.

Stopping in front of him but keeping a distance of about a foot and a half, Yoona was quiet for a moment before she spoke to him. "Excuse? I have favor to ask, but I need to see a...what's word...professional person for it. A person who can take things. A thief. Do you know any?"

"Tawna" | "Common" | 'Thoughts' | Ruki

[Hayl]

This is why Hayl loved this city. He could sit in a chair, watch the chaos assume around him, and from the disarray a foreign women with interesting eyes approach him about stealing in broken common. He just sat there and smiled admiring the beauty. Not specifically the girl, although he would let her think so, but the beauty of the situation. In one sentence, if you could call it that, she presented him with so many exciting opportunities. Once he felt he relished the moment long enough (perhaps on the threshold of creepy) he finally opened his mouth and spoke. “I’m going to take a wild shot and assume you are not from around here.”He may come off as a jerk after all. “Is there a name behind those scary eyes, or should I just call you creeper peeper?” Regardless if she didn’t like the name, Hayl would call her that in his own mind. Whatever retort she gave Hayl he would continue the conversation addressing the core of her question. “This establishment is breaming of patrons who excel in the larceny commerce.” He was probably using the most complicated multi-syllable words he could think of to confuse her. Alienation is the key to understanding one’s weakness. Maybe incompetency in Common would put the girl in mild discomfort. “In fact you should consider yourself lucky that someone has grace yourself with their skills seeing as your pockets are empty.” He made this comment with different expectations. 1. If someone actually lifted her items, she would not only be desperate but impressed with Hayl for being so insightful. (At least he would think she would.) 2. If she stuck her hand in her pocket and realized that Hayl was wrong, he would play it up as a joke to get her to relax and take a mental note which pocket she checked because that one must be where her most valuable possession is due to her quick reaction reassure herself.3. If she didn’t budge because she knew everything was as it should be in her pockets, the thief would then realize that she is smarter than she looks and would be more cautious in any further conversing with her. “I not only know many good thieves...” a lie, people find him hard to socialize with for some reason, common interests or not, “I know the best thief.” He would be referring to himself if/when she pressed him about, but that is another lie of course. “I know him so well you could meet him this very minute.” He sat back, crossed his arms, and awaited the girl to eat up every word he said as if Hayl were Rhysol himself.

[Yoona]

A smile came upon the man's face, and Yoona found herself narrowing her eyes at him, offput by the otherwise small and meaningless action. He didn't seem smug, nor did she think that he was placing himself above her—the Chaktawe woman was more than prepared to knock any such silly thoughts of superiority out of his head. It was simply an out-of-place, uncalled for smile.

Yoona decided right then and there that she didn't like him.

The feeling was only amplified as he continued to talk to her, pointing out the obvious in saying that she was a stranger to the city and making an annoying quip about her eyes. As tempted as she was to snap at him for that, her mind already roiling with the bits and pieces of Common that she knew would suffice, the Chaktawe woman pushed the urge aside and chose, instead, to stay quiet as he spoke. The seemingly bottomless voids of her eyes spoke for her, however, burning with an annoyance that bordered on anger as she stared at him.

“This establishment is beaming of patrons who excel in the larceny commerce," the man said, and Yoona wondered for a brief moment if he was intentionally trying to make her want to hit him. And gods, did she want to.

Then he commented about her lack of funds, and Yoona raised an eyebrow at him, her arms still crossed over her chest. 'Lucky guess,' the Chaktawe woman mused. 'Or maybe he assumes that I couldn't possibly have my own money, given how strange and out-of-place I look...people like me could only ever be slaves, couldn't we?'

She didn't check her pockets. She did, however, continue to stare at him as she said, in an impatient tone, "I have money. This none of your business, though; you don't need it, unless you're a thief. And if you know one like you say, tell me who it is. No games. This is important."

There were plenty of other things that Yoona could have said. Plenty of other things that she, quite frankly, wanted to say. But she held her tongue, difficult as it was; she wanted to speak with a thief, and had no intentions of wasting her time with people who wanted to be nuisances.

"Tawna" | "Common" | 'Thoughts' | Ruki

[Hayl]

“Well you are in luck.” The bold thief declared. “I am the greatest thief that you will find in this dark city.” He would openly admit that he wasn’t to any other individual but for some reason this girl seemed that she needed the best burglar and Hayl would take advantage of that desire by any means necessary to see what she could really offer. One thing that cautioned him about her though, was that either her pockets were already empty or she was wise enough to not check them. This could mean that she was one step ahead of Hayl and knew his techniques to pick-pocket her, or that she was simply robbed and looking for a thief to steal her stuff back. He started to lean towards the latter. “I can’t help but tell you are frustrated with your seemingly recent adjustments to the estranged and vivacious settings known in this aqueous city. But I caution you in your emotional inner quarrels declaring you to practice tolerance in said notion of prejudicial antagonism towards this metropolitan and its inhabitants.” Hayl would wait to see the frustration mull over her face to the cusp of near violence before he would break character and finally throw the poor girl a bone. “Alright alright, I’m only playing with you. No one can really be taken seriously who talks like that.” Hayl admitted the obvious. He thought better than to push her buttons any further. He had made the mistake before in pissing off strange women. After having his fun it was time to get the core of the matter and see if he could really profit from this situation. He took a moment and looked the strange girl over again. He recognized how large she was fleetingly but never really let it set in till now. “You are a tall glass-bucket of water, aren’t you?” As crude as he was, Hayl’s mother taught him how to respect a women and not stare at her…features, though this lady made it pretty hard. He would typically force himself to be focused on a women’s eyes so his own would not wonder, but the midnight black orbs staring back at him made that even hard. So the “City’s greatest thief” locked onto her mouth and watched the frowning lips fluctuate with emotion as the conversation continued. That would be his best shot at a window to her emotions. “I’m always for helping visitors to the city, seeing as how I used to be one myself, and please don’t let my brash behavior sway you in another direction. It simply is a test to see if you are worth my time, and I feel you are.” A lie spoken quick enough to keep her wanting to talk… perhaps. “My name is Hayl, how could I aid you in resolving you troubles.” He bit his lip remembering too late to scale back the vocabulary. She surely couldn’t have survived this long though without understanding most of the words Hayl had just said. He hoped for the best and held out his hand, "I don't think I caught your name?"

[Yoona]

'The greatest thief in all of Ravok, eh...? What a braggart,' Yoona mused, merely blinking at the man as he spoke of himself in high esteem. Truthfully, though, she didn't mind whether or not he was full of himself. He could sing his own praises however long and loud he desired; the Chaktawe woman simply needed a capable thief, and if he claimed to be one then she had found the person that she needed, however annoying he already seemed.

When the self-proclaimed thief continued, his speech suddenly morphed into an inane babble that nearly sent Yoona over the edge. Her patience was wearing thin with the man, and she doubted that he could see just how close her was to sending her off the deep end with his confusing words and intentionally-confusing syllable groups. For a brief moment, the Chaktawe woman considered countering by switching to her native tongue; surely it'd bother him if she only spoke in Tawna and refused otherwise, forcing him into the same, vulnerable position that he seemed keen on forcing her into. She decided against it, however, figuring that it wouldn't accomplish much, nor make him any less of a nuisance.

If anything, Yoona supposed that she'd need to begin to tolerate the thief. If they were to "work" together to get her little task done, she'd have to at least make herself suppress the urge to hit him.

“Alright alright, I’m only playing with you. No one can really be taken seriously who talks like that,” the man said a moment later, and Yoona, again, said nothing, a single eyebrow raised, her arms still crossed. Gods, the man was chatty. Did he enjoy standing here talking with her, antagonizing her? Was that all he ever did with his clientele?

Then the man's eyes went wandering. The Chaktawe woman bristled, far too familiar with the occurrence. While shamelessly staring wasn't something limited to men—Yoona had caught a few women observing her, once—there was certainly a way in which the male gender prioritized the "oddities" that tended to capture their attention. It bothered her,, one way or another. "Skip useless talk, thief," she growled after an annoyingly long moment of silence, narrowing her void-like eyes at him.

To her surprise, he obliged and introduced himself. Hayl...? 'And I'm told that my name is odd.'

Then the man offered her his hand. Yoona, still obviously mistrustful of him, stared down at the outstretched, pseudo-offering of peace, and didn't react for a few ticks before slowly taking it and giving it a few, hearty shakes. "Yoona," the Chaktawe woman said, ultimately deciding that there was no more harm in telling him her name. If he didn't want to deal with her and her offer, he would have shooed her away, by now. And thus a willingness to listen, fueled by hopes of profit or otherwise, merited some decent treatment. Yoona was stubborn, but at least respected this.

She then took a breath, and told him of her proposal.

"My old master," Yoona began, her tone especially brittle with the word "master." "Has some things in a knapsack. A Stryfe soldier, Isaac. You probably no know him. But yes, the knapsack, with my things inside. I want them back, but I no can go and ask him for it. He...he's stubborn. Very stubborn. And no longer my master. So, you go to man's house and steal back my things. I pay you when I get knapsack back. Easy, yes?"

It probably wasn't, but Yoona assumed that it would be for the greatest thief in the city.

"Tawna" | "Common" | 'Thoughts' | Ruki

[Hayl]

[center]

If Hayl had been sipping his drink when Yoona said the word Stryfe, he would have probably spit it all over her face. He let her finish talking, or attempting to talk, as he pieced her broken language together in his mind earnestly hoping that there could be a chance for miss-communication. “What did you just get yourself into.” He mumbled softly to himself. He has two options: swallow his pride or perform a miracle.

Hayl brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes, he became instantly tired. “You mind telling me how a foreigner becomes apprentice to a Stryfe soldier when she can barely speak common?” he asked her hoping that there was still some communication error in the impracticality of the circumstance. “You do realize that I consider myself a resident-“He wouldn’t use the word citizen, Hayl tries to be as literal as he can “-and would like to keep my head attached to my shoulders while I live in the great city. Let’s say I agree to steal from the “Ebonscourge” and put my neck out on the line for you. You better have some serious compensation for me.” The audacity of the request seemed to get under his skin for some reason. Some foreign woman walks into this city, obviously ignorant to the culture since she can’t keep her valuables on her, and assumes that asking the first respectable looking individual she finds to clean up her mess. Maybe he should decline her on principle. Maybe he should find a way to take advantage of her for being so stupid.

What Hayl was really coming to terms with was the fact that he had never attempted something so risky before. Stealing from fruit-stands and pickpocketing drunks at taverns was a modest way to get by, but Hayl always viewed himself as a great thief. He just didn’t have the experience to back it up yet. He felt pretty confident in himself, but the thought of posters with his face littering the city or eating liquid moldy food in a prison cell not much larger than a coffin, made him nervous. Still, one of these days the thief would have to subdue his fear and obtain his infamy.

“Let us also say that if I were to agree, what should I know about this Isaac? If you were to steal from him, when or where would you do it? What is a weakness or a trait I could take advantage of from him?” Maybe the next bit of information he got from her would help sell him on the job.

[/center]

[Yoona]

Yoona practically bristled at the self-proclaimed thief's question. Loathe as she was to let herself slip into the confines of stereotypes and ignorant assumptions, now was probably a good moment for all of those ill-conceived things to work in her favor. Did the man honestly think that she looked like an apprentice? He'd already called her out on being a foreigner; naturally, his mind should have led him down the rest of that path. And she was pretty sure that she'd referred to Isaac as her "master," despite how much she'd needed to force the word out. 'Seems as though someone doesn't like to listen...'

On the subject of compensation, the Chaktawe woman settled for a nod, her fingers impatiently tapping on the bronze-tinged skin of her arms. Perhaps it was all some sort of protocol—Yoona imagined that dealing with people when one could offer certain services wasn't an easy task, especially when money was concerned. After all, Hayl didn't know her, and for all he knew she could take it upon herself to withhold his payment once the deed was done. But Yoona was, aside from other, less savory things, a woman of her word. She didn't lie unless it was absolutely necessary, such as during situations where her life was threatened. And as far as money was concerned, Yoona didn't have much use for it as it stood. There weren't many advantages to being a slave, but the Chaktawe woman was beginning to realize that not having to pay for one's self was pretty good.

At the same time, she needed to guard what little pocket change she actually owned. That handful of Mizas was in her knapsack, along with a dagger that she'd payed for by taking from that handful, and some other, less important things.

Hayl went silent after a moment, presumably thinking some things over. 'Gods...! All I need to know is if he can do it or not. If he can, then wonderful, we're in business. If he can't, I'll just go someplace else and ask for help. How hard is it to say "yes" or "no"?'

Finally, the man spoke, but only to ask a question that Yoona hadn't been expecting. 'A weakness...?' The impatient glare that had settled onto the Chaktawe woman's face ebbed away, replaced with a genuine confusion. Weaknesses...did the Stryfe soldier even have any? He was a cold, stiff individual, who never really did things unless they benefited him in some way. He was also loyal, and probably stood somewhere on the spectrum between worshipper and religious fanatic. Could that be exploited...?

"Well, he..." Yoona began, but promptly trailed off, not knowing how to continue. It took a few ticks for her to speak, again. "Night too risky, since he very serious about sleep...but, maybe...maybe, during the day...? Most mornings, Isaac out doing Stryfe business. I don't know what. None of it important, really; his home is empty during day, so he shouldn't catch you."

Then something seemed to occur to Yoona, and the glare returned. She shook her head at Hayl, saying "No more 'let's say". You help me, yes or no? I go to someone else if this too much for you. A greater thief."

The last comment was an intentional jab at his ego. At this point, with how unnecessarily long he was taking to make a simple decision, Yoona wasn't sure she cared about making him angry.

"Tawna" | "Common" | 'Thoughts' | Ruki

[Hayl]

[center]

Hayl locked eyes onto her dark ones. A glare resonated as he felt the pang of her challenge. Perhaps an awkward second ticked by before allowed a small smirk grow on his lips. She managed to stir him with broken common. He started to realize that he was underestimating her and he gained a small liking to her because of it.

“Alright, yes. I’ll do it.” He waited for a moment, still not taking his eyes off of hers, “But here’s the deal, and future advice you shouldn’t take lightly. I would advise against becoming so frustrated with people you are asking favors for, especially if you don’t have anything to offer them.” At this point he gathered she could have little. The lack of response towards his questioning her “apprenticeship” would mean she is a slave. Though Hayl wouldn’t tell her right now, she gained some respect for being so. Since she is a slave, however, she probably has few things of value to the thief. “You may also want to be a little forth-coming of your status. You won’t find any pity in this city as a slave, but people would be less inclined to target you, if you explain you are not in a voluntary relationship with any member of the Stryfe. Finally, just because I agreed to fix your problem, don’t mistake my kindness for naivety. If I smell the slightest hint that there is foul play in your request and you are trying to cut my head off when I put my neck on the line for you… you won’t be able to walk a plank in this city without a dagger trying to find your kidney.” He was bluffing. If he were to die, there were few who would miss him enough to exact revenge. If he were to live… well he tried his hand at murder once, and swore from it since.

Hayl stood slowly and held his hand out for her. Honor wasn't something the thief practiced, but he knew that others swore by it. “I guess we will find out how reliable a foreigner from your lands is at her word.” Hayl said to her face. She would be setting the palate for the thief’s interpretation of the race as she is the first of her kind he has met.

At this point Hayl would let her offer up any more information, though from what she struggled to produce before he assumed there was not much more.

[/center]

[Yoona]

“Alright, yes. I’ll do it.”

The words nearly brought a relieved sigh from the Chaktawe woman, but she managed to keep her expression blank as she continued to stare at the man. He'd finally agreed to her offer, and all it'd taken was a few chimes of testy words, some over-complicated language, and a reasonably large amount of glaring. Yoona would never verbally admit it, but deep within the recesses of her being she actually worried over finding someone else to help her, had the thief decided to say "no" and send her on her way. No one was obligated to help her by default, but the Chaktawe woman was in no position, nor was she desperate enough, to beg or bargain for assistance from others. If there was to have been any sort of last resort, it would have been that she'd go ahead and attempt to take her things back by herself. And with no prior experience with sneaking into people's homes, let alone doing it while staying undetected, such a risky move would have most certainly been a death wish for her.

Hayl spoke some more, and Yoona found herself mentally questioning whether or not the man could hear himself whenever he said things. 'And just how would people know that I had anything to do with a Stryfe soldier, to begin with...? Unless I told them of my own free will, or I just so happened to be asked about such a thing...neither of which I see as likely.'

He went on, attempting to threaten her on the off-chance that she decided to turn around and betray him. Yoona rolled her eyes at this, terribly tempted to say that she didn't have the patience, nor the motives, for betrayal.

And then came the oh-so-glorious, prize-winning phrase of the day:

“I guess we will find out how reliable a foreigner from your lands is at her word.”

Yoona actually laughed, this time, an impulsive hiccup of a chuckle escaping her lips. But it was a dry one, devoid of all humor, and faded from her face within a few ticks. Looking down, she stared at the man's hand for a moment before grabbing it and giving him a hardy shake. Then she pulled her hand back, visibly none-too-happy about the gesture. "Alright, then. We go now," the Chaktawe woman said promptly afterward, already turning on her bare heels to go trotting out the way she came.

She stopped by the entrance a moment later and peered back into the bar, raising an eyebrow at the thief.

"Tawna" | "Common" | 'Thoughts' | Ruki