Solo Old Habits

[Saul Sticks]

Old Habits 35th of Spring, 516 AV The day was warm, warmer than winter had been, and Saul felt the pleasant glow of the sun on his neck as he watched his shadow in front of him. It wasn’t as tall as some, but its shoulders were definitely broader than most. Next to his was a much smaller shadow perched on top of a post on one log with its arms spread to keep its balance. This shadow and the person casting it were as much of his shadow as his own. She was never not around, except perhaps when he was at the taverns. He looked over at his niece, her messy blond hair hanging in front of her face as she kept her balance. “Hey, Brat, be careful. I don’t want to fish you out of the sea.” He didn’t know whether or not she could even swim, even though she had been living with him for three years. His sister Sasha would know. She seemed to know and remember everything about everyone. “I’m always careful, Saul.” “Good. Just remember, you can never be too careful.” Saul had just finished a day of work at the docks and the pole she was balanced on was one of the ones that served as an anchor for the ropes that placed a railing of sorts between the docks and the sea. It was probably unnecessary, but Saul worried himself immensely over this little girl. Providing for her and her happiness was his single greatest priority. Lately though, he was barely making ends meet. Having to provide for his siblings always made that difficult. “Hey, Brat?” “Yeah?” “Do you want something to eat from the Bazaar?” Brat brightened at this. “Yeah. Something baked, something sweet.” “Good. Let’s go.” Brat hopped down and led the way. Pretty soon, the fresh air of the docks began to be suffocated by the still air that permeated the entirety of Stormhold Castle. There were a few stalls that had spilled out of the Bazaar and into the open air, but Saul had his sights set on somewhere that was a bit busier. Wondering deep into the basement of the Castle, Saul scanned the stalls for someplace selling baked goods that was busy. He was on the prowl for a mark. The game itself was a simple one, one he called Making Change. It was simple, but it had its requirements. It needed the right mark. Finding the mark was the hard part, finding it and exploiting it in time. The right mark required two people. First was a miserly person, one who haggled for every purchase he or she made. The second was a merchant who was as interested in making a profit as the miser was in keeping their money. And who could multitask. He started to scan the stalls before he remembered that there was one more stipulation to this game. Brat wanted baked sweets. The first thing he did was locate the stalls selling those goods. There were several. Finding them was easy. Once he had spotted them, he watched each one for a while, evaluating each shop owner for how well they fit the bill for what he was looking for. He waited patiently, as patiently as he could with Brat pulling him forward, studying the few merchants until he found two that would make the appropriate first half of his mark. One was better, able to deal with several customers at once, making change for one while negotiating prices with another, but both would do. Brat began to pull him in the direction of one.

[Saul Sticks]

In her excitement, Brat dragged Saul to the closest one. Fortunately for Saul, it was the one with the easiest mark. At the table, the customer had set out what coins they had brought for shopping and was currently trying to haggle down the price of his considerable purchase. The vendor being a good man of business was coming down to meet the man’s price but was doing so very slowly. Saul took a quick glance at the pile of coins. Most of them were gold mizas, and their wide placement on the table would serve his needs well. Crowding in close to the customer with the excuse of making room for Brat, Saul pointed to the variety of baked goods. “What do you want, Brat?” “What can I have?” “Anything you want.” Brat had already been excited about the prospect of a treat, but out of the corner of his eye, Saul could see her practically begin to shake at the idea that she could pick anything. Saul smiled and took his eyes away from the prize. He liked to see Brat happy, and besides, if he watched the other customer’s money too closely, he might draw his marks’ suspicion. Her sky blue eyes danced between the variety of pies and cookies that were available. By the aromas that were emanating from the shop, some of the sweets had been freshly baked. Eventually, Brat’s eyes stopped dancing and began, instead, to shift between two items. There was a small pie- apple, Saul judged by the color of the filling- and a cookie of some sort. Brat had had them before when Saul had managed to find himself with some extra coin. Brat made a decision, but based on the speed with which she made, Saul thought it must have been the most painful thing she had ever done. She pointed at the pie. “Can I have the pie?” Saul shrugged. “Anything you want.” She nodded resolutely. “The pie.” Saul pointed out the pie to the shop keeper, and the man grabbed the desert without breaking eye contact with the person he was haggling with. When the man set the dish in front of him, Saul slid it in front of Brat, leaving the space in front of him as the only place for the shop keeper to make change. Setting a silver miza in front of him, Saul allowed the man to take it from him. The shop keeper broke his eye contact with his other customer for only a moment to see what coin Saul had paid him with, did some rapid mental math, reached into his pocket, and tossed Saul’s change in front of him. It landed close enough to the other customer’s pile for Saul to Make Change. This was the easy part. All it required was some sleight of hand, and that was something Saul had been practicing from an early age. He swiped his hand toward his change, snagging a golden miza from the other customer’s pile as his hand passed by and quickly tucking it beneath his palm until he had his change in one pile. Then, he slid it off the table into his other hand and put it in his pocket. Pausing, he reached back into his pocket, retrieved the remaining copper mizas, and tossed them back on the table. He pointed at the cookie he had seen Brat eyeing. “The cookie, too.” The man swiped the coins, grabbed the cookie, and continued to haggle with his customer, both unaware that Saul had just robbed one of them. Smiling, Saul turned to Brat and handed her the cookie as well. Rather than the gratitude he expected to see in her eyes, he was stunned when he found anger and disbelief. The two people Saul had used as marks might not have been aware of what Saul had done, but Brat hadn’t missed a thing. Saul could tell that she was anything but pleased at being used for an excuse for him to rob someone, but she kept her rage bottled as they walked away.

[Saul Sticks]

Brat was pissed at Saul. He could tell that much just from the look on her face. The fact that she had already forgotten about her desserts told him it was worse than he had originally thought it would be. Watching her, he was amazed she hadn’t called him out on it right at the table. He had to appreciate her for that much. She understood the gravity of such accusations and made them in private. Part way through the Bazaar, she could contain herself no longer. She exploded. “You can’t just steal from people like that, Saul!” It was loud enough that people heard, and some began to look his way. Brat continued. “People work hard for what they have. You have no right-” Saul caught her arm roughly in his hand and squeezed. It wasn’t the kindest thing to do, but what she was doing was likely to get him in trouble. Dragging her quickly out of the Bazaar, he pulled her down the first hallway he could find. There he spun her around and pushed her up against the wall. Her head cracked against the stone behind her, and she winced. He hadn’t meant to do that, but at least she understood now how serious he was. “What are you doing?” he hissed at her under his breath, just in case anyone nearby could hear them. “Do you realize if I get caught doing what I just did I could be locked up by the Knights?” She kept her voice down this time. “Then why do you do it?” “Because I’m trying to scrape together enough for several people to live on. We are barely making it by.” “Whose fault is that?” She was referring to a drinking binge he had gone on earlier in the season. It hadn’t ended well. “I’ve made mistakes. I’m trying to correct them.” “By stealing.” The frown on her face said she didn’t approve, that she’d maybe rather starve. Saul let Brat go, shaking his head. He considered her for a moment, knowing that life was going to have a lot of unpleasant lessons for her. “You’ve got yourself a conscience, Brat, and one day, it’s going to get you hurt. People aren’t all as good as you think.” “And they ain’t as evil as you think.” “Yes, they are.” “No, they ain’t. You’re good.” Saul shook his head. “I’m anything but.” “You are good, Saul.” There was pride in her eyes when she told him that. “You’re just too dumb to see it.” “Is that so?” “It is.” The way she emphasized that statement with a nod told Saul the argument was over, and she was convinced she had won. He gave it to her. She was in for a rude disappointment whenever people decided they were going to fail her, but until that time came, Saul was going to do everything in his power to keep it from happening. “And, Saul.” Saul wondered curiously at the distinct absence of the title Uncle in front of his name. He hoped it wasn’t a sign of growing lack of respect. “Yes, Brat?” “Don’t ever use me as an excuse to rob someone again. That’s the kind of thing Sam used to do.” Brat never referred to Sam as her father, mostly because he had never been one. It hurt Saul to have her compare him to his little brother, but what she said was true. He nodded. “Never again. I’m sorry.” “I forgive you.” She paused a moment. “And, Saul.” “Yes?” “Thanks for the cookie.”

[Konrad Venger]

Saul XP: Observation - 2 Subterfuge - 2 Larceny - 1 Lore: The Making of "Making Change" Larceny: Spotting a Potential Mark Brat: Has Faith in Me (For some Reason) Additional: Minus 1sm and plus 1gm to you, sneaky wee sod Click Me! : Ah, someone's been watching The Grifters, I see. If not, check it out: awesome flick and the protagonist pulls the similar trick with a twenty! I thought it was a little odd how the other customer would have been so blind to being robbed, but you pulled it off quite nicely, so good for you. Just don't push your luck. Also refreshing was Brat and Saul's little spat. The dialogue and argument flowed really well here: concise and scant but still kind of powerful. Keep it up, mate Oh, and please make sure you go back and edit your post in the Request Thread to reflect the fact this one is now done and dusted. PM me with any questions and later 'tater!