Solo The Legless Thief(Job)

[Emphyssississ]

Common
Snake Tongue
Mental Thoughts

7th of Summer 516 A.V
10th bell of the night
The Withering Rose
Alvadas

He sat upon the bar stool back facing the room filled with rounded tables, dim lighting and colored roses that decorated the establishment, hands resting on the counter-top clasped together, his head tilted downward as if he were giving a prayer as he sat in deep thought. The thought in question, what was he going to do to earn coin for the season, or rather how. He knew what he could do, that was the easy part. Being a thief, opportunity was always around.It was just the fact of act of finding a score big enough to bring in the coin needed to sustain the lifestyle that he lived which by all means wasn't a very expensive one. It was just nice to actually have a roof over his head and things that would assist in daily living.

"You sure you don't want that cup of wine?" The bartender chimed up once again after returning from serving another patron. As much as he loved the taste of the sweet dark liquid, Sim had to decline with a shake of his head. He was on a budget, a very tight one that would deplete very quickly if he were to indulge in a cup of wine. Digging into his pants pockets he pulled out his miza pouch quickly counting over the gold rimmed coins as he had done multiple times before hoping that the number would somehow change and be greater than it previously was. "Nope, still seventy" He slightly pouted sliding the pouch back into his home securing it with a nice pat.

"Ah, I'm sorry man. I've been looking around for work like you asked, but nothing has come up yet." The bartender spoke as he cleaned a mug with his rag. Sim looked at the man with understanding eyes before giving a nod. It was good that the man tried to help him, not that he had a choice in the matter. Sim was a thief, which meant that he was good at taking things that didn't belong to him. Sometimes he took things for other people that would bring many consequences if not taken. Like a bartender that got too cocky and bet an expensive bottle of wine from the taverns storage that he lost and Sim returned for him. It was a small thing yes, and it didn't bring in any coin, but at least it helped him put his name out there bit and made it possible for him to be the first to know about anyone looking for someone of his caliber.

Still though, it was entering the middle of the season and not a soul seemed to need something stolen. He cut his thought short. The sound of that sentence offsetting his mood even more. He didn't steal, he simply returned things to the people that needed them most. He didn't see himself as a thief, more as a collector of another persons possessions. "Uh, bartender?" A voice called out from Sim's side that took the man away from the self loathing snake. Giving a mental sigh, he turned around to face the darkened room.

It was a large crowd tonight, not a full house, but enough people for him to watch and study. He often would sit off in a corner alone and watch others from a distance. Gaining as much as he could, tone of voice, expressions, gestures and actions, and when he returned home he'd practice them himself in imaginary situations to see if he could do the very same thing as they. It was quite fun thing to do in his spare time, but now wasn't the time for such things. There was a heavy tap upon his shoulder that pulled him from his thoughts, the bartender standing with a hefty cup of wine in hand.

Sim rejected the liquid with a turn of his head, sticking to his choice of not spending a single coin unless it was truly necessary. "Ease up." The bartender cooed sliding the drink to the dread-locked man. "It's already paid for by that man over there, he says he need to talk to you about something that he Needs in his possession" The words of the bartender made it clear what the intentions of the man were. Turning his head he looked at the wine glass, a sizable cup-

Was this man trying to win him over? What ever it was the man wanted to talk about, was better than sitting here wondering how he was not going to stay broke. Taking the glass in hand he gave it a whiff before taking a sip. It was the good stuff. Giving a nod to the bartender for keeping his end of the deal, Sim walked over to the table where his next potential boss sat.

[Emphyssississ]

Common
Snake Tongue
Mental Thoughts


He approached the table slow and calm like. His body straight, relaxed, his face settled almost showing no sign of tension or stress that flooded his mind. His strides naturally long were subtle and care free. The man on the other hand looked as if he were ready for the building to spontaneously burst into flames. A wild haired man with dark brown waves flowing through his head and eyes resembling tree bark, and though he tried his hardest to seem as natural as possible, Sim could tell that he was nervous, filled with the jitters. "This definitely isn't his type of scene." the Dhani spoke to himself.

Glancing down at the table he noticed that the rose that sat in the center of it was black. Figures. That was sort of thing this place ran with to get it's customers to keep coming back. It was a quite amusing and entertaining thing to watch. The red roses were for romantic type setting, couples going on dates or a man wanting to treat an escort somewhere nice. The white roses were for general chat and conversation among friends and colleagues. The black roses however meant that something was going to go down.

He'd seen many angry faces plotting and whispering things amongst themselves as well as arguments and borderline fights start and at the center of the table sat the accursed black rose. It kinda made him regret sipping from his wine glass, but if it was his time to go, then he had no choice but to fall into the circle of life to keep balance in the world. Who knew maybe another Dhani who was smart enough to analyze the wine first would come and take his place. It was too late to back out now.

"Hi there, my name is Ja-...J" The man cut short before giving the letter signifying that he wanted to keep this as discreet as possible. Sim moderately took his seat giving a nod to acknowledge the man's greeting.

"So the bartender said that you'd be the guy i'd be interested n for a special kind of task" The man began straight to the point. Sim simply folded his arms and readjusted himself, leaning back tipping his chair on it's back two legs. "A thousand words can be spoken in a moment of silence." He thought replaying the words he'd read from a book once. That was his plan, to sit and listen to all that the man had to say and not speak a word until all had been said. He'd learned that it was a great way to get more information than what was needed from a person. "Wise men talk because they have something to say, fools because they have something."

"So what is your name?" The man spoke before taking a sip of his wine. It was still obvious that he was nervous though he tried to hide it, releasing air, Sim took a moment to answer. "Think twice speak once."

"If we are going by letters of the alphabet from the common language, you can call me Esss"

" "S" is fine with me, so S, I do not want to waste your time nor mine so lets get straight to the point here. I want you to steal something for me." The man began to whisper low so that no one in earshot could hear him. And thus the black rose takes effect.

"You want me to steal something for you?" Sim repeated raising an eyebrow as if that explained so much. Taking another sip of his wine, he relaxed a bit more, he knew that this was going to be a long conversation.

"I mean of course I do that's why I brought you over here haha, but to be more specific, you see there is a- woman that i've been seeing that my wife has no knowledge of and as a paym- gift, I happened to give her a pair of my wife's most prized earrings. I've tried to get them back, but this woman won't budge and my wife has grown suspicious of my actions. So I've come to you for help you see. I love my wife dearly and I don't want to loose her but if things don't look up soon i'm afraid that may be the outcome."

Now Sim saw why he acted the way he did, the jittering, the usage of strange code-names was all to cover his tracks while he tried to fix a mistake he had made. It made sense. He looked at the man with astonished eyes. Was he truly surprised at the man's sinful deed? No, it was just one of the gestures that he'd picked up and wanted to try and by the looks of it, it seemed to work."

"Look, I know what I did was wrong, but I'm trying to make it right now. I can pay you. Money isn't of any issue." Taking a piece of paper from his pockets along with a charcoal stick, he watched as the man scribbled numbers onto it. "How does this sound." It was actually a good amount, but Sim wanted to see how much he could pressure the guilt filled man. "Time for a new gesture" Taking his hand, he began to scratch his goatee and run his fingers through his hair whilst giving a look of uncertainty that cause J to look from the paper to him in despair.

"If it's not enough I can pay more, how does this much sound" He scribbled a new larger number that told Sim that anymore pushing might cost him. Giving a nod, he leaned in now ready to talk business. "Ssiss iss fine, I will jussst need time to plan my approa-

"No no no no" The man quickly cut him off. "You don't understand, I need this done tonight. My wife, she is a smart woman and is catching up to my lies. Here is the other woman's address, and the address that you can meet me at when you're finished. Please if you can meet me by first light?"

It was quite a request that the man asked of Sim, and the last time he checked he wasn't a marriage counselor. He gave a look to the bartender who in turn shrugged his shoulders. It was better than nothing he supposed as he fought his head to give a nod thus agreeing and sealing the deal between the two men. Sim watched as the overjoyed man exited the building as if weights had been lifted from his shoulders. Cursing in his head, Sim quickly did the same, contemplating on how he was going to get this job done by the night's end.

[Emphyssississ]

Common
Snake Tongue
Mental Thoughts

He turned down the street that the man had directed him to from the tavern. The night was silent given the occasional laughter of those walking home from a long night of drinking. He loved the city of illusions, especially in the quietness of the night. The tall buildings stretched up into the night sky making is seem as if the moon and stars were only an arms reach too far to be touched. This amazed him in a way. Sometimes he'd slither up to the top of the buildings to lay on their roofs watching the night sky, wondering about the world and the things in it.

Approaching the door of the building he began to come to a slow walk, twisting his head up and down the street assuring himself that not a person with a cleared mind could see what he was attempting to do. Damn, wish I had more time to practice. Sim cursed mentally as he gave the doorknob a pull only to discover that it was locked. Taking a few steps back he scanned the building. There were no open windows and the lights were on meaning that even if he did transform and climb up to open a window, he risked getting caught by whomever lived here. Giving a sigh of frustration, he leaped up the stairs back to the lock.

Kneeling down upon a knee, his long dreadlocks brushing against the ground, he began digging into the bag that rested on his hip until finding the tool he was searching for. Sim was a very neat and organized person, and he expected all of his possessions to be the same. Giving one quick look into his back he took hold of a lock pick before closing the sack and turning his attention to the task at hand. Organized tools make for a quicker and more efficient job". The gods knew he would need all the time one could spare with picking this lock. Not wanting to waste any more time than he already had, he gently positioned the pick in front of the lock's hole, slowly sliding it in so he would not break the fragile tool.

His chest rose and fell in great heaves as he tried to focus. Taking his tension wrench, he placed the tool in the bottom of the key hole. The thing about picking locks was it took time. Even as a master lock picker, it would take chimes to figure out the lock on the door if it were new to the pick artist. Using the space between his index and middle finger, he grasped the tension wrench gently as he gave it a slight nudge. First clockwise, then counter-clockwise. He was trying to figure out which way the lock was supposed to turn. Most locks turned clockwise, but not every lock was the same. He cursed under his breath wishing that he'd had more time to prepare. If he'd been given the time, he could have picked the lock before hand so he would know how to do it now, but things made it where he couldn't so here he was spending double the time on the task.

He tried feeling for the resistance in the cylinder. Too much resistance meant he was turning the wrong way, lighter resistance meant that he'd found what he was looking for. Giving a slight turn, the wrench came to a instant stop before snapping. Shyke he spoke mentally cursing himself for the rookie mistake. Always be prepared for things to go wrong., another omen he lived by as he went into his bag claiming another wrench to use. Chimes had passed now as he sat in front of this door picking at the lock. If this were a life and death situation he was sure that he'd be dead by now. Giving the tension wrench a slight turn in the opposite direction now, he felt the light resistance from the cylinder telling him that it was the correct way.

Applying torque to the tension wrench he attempted to hold the cylinder into place, an attempt that was failed as his second wrench snapped right before him. Giving a frustrated sigh he reached into his bag pulling another out and going into the same motions. Wrench inserted, a gentle push to hol-snap. Sim looked as if he were ready to shoot fireballs from his eyes. Going back into his bag and doing a thorough search the blessed him with a third tension wrench. Carefully inspecting the tool for any flaws before use as if the item was defected, he deemed it usable for the task at hand. Placing the wrench into the key hole, he summoned as little energy possible to push the handle of the wrench ever so gently before he began feeling the resistance that to him to hold.-

He stood there, or rather stooped on the ground frozen like a rabbit stricken with fear. His left hand steady on the wrench, he slowly inserted the pick into the upper halve of the key hole feeling the pins with the pick as he raked the tool across them. Now came the hard part. Starting from the back, he gently pushed the maneuvered the pick downward causing the opposite in to rise thus pushing the pin upward into the lock. If he held the tension wrench correctly, the pin would lock thus taking one burden off his shoulders. He pushed the pin upward until he no longer could and re-positioned his pick as the pin fell back into it's previous place. Just dandy

The sound of footsteps caught his ear as he leaned in to adjust the wrench. Petch. He swore mentally once more as he hurriedly collected his tools stuffing them back into his bag and kicking his broken attempts away from sight just as the door opened. He took a step back so the wooden door wouldn't hit him as it swung open revealing a quite beautiful woman. Naturally she was shorter than he was, everyone was shorter than him. Her curly black hair and blue eyes drew him in as they worked in sync with her frost like skin. She wore a silk dress that came down to just above her knees and showed off her curves and assets. She looked at him in confusion, a bucket of wash water in her arms signalling that she must have been taking a bath. A sight indeed for one to bear witness to.

"Y-yes? Can I help you?" Her voice so soft yet spoken with pride and self worth. The person that he was looking at now was nothing like his employer made her out to be. His employer, quickly giving a shake of his head reminding himself of his reason of being here.

"Oh, hello, my name is Sssim. A friend of mind said to come here, but I think I may hav-"

"Nonsense. You really need to practice on your lying." She spoke looking right through his glass framed front. "Why don't you come in?" She motioned before tossing the wash water out into the street. Seeing it as a sure way in, Sim kept his mouth shut and entered the woman's house.

[Emphyssississ]

Common
Snake Tongue
Mental Thoughts

The room smelled of sweet flowers as the aroma filled his nostrils drawing him inward. The floors were made of smooth wood covered with large animal pelts, the walls beautifully decorated with paintings and silk curtains hanging from the ceiling, a truly beautiful home indeed. Sim felt as if he'd walked into a thieves paradise as multiple things called out to him to be stolen.

"So, you never told me how I could assist you." The woman chimed coming from a room with a platter holding a decorative tea set. Sim watched was she set the things down onto a table as he stood in the same spot until she noticed this and motioned him over. "I won't bite." She joked giving a smile that invited him over.
He sat in silence searching his mind for any type of answer on why this woman was acting the way she was as well as an omen for the situation at hand though none could be found. "So who's your friend?" The question confusing him a bit until he remember the half truth that he'd told her earlier.

"Oh!, yess. My friend Jay sent me here, but I think I got the wrong place so I-"

"Jay? Jay, I don't know anyone by that name. What does he look like?" It was then that realization was starting to set in. She was trying to catch him in a lie. Taking a breath to by time for his mind to think, he put himself in a half conscious mindset.

"Jay!, You know. Big Jay? He's about this tall and really stocky.Carries around the one sword." He'd just described about every mercenary ever in existence. The woman kept quiet for a chime sipping her tea. Now she was trying to wait him out, see if he'd crack under pressure. "A bad lair lies to you, a good one lets you lie to yourself". He thought, remaining quiet until she would say something. Sitting her cup back upon the table she gave a quick look of his person. His shirt had become too small for him to wear, and seeing that he didn't have the miza, or rather didn't see the need to spare any to by a new one, he wore his cloak around his shoulders that fell to the ground leaving the upper muscular half of his body exposed. Beneath that was his cotton pants and boots with his thieving sack thrown diagonally over his shoulder.

"Tea?" She gestured pouring herself another cup and sliding the kettle and cups over to him. He hesitated at first as he wondered her intentions but quickly grabbed it thinking that she was trying to psych him out.

"So. Sim, where are you from? Were you born her in Alvadas?" The questions confused him, but never-less were questions that he could honestly answer.

"No, I was born in Zinrah, but came to Alvadasss"

"Oh, I do not know where that is, I used to live in Zeltiva myself before moving here many seasons ago. Why did you move here?"

"Why did you move?" He repeated the question, not wanting to answer it.

"Oh, I was just tired of the same scene. I wanted to go out and explore the world and do things. Then I landed in Alvadas and never left sense. You?" Taking another small sip he went to answer.

"I guesss you could say the ssame thing for me. I alwayss wondered about the world sso I went out into it. Landed here and never left."

"It's funny how things like that happen huh? I guess the world just works like that. You go out looking for adventure and life just plops you down somewhere else." Sim didn't speak afterwards, he only gave a nod of his head and sipped his tea. He enjoyed the conversation he was having with the woman, she spoke on a level of intellect that he admired. She wondered about the world and the things in it just as he did. He'd almost forgotten why he'd even showed up to her beautiful home. Almost.

"Your home isss very beautiful." he started, practicing a gesture where he turned his head in amazement. Now he just needed her to take the bait.

"Yea it is huh. Put all of my life into this place. Makes you feel warm and cozy inside."

"It doesss. I can only imagine how hard you had to have worked to obtain all of thisss."

"Yes it did cost me a pretty lump-sum of miza but it was worth it."

"Care if I have a tour?" The question was as friendly and intrigued as he could make it. The woman began collecting the tea kettle and cups giving a seductive smile as she walked away. A nod of her head told him to follow.