An unprecedentedly long yawn inadvertently left the rat's body, intense to the point of the corners of his mouth hurting and a singular tear pressing it's way out of it's corresponding crevace. The man was bored out of his mind, granted, with the job he had taken on for the past week, any human would most definitely show the same signs of overall exhaustion and overwhelming fatigue.
"One day, my guy..", the Shengxiao internally shot an insult or two at his most important informant.
"One day, I'll swipe that bandage and push your nose through your brain." All these.. atrocious obsceneties that had made themselves comfortable in Sogai's mind, were exaggerations of course. Never would he even so much as actually ponder hurting Kurt, his ever vigilant informant and make-shift father figure, and never could he, as doing so would immediately remove him from the favorable position he was in.
The rat found his stream of thoughts disturbed however, a rare occurence in his current job, as a young man decided to approach the thief posing as a guard at Nairn's all too well known museum of the ancient Clover kingdom's history.
"He looks different, alright.", Sogai internally commented on the pleasing exterior said visitor sported. His long and lush hair had been artisanally braided to compliment what elegant attire he wore, and the words he adressed him with to ask about the roped off display were equally well put together.
"Why of course; what they're looking at is the 'Vestige of the Duke.'", Sogai answered shortly after overcoming the slight and..
enjoyable shiver this man's raspy and rumbly voice had elicited from his body.
"According to our 'History' it belonged to a brave warrior; it is mostly famous for it's 'Blue Diamond' in it's chestplate.", the rat added with a friendly smile. The man simply thanked him and weaseled his way through the large cluster of loud and nose-y citizens, clumping around the hyped and precious exhibit, with Sogai's interested gaze following him.
A week earlier, the thief was perched on a park bench in a comparatively lively park of the Clover Kingdom's capital, much less patient in his awaiting Kurt's arrival than he should've been, the obligatory glowing stick of death intended to cull said impatience. Sogai's hands were cupped over his eyes in a futile attempt to block as much of the sunlight that further hindered his already quite impaired vision as possible. "Now, where is he?" While Kurt usually kept his whereabouts hidden under a thick cloak of secrecy and safety measures, he had specifically requested the two of them to meet personally for fleshing out the details of this job. "He's never done that before, must be special to him.", the rat correctly divined Kurt's motive for breaking his habits.
"H-hrm.", a sudden clear of the throat had the Shengxiao wince intensely. "Stay calm, I'm here now." Kurt had, somehow unnoticed by the sensory-focused sound mage, positioned himself right behind him. "Bah, old fart, did you really have to startle me like that?", Sogai immediately snorted at his long-lasting companion, put his hands behind his head and leaned back. A short giggle tinted by malicious joy later, Kurt sighed and crossed his spindly legs. "So.", he initiated a sentence and immediately brought the mood down to a point of the tension almost visibly showing. "This job is..", a long pause ensued, which had the rat frown and raise on of his eyebrows in anticipation. Kurt wasn't usually the type that needed time to ponder his words, they usually came ushering out of his mouth with the cunning precision of a seasoned attorney. "It's very special to me."
Doubling down on the aforementioned yawning, the thief was finally relieved of his temporary duties as a museum guard. He had initially taken the job offer, which Kurt wonderously managed to procure, to have emic insight into the museum's processes and guarding schedules, but couldn't find out much beyond the fact that the latter's night shifts were entrusted into the church's hands. An annoyance to the rat at best, as weaseling his way into the church, or even scrapping together any kind of internal information proved much more of a labor-intensive task. The Shengxiao didn't have quite as extensive a catalogue of potential clients and contacts among the ranks of the ever-vigilant and suspicious church of the four spirits.
As he took off his uniform in the guard's locker rooms located deep beneath the museum's easily accesible parts, he once more ruminated his plan for fulfilling the job's premise. Sogai had correctly guessed the displayed version of the 'Duke's Vestige' to be a precautionary fake, there were next to no safety measures implemented at night after all. However, below the grand building this institution had claimed as their own, a vast system of catacombs and seemingly forgotten, eerie tunnels lied in wait for potential intruders to venture inside. He hadn't gotten a feasable chance to access those musty pathways though, given the guards were forbidden to enter without a clergy member present.
"Damned spiritualists.."Luckily, Nairn had been one of his more frequently visited cities in both past and present, so the cunning rogue's information network proved equally as sophisticated as his target's defenses in this case. A creepily curled smile warped his face as he waved his 'co-workers' goodbye and started ascending the awfully long staircase to the rear parts of the building.
"I'll have to sneak my way around these church guards somehow..", he contemplated what his best option was going to be. For now his main goal would lie with the acquiring of some sort of blue-print or map of the hidden cellar compartments. Fortune struck him in that regard, as the only ones capable of creating such introcate underground constructions were known to him from visiting the same.. establishment in the hours of twilight, guilty pleasures and seductive secrecy.
"It's been a while, huh.", Sogai muttered into what little beard had survived taking on a job that required mannered behavior and a presentable exterior, both of which the thief normally refrained from maintaining for extended periods of time. Habitually fishing for his rolling equipment, the rat pushed the backdoor of the museum open with his back and sucked in a copious amount of fresh air, before blissfully exhaling it in an elongated sigh.
"Blurgh, that cellar reeks.", he griped the stale and musty smell stuck to his simple black shirt and brown pants, as he swiftly finished rolling the cigarette and lit in a smooth and fluent motion.
"Now, off to the 'Silken Kiss', I wonder if they will remember me."In turning the last of the many corners on his way over to the by far most sophisticated and eloquent brothel Nairn could pride itself on, Sogai finally laid eyes upon the beautifully designed two-story building, memories of the occasional visit to said establishment blurring his vision for a split second. Straightening his back to rid himself of the pleasurable jolt that passed through his body, he disposed of his cigarette butt into the appropriate portable ashtray and approached the two imposing 'bouncers' protecting the entrance.
"Oh, long time no see, feral rodent!", Percival, the guard standing to the left greeted him. Sogai hadn't seen the other guard before, but he could more than vividly remember Percival from his frequent.. hrm,
occasional visits to this particular part of town.
"Yo, Perc!", the rat raised his hand and plastered a wide grin on his face.
"Life's been well?""Well, the usual, my friend.", Perc shrugged and rolled his eyes as he opened the door for Sogai, before inquiring with a classic wink-and-smirk:
"Are you staying in Nairn for a while? Or has business got you occupied?" The thief amusedly chuckled in response.
"More or less. I don't think I'll find the time to stay though.." The guard showed visible disappointment, and granted, the two of them used to have a lot of fun at the.. festivities this place held from time to time.
"Thanks.", Sogai added with a friendly smile to the other bouncer as well and entered the building.
"I'll see you around, Perc!"It had indeed been a long time since the rat last took a breath of this air, cool and heavy, filled to the brim with a variety of enjoyable smells.
"Really takes me back.", he simply stood there, reminiscing with his hands deeply buried in their respective pockets, when the most pleasurable and quite familiar of those smells suddenly reached his nose. Accompanied by the faintest, most alluring of touches to his shoulder and a lowly voiced moan of surprise, the 'manager' of the silken kiss circled around the helpless rat.
"The filthy rodent shows again..", she whispered as she finally came around to face him, her billowing red locks complimenting her face equally as much as the flowing dress of the same color complimented her curves.
"Domina.", he uttered, respectfully tilting his head and reaching her hand to kiss it. This woman was one of the very few people that asserted their presence to a point of infusing the Shengxiao with actual respect rather than fear or anxiety, he had an inexplicable urge to show mannerisms and behavior he usually contempted for their affiliation with the upper class.
"While I would love to catch up..", Domina adressed him as he slowly returned to his standing position.
"I have an important visitor." The thief noticed the wine and whiskey glass she held in her hand and once again tilted his head as though to express understanding.
"A shame, but I don't mind waiting, Domina." She scuffed and very, very lightly caressed his cheek, before turning around and virtually strutting towards a door located in the back of the room. A lot of things happened at the same time in that moment. Firstly, said beautifully crafted wooden door opened to reveal the one person Sogai had the most.. vivid and explicit memories of in this entire building, a quite frankly gorgeous man, the mere sight of whom had the rat's bandaged hand tremble a bit. Sitting in the corresponding room, the sound mage could spot a somehow familiar face, but he was too distracted by the glory of the brothel's safety personnel to immediately remember.
"Eric shall suffice as company, I'm sure.", Domina commented over her shoulder with a short and knowing laugh, only to continue on her path and slam the door to the private room open. In an attempt to rid himself of some of the rather delicate feelings perpetuously blitzing through his mind, he mirrored his bald-headed once-lover's behavior and slowly approached him.
"Still as unkempt as ever, huh gluttonous rat?", said man of unwavering confidence calmly spoke to him from above.
"You should have known better than to arrive in such pitiful state." In an almost ritualized manner, he slowly bowed down and the two of them cheek kissed on both sides, Eric's hand firmly grabbing onto Sogai's back in the process, but the two of them were startled by the door slamming shut.
Slipping back a couple of centimeters, the Shengxiao shrugged with a tilted smile at the tall man:
"I know I get taken care of here better than by anyone.. anywhere else, I mean." The most hidden smurk showed itself in Eric's usually quite indifferent visage for a split second, as the tall man turned to the side with an invitational gesture and an eyebrow raised.
"Shall we?", he invited the sensory mage to follow him suit and the two of them ventured throughout the building, engaged in a trusted conversation about what had transpired since the two of them last met.
Roughly two hours had passed, maybe three, but counting those within the walls of the 'Silken Kiss' would've been considered blasphemy and rightfully so, and Sogai found himself sitting on the curb of a street close to the museum, still indulging in reminiscences as he perpetually took draws from his cigarette. Eric and him did have a lot of talking to get out of the way, and what better way to do that than during a massage? A cozy tingle later, the thief once again checked what little information he could procure.
"This isn't all that much.", he lamented the lack of a specific blue-print of the museum's catacombs.
All he could get his hands on was a pitiful excuse of a map, drawn from memory by one of the stone masons tasked with reinforcing the walls of a
certain room below the main building. Sadly, Domina didn't have time to assist him at all,
"She's occupied with the 'young master'.", Eric had simply shrugged the rat's question away and clenched his grip during the massage.
"A powerful tool to stop someone from asking questions..", Sogai mused as he once more went over the 'map' to fully memorize it.
"This might prove difficult." The thief would have to somehow slip past whatever guards might be positioned at the back entrance, find an excuse to venture down to the guard's locker rooms, find the 'Blue Diamond' and escape successfully. Setting fire to the 'map' with his lighter, the Shengxiao gave himself a push and finally decided to just get the show rolling, he swiftly scurried towards his heist's target.
"Convenient.", he noted to himself, as the guards positioned were men he recognized from working there. Slowing his hasty movement to a reasonable pace and raising his hand in a greeting gesture, he called out for them:
"Yo! It's Clark from the day-shift! Would you mind letting me slip into the guard's room, I've forgotten a present for my wife there.." His voice lowered a bit as he leaned in a little closer.
"And you know how they are if you forget anniversaries..", he lowly mentioned with a roll of his eyes and a short burst of laughter. Both guards joined him with a chuckle, exchanged a short knowing glance and opened the door for him.
"Make it quick though, this isn't allowed.", a warning was uttered, but the rat had already moved past the two of them.
"Sure will, thanks guys!"
TL;DRSogai took on a job as a guard at the museum he intends to steal a diamond from, posing as such a guard, he gives a friendly and quite frankly very attractive man information about the display of said diamond.
In trying to gather some further information of the whereabouts of the diamond, the display of which is a deterring fake, he ventures to the 'Silken Kiss', a brothel he used to frequent, hrm.. visit occasionally. There he meets an old friend of his and acquires a hand drawn map of the closed-off parts of the cellar, protected by clergy members.
A little later, he decides to skip any further planning and just get the job done, relying on his on-the-fly decision making as usual. Sogai enters the building.
WC: 2.359
TWC: 2.359
