Aisling Wilde (showmeonce) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-10-31 10:13:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, !log, aisling wilde, arielle chiaro |
Who: Ash & Ari
What: Stealing an ugly necklace… in plain sight
Where: A museum
When: Backdated: Libra 26/October 18
Rating: PG-13 for Ash’s language
Status: Complete!
She’d been diligent as fuck about the planning. Every eventuality was accounted for, including getting shot at, which she sure as fuck hoped wasn’t going to happen again. The last thing she needed was to get a bullet stuck in her - Neil and Cian would freak the fuck the out. Well, maybe not Cian, but Neil would probably chain her to her damn bed and call it bed rest. Still, she was pretty confident that that wasn’t going to happen, but better overplanned than under. Miles had taught her that lesson, and she only had to think about where he was now to know that it was probably the most important piece of advice he could have ever imparted. It would be simple - nobility had gotten invitations to the traveling exhibit. She’d have thought the nobles would learn better than to flaunt their wealth, but nope. The patron for the exhibit had been going on for weeks about how it was going to be perfect and how there was no way that any filthy thieves would be able to bypass the security. And why bother breaking in when you could get invited? Albrecht had wanted something done, and Ash had pulled if off, so the invites had been taken care of by the countess. Easy. Ari’s contact had made good on her word, too; the ugly ass replica was in hand and felt like it would be the same weight. All they had to do was get close enough to switch it out. And since the pompous asshole host was allowing women to try it on, that seemed like a damn formality. She turned to the bard. “I’m almost disappointed in how easy this shit is gonna be.” “It’s a bit of a let-down,” Ari agreed. Though, in her case, she had an entirely different problem -- her mother had wrangled herself an invite (how was a mystery, but Sylvie Chiaro had a skillset that her daughter could appreciate), and Ari’s primary goal for this job had now become to get in and out before said woman could corner her and drag her off Faram-knows-where. The plan Ash had presented was reassuringly solid, but it did not account for pushy, marriage-minded merchants. “Still, perhaps after all the excitement we’ve had recently, easy is best.” Especially considering it was just the two of them. When was the last time she’d worked with a single wartner who wasn’t Aud? A bit of a sad thought; she didn’t think Aud would be taking jobs anytime soon. Pushing the thought away, Ari looped her arm through her companion’s -- just two well-dressed young women enjoying an evening out and nothing more. “Shall we take a walk?” Ash smiled and tightened her arm around the bard’s. “Let’s get this party started.” There was already a gaggle of noblewomen flocked around the damn necklace, each person doing their best to be next to try the ugly thing on. It was one of the many, many things she had never understood about the nobility. Even when she’d had to play noble, back when her father had been alive, all of her jewelry had been understated. It had always gotten comments about how she had no need to be ashamed of one thing or another, and then the helpful commenter would motion to their own gaudy, hideous jewels and offer to take her shopping for proper accessories. The mime led them towards the crowd, already thinking of how to get them closer to it without causing a scene. That was the last thing they wanted to do. Drawing attention was not the plan - blending was. It would have been so easy, Ari considered as they joined the crowd, to simply undo some clasps and pocket a few trinkets right here and now. The press of women in fancy jewelry was tight enough that it would have been hardly the work of a moment. But she also preferred to keep a low profile here, for reasons of her own, so she was content to wait their turn. Well… mostly. She could engage in just a bit of tactical shoving, no more and no less than the other ladies around. “I’ve heard,” she said, making her eyes wide and her expression slightly vapid, “that it is quite heavy. But so beautiful, of course, so it is surely worth a bit of discomfort.” Halfway there and -- thank Ajora -- no mother in sight. And this was why Ari was going to be the one to put the thing on. Ash had stage presence, but she couldn’t act for shit. Instead, she shrugged. “I mean, it’s absolutely a statement piece, but I’m not sure I could wear something that heavy.” One of the noblewomen shot her a dirty look and Ash smiled back innocently. “But I’m sure it will look quite lovely on you,” she continued, returning her attention to Ari. “Oh, do you really think so?” A flutter of lashes was perhaps a bit over the top, but then again, among such company, it would have been a crime to leave it out. As much as Ari enjoyed sneaking in and out of places undetected, this sort of subterfuge held a special place in her heart… now if only this time didn’t end in gunshots. Fortunately, it seemed unlikely, as long as she played her part well. “Because -- ohhhhhh.” The reaction was just on pitch, she thought -- wide-eyed wonder, as though she didn’t have a perfect (and perfectly ugly) replica stashed away on her person already. The woman who was presently wearing the thing was preening like an idiot, and sighed with a bit of regret as she at last reached for the clasp and began to remove it. Ari reached out eager hands, asking, “Oh, please, me next!” And just like that, she had the thing in hand. Fastening it tightly, she made a little turn, even as she considered that the weight seemed about right -- of course she had worn the replica a few times in the last few days, practicing the switch. Just because something was easy did not mean that rehearsal ought to be shirked. “Is it just stunning?” she asked Ash, beaming. “Please say yes, or you’ll break my heart.” But damn that thing was uglier in real life than it had been in the picture, which she’d known because the replica, but fuck. She put on her best amazed face. “It’s absolutely gorgeous,” she agreed, and her voice sounded a little breathy. The noblewoman who had shot her the dirty look now looked vindicated. “Maybe I should try it on, too,” she said, moving to stand right in front of Ari. This was going to be the tricky part, but the one good thing about doing this just the two of them was that she knew Ari wouldn’t fuck up a production, and that’s what they were putting on. “Oh, I suppose,” Ari said, sounding disappointed, as if she would prefer to keep the necklace on just a bit longer. “Since you were so complimentary, you can -- oh no.” From disappointment to distress: “The clasp is stuck.” She’d worn her hair down for this express purpose -- as she worked at the ‘tangle’ that had caught the clasp, she pulled once hard enough to ensure a very realistic squeak and the advent of tears. “Oh, I should have pinned my hair up. Help?” Ash took her cue and went to stand at Ari’s back, arms up to help work the clasp. She frowned. “You really ought to have,” she said, pulling at a bit of hair. “It’s really tangled in there.” There were some murmurs in the crowd, and Ash caught a few trying to pin their hair up in a makeshift fashion while she ‘struggled’ with freeing the clasp from Ari’s hair. “I think I may have to pull a bit, so just a warning.” Ari sighed. “If you must. I -- ouch!” With the exclamation, her hands came up to join the other woman’s, her right hand darting into the pocket sewn into her skirt, at least partially concealed by her hair, which was now quite a disastrous mess. The switch was made just that simply, concealed by a curtain of hair, the only distraction Ari’s whimper as she shoved the replica into Ash’s hand and dropped the real necklace into the spot the replica had occupied only moments before. “Did you have to pull so hard? she demanded, turning teary eyes on her companion once she was certain everything was where it ought to be. The switch was quick and smooth. Good. She held up the replica and shrugged. “It was tangled in there tight,” she said in apology. Now that the spectacle was done, she felt the push of the women around them, eager for their turn. She had to play it out to the end, so she put the necklace on, faux admiring it for a minute before handing it to the next person. She looped her arm back through Ari’s. “Easy as pie,” she muttered when they were out of earshot. “Pie,” Ari said, with the sort of avarice she had had to fake for the ugly necklace. “Now that you mention it, I do think we have earned some pie. We should go find some, and I would guess nothing so common would be available here. Perhaps we should make our way out. Mariela’s is just down the road.” And it was away from Sylvie Chiaro -- to Ari’s way of thinking, a far greater threat than the useless security detail. Pie actually sounded pretty damn good. “I’m in. Let’s get out of here and get pie.” She could spare another hour before Neil started pacing like a worried dog. Ash grinned and the two women made their way towards Mariela’s. |