Sky Min (gotsomebite) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-08-30 14:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !narrative, kiernan manley, sky min |
Who: Sky Min (+NPCs, and a special appearance by one Kiernan Manley)
What: Quite possibly his last pickpocketing attempt?!
Where: Commoners' marketplace
When: This afternoon
Rating: PG, because these characters have foul mouths
Status: Complete!
Saturdays were Sky’s favorite days for many reasons, one of which was the availability of prime pickings all around town. Today he was in the Commoners’ marketplace, his eyes peeled for a good target -- mages were acceptable again as less people had wary eyes on them these days (Finally, he couldn’t help but to think, and he convinced himself it was less for his sister’s sake and more because he liked the security of easy targets), and as a result some had become less guarded, but unfortunately, none of those mages were out and about in this part of town today. He knew it might take a little while longer yet for things to get back to normal, and he didn’t feel so rusty as to need a dreamy-eyed mage to pilfer from anyway. Then he saw a pair of men ambling down the boulevard, both distracted though in their own ways. The one with darker hair was laughing and beamed at everyone he passed; the other, with yellow hair, seemed grumpier in comparison, his eyes downcast to the ground and looked completely uncomfortable at the side of his friend. He didn’t even react when he brushed shoulders with other passersby in their own worlds, intent on his foul mood. They both wore armor, so they were Fighters Guild, but neither wore the armor of the EKP. That was really all Sky needed to know, other than which side they were keeping their goods. The grumpy blond had a pouch on his belt, and it looked heavy enough to have coin in it, and so, Sky went in for the kill, figuratively speaking. He ducked behind a taller person so that the happy guy wouldn’t meet his eyes as he approached, and it didn’t take long before Sky got close enough to make a sharp turn towards the grumpy friend, pretending that he’d heard someone call his name for an excuse to make the move in the first place. The diagonal cut straight into the path of the grumpy guy’s pouch, and Sky offered a quick apology as his hands ripped the purse from the belt. Before Sky declared victory, he waited until he was about twenty paces away and heard no shout of protest from either of the two men. “Too easy,” he murmured with satisfaction. Trusting that his victim was now lost in the crowd, he began to click open the pouch to assess his earnings when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and another swooping down to snatch the bag out of his hands. “Hey!” The man who stood beside him now arched an eyebrow and shook his head. “Really, kiddo?” Sky recognized him at once as one of the Dragon Riders that Pyr looked up to, and he seemed to recognize him in turn as Pyr’s brother. “You need a new hobby.” Then the man dragged him back towards where he’d left the other two and tapped the grumpy one on the shoulder. “Hey, Crewe, be careful you don’t spend too much time in the Outlands. You’re losing your touch.” Both men turn, and the grumpy one -- Crewe, apparently his name was -- looked first at the Rider, then at the pouch, then at Sky, realization dawning on his face. Sky didn’t think he face couldn’t get more sour, but there it was. “Son of a--” His companion started laughing as Crewe took the pouch back. The Rider kept his hand firm on Sky’s shoulder, amusement evident in his voice even with his admonishment, “Okay, kid, you have two options. Either I give you to the off-duty EKP officer here or you apologize to the nice Ranger.” “Give ‘em to Keenan,” Crewe spat. “Guy needs to quit being so lazy and do shit anyway.” “Today’s my day off, and you kind of deserved that,” the other man -- apparently an EKP officer (Crapcrapcrap was on repeat in Sky’s mind) -- stated, still grinning. Crewe gave him yet a nastier look. The EKP officer -- Keenan, apparently -- looked Sky up and down. “Huh. You don’t look like most pickpockets. Either you’ve done well for yourself, or you don’t actually need the money.” “It’s the last one,” said the Rider, “trust me.” “So lock him up!” Crewe demanded. Sky squirmed to get out of the grasp of the Rider, but it was no use; the man’s grip was too strong. Fuck me, he bemoaned. Then he recalled what Damia had said at the guildmaster’s party, and that he had a part to play, as demeaning as this was going to be, but if the Rider’s conditions were ‘apologize or go to jail,’ Sky knew he had to turn things up a notch as best as he could. He turned the corners of his lips down into as much as saddened face as he could, and he let his eyes grow as big as saucers and he tried to put as much tremble in his voice as he could as he said, “I’m really sorry, sir, I won’t do it again, I promise! I swear, this is the end of my pickpocketing days!” Damn, he hoped a tear would slip out soon. “There’s a good boy,” the Rider said, finally letting him go. “See? No harm done. But seriously, kid, get a new hobby. You’re no good at this petty thievery business.” “You’d be better at it if you had the need for it,” the EKP officer said. “Pray you never have the need for it.” “Both of you are too soft,” Crewe muttered before he stormed off in the opposite direction. Sky did not wait a moment longer before he, too, dashed away, lest the EKP officer changed his mind. This time, he ran until he made it all the way to the Tenements, cursing himself silently the entire way. Maybe he’d been too long without any real training. Maybe he’d been spending too much time behind a desk. And maybe, just maybe, it was time to start getting serious. |