loch lemach gives zero fucks (cutandthrust) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-09-04 17:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, loch lemach, sky min |
Who: Sky Min & Loch Lemach
What: Sky's curious about his future prospects in the MMW.
Where: Outside the Courts of Justice
When: After Miles' trial (backdated)
Rating: PG-13 for swearing
Status: Complete!
The last of the thieves' trials was the most heavily attended by far. Day after day, the courts had played the trials like a seven-part cautionary tale of the men's downfall, and the curious returned to watch every new installment, hungry for new details. But with Miles Baines' sentence (fifteen years and a day — Evander Finch deserved a standing ovation for how casually he'd sent his friend to rot in a cell) the curtain had now fallen, and all filed outside, still muttering amongst themselves on what they'd heard in the courtroom. A crowd had gathered outside, waiting to hear the outcome. Loch made her way through like she was just another citizen with a few hours to kill, nobody of consequence to the case. She planned to disappear into a side street and return to the workshop, figure out how to contain the situation before it got out of hand. But she had just descended the marble steps when she spotted a familiar face in the crowd — someone that should have been covering for her at the market, not snooping about like an idle housewife. Sky did not hear her approach. She had a perfect view of his hand dipping into the robes of the man next to him and coming back out with a coinpurse, nowhere near as subtle as he believed himself. "Here instead of working," she said, stopping beside him, "and you ain't learned nothing from the spectacle of the hour.” Sky turned to her and scowled. “What, they’re not gonna throw me in prison for this.” He waved the coin purse at Loch unceremoniously before tucking it into his pocket. “Jail, maybe, for like a day--” And he’d have to contend with his sister and, ugh, parents. “--but not prison.” He hadn’t heard yet the sentencing, having been too bored waiting around outside to keep an ear to the ground like he’d planned. He had also planned to be back at work quicker than this, before Loch knew that he’d gone, but that obviously hadn’t happened. Still, he was curious, which was why he was here to begin with; he’d only known this Miles Baines guy briefly, and they were more acquaintances than anything else, but there was a months-old promise Sky hoped wouldn’t be held up for too much longer. After letting a pause hang in the air for a moment, he cautiously asked, “How…?” Loch glanced at Sky's mark — still oblivious to the disappearance of his purse after the kid had waved it in plain sight, so he deserved his fate — and motioned for him to follow her away from the crowd. "Fifteen years and a day in the King's prison," she said as they walked. "The one out on an island. Real idyllic there, minus the bars." Sky flinched. “Ouch,” he said more with disappointment than anything else. Well, there went that idea. Fifteen years was like a lifetime — though to be fair, Sky had only been alive for just over sixteen. And in fifteen years, he’d be thirty-one years old and change. He’d be, well, old. He made a face. “Don’t they sometimes let people lessen their sentences? Like… parole, or appeals, or something?” He’d heard talk of that a lot lately, too. This time, Loch snorted. "He's got to do something to earn that, kid. Doubt exemplar behavior will cut it; he can't rob anyone from his cell, so it ain't no indicator of nothing." She kept her tone casual, as if she were discussing a matter of no more importance than the weather. "If he had some sort of information that's valuable to the authorities, maybe he'd get a deal. But if he's got that, why keep it to himself?" (The look of betrayal on Miles' face on the way out of the courtroom was etched into her mind's eye, that time-bomb ticking away.) "What's your interest, anyway?" She drew out a cigarette and lit up. Sky stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Just wondering.” No use explaining to Loch about Miles’ proposal some months back. It was unimportant now anyway. “‘s all anyone’s talking about in the Guild, so… I don’t know, was curious.” Loch rolled her eyes at the kid's contrived efforts to look nonchalant. One reason she'd never bothered with teenagers. Porter, at least, had had ambition as a mildly redeeming quality. "Damn curious, to ditch work to come snoop around," she said. "Hope you ain't thinking of trying something that stupid in the future. You can barely pick pockets." He resisted the urge to retort that he’d been offered and settled for a deepened scowl instead. He even thought about asking her about her interests but thought better of it; he’d been caught in the act of playing hooky, no need to exacerbate the point more. “This seemed more interesting,” he said instead. "It was," she agreed. "Still don't net you permission to ditch." “Harbormaster let me,” he shot back. “Got all my work done for the day, so…” Again, he shrugged, a better alternative to other things he wanted to do or say. Loch raised her eyebrows. "Well, ain't you productive today." And even if he hadn't, she knew Philip would back up Sky's version if she asked him — the man was too damn fond of kids. The hustle of the crowd still milling about the Courts of Justice faded as they turned a corner. She glanced at her employee to dismiss him, and a thought struck her. "You ever making class? Philip'll give you a day off if you need to go off get mentored." “I am class,” he snapped, “I’m a…” But then he held his tongue; yes, they were out of sight of the courthouse, but that didn’t mean he ought to be saying out loud what the Bards Guild, Thieves Guild, whatever officially dubbed him as. “You know.” The boy had some brains, at least, but riling him up was all too easy, and did not do much to relieve the tension of wondering how long it'd take Miles to exchange her for a shortened sentence. "You still get that day off if you need to get mentored in how to be better at that. Or pray for a city full of marks as easy as that one back there." Loch smirked. "If not, then I'll see you at work tomorrow." With a lazy wave of the hand, she turned left into a side street and put all thought of the boy and his career out of her mind. From that day on, she had bigger problems to contend with. |