Smash and Grab

[Malkavia]

Shimmerlace whistled. ”Wow…” Her hand grazed the graphic, such as it was. She glanced at the captain. First mate, was it? Shimmerlace crooked a smile and flicked between her middle and index fingers the until-recently framed photograph.

Huan hung in the air, arms outstretched like a Y, legs curled from her leap into sky, while the skateboard spun, wheels topside, in the limbo between ground and feet. Evening washed the scene in orange, placed the board and its rider in brilliant relief, cast long, black shadows. Shimmerlace lacked a skater’s eye to respect the technical skill; Rodney Mullen might as well have been Rodney Dangerfield to Shimmerlace. But even so. It was a cool shot, and Shimmerlace placed it back on the island gingerly.

Next came the skateboard itself. She picked it up, held it up to her eye like a rifle and peered down its length. ”It’s a piece of shite.” Tsk. Her tongue clicked while she lowered the board. ”Which makes it a fair sight unique in a glass menagerie such as our Huan’s.”

Shimmerlace flipped the board to her chest, clasping it tight in her fingers, while she beamed at Angelina. Yes, she agreed. Here was comet dust, sure as anything, straight from the heart of the Huan-tended garden. Angelina was truly a bloodhound. Our helmsman of malfeasance was more than flapping her gums when she said they’d make this job in record time.

Such was Shimmer’s mind when Huan’s key slid noisily into the lock.

[Monsy]

Gold smelled different to everyone. That’s the truth about that. She knew what she liked. Yes. Knowing what Shimmer liked too was part of that smell that took her to Thistledown. A critic whose nose attuned to hunting what the victim desired. Rabbits, to boards, motorcycles and necklaces. She had another prize for that growing list, and that’s all she could want. Our good ol’ friend Rodney belonged in much better hands anyway.

A piece of shite, huh. Angelina nodded along to that, “HA. Yeah.” It was fair enough thinking about it. You probably couldn’t ride that stupid thing. Its bearings are probably shot, and its days of having any pop are long over. You’d need to stand straight not to break the already rotten bushings. That is if the thing even rolled. Just picturing all the stairs, rails and impromptu spots this thing went over was enough to sell her anyway -- like finding an old shipwreck and daydreaming where it sailed.

“It’ll look sick on my wall. Should fit on the dolly no sweat. Now, it’s ya turn to find somethin’ for keeps. See if ya can beat my Rodney.”

Angelina invited Shimmer to hunt with a hand stretched towards the living space, leaning on the island to make it seem like an isle of awaiting treasure. It all seemed well and she was all smiles from the pirate. Then she heard that lock. Her head snapped towards the door, and she turned stern. “Move.” She said, suddenly and plainly, then bolted herself -- away to the balcony, beyond the corner to disappear.

[ThatPolishDude]

Having one student not show up to practice was one thing, the entire class doing so was another. Apparently, they all went down with some sort of infection and while Huan wasn't happy with learning it on-site, inquiring for details was not something she fancied, not this time anyway. Still, it left her on ice as beyond that, she had no plans for the day and was not sure what to do with herself, for now at least she returned home.

She rushed past the reception and up to the top floor. If she got early, the least she could do was take Capitan for a nice long walk, that ball of fur certainly deserved a bit of extra care. Opening the door she started to greet her four-legged companions. "I'm bac..." She stopped, and looked at the shattered glass on the floor, briefly thinking the cat must have knocked it over, and then her eye went up to the figure holding her board. Her blood froze, the usual cheery expression vanishing behind a mask of cold anger. Who in their right mind would risk breaking into her place?

"I suggest you put it back where you found it." she said voice like ice cracking, making her way in a straight line to the intruder, the only exit behind her. "And better have a good story to spin before I call the cops." That serious moment was cut by a sound of happy barking and a big brown and white husky rounding a corner at full speed, almost bumping into a counter as he made his way for Huan, camming to a sliding stop on his ass when he noticed the look in his oner's eye. He, possibly more than the thief, knew he was in trouble.

[Malkavia]

Something to top beat Rodney, was it? The thought of taking something for herself hadn’t occurred to Shimmerlace, until Angelina made it game. Once it became a competition, though—

But the Feychild was denied the time to turn that gem over in her mind. The key slid in the lock, Angelina bolted, Shimmer’s back went tight, mouth dry and agape. Move said the boss, your fuckin’ arse added something inside, and she would have, if Huan weren’t already glaring her down. The shock held her in place even then, until the dog broke her out.

Cute wee thing.

Shimmerlace swallowed. Words. Words now. But it was like trying to start a stalled car, with everything willing to clench and choke on in the inside, but the words couldn’t catch and get rolling. She was gummed up. She pulled a stool from around the apartment’s island, and took a seat. As she did so, she placed the skateboard in her lap. The word police was the spike that finally got the sounds moving.

”Ah-ah-uh…uhm. Well I…You don’t have to—I mean with the, with the police, that’s not...” The words were in a voice alien to Shimmer. Midwestern Standard English. Swallow. Shimmerlace looked at the board, at the ground. Her shoulders hunched together, her knees crosses. She looked like she was trying to squeeze herself into a ball, perhaps one that could shrink and then pop into nothing. ”There’s no need to involve anything like, I mean...We can. I just, you know. I can tell you about it. Um.”

Her eyes finally lifted up to Huan’s. Back to the board. And up again. She handed it forward.

”I can give you this. If you want.”

[ThatPolishDude]

Huan moved closer, getting off her jacket and throwing it onto the isle before cracking her knuckles. The thief didn't even try to run, didn't have a ready story, nothing, not only was she being robbed in a broad daylight, it was being done by an amateur. Her patience was running thin. "You are going to give me that board, now." She said in a collected, commanding voice that still betrayed the cold anger beneath. "Then, you are going to tell me who else is with you." She continued waiting for her possession to be returned, which she would then place on the counter behind her without breaking the line of sight with the intruder.

"Then you will tell me what you are here for and give me a really good reason why I should not call the police. And I mean a good one." She spoke once more the gaze fixed on the woman before her. All the while the dog was looking at his owner, then the other person, and back again. Though still confused and clearly not sure what to feel about their new "Guest" he was picking up that they were not a welcome one and he'd move to Huan's side, letting out a lows growl.

[Malkavia]

Giving up the board wasn’t hard; it had never been Shimmer’s to begin with. What was hard was not giving up the real owner—not glancing out to the balcony, not turning to see if the Marauder was watching the Feychild give up the treasure. The Terror’s treasure.

Hush up pirate cunt. Her heart beat a dozen ticks a minute, and sweat gleamed at her neck, and her face flushed, but the dialogue with her imagined Marauderness kept up on its low channel. Hush the fuck up and watch for an opportunity. Shimmerlace did not glance at the window.

Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on the dog. Cute. Cute cute cute. Huan had a cute dog. So she couldn’t be all heartless, right? What’s her name? she wanted to ask. But she kept thin-lipped, while Huan laid on the interrogation. Probably for the best: just then she was like to groan out nonsense and say anything logical.

A good reason why I should not call the police…

Shimmerlace blinked, glanced at Huan. The phrase had to turn over, repeat, three or four times, but. It registered. And she had to work to keep the relief hidden behind glassy eyes. Huan, ever the kind and generous patron, wanted an excuse.

She passed Huan her skateboard.

Breathe in.

And breathe out, and clear your throat, and give a shiver of magician fingers. A dog treat appeared from nowhere in her hands. She flipped it between her fingers, channeling the anxiety and panic into manipulating the brown, hard, bone-shaped treat.

”I um. I’m ah—name’s Shimmer. Er. Sorry.” Shimmerlace grinned, sheepish. ”Not what you asked. You wanna know who I’m with, which is nobody, and why I’m here, which is to um. Well. Uh. Honestly.” The bone caught between her index and middle finger and stood, pointing straight up. ”...Mmmmwell to nab something that, uh, a woman by the name of Angelina Tarrant would find. Appealing. Mhm. By the by, you mind if I pet or…feed your dog? The um.” She spun the biscuit. ”...The thing, eh. It’s safe. Wouldn’t harm a dog, o’course.”

[ThatPolishDude]

Hearing the response, Huan's eyes narrowed. 'Shimmer? As in that fairy kid in the yl program?' She asked herself, looking more carefully at the woman before her, under the disguise she could recognise the girl just nearly now that she was told. It only served to confuse her more, it didn't seem like something that kid would do but then again, this little attempt at robbery was botched so it would make sense that someone with no experience was behind that, trying to do it alone also fit the bill and the dog did not seem to catch the scent of anyone else... for all that he could be trusted.

Taking the board and setting it to the side, Huan would look at the dog treat and cock her head, 'is this girl for real?' "You break into my house and ask if you can give my dog a treat? No." She said which caused a visible disappointment in the captain who was eyeing the treat already, turning his attitude to shimmer back from the intruder to a guest. Huan recognised the treat and doubted it was spiked but she wasn't just going to drop the questions or get distracted that easily. "Alone... Ok, sure..." She said slowly before raising her hand and pointing at the door to the left, it lead to the study, It would be a better place to talk and more importantly, had just one entrance. "I want to know why you'd come looking for "something appealing" for that woman here but we can continue there." She continued, gesturing for Shimmer to move and when she did, Huan would follow.

[Malkavia]

”See, you say that like it'd be better if I broke into your house, like, and didn’t offer the wee pup something to munch. How much sense does that make, hm?”

In spite of her protestations, Shimmerlace pocketed the treat, eschewing her usual sleight of hand in favor of more mundane storage. She was shepherded into the study and made to sit, a student in the principal’s office. Which was fine–more than fine. Delightful, actually, fuckin fantastic.

Among the many delightful and fantastic and frankly lucky things about the study was that it contained a rotating desk chair, which Shimmerlace promptly claimed as her own. ”...Mind if I spin, by the by?” She was already swiveling back and forth on an arc of around thirty degrees. ”Also, what happened with the Lioness meeting? You are…still doing that are you not? Always meant to sit in and all, but...couldn't find the time. I haven't missed the opportunity once and for all now have I?”

As Shimmerlace spun, her eyes kept trailing back to Il Capitano the Furball, prime minister of the Huan Kingdom. The way he ran at his master's ankles betrayed a deep loyalty, which thought not in the least surprising still made happy feelings bubble under the (admittedly loosening) anxiety in the fairy's gut. She did not glance beyond the study, towards the now distant island, where the skateboard had been left. But she did position herself to encourage Huan to keep her back at a certain angle,

[ThatPolishDude]

Huan did not react to the comment about the dog treat, patiently and silently escorting the robber to the other room. there the fairy decided to continue the silliness and that was quite enough for Huan who would grab the back of the chair while it spun, forcing it into a sudden stop as she leaned down close to Shimmer's face. "You forget yourself, do it again and you won't like where it leads." She said with iron in her voice, in this instance, it could suggest either the cops mentioned before or just violence. Though calling it "just violence" did not truly represent what could happen given who Huan was.

She would then push the chair to the wall and sit on the desk, back turned to the door. "Tarrant... Why are you looking for stuff for her? Why here? She barked off the questions, more like commands, simple, straightforward, just like the answers she expected to get. Meanwhile, the seriousness of the situation was undercut by the Capitan trying to sneak up to Shimmer and poking his nose where he saw the pixie hide the snack from before.

[Monsy]

All hiding spots had their ups and downs. The one thing she desired most in hers was simply the option to run. Being on the balcony had its added perks. She could hear just about everything that was said, from the openness that connected inside to outside. It had an integral blind spot too with a solid wall allowing her to check everything out meanwhile, looking for an escape. She leaned on the railing, looking over. It's a straight shot down with not many grips or window ledges but small creases on each level. Yeah, no. She came back to her surveying post, head near the opening, then peeked inside. They weren’t there. But their voices were close.

Eventually she peeped an open study, with a dog moving in, just as Shimmer’s pink hair and Huan’s hair clip. She stepped in, staying close to a wall, checking corners on instinct and anywhere else for some other animal. And it’s that fact which made her move fast as well, a dance on her toes as she hunched, kept low and carved along the kitchen counters, approaching the island from behind. A small card pulled from her pocket was placed behind the Rodney board. Black, with a smiling horned skull on its face. It had two sides to stand up, where the white back contained a phone number, a hideously drawn smiley face and a little message. ‘Will you be my Apex Qualifier buddy? ’

Then she snatched the Rodney, tucked it under her armpit and made a straight shot for the door, opening it slow and deliberate, controlling how it opened, then slowly shutting it, and only releasing the handle when it was reset before casually making her way down the hall, to the elevator and out of this goddamn mess.