The Rouge And Thief

Inching his way along a wooden plank, Love was creeping, quite literally, in someone's walls. He had been on a few of these missions already, sent off to steal a ring of protection, crystalized spyglass, and boots of elvenkind. So many issues were had because of how he tended to handle them in the second half. Sure, he'd get the item, but he'd gaslight the guards with ghost sound or purposefully trigger traps to put the whole place on red alert on his departure. Apparently that was detrimental to his score, so the young rogue was adapting to be more subtle in his proper work, not wanting to be put on the simpler jobs forever.

While he wasn't expecting this one to be different than the last, the coordinator had taken note of his quick decline in 'mistakes' after each return. Unaware of the shadow trailing him, nor that this place had a couple extra surprises. Part of it he had already slipped past, some of the more unusual traps on higher, ceiling paths, not in the walls he managed to squeeze into.

Reaching the corner of his stop, getting out was the same as in, scaling his way up to make a hole in the vents at the top. They might be barred off to keep people from moving through them, but that didn't mean he couldn't follow alongside and slip through the final end. Pulling out his notepad, he double checked the description as the area was laid out with shelves of knickknacks along with the magical items. The client was interested in getting an item from this collector that wasn't up for sale for one reason or another.

Making his way between the cases, he headed towards the back, keeping his fingers to himself despite all the extra treasures that were calling for investigation. Mission completion first, personal attempts for fun later. Catching eye of what he was after, a golden sphynx glittered despite the darkness on its own shelf. Recently dusted and shined, it was clearly the best taken care of among everything. Scanning it over, there were layers of magical traps on the shelf itself he had to disarm. A little outdated so they were new to him, but nothing he couldn't handle with a little finesse. The problem came when he tried to pick up the item itself. Being magical in nature, he hadn't thought to look for a hidden spell on it under its normal enchantment. A netted web shooting from the sphynx's mouth, Love landed none to kindly on the floor as an alarm went off. Muttering a curse under his breath, he squirmed, trying to break free of the threads before the guards rushed him.

For Thief, it wasn’t common that he’d tag along on someone’s test missions. He was usually busy, be it with family or with work, but this one was a bit different all the way around. He for one knew the male could do each task, but had a taste for being quite the menace which ruined his score on missions that called for a quiet in AND out. The pieces would be received, but people would be on higher alert as they looked for the item. Thankfully these were meant to be test missions, so the clients didn’t specify and it was more so what they required.

What’s more, the client actually sent a message along after asking if they could retrieve a few more items. It was far too late for the trainee to add it to their list, so instead another had to be sent into the same area. With Thief already tagging along the last few times for merely fun, this time he could be in the same area for both pleasure and work. It also allowed Love to focus on the pièce de résistance, not the easiest of items to find your way to.

He did make it a point to avoid running into the other red headed male, though he loved to have his moments of play and flirting, it was business time for the both of them. Once both came out, they could have a little more fun on the trek back to the guild. Or that’s what he planned at least.

Much more agile when it came from traveling through ceiling areas, very well versed in the ways of upper body strength, Thief has been trailing behind Love with his goodies already in tow. The client seemed to be a collector of the egyptian items, having grabbed two pharaoh busts from a different room while Love was crawling through the vents.

Waiting in a dark corner on top of the shelves, he wondered if Love had ever encountered trap enchanted items. It was usually reserved for the most prized possessions, and these seemed to be such. He disarmed the traps around, crept towards the item, aaaaaand the answer was apparently no. Watching as he thud to the ground and alarms started going off, he hopped down now that everything else was taken care of.

“My, my, gotten yourself into a pickle there.” Thief tsked, letting Love wriggle as he checked if there were any more and it seemed to be a one time thing. Grabbing the item and placing it into the bag he leaned down after to look at that pretty male. “I can help you, but it’ll cost you.”

He had been thinking they could play around after, but getting in some early flirting and deals when they presented themselves was never a bad thing.

Having a harder time than normal, it'd be an easy reach for his knives if the trap hadn't reached his tail as well. Having better control than some, it was longer and more like an extra helping hand if anything. Not very useful strapped against his back sadly.

Knowing his time wasn't long, it startled him when someone appeared mere moments after the alarms began. They couldn't have responded so quickly, but indeed they hadn't, a certain red haired thief standing there instead, casually bagging his prize. Continuing the struggle, he doubted the guild master was there to sabotage his own initiate's mission, what they were really after, a separate question.

"Awe, not even a little free roadside assistance for my first time? How mean," huffing when he had enough wiggling, it was clear he needed the help as the net drained his energy to fight. It was always a pleasure to play around with the thief though, even despite the situation. "But sure. Name your price, always wanted to know how much it took to get ahold of you for the evening." Wiggling his eyebrows, Love had a tendency to flirt beyond his means thanks to the prickly city folk that sneered at him for such things. How bad could the master price be anyway? It shouldn't be a problem as long as he could pay on return.

Even with the alarms wailing in the background, Thief wasn’t all that bothered as he crouched down now with almost all prizes in tow. Even all tied up and trying to wiggle to freetom Love was looking so cute, and a bit distressed. The later was not a look he enjoyed, wishing more for the blushing red face.

“Maybe if this was your very first time, but we both know it’s not.” Reaching out a hand to stroke his face, alas they were on a time crunch and he couldn’t enjoy all he wanted. “Down to business though, 75 kisses and I’ll whisk you away from the trouble you just found yourself into.”

Clicking his tongue, Love was pretty sure Thief enjoyed calling out his lies more than Anselik. Teeechnically it was his first time with the other on his own terms, not counting the rescue mission his friend had put in for. Though when it came down to getting the price, the demon was stucking staring precious seconds away at his negotiator.

"....What???" he finally managed to get out. The absurd part to him didn't even start at the high number, oh no. It was the absurd payment itself. Blinking and looking towards the door frantically, there wasn't a lot of time for discussion as heat crept up where Thief touched. Part of him wondering if he'd be left behind, he countered anyway, "F-Five! You already took the important one, cut me some slack here..!"

“The important one? Was dear Anselik telling the truth about this soft and sweet Love looking for true love of his own? I would have neeeeever have guessed I stole the first one..” Chuckling, he couldn’t tease long though, his ears moving up as he heard some yelling of the guards who were finally close. It had taken them long enough, all the more into his favor. “Hmmmmmm, I suppose for you I could do 200 kisses. I’d make that choice fast, I can hear the fun coming to investigate the noises.”

Getting the exact opposite of slack, Love gaped at a new amount more than doubling in price. What sort of negotiation was this supposed to be?! He could respect the high amount at first if it was something tangible but... but.. what was going on in their head to want 200 kisses from him?

"75!" Backtracking quickly at the approaching racket, he tossed his thoughts and complaints out the window. "Take it or leave me, I'll figure it out!" A bolder statement than he could handle, but the thought of that debt was crazy.

“75 does sound like such a lovely number, I suppose I’ll save my darling prince then.” Picking Love up, Thief hoisted him over his shoulder as he used his free hand to climb back up the shelves, harder with extra weight but still doable. From there it was just more climbing and traveling up until they popped out of the roof, the fresh air feeling nice after being into the cramped building.

“I am sorry to tell you you didn’t quite pass this test either, though so close. We can discuss future things once we get back to the guild. Maybe over a nice cup of wine and some treats?” He purred, his golden coin flipping through his fingers without him drawing it from a pocket. “And maybe with some of that payment, I wouldn't want you to fall into debt so quickly now.”

"Yeah, just pulled it randomly, glad you like it." Dripping with sarcasm, Love oofed lightly at being hefted up and over. Not his first, and he doubted it'd be his last time either. At least with all their layers, Thief had a more comfortable shoulder than most. Though that didn't mean he wanted to be stuck on it.

"Yeeeah, sure thing. Maybe we can even make a game of it. If I can drink more, how about you teach me more about that coin you're always fiddling with?" And maybe get drunk enough from the wine to cut some of that number in renegotiations if Love was lucky. "Oh, how about cutting me free now that we're out by the way?"

“You know plenty about the coins as is, you’ll learn more about it once you go from the cute little rougling to a rouge. Though, I may be able to convince otherwise with some more special time together. As for the ropes, I think I’ll wait, our first encounter is still so fond in my memory. It may not be duct tape but it does just as well.”

With their plan set though, as he flicked the coin between his middle and pointer finger it gave that familiar ring noise. The world around them wobbling for a moment as Thief just smiled, happy to show off his own special coin that had that little extra enchantment that made it all the more special to him.

He after all wanted to get back quickly to not only release Love, but he now has quite a busy night ahead of him with one of his new favorite people to play with. Love didn’t look as enthused, but he hoped as they wine and dined together that it would change.