Imprints in Stone [AU]

[NPCs]

Djon has plenty of time to reply, given that most of the others are giving the newcomer at least one glance. "Carver and Beth- the bloke's one of Don's friends, new to our fair city. Just crashing for a bit, I gather, but the girl's offering to play house for us."

[Bethany]

Those are nice, Bethany thinks distractedly, wondering what it would feel like to run her hands up those lightly furred legs from calf to rump. Ummm. That's a lot of... that's not a lot of skirt. Wow. 

[GamesMaster]

"Great!" chirps the girl. "I'm Ari. Love your hair." Ari doesn't give Beth another glance after the compliment, instead heading for the game. "Deal me in?"

[Carver Amell]

Carver can't take his eyes off the ladies before him -- both of them, nestled into the tight blouse. "Uh, me too," he stammers, heading after her. 

[Bethany]

Bethany grabs him by the arm, going up on her toes to whisper, "this one's mine." Kissing him on the cheek, she slips by her him smiles prettily at Ari. "Thanks! I love your skirt- Nyra's so much better with fashion than my old village."

[Carver Amell]

Carver stops dead in his tracks. Wait, what? No fair calling dibs!

[Carver Amell]

The next day, after he drops off Beth, Carver skips out on the temple, doubling back to hang out with the Red Bandannas. A couple hours later, he watches Steve enter a magic reagents shop, browsing the goods out for display -- nothing too expensive, that would all be kept in the back room, but for magical reagents, "not too expensive" can mean up to a whole gold apiece.

Miki slips in next, and then Carver, separately, to avoid being seen as together. As expected, the guard keep an eye on Miki, watching him carefully as he hovers near some expensive items. Carver drifts towards a rack of cheap dowels to be used as wands, pretending to trip so he bumps it and makes some noise. Now the guard splits his time between the 'clumsy' kid who might break something and the 'thief' catfolk clearly too poor to buy anything -- just as hoped.

Carver's eyes widen, and he points at Miki. "Hey! Mister! He just slipped one of those eyes in his pocket!"

Miki takes off like a shot, the petrified eyeball bulging and obvious in his back pocket, and the guard gives chase, rushing out into the street after him, Carver on his heels and the clerk not far behind. Behind him, Steve quietly loads a bag, slipping out to hand it off to Niko to get away with before he strolls away in another direction. Carver leaves the guard after they 'fail' to catch Miki, shaking his head and bemoaning those 'damn cats' to hide the elation he feels. They did it! They pulled off a real heist! They're going to be rich!

[NPCs]

Well, they weren't rich by any means, but Steve had managed to gather up two whole boxes of garnet chips. Plus a pair of well-made cedar wands blanks, the sort used for good healing wands. The rest of it's just common crap, but still worth a gold or two when it's all added up together. Regardless, it's enough to pay for Carver's stay for two weeks or so. And Beth is paying her own way pretty well- two meals a day, cooked plain but filling and wholesome, a clean if still run-down hideout and new patched tunics for everyone except Ari, who has a pair of leather trousers that Miki had found that were torn along the bottoms, hemmed and neatened.

Rivals or not, both of them can agree some things are worth working together for- like having Ari in tight leather pants.

On the morning of the eleventh day, Carver is walking Bethany to the Bastion temple when he spots a familiar pink haired man sitting on the curb just outside the gates. He's got a brown paper bag next to him, along with three wineskins and, while he's got a book in his hands, he's spending more time glancing around than reading.

[Carver Amell]

Again, Carver grabs Beth's arm, tugging her back. "Hey. That's that guy, isn't it?" he whispers. 

[Bethany]

"That- oh, the guard? The one that asked his wife to bring us dinner?" she asks, peering over his shoulder. "Yeah, I think so. The hair is right but he's not wearing his guard tabard..."

[Carver Amell]

"Does he come here? Does he look hurt?" Carver swallows, trying to calm his nerves, but his teeth are on edge. He's not sure why the guard seem to be hunting them, but like hell he's going to let them get to Bethany. 

[Bethany]

"I think he's waiting for someone. Well, two people- the waterskins," she explains.

[Carver Amell]

"Are they... Searching the temple, maybe? Like Varric's house?"

[Bethany]

Bethany shrugs a little. "Maybe? He doesn't seem to be but... Wait, why would they search here? Varric's not Bastionite."

[Carver Amell]

"Something bad's happened," he says in a subdued voice. "We need to lay low. Stay away from the temple."