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Post by Keziah on Aug 8, 2017 7:57:57 GMT
Keziah grinned, mischievous.
"Now that does sound like a plan." She was looking at the stalls as they wandered, eyes drawn to pretty baubles, beautiful plates and glasses, creative costume jewellery made from feathers and glass and leather. All things she never bothered to think about owning, and even though she'd just eaten she was even more drawn to staring at the piles of meat, fresh fruit, bread baked that morning. It was hard to overcome an obsession with food when you'd gone without enough for a long time, even though she'd been eating better for several months now.
Trying to sell the furs helped, she thought. The stall owners kept wary eyes on them as they browsed, rightfully disbelieving that two shabby youths were actually there to spend coin. They understood her trying to sell them something, though, and it eased suspicion of them a little, gave them a more plausible reason to be wandering the bazaar. She left the scoping out to Set - having never committed an organised theft, before, she didn't know what to look for, which details might be important. She's always been impulsive, nicking things as opportunity arose - planning was a fairly unfamiliar concept. It was easier to provide the cover for Set's snooping, chatting to stall owners and now and then allowing them to examine the furs. Finally, she chanced on her buyer at a booth draped with clothing.
"I seen better quality, girl, and they summer coats."
"Well, yeah. But I don't want much for them. Cheapest skins you'll get offered all day."
"Oh yeah? How much you wantin'?"
"Two copper per skin. It's peanuts, you know it." It was too, but admittedly Keziah wasn't all that skilled at skinning animals yet, and they were a bit rough around the edges. In the middle of summer she had no use for the skins herself, so any coin she could get was better than nothing.
"How many youse got?"
"Six, all the same."
"I'll do yer nine copper for the lot, not a penny more. Deal?"
"Deal." Nine copper was nine copper. Keziah handed over her skins, hoping the stall owner's bargaining had given Set more time to get a good look around, hopefully while looking like her bored, hard done by boyfriend dragged along on a dull shopping trip. She could feel him tensing whenever the Hounds walked past, though he did look pretty calm still.
"We'll not give 'em an excuse then. You wanna do another loop?" Keziah stored the new handful of copper in a leather pouch sewn to the inside of her pants, smiling a little as the weight increased. Every bit of it was for the bow she would buy one day, and nine copper might be small change in anyone's book, but it was still nine copper closer to her goal.
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Post by Set on Aug 9, 2017 21:28:47 GMT
While Kez tried to sell her furs, Set went to work. He looked for all the dark corners that were perfect to hide from Hounds. At night, the plaza would look different since more of the wares would be moved, but the buildings would still be the same. The shop was nothing special, and in the window there were beautiful, sparkling metals with vibrant stones on display. The wooden door had small, square windows, but coming in from the front was not much of an option. As they continued to walk, Set noticed a side door with no windows, most likely used by servants or slaves. At least twice during their walk, he noticed Hounds patrolling around the vicinity, but they only seemed to come from the sides and not the back of the building. Maybe if he was lucky, there would be something back there to use, but thus far it was looking like that side door was his best chance. It was so well hidden that Set wouldn’t have noticed it at first if a young woman hadn’t walked out of it.
Briefly, his attention on scouting had been interrupted when Keziah found someone to buy her furs. Set found himself glaring at the swindler, irritated that he no doubt knew someone like Kez could use the money, but was still willing to haggle for less. He kept his mouth shut though, and when the transaction was over he gave one last glare to the man before turning his attention back to Kez.
He smiled gently at her question. “Let’s not do that. Another loop would bring lots of attention to us. Maybe even catch a hound’s eye.” In fact, they’d done all they really could do in broad daylight. Perhaps later when the streets were more empty, Set would attempt to use the rooftops to scout out a little more before breaking and entering. The primary concern with thieving was guard hounds first, guards or guard animals second, and then being caught by the owners themselves. Set had no desire to have his hands cut off for a heist that was supposed to be straight forward and simple.
It was still bright outside, sometime in the afternoon and Set was still walking with Kez with his arm hooked through hers. There were still a good few hours before he would have to go through with his work, so there was enough time to sleep.
He started leading her away from the crowd of the plaza, shrinking his personality and newer found confidence to one that was overlooked by humans and hounds alike. On purpose, they were heading the opposite direction of the jewelry shop too, just to be safe. “Alright I got a good view. Looks like they have a servant or slave entrance of some kind that might be my best shot. Didn’t see any signs of animals, so that’s good. There were a lot of hounds that went by it though, so that’ll be tricky to deal with. But doesn’t seem too hard.” He sounded a lot more confident than he looked though, a hint of fear twinkling in his dull yellow eyes, hands shaky from the possibility of failure.
“I…know a place a little bit from here. Not the best place to sleep, but the food and beds are super fucking cheap. They let anyone in too.”
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Post by Keziah on Aug 20, 2017 5:16:15 GMT
Satisfied with the weight of the pouch sewn to the inner waistband of her pants, Keziah didn't mind much that the skins had only been worth pennies. She was pretty sure she had enough for a basic - very basic - training bow. It would be small, probably designed for a child or young teenager to learn with, and good for little more than hunting small to medium-sized animals with. But, in lacking power, it would be easy enough for a beginner to practice with, which was all she needed for now. If she ever got any good at using a bow she'd sell that one and save for a real bow, but there was no point jumping right to that now. She couldn't afford it, for a start, and it would be too heavy and hard to actually draw for her to learn with. Keziah had learned all this since coming to the City and finding a fletcher willing to explain the ins-and-outs of the thing to her. She intended to go back to him for the bow before leaving the City.
For now, though, she had an adventure of sorts to look forward to. She could hear the faint whoosh of Nie's wings as they flared each time she jumped, somewhere above them on the rooftops, letting her know the feathered dragon was following as Set led the way out of the plaza and away from the shop.
"Nie can help, you know. Keep an eye out from the roof tonight, let me know telepathically if she spots something. Might even let you know directly." Keziah assumed having a bird's eye vantage point wouldn't hurt, and there was no way Nie would agree to being left behind. Besides, if anything did go wrong the feathered dragon might be handy in getting them out of a tight spot. She'd learned to fight, out on the grasslands, and at the size of a lion - only much longer - she was increasingly formidable and intimidating as an opponent. It would be a very last resort, though, since it would cause chaos and attract a lot of attention if Nie was visible during the heist.
"Sure, that sounds great. It's so goddamn hot. Do they serve beer?" A cold beer would taste pretty fucking good right about now, and she could spare a couple of copper for something cheap and cheerful. An afternoon nap also sounded pretty appealing - she hoped the place had windows they could open for the breeze.
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Post by Set on Aug 29, 2017 4:49:38 GMT
Set hadn’t even thought to ask Kez if Nie could help out. He was constantly forgetting that the feathered dragon was far more than a pet. It was fully capable of thought and acting on more than just pure instinct. She could think through situations logically, reason, and more. Set thought that was amazing, but it was really hard to remember that even Kez saw her way above being more than a pet. “That’d be fucking awesome. If she’s willin’ to keep an eye on hounds, the job will be way easier.” The hardest part of the entire heist were those damned hounds. Sure, the family inside was a potential threat too, but it was easier to deal with untrained merchants than people who were fully trained to kill. Set would rather die than live a live with his hands cut off. Hell, he probably would die from that.
No stranger to the habits that Keziah had obtained from living on the streets, he gave a toothy grin at her question as he lead her in the direction of the inn. “Hell yeah they do. Probably not anything good though. They should have some simple food stuff too. Cheap, commoner meals. That sorta thing.” He was sure they sold other illegal substances, but he was sure Kez wasn’t into the hard stuff. She was too smart for that shit, unlike him.
As promised, the inn was not far away. It was easy to tell the closer they got, the inn only being a few blocks away, by the appearance of the people out in public. They went from obvious middle-class folk, to people covered in grim and dirt, wearing worn down and dirty burlap shirts that probably hadn’t been washed in months. He and Kez would not stick out like a sore thumb at the place he had in mind.
It was called the Dirt Bend, named so after the nasty people that frequented it. Just from the outside, there was a nasty haze and a small crowd of people who were loud and drunk, even though it was only the afternoon. There was a stench about it, more than just the normal sweat and booze. To people like Keziah and Set though, it was hardly off-putting. They’d both grown up in the streets and were used to things smelling like piss and shit all the time.
In the end, it was still safer, and better, than sleeping in the streets, and it was nice to be able to even afford this. He had no intention of asking Kez to cover herself. “Smells like home,” he jested.
When they scooted past a few burly men screaming about how many people they could bed, they pushed the double doors to enter the rotting, wooden building that seemed to be just ever so slightly leaning to the right side. Once inside, there wasn’t much to it; The space was small, only able to accommodate maybe thirty people, if that. The floor boards creaked, and the stench was stronger in there. At the entrance, there was a small podium with a tall, intimidating woman standing behind it. She was watching them like a hawk as they entered, and Set figured she was in charge of making sure no scum snuck through.
“Er hello. Could we get a room for the night?” It was safer to ask for one for the whole night, rather than just for a few hours.
The woman, who was at least seven feet tall with bright blonde hair and striking gray eyes, studied him for a moment, then looked at Kez. With a stern tone of voice, she responded, “Two copper a night per person, not includin’ food or drinks. No cheaper than that. No baths up there either. Just a place to sleep. Don’t expect no damn luxury.”
She obviously expected him to have no money, but was surprised when the shifter slapped four coppers onto the podium. She shrugged. “Neat-o kiddies. Don’t fuck anything up or you pay for it. Don’t be stealin’ shit either. I can tell if ya leave with somethin’ that ain’t yours. Room is to the left, second on the right of that hallway. The bar is packed so take your drinks or whatever outside or to your room if ya wanna drink them. No room for some scrawny kids like you.”
Set didn’t take offense, positive that the lady had to deal with a lot of shit with her work. He thanked her and tugged on Kez, moving to the right side of the building where there was a shit ton of people all close together, drinking and standing on their feet as they ate. There were literally no chairs or tables, but there was an awfully run down bar with another woman that looked similar to the one at the podium and a number of drinks on shelves behind her.
Before even attempting to go into the crowd though, and realizing that he had his arm hooked through Kez’s rather tightly, he looked at her with his dull yellow eyes and raised an eyebrow. “Well. There’s the drinks. Guess we could sneak past all these fuckers along the edges of the walls?” There were just…so many damn people in a tiny space.
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Post by Keziah on Sept 2, 2017 3:57:13 GMT
I will help. Nie, listening from the roof above them, spoke telepathically to both Set and Keziah. Keziah, used to hearing the feathered dragon and knowing that Nie didn't like being talked about like she wasn't right there listening, wasn't surprised. Nie might be out of sight but she was never out of mind, at least not to her. And she could always hear, at the edge of her attention, the soft patter of claws on roof tiles, the occasional rush of air from ebony-feathered wings. It was there as they drew close to the inn and she knew Nie would stay up on the roof, perhaps find some sunny nook or cranny to curl up, cat-like, and sleep. There was no way the feathered dragon would follow them in here - it was much too crowded for her.
The Dirt Bend was exactly like any other inn Keziah knew well from her time on the streets. From time to time she'd be lucky enough to sleep in a place like this, rather than out on a doorstep or down an alley - occasionally because she scraped a few copper together and it was so cold it was worth it, but more often if she whored and the person paying for her also paid for a room. In fact, she probably worked this exact inn sometime in the past, though there was nothing identifying about it that made it stick out in her memory. She didn't hesitate at all before plunging into the crowd with Set, elbowing her way through with the kind of grim determination that living on the street gave all the people who came here. She waited while Set arranged the room, then nodded when he pointed out the bar.
"I'll get the drinks. Come on." Jostling, flirting and threatening her way through the crowd came back easily enough. Keziah ignored the lecherous looks from men who sized her up, her expression enough to let them know she wasn't open for business right now. The communication in a place like this was an odd mixture of crude and subtle - the things some of them said might be filthy, but they listened to her body language and read the signs that they shouldn't press any further or risk messing with her. In this way, she got to the bar eventually, though it was hot sweaty work in the press of people.
"Two beers." Shoving the copper across the bar, she got her hands on the drinks then tilted her head upwards.
"Gods alive, the landlady was right. Too damn busy down here. Let's go drink in the room."
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Post by Set on Sept 2, 2017 15:21:06 GMT
Nie’s response had caught Set off guard, but he had been grinning when it happened. The feathery lizard dragon thing was so fucking cool! Part of him felt really privilege to hear her voice too, even if for just a few words. Kez had said how she didn’t talk to anyone. Maybe she tolerated Set? It was a nice thought since most people and animals couldn’t fucking stand him.
Set felt kind of dumb that he still felt so anxious to go through a crowd of people, but his heightened anxiety was in part from his withdrawal. Soon he’d be coughing up non-stop till his throat bled if he didn’t get his hit in soon. The last thing he wanted to do was rush Keziah though. There was someone in that specific inn that sold Heprinsal, which was also a part of why he chose it as their rest location
Not many people paid them any heed, even when they shoved past, but the lady had been right. It was so packed that he and Kez could barely fit through anyone. Every man that seized his friend up, Set found himself glaring at them in turn and raising part of his lip as if to snarl. Without thinking, he’d snatched Kez’s hand into his own to help affirm she wasn’t hear for any of them. What Keziah did with her life was her business, but for the moment she and he were just catching up and enjoying each other’s company before returning to the heist.
After Kez ordered the drinks and recommended they head to the room to drink, he nodded and let go of her hand so she could hold the drinks. “Please. Away from this mess of sweat and body odor. I just need to ask the bartender for some Heprinsal since I don’t have any on me.” He hoped the bartender had some to smoke rather than eat. Set much preferred the smoking than eating some chewy leaves.
He approached the bartender himself. “Got any Heprsinal smokes?” Set didn’t even bother to keep his voice low. In a place like that, it was the norm. Heprinsal was a shifter-based drug anyways, so humans didn’t really care if it was on the streets.
The bartender nodded and handed Set a few rolled up blunts of the drug as well as a match to go with. Set left what he owed on the table and followed after Kez, not taking a moment longer to light the end of his blunt and take a big wiff of the smoke. Within a few minutes he was bound to feel the effects of it.
“Alright, let’s get through these people and get to the room. Maybe we’ll be lucky to not spill the drinks.”
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Post by Keziah on Sept 9, 2017 1:27:05 GMT
It was so easy to slip back into this life. Keziah didn't feel like she'd ever left, not really - her travelling with Campion seemed like the odd thing out, the brief vacation from this reality - but even so, it had been months and months and yet here she was, back in one of the seediest bars of the City of Thieves, the defiant mask of a street rat firmly back in place. So she glanced at Set, surprised, when he became defensive, even protective.
"It's okay," she muttered, low under her breath, tone soothing.
"I'm used to it. I can handle these guys." Still, it was an unexpected and almost sweet gesture. Was he jealous? Keziah couldn't tell exactly what vibe she was getting from Set, whether he was interested in her as more than a friend, and she wasn't sure she wanted to examine that too closely. Not now, anyway. She just wanted to enjoy his company for as long as it remained enjoyable, and she figured that would probably be until she left the City. She was meeting Campion again tomorrow; time was short.
She waited for Set to get his smokes then dove back into the crowd. She didn't buy anything for herself - though she'd been a user herself, and probably still was, she didn't have the coin for it now. She'd rarely had the coin for it ever, tending to trade sex and other favours for a high when that was what she craved. This, though, was another thing Keziah didn't like to define. Druggie or not? Street rat or not? Friends or more? Too complicated to puzzle through. She preferred to just go with the flow.
And that flow, right now, led upstairs. The room was small - a single bed against one wall, and a crate that acted as a nightstand where you could put whatever meager belongings you owned. A random pole stuck out from the other wall - somewhere to hang your jacket, she supposed - but, incredibly, there was a window. It was small and so dirty she couldn't see anything out of it but after a few minutes of determined wrestling and shoving she managed to get it open so a thin breeze could trickle into the room every now and then. Keziah flopped onto the bed and then scooted up so she was sitting on it, back to the wall, before retrieving her drink from the nightstand. It would have to be the bed - there was nowhere else to sit.
"The beer's warm. But hey, I've had worst. Feelin' better?" She gestured at the smoke that Set was holding on to as if it was his life raft in the ocean.
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Post by Set on Sept 12, 2017 3:21:48 GMT
Set felt almost stupid for how defensive he felt over Kez, but he wasn’t able to really explain it. He’d never had a friend besides her, and to that day still had none but her. Any emotion he felt towards her, both platonically and even in regards to his slight crush, were new and very hard to control since he had no idea how to interpret or use them. Kez had been living on the streets long before they’d met, so why did he feel a need to be protective? It was all just to confusing. He decided to ignore the weird feelings he was feeling and just act…normal, or as normal as he could be.
The drug helped with his uneasiness, a lot. As he followed after her towards the room that the woman had directed them to, already the effects of hallucination were upon him. The walls seemed to be wiggly and swaying side to side. One of the drunk patrons lying on the floor was…green?? And he was fairly certain there was a spider in a corner that was ten times the size it should have been for him to be comfortable around. Sometimes his hallucinations could induce a panic, but he was able to keep his focus on Keziah and get up to the small room.
He took another hit and blew over his shoulder, away from Kez’s direction just to be polite. To him, it seemed like she was moving faster than anything he’d every seen, while he felt like he was walking through molasses.
It was a good, solid minute before he even registered that Kez was sitting on the bed with her drink, asking him if he was feeling better. Set was leaning against the doorway, head resting against the old, dark wood. “Hm? Fuck yeah I am.” He managed to push himself up and yawned, another effect of the drug, which was doziness. Even in small quantities, it was potent. If he had used the amount that he used to be hooked on, Set would have been in a corner somewhere, probably rocking back and forth muttering to himself.
Set made his way over the nighstand that had the drinks. Was drinking and smoking a hallucinogen a good idea? Probably not. But he didn’t much care. He picked up the drink, but before actually drinking it, frowned and cocked an eyebrow. “Uh, hey Kez. Beer’s not s’posed to be shiny and blue, right?” He moved to sit down next to Kez, dull yellow gaze intently locked on the mystifying liquid that only he could see.
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Post by Keziah on Sept 16, 2017 10:34:42 GMT
Once she was settled in the room Keziah was free to watch Set and start to notice the was the drug affected him. It was fairly rare, on her part, to spend time with someone under the influence while staying completely sober. The beer, warm and frothy and malty, hardly counted since hardly anyone could get a buzz off a single glass of cheap booze. She liked the flavour though, and the warm lazy summer afternoon in the hazy room was sleepy and pleasant already. Bright sunbeams dripped through the window, golden amber as the day wore on towards late afternoon, and she could see countless dust motes drifting slowly through the warm air. An occasional breeze was a treat on slightly damp skin, though her clothes were light - pilfered from people she'd robbed on the savannah - and well-designed for this kind of weather, so all around she was comfortable and as happy as she could ever remember.
Set, on the other hand, looked half off the planet. She watched, amused, as he just stood there for a good two minutes, staring into space, beer in one hand and smoke in the other. His eyes were glazed, pupils blown - she could see that even from on the bed, while he stood in the doorway. She laughed when he finally tore himself off the doorframe and wandered over, only to inquire about the beer.
"Oh, sure it is. Don't worry about it."
Keziah took a long drink and then leaned across Set to set the half-empty glass back on the nightstand. Then, stretching luxuriously, she slumped back on the bed with her hands behind her head, legs strewn over Set's lap and head below the window. Her hair fanned out around her head and she brushed it out of her face, wondering if she should let it grow again or have it cut before she left the City. In the heat of late summer it would be cooler to have it cut, but she'd get burnt less with longer hair to protect her neck. These idle thoughts wandered lazily around her head and she smiled, feeling relaxed and just a tiny bit sleepy.
"You gonna be able to run this heist high outta your mind, Set? Or do the first effects wear off pretty quick?"
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Post by Set on Sept 17, 2017 3:21:06 GMT
At the confirmation that the sparkling liquid was okay, Set smiled and shrugged, taking the chance to down the whole drink in only a few big gulps. When he was down, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sighed contently. The idea of getting drunk seemed like a good one, but he had no desire to go to sleep and either over sleep, or wake up with a nasty hang over when it was time to do the heist. There was no specific time they’d need to do it, just at some point at night when everyone was asleep, and if he did for some reason over sleep, there was always the following night that was an option.
Since he was much more relaxed from the drug, there was no awkwardness or uncertainty in what he felt when Kez strew her legs over his lap. It just seemed like a friendly gesture to him, and thanks to being high, there was no feeling of overthinking it. Instead he finished up his last smoke and dug the end of the blunt into the frame of the bed to put it out, not at all worried about damaging it. In a place like that, everything was already damage. So long as nothing was actually broken, there wouldn’t be a big deal about it.
He blew the smoke out slowly, enjoying the last hit that he’d have for the next day or so before he’d get to do it again. This was nice, this concept of being with a friend and just relaxing, having a beer together. Part of him thought it’d be a lot more fun if she was high too, but that was for a different time. He looked over at her, eyes hazy and clouded, as she asked him a question.
“If I was really high, then you’d know. I…wouldn’t be talking or even sitting up. Fuck, I’d probably be slumped over in a corner somewhere.” He talked very slowly with a heavy, slightly scratchy voice as his throat was partially parched from the smoke. “This is only a fraction of what my normal dose used to be. I’ll be…” The sight of Kez laying down was already making him sleepy as did heprinsal. He yawned for a few seconds and slumped forward a bit, perfectly content with how he was and eyes closing. “I’ll be good in a few hours. S’long as we get up before the streets get busy and people start waking, we’ll be good.” Set slumped forward more till his head was resting on Kez’s legs, eyes shut as he slowly began to fall asleep already.
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Post by Keziah on Sept 19, 2017 8:26:19 GMT
Keziah smiled and nodded, looking down the bed at Set without bothering to raise her head. The room was warm, the bed surprisingly comfortable even though it sagged in the middle, and she was sleepier than she'd realised. Still, when Set slumped over she nudged him firmly with one foot.
"Oi. You can't sleep like that, you'll absolutely murder your back. Budge up, it's nap time I reckon."
Nie. You there?
On the roof of the pub. I'll wake you when it's dark.
'Kay. Thanks.
Shifting around, Keziah stretched along the length of the bed and patted the mattress, inviting Set to lie alongside her. She was already yawning - maybe it was the smoke? She didn't feel high at all, just drowsy, but she wasn't sure how whatever Set was smoking would affect a Human, if at all. Either way she rested her head on one arm, fringe falling over her eyes, and without needing covers or a pillow or anything else at all really, she drifted off to sleep in the hazy room of the Dirt Bend, easily able to tune out the noise below. Up here it felt peaceful, safe. A strange, dreamy, smoky summer afternoon.
Then, a tapping on the window.
Keziah sat up with a start, blinking rapidly. It was dark except for a wan moonlight, from a thin crescent moon, filtering through the open window. Silhouetted in the frame was a black shape which took form, after a few moments of letting her eyes adjust, into the upside-down head of Nie. The feathered dragon tapped her claws on the window again.
Wake up. It's getting late.
How late?
How should I know? It's after the moon's zenith, though.
Keziah yawned widely and then nudged Set. During the night they had curled away from each other in the heat, their backs pressed together, and she could feel the bony ridge of his spine.
"Hey, wake up. Time to go steal some shit, or whatever."
Stretching until her shoulders popped, arms extended over her head, Keziah rolled off the bed and shook out her legs. Then, she downed the last half of her abandoned beer, now flat and even warmer than when she'd first got it. Gross, but her mouth was dry and tacky and she was thirsty. Alertness came quickly when she was up, the excitement of their adventure to come shaking away the sleepiness.
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Post by Set on Sept 24, 2017 4:47:17 GMT
Set grumbled as Kez helped move him to a more comfortable position. He was basically dead weight, not bothering to help at all since he was out already. Had he not been under the influence, he would have been very self concious about sharing a bed with Kez to sleep on. Not necessarily because he was somewhat infatuated with her, but mainly because he was so used to sleeping by himself. He felt so…exposed with another person there. Thanks to the drug though, he didn’t think twice about it and was in a deep sleep.
-x-
Dreams were really weird with Heprinsal though. There were odd, moving images, bright and colorful. Flashes of greens, blues, reds, and even pinks happened randomly at times and in weird shapes. He saw his mentor, a blinding shade of cyan, who was displeased with the help he was getting from Kez. Then he saw Kez, who was some weird shade of purple, leaving him behind all the while shouting how he was a useless, good for nothing coward. One of the side effects of the drug were horrible nightmares that played on the user’s biggest fears, and there were so many that Set had. At one point, he was outside of his own body, watching as he was beaten and worked to death as a slave.
There were effects of the distress in the real world. Through the part of the day and afternoon that they slept, Set had called out a few times, moved and kicked. Heat flashes had happened too, where one minute he’d be drenched in sweat while panicking, and in the next be fine.
Had he been alone, the eventual intensity of the nightmares would have woken him. Instead, he had a startled start when he felt a nudge. The shifter shot up with a shout, an obvious look of distress on his face for just a few moments before he realized where he was. He sat up and leaned over, resting his head in his hands with his eyes closed. Headaches after using weren’t uncommon either. Sleeping was just so painful for him, but it was necessary.
Finally the shifter took a deep breath and calmed his racing heart. He looked over to Kez, somewhat embarrassed by the way he’d woken up, and then decided to not dwell on it. Slowly, he moved his legs to hang off the bed and stretched. When he’d fallen asleep, he was already in the garments that he’d used for the heist to begin with. Since he’d been walking around in his human form though, it was necessary for him to change to his shifter form once they left the inn.
“Right, yeah. Sorry. Let’s get this done before anyone sees us, or before the hounds start realizing that they have an actual job to do.” Some hounds abused their time and went to brothels and bars while they were on duty, so it was possible that, with the time of night it was, they were doing just that.
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Post by Keziah on Sept 26, 2017 8:29:46 GMT
In some situations it might have been startling, the way Set woke up. But knowing what he'd taken, and a little of what he was experiencing from her own drug using in years past, she wasn't really surprised when he came to looking distressed and unsettled. So she just ignored it, waited for the fear to pass without commenting or drawing attention to it. She was still sleepy anyway, sitting up in the bed and blinking slowly, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the wan moonlight that was the only source of light in the room.
When she was up, after downing the beer, Keziah fetched the bag she'd dropped behind the door when they arrived and unzipped it to retrieve a jacket. It was two sizes too big, and made for a man, but it was also made of lovely soft warm brown leather and only had one arrow hole and a few minor blood stains. Keziah herself hadn't killed the man who'd originally owned it - neither her nor her companions, in fact, as they'd come upon two groups quarreling on the road and they'd taken each other out before Campion and her went in to mop up the survivors. Regardless, though, it was one of the most comfortable pieces of clothing she'd ever owned and she shrugged it on happily. It wasn't particularly cold, but the later summer night outside could get chilly. Best to be prepared. Then, she shouldered the pack and turned back to Set.
Keziah held out her hand to help him up.
"Great. Do you feel any better?" After the sleep, after the drugs, whatever question he chose to answer was fine with her. Keziah wasn't generally one for pushing the boundaries with prying.
"Nie's outside, she'll follow us on the roof 'til we're there, and then she might come down or might stay up there, depending on what she thinks gives her the best shot of looking out for us. Sound okay?" Keziah was mindful that she was just helping - this was Set's heist, so what he said went. Anyway, she really didn't have much of an idea of what she was doing. She was just enjoying the idea of tagging along and seeing a decent theft going down.
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Post by Set on Sept 29, 2017 22:48:57 GMT
Set looked up at Kez and the hand she offered. He gave a pained groan as a response to his question, but he gladly took her hand to help be brought up. “Groggy and weird, but that’s normal. It’ll be past soon.” Honestly he wished he could just get off the damn drug entirely. It would make his life so much easier. No withdrawals seemed like a dream to him. Sure, drugs were fun, but not when they came with such a shitty feeling afterwards. If he didn’t need to spend coin constantly on Heprinsal, he would have so much more coin.
He stretched his long lanky self out, reaching his hands high above his head and released a big huff of air from his longs. Set was already in his gear, though shirtless still from when he’d shifted back from his half form, which was fine. He’d have to switch back in a moment regardless. The only thing on him was a small leather pouch that was the most important thing to the whole heist. It held plenty of lock picks, some different from others better fitted for different types of locks.
While Kez was grabbing her coat, Set shifted back into his taller and more gruesome looking half form. The canid appearance would be a lot more intimidating if he wasn’t as skinny and lanky as he was. It was easy for him to blend into the night though, since he was completely black. Parts of his flesh almost looked rotted and grotesque. His true form looked nothing liked his half-form, and he wondered why that was.
He shrugged his shoulders to loosen the stiffness in his body from sleeping. “Yeah that’s fine, whatever she’s willing to help with. You don’t have to worry about getting’ into the house and helpin’ me steal stuff. But an extra set of eyes for hounds will go a long way to help.” And he’d want some help if he got caught too, not that it would help him much when he confronted his mentor. Fulkore would probably beat him and tell him to go back to the streets.
Set went over to the tiny, musty and gross window they had. They were only a floor up, and with his digitigrade legs, Set was capable of landing with little injury on his behalf. He looked over his shoulder at Kez. “Best to go out through the window there’s an alley below it looks like, no one around to see. Sort of a big drop but if Nie can’t help you down, I should be able to catch you.” Set was still scrawny, but he as confident in catching Kez if she wasn’t comfortable with dropping down herself.
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Post by Keziah on Oct 1, 2017 6:58:41 GMT
When Keziah turned around, suddenly she was sharing a room with a nightmare jackal instead of a lanky teenage boy. She'd known a lot of Shifters over the years, many of whom felt most comfortable in their half forms, able to straddle the Human world and their own. Set's half form was intimidating, relative to most, but she liked that. She hoped it served him well in this life; hoped it help keep him safe. After a second of hesitation she stepped forward and hugged him, arms around his waist since she could no longer reach his shoulders. A quick hug, but fierce...a moment of shared reassurance for the task ahead, maybe.
"Whatever you need. Come on then, let's get outta here."
She followed Set's lead out the window. Lithe, slim, she squeezed out the small space and stepped onto the roof, clutching the sill for balance. Above her Nie flared her wings, head tilting, obviously unhappy with this plan. But Keziah was no stranger to climbing and even if she hadn't been up on the rooftops of the City for some time, the skill came back to her at once. The roof sloped sharply before ending in a gutter and a drop, and she let go of the window to slide down the tiles. Nie caught her at the edge, teeth seizing her jacket, and Keziah rolled her eyes.
I'm FINE. Don't put more holes in my jacket, you mangy dragon.
You're reckless. Stop it.
Nie let go, however, and in a quick, agile movement Keziah turned and dropped over the edge of the roof, gripping the guttering with both hands. Stretched out like this it was only a short drop to the ground when she did let go, and then she was grinning up at Set, delighted with herself.
"It's been so long since I climbed on the rooftops. Still got it though, huh?" She readjusted the pack on her shoulders, wrapped the jacket around her a little closer. It was a balmy night and yet in the early hours of the morning, even at the end of summer, a chill crept into the air. The shop wasn't far, though, and now that night had fallen there was a soft rush of air and then Nie was on the ground beside her, waiting for Set.
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