What Mischief Spring Makes

[skyward_eyes]

Who; Nida, Mono, Open
What; Stake Outs, Burglaries, Maybe Some Wishes
Where;Noble District, Markets
When; Mid March
Warnings; N/A

I. A Stakeout Team | Noble District (Closed to Mono)

This wasn't the job that Nida had wanted to take. There was trouble in the Harbor District, and there would always be a part of Nida that was drawn to the seas even as he was drawn to the skies. Plus if he needed to draw on Siren's powers, then even the fullest ones of them were most useful at the harbor.

Instead he was here, because there were some skills that Nida was good at that wasn't always the strength of the other guards. Which was why Nida was here right now, perched on the roof of a wealthy person's house that had already been burgled, waiting. His job was to wait, to watch, to seek. Want to catch a thief? Use a spy apparently.

Nida sighed as he shivered in his dark brown and gray coat, something he'd chosen to keep himself less visible. It was cold in the evenings these days, and while he had a small covered stove nearby to offer some heat, it was annoying him for not being enough.

"At least there's some learning going on," he said to his companion for the night, the one that was supposed to help him stay awake. Maybe he'd been working nights, but all night wasn't always right.

"So," he says to Mono, gesturing to the small bag of nuts and dried fruit, "you willing to pass that?"

Hopefully he'd gotten Mono a good enough rain poncho to keep him dry.

II. Tension In The Markets | Markets

The rain was getting to him, but it seemed like he wasn't the only one. Nida felt a bit soggy, but at least he had good boots to keep his feet dry. It seemed like the same wasn't true for everyone. People were wet and angry looking, and Nida was tired from all of the work that he was doing. Long nights, overnights, not enough time at home, and he still had to go do some market shifts. Was it a shock he was irritable?

"Ain't selling you that!" one merchant was shouting at someone that looked vaguely familiar. And it looked like it might be a fight soon. Damn.

"No fucking fights," Nida said as he stepped forward toward the merchant and the other person. "Just calm yourselves down."

III. Wildcard
[I have a plotting post here if you have other ideas you'd like to discuss. If you have CR with Nida it's also cool to just plop a wildcard down here. As he's working the Noble District most nights during this event, the best way to find him is tired during the afternoon/day, especially at home.]

Comments

[monochromatically]

Mono considered that carefully for a moment, taking another look around at the ground below and the layout of the streets… Watch for now, and follow while staying hidden if the suspicious person started to run and Nida couldn’t follow… Yep, the kid was okay with that plan. It sounded logical, and he was used to following people without being seen, anyway! It was still… kind of a thing he did around here sometimes. “Okay, I can do that.” He agreed, offering Nida one of his clumsy, tilted smiles.

[skyward_eyes]

Good kid. Nida smiled and reached up, patting his head. Well, the blanket that covered his rain cap that covered his head.

"You're amazing, Mono. You know that? Just damn amazing."

[monochromatically]

Mono wasn’t sure what he did that was so amazing, but the kid grinned again with a curious little glance up at Nida when the guy pat his head. Adults did weird things like that, but it was a nice weird thing. “Yeah? I just kinda try my best when there’s a good plan, that’s all.” He responded, before considering that he might need to change his hat out for something a little less obvious in the event that he did have to help follow the sneaky person. He’d take care of that if he did, but for now he knew he had to let Nida go try to follow the guy in the first place. “Good luck!”

[skyward_eyes]

"Luck, sadly, I can't junction for."

Which meant his was always rather crud. But Nida was going to try anyway. He lowered himself down the side of the building. Falling quickly, even in the rain, would make too much sound. He had to be quiet, which meant he needed Mono's eyes.

This was especially true because the little thief was continuing forward, past the manor they were directly across from, instead heading for one further down the road.

[monochromatically]

Mono was still under the impression it was good to wish someone luck, at least based on what he’d heard. Whether it actually helped or not, the kid had yet to see. So he nodded, watching Nida as he lowered himself down the side of the building before turning his eyes to the thief.

The boy tugged his dark brown hat out of his coat pocket, switching out the rain hat stowed under the blanket with it, even if it wasn’t as good at keeping the rain off. It would be better if he needed to be sneakier himself. The boy frowned as the thief began moving further down the road, crouching he moved along the rooftop to see which way he was going before signalling to Nida at the bottom of the building with a quiet, subtle gesture that the sneaky person was on the move in that direction instead.

[skyward_eyes]

It took Nida a little bit to get down, because all those dreadful potential puddles. And of course his eyes were first up toward Mono. Because yep, seemed like the person had moved. Nida nodded and made his own gesture back, hoping Mono would understand that Nida was asking him to go further down the roof to keep a better eye on their target.

It would be necessary too, because the sneaky figure was getting ready to turn down into a dark space that wouldn't be quite so visible where Mono was currently standing.

[monochromatically]

Mono felt a certain confidence at the gesture. It wasn’t hard for the boy to guess what Nida meant. Things like this, silent gestures and coordinating over a distance was something the kid was used to doing with Six when one of them had to do something for them to get ahead. It was almost second nature for him to move further down the roof while keeping his eyes on the target. Even if things hadn’t ended well with Six… It was hard to not feel a little like old times here and now, helping Nida out. And it felt good to the kid to be useful, and to help with a certain amount of confidence he didn’t have in general around this world, given how different he felt from the average kid.

His eyes narrowed a bit as he watched the figure moving to turn down into a space more shadowed. Probably trying to not be seen, staying out of the light. He gave another small gestured signal to Nida from his new vantage point, crouching near the edge but keeping himself back enough that the strange figure would have a harder time seeing him blend in with the roof’s shingles.

[skyward_eyes]

Good kid, bright too. He'd make a good SeeD trainee, not that Nida would ever wish that on him. On silent enough feet for now he padded after the thief, who had found a low wall covered with vines to try and scale to get into the grounds of their target. Nida only turned the corner after the foot of the shadow disappeared over the top, leaving Nida's eyes casting about for the person.

He was, frustratingly, almost too close to sense the lingering magic around the figure, and the rain was dampering other sounds that Siren picked out. Once more his eyes cast toward where he expected Mono to be, looking for guidance.

[monochromatically]

Mono frowned as the thief started climbing up over a low wall. Moving carefully long the edge of the roof tried to get in a better position to see the other side of the wall. Looking down at Nida, he offered the man a gesture that he hoped would be read as ‘Up and over!’ on the wall of vines in front of him. All the while, he paused to get a look at the stranger again, not wanting to lose sight of them at the same time.

[skyward_eyes]

That's definitely up and over, and Nida nods. The thing was, he didn't want to lose the guy completely, or fall right on his head. He needed answers. So he signed to try and convey that he needed Mono to let him know when it would be safe to climb over. Gotta trust the kid.

And the stranger was slowly becoming visible again, just a bit at least. Some small movement of shadow that didn't move in the same way as the rest of the things moving in the wind.

[monochromatically]

Mono tilted his head for a moment, before nodding in response to the gesture. He was pretty sure he knew what the man meant. It would be reasonable to not want to just drop on top of the thing you were following. That could be dangerous. Like if you didn’t time some stuff right in his world and bad stuff happened… So he watched, staring into the darkness of the space below the wall as he watched for the right moment to signal Nida again. Once it looked safe, he gestured back again.

[skyward_eyes]

Nida nodded and quick laudable speed despite the weather he scrambled right up and over the wall, disappearing behind it into the liquid darkness. Meanwhile the thief themself was slipping over to a trellis covered with vines. Clearly their intended entrance was on an upper level. Sadly, once he was inside Mono wasn't going to be as much help to Nida.

Something had to be done.

[monochromatically]

Mono felt a small amount of panic well up in him when he realized what the person was thinking about doing to get inside… He was too far away to even get inside to help, though he guessed he could always go to try to help corner him inside the building… But that also relied on the idea that they could block the other windows (of which there are several he realized)… The boy considered, instead, stopping him from even getting inside. How to do that? Well… The boy was good at breaking things, that much couldn’t be denied. People would probably rather fix a broken trellis than try to replace their expensive stuffs, right?

Holding out his hands, leaning slightly over the edge of the building, the boy tugged at his warping abilities. Tuning the invisible signal in the air and letting it lace through the trellis’s woven pattern. The trellis made a cracking sound and then fell off the building onto its side with a gentle thud and rustle as a bush broke its fall. So the guy was going to have to find a different way to climb. Weird, huh?

[skyward_eyes]

Totally weird. In fact, the thief that had been part way up fell with it, and just laid there for a moment, stunned. More than enough time for Nida to prowl up and catch the thief in his arms.

There was some brief struggle, and soon Nida was rising, a bound figure slung over his shoulder. He waved merrily up to Mono. Seems like they were successful.

[monochromatically]

Mono waited and watched. Wincing a little when he realized the guy had also landed in the bush… Oh well, he had fallen from bigger heights and been fine, so it was probably okay! As soon as Nida was rising with the figure slung over his shoulder and waving to him, the boy grinned to himself. Mission complete! At the signal, he finally made his way down the side of the building carefully and hurried over in the direction he’d seen Nida waiting to meet up. “You got him!” The boy said with a tilted but pleased grin, in his usual quiet tone (though there was a note of excitement to it).

[skyward_eyes]

"I did," Nida said with a smile and his target over his shoulder. He'd go up and get their stuff after he turned the kid over. "Couldn't have done it without you, Mono. Really great work there being my eyes in the sky. That was great luck that the trellis fell."

[monochromatically]

“Thanks!” The boy’s clumsy smile was definitely wider than usual. He was pretty excited. “I kinda never get the chance to help with the stuff happening. I’m glad I could do something.” He added, since a lot of the time, he just learned to stay out of the way and try to not mess about with things he didn’t understand.

The boy’s expression shifted to something… A little awkward. Yeah, the trellis falling was totally lucky. “Um… Yeah, it kinda was lucky.” He mumbled more quietly, fussing with a button on his coat. His voice sunk very low, more of a mumble. “’Cause I kinda did it. I wasn’t sure if it’d fall or not, but I wanted to stop him from getting in since we couldn’t follow or find him again as easy.” He finally admitted, since mostly he practiced with his abilities and didn’t actually try to use them in situations here that mattered.

[skyward_eyes]

As if the low mumble would miss the words, given Siren was around. He smiled at his young friend.

"That's amazing, Mono. The sort of gift you should practice. That could be useful to be able to command for you."

[monochromatically]

There was some relief in the boy’s posture when Nida complimented the ability. He was still kind of afraid of what people might think of him using it… Especially since right now he seemed mostly capable of breaking things. “I’ve been a lot since I got back. I wanna try to get better at making things less broken, but mostly I still break stuff.” He shrugged slightly. It was a work in progress... But if it came in handy and he could break stuff for good reasons, maybe it wasn’t so bad?

[skyward_eyes]

"Breaking isn't something to feel bad about," Nida pointed out. At least, he didn't think so. "All abilities are a tool in some manner, if you are willing to learn how to."

[monochromatically]

Mono liked the way Nida put it… It made him feel a little better about the idea, at least. The boy was pretty sure some people might not see it that way, especially considering how badly his ‘breaking things’ could get… But learning to control it (without becoming a warped bundle of anger) might really be best. “Thanks, Nida… I’m trying really hard to learn how to use it in good ways instead of bad ones.”

[skyward_eyes]

"Alright. We can add it to our training," he says, even as his captive starts to wake and kick. Nida seems unbothered. "There are some nice quiet places on the outskirts of town we could practice."

Why wouldn't he support his kid brother?

[monochromatically]

“Really?” Mono also ignored the captive, because well… He didn’t matter at the moment. He was in thief-time-out or something. “That’d be great. I have a hard time finding places I don’t bug people to practice and stuff.” And Nida had been a pretty good climbing teacher, so he could at least keep an eye on things and make sure Mono didn’t end up in a bad situation like he might if he practiced in the wrong places.

Finally, though, he glanced at the kicking captive and frowned. “We should probably do something about that guy, though.” Before he managed to kick Nida himself or something.

[skyward_eyes]

Yes. Thief-time-out. Good concept.

"We're going to take him to the station. Come on. We'll figure out a training space after we've got him booked and come back for our stuff."

He'll leave the bosses to interrogate the kid.

[monochromatically]

That sounded like a good idea. “Okay! I made sure stuff was safe before I came down, so it should be okay till we get back.” He agreed, ready to follow along. This part seemed like the boring part, but he was glad to come along for the walk and think about this new idea until they could get their stuff and go home.