Did you hear the one about the clocktower?

[emergingspirit]

Who: Connor and Garrett (Closed)
What: Housewarming presents OuO
When: 440
Where: A clocktower
Rating: PG-13ish



[Probably most people don't pay much attention to the clocktower. Sometimes it chimes a little late, sometimes it chimes a little early, but it's mostly close enough, so it doesn't seem like anyone in the city has paid too much attention to it. Besides, when seems like most people run on a "sunrise-sunset" instead of a "9-to-5" schedule, who really cares? Even Connor hasn't paid it much mind in the time he's been here, he's gotten used to it being ever so slightly off--

Except the other day it chimed on time. And then did it again hours later. ...And now it's consistently on time, but even though he's been looking, Connor hasn't seen anyone working on the tower. God powers maybe? Rune magic? Whatever it is, he's curious, so as soon as he has a free moment from the shop, it's off to the clocktower he goes.

A few minutes of observation is all he needs to find a reasonable way up the side of the building and up to a cracked window. A moment of wiggling is all he needs to pop said window fully open and slip inside. It takes a bit longer for his eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness, so he waits in silence until they do...and is nothing short of startled by what he sees.

Boxes. Trinkets. Odds and ends laid out with remarkable care.

It almost looks like someone lives up here.]

Comments

[blackhand]

[Except someone does live here, and has taken residence and improved the space dramatically in his stay within it. Garrett hasn't completely set everything up to be as it was back home, but it's close. A worktable sits on one end, tools from a toolbox slowly being collected, supplies scattered here and there across the top. A makeshift bench that holds what looks like a map of Asgard, hand-drawn and looked at far too many times. Below where the window sits are countertops that hold boxes, and within those seem to actually be loot and trinkets, carefully laid out, almost with excruciating detail, and sorted into groups. As if labeled by pride and not by greed. Beyond those are some living supplies, placed at odd ends and used sparingly.

Nestled underneath this entire layout is a bed, and on said bed is one master thief, fast asleep due to the fact of it being during the day. Still, the sound of someone shoving the window open causes him to wake immediately- being a light sleeper is a habit, especially when you live in a place where it's anything but easy to exist. Garrett quietly rises, ears listening for anything else that may disturb the silence within the clocktower, and softly moves off his bed. It might've just been a bird accidentally smacking into the window, but his paranoia doesn't exactly let him think otherwise. Not until he makes sure that it's nothing.

So he moves, off the bed, swooping further back into the shadows, and waits. If it's nothing, then he'll venture out shortly. But if it is something, well. He'll find out soon enough.]

[emergingspirit]

[Garrett is even quieter than the quietest Assassin, which is saying something, so Connor doesn't hear the movement below him. He stays where he is on the floor above, investigating the bits and bobs laid out. Some of them are mundane enough, but there are a few coins scattered here and there and...some of that jewelry--

Didn't he see a woman wearing that exact necklace the day before? It's very distinct, there's no way he's remembering wrong, but she didn't look the type to take up residence in a clocktower of all places...]

[blackhand]

[He can hear it, just faintly- the sounds of something being rummaged through. Feet that are a little heavy when they shift between boards. Most people would toss these sounds as age of the clocktower, the sound of shifting gears making anything else seem rather miniscule in comparison.

Slowly, slowly, Garrett steps out from under the upper section, moving as quietly as possible, eyes searching for anything out of place. And when they settle on the figure of an intruder, of Connor, Garrett stiffens slightly.

How did he even get in here.

The master thief has no time to ask questions- not now, at least. Not when his hideout has been discovered somehow and he needs to take care of this threat. He considers moving along up the steps to get behind the man, a face he recognizes from meeting on his first day here, but decides against it. The stairs would be too obvious, and Connor would hear him long before he got close. So Garrett settles for the next best thing- he pulls himself up onto a beam by the gears of the clock, then onto another, makes his way across that and then hauls himself up onto the top floor. Using the environment is a must for him, and the sound of shifting gears covers his footsteps easily.

With that taken care of, the thief steps into the shadows nearby, and watches. He could swoop forward and take the other out now, but that would be pushing his luck all at once. So he waits, cowl up, refusing to make a sound save for breathing, and watches. What Connor does next will determine how Garrett reacts.]

[emergingspirit]

[How did he get here? Obviously, Garrett, he climbed.

What, like it's hard?

Connor picks up a few things here and there, though he puts each item back exactly where he found it. (Hey, he might clearly be in the home of a thief, but that doesn't mean he's one himself. Besides, none of the items in here appear to be important.) He plucks a bracelet out of its neatly lined box and holds it up in a thin beam of light, turning it this way and that for a few heartbeats before it, too, goes back where it "belongs."

He supposes he should count himself lucky that the thief who lives here has an eye for sparkly trinkets rather than weapons or something similar. Though there does seem to be quite the arsenal of arrows up here...

He picks one of those up, too, inspecting it curiously. It doesn't look at all like any of the arrows he's ever used, the tip blunted with what looks like cotton wadding and moss. Odd.]

[blackhand]

[The master thief watches, carefully and quietly, as Connor rummages through his things, his feet gently moving him towards the other. He thinks of different approaches and how he can get rid of the other, and finally settles on one, this tactic a little new for him. His own shadow stretches in the dark, creating a small but familiar form that moves ahead of the thief easily.

It's then that Connor may notice a little black bird hopping to and fro on the bench beside him. A minute passes and it flits its wings, flying upwards a little to bounce on its feet on the table with the loot. It seems interested in him, twisting its head a little as it hops a little this way, and a little that.

Meanwhile, the thief makes his way towards the other, silent as he can, shadow magpie keeping his intruder busy. Then, a hand slips out the Blackjack, the butt of the weapon aimed and heading straight for the man's temple. Duck or move, Connor, otherwise it's lights out.]

[emergingspirit]

[Connor is, as Garrett hoped, briefly distracted by the raven. It would work great if he weren't aware of the various blessings bestowed by the different gods, and if he, himself, hadn't also gained the ability to manipulate shadows.

Also, Garrett might not make a sound, but Connor is well versed in the sound of "blunt object whizzing through the air towards his head." He's heard it so many times, got hit by said blunt object many times in his youth before he learned to do this neat little trick where he ducks his shoulders, shifts all his weight to one foot and turns on a dime, arm outflung to catch who or whatever is behind him.]

[blackhand]

[And just like that, his wrist is caught as Connor whirls, Blackjack stopping in its plight, the thief caught in surprise for a split second, before instinct kicks in. A foot aims for Connor's to throw him off balance, Garrett ducking with his wrist still grappled, and that cotton ended arrow the other had picked up earlier is grabbed and aimed straight for the assassin's head.

In a job like this, you have to be quick on your feet. Literally.]

[emergingspirit]

[Garrett's foot catches Connor's and it does shift his balance, but he takes advantage of that and uses the slight stumble to give himself extra momentum forward, while ducking the arrow. Garrett's older and arguably more experienced in the ways of stealth, clearly, but Connor's spent his whole life grappling with opponents. He'll go down, sure, but Garrett is coming with him.]