[OPEN] Especially to any of the YYH crew, or anybody who'd like to lose some valuables.

[yuukaihan]

WHO: AU!Kurama (yuukaihan), any of the YYH cast members who want confusing OU/AU shenanigans, and anyone else who'd like to join in!
WHAT: Kurama's making the rounds of the districts, stealing from citizens and getting the lay of the land.
WHERE: He'll avoid Orlea and Crystalden for the most part, because he's a little weirded out by anything too modern, but feel free to run into him in Lochwell, Mallow Hallow, Whitewood, or Highcrest.
WHEN: 5/24


He goes on yet another exploratory tour of the districts, adding more details to the mental map in his head, as he's been doing since he arrived. The mark of a good thief is knowing all of the roads through a city or town - not to mention all of the alleyways, the rooftops, and the shortcuts. You never know when you'll need to make a quick escape.

He keeps his hood pulled up over his bright red hair, for the most part, although it's more from habit than anything else, nowadays. Back home, his hair tended to make him more noticeable, as it was not a very common color - but here, he's seen people with every color of hair imaginable (and some even more bizarre) and made friends with someone with hair just as vibrant as his own, so it hardly seems likely that anyone will remember him for any particular reason. Still, there's an odd sort of comfort in having his cloak tugged up around his ears, so he leaves the hood where it is, although he's less concerned that it fully cover him, so that some of his red hair works itself free and lays visible around his face.

There hardly seems any point to his thieving anymore (and in fact, he's been considering taking up another pastime, but what else does he really know how to do?), since money is of no object here, and most of what he and his sister steal simply piles up in their cottage, but old habits die hard, so he still finds himself occasionally slipping long fingers into pockets as he passes people by, relieving them of their valuables.

Comments

[yuukaihan]

'Not long', is the answer. He gets that familiar sensation of being watched fairly quickly, that telltale tingling that makes the hairs on the nape of his neck stand on end, but he's also learned enough to know the difference between a malicious kind of watching and otherwise. This one feels more curious than anything else, so he's in little hurry to find out just who it is that's tailing him.

Instead, he tugs his hood down around his shoulders, a subtle sign to whoever is watching that he isn't intimidated in the slightest. Still, he does hold off on the pickpocketing for now - just in case. Wouldn't want to get caught at it by his tail.

He meanders easily through the streets, his sharp gaze taking in his surroundings, mapping out easy routes should he decide to pull off some larger heist sometime in the future, and keeps one eye out for a convenient place to lose his tracker.

[petitvoleur]

She smiles to herself, a small, sharp thing, at the sight of him letting his hood down. She knows all too well what that means: he's noticed. Not that it's her, obviously, or he would have made it known, but he knows that someone is following her.

She allows her pace to lag that much more, letting him get a ways ahead of her, allowing him to think that she's getting lazy, or perhaps even bored of pursuing him.

It's a waste of her time, perhaps, but she can't help it, when Kurama is so interesting. His every move is intentional; not a twitch of his muscle is wasted. She can only aspire to be that well-trained one day.]

[yuukaihan]

The feeling fades slightly, and Kurama frowns, fighting the urge to turn and figure out why. Has his tail decided that he isn't so interesting after all? Had he aroused suspicion, but now alleviated it by doing nothing out of the ordinary? Or is this simply some ploy to get him to relax his guard, to maneuver him into making some kind of mistake?

With no way to find out, and unwilling to go much longer without knowing, he turns his attention back towards his surroundings, searching more earnestly for somewhere to get away. He's careful not to let the tension show in the lines of his body, however - to anyone else, he's still strolling, gazing absently around, enjoying the sun on his face. Behind his placid mask, however, his mind works furiously, considering and then dismissing every possible escape route that catches his eye.

[petitvoleur]

Her smile turns into something a little more wry; she can see what he's doing up ahead, looking for a good way out. He's taught her enough that she knows what to look for, what those minute changes in body language mean. But she also knows that if she continues to tail him, it's likely he'll take flight and she'll lose him. And, well, she wouldn't mind having a stroll with him. It's not often they're together during the day anymore, and nowadays they can more than afford not to be constantly on the job.

Casually, quickening her pace just enough to catch up with him, she appears at his shoulder, tapping gently.

[yuukaihan]

With as much attention as he's paying to his surroundings, he catches the sound of her footsteps quickly as she approaches, so the tap to his shoulder isn't unexpected. He turns to look at her, smiling mildly, and takes the opportunity to sweep his gaze behind him, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

When he finds nothing, and then realizes that the feeling of being watched has disappeared, he turns back to her, one eyebrow raised, and gives her a look that says very clearly, 'I should have known'.

[petitvoleur]

She returns his smile, and it's a bit cheeky; his look is returned with one of his own: Of course you should. She's honestly surprised he didn't figure it out sooner, but can't decide whether or not it's a credit to her tailing abilities. Emmanuelle slips an arm through her brother's, falling into step with him as best she can given the difference in their length of leg.

"Boredom," she says simply, a response to an unasked question. "Nothing of interest to be had, so I thought I'd find myself something that did interest me."

[yuukaihan]

Almost automatically, he slows his steps to make it easier for her to keep up, a concession he would never dreamed of making for anyone in the months before meeting her.

At her words, the corners of his lips quirk upwards, and he casts her a quick, fond glance. But, he thinks, she makes a rather important point. There's little for them to do here, and it seems the boredom may soon drive them stir-crazy.

"I've been thinking," he says cautiously, "that it may be time to find something else...interesting to do."

[petitvoleur]

She catches that fond look, files it away for later, when she's curled up in bed and she can allow herself to enjoy such little luxuries. When they're alone, there's no shortage of such attention to be had, but out here in the world at large, that's when she knows it's genuine.

Her eyes brighten considerably when he proposes they find an alternative to their pointless thieving, and it takes all her self-control not to grin widely at him. The arm not hooked through his comes to rest over her hand curled around his arm, her own small show of affection.

"I am listening."

[yuukaihan]

He frowns slightly, taken by surprise by how quickly she turns to him for an idea - mostly because he doesn't have one. That feeling of aimlessness, of lacking a clear goal, is frustrating to him.

"Unfortunately," he says, and the frustration is clear in his voice, "I'm at rather a loss for what that 'something else' might be. I am hard-pressed to think of any other marketable skills I possess - my upbringing hardly allowed time for anything resembling a 'proper' education."

It's never really been something that irked him before - for what his old life entailed, his skills were more than adequate, and he had never been concerned that he would lack some knowledge necessary to complete a job or task. Now, though - now it seems he is the one disadvantaged, and that is a very uncomfortable feeling.

[petitvoleur]

She purses her lips; she had assumed that Kurama already had something in mind. But really, it's no matter; they're both clever. They'll find something. His talk of proper education causes a rather sly look to come across her face.

"Luckily for you, I am rather an asset in that matter." Raised in a castle, as a royal, one had many things to learn, and though many were useless, many were not. Perhaps they could use her education to their advantage. Combined with his cleverness, the two of them could do anything, really, if they set their minds to it.

[yuukaihan]

He tries not to let his mouth twist too much in response to that, because - yes, that is exactly what's bothering him at the moment. Suddenly, he feels the class divide between them sharper and more prominently than ever, and it is a very discomforting feeling.

It has never seemed to matter much - beyond their first, rather unorthodox meeting, at least - but now the differences in their upbringings are brought into sharp relief, and Kurama can't help but feel curiously...small beside Emmanuelle, though in stature she barely clears his shoulder.

[petitvoleur]

Emmanuelle raises an eyebrow at his silence, not quite understanding his reaction, or lack thereof. Her fingers tighten around his arm where they rest, and she goes on.

"I found a book in Orlea, when I chanced to venture there. It's about men who use their cleverness to steal without their targets realizing they're being stolen from. Con-men, they're called. Perhaps you and I might do something similar."

She speaks casually; she's noticed that a hushed voice draws more attention than an easy manner.

[yuukaihan]

He frowns a little - both at the mention of Orlea (which he tends to avoid, although not so stringently as Crystalden - honestly, some of the things there seem too fantastic to even be real), and because he doesn't really grasp the intricacies of what she's describing.

"I'm not sure I see how that's different from what we already do - and won't it still leave us with the problem of collecting the things we steal and having nothing to do with them?"

[petitvoleur]

She purses her lips. "It was different. More of a...routine, I suppose, than what we do. It involved a lot more thought. Creativity." She makes a small, meditative humming noise.

"But I suppose you're right." A beat. "Maybe we should start giving things away." It's mostly a joke, considering the two of them hoard stolen trinkets like magpies, but really, what else is there to do with it all? There's so much finery she could never wear, nor would she particularly care to—perhaps someone else would appreciate it more.

[yuukaihan]

"Mm," he says noncommittally, because her explanation really hasn't cleared anything up. At her next suggestion, he scoffs a soft laugh.

"Can't think of anything better to do with them," he admits, though unwillingly. "I'm loathe to give up something for nothing, though." It's not as though any of the things they've stolen have required a great deal of effort, but it's more the principle of the thing.

[petitvoleur]

She falls silent, thinking now, considering this. Even with an excellent education and upbringing, it's difficult to think of something that doesn't involve making money some way or another. She frowns.

"This place is impossible." That seems to be the consensus amongst newcomers; there's nothing to do, no reason to really do anything. "We may as well lock ourselves in the cottage and never come out."

[yuukaihan]

He can't quite resist - he's never one to let an opportunity for suggestion slide, and this whole conversation has not been particularly comfortable for him - he glances sideways at her, lifting one slender eyebrow.

"May as well," he agrees, and the tone of his voice is unmistakable. "There's plenty there to keep ourselves occupied."

[petitvoleur]

She knows immediately that her suggestion had been the right one; this is clearly far more comfortable territory for the both of them. Emmanuelle lets a grin ghost across her mouth.

"Oh, do tell." Those green eyes have taken on a certain light that is likely very familiar to Kurama.

[yuukaihan]

He grins right back at her, the very same light in his own green eyes as he lets his gaze travel slowly along the length of her body. The lingering glance mostly starts out for show, but by the time his eyes reach her face again, the heat behind them is real enough - and the only answer he thinks he needs to give.

She'll be the death of him, someday, he thinks.

[petitvoleur]

Emmanuelle doesn't squirm under his gaze, more than used to his attentions by now, and when he's finished, she takes his hand and sets off in the direction of their little cottage, feeling more purposeful than she has in months.

"Let's go home."