"What a cliché."
Quinlan made a tch! sound when the end of his smoke went out in a hiss. He'd been beneath the roof of a rather posh looking house, an alleyway that led out to the servant's entrance, and a droplet had fallen to the end of his smoke. He dashed out the wet part and flicked it to the ground, grinding it beneath the heel of his boot.
One good thing about the rain, it made most people run for cover back into their houses, and the few that remained in the streets were busy minding their own business. He grinned and looked up to the window above his head. There didn't seem to be a guard in sight, or maybe they were just between patrols. Whatever the case, he wasn't going to squander this opportunity to climb up to the window sill, pulling himself up with ease and sliding it open.
He was only a little damp, his feet having stepped in a puddle and he tried to kick off any excess water before slipping inside, and dropping the window down. The wood creaked beneath his weight upon landing and he immediately stiffened. Though the hackles were up on the back of his neck, Quinlan doubted there was anyone around.
Word around Arca had it the family that owned this house were out of town, which suited his purposes just fine. All he needed was a peculiar looking crest and he'd be on his way out. It was almost surprising how much people were willing to pay for magical items, and if there was one thing Serendipity had, it was magical items up the hoo-haa! He had the fine task of procuring a particular piece, something his patron had called the Valmir Crest, the seal from an old Serenian House that faded into obscurity.
The truth was Quinlan didn't really care. He didn't want to know what it did either. He just wanted to get paid and move on with his life. How it ended up in this particular house, admittedly, it was a bit curious. Quinlan had a general idea what the object looked like, a round crest with a dais in the center around a flaming star engraving, made entirely out of silver.
All was quiet through the house, so he stepped a little more lively, at least to get to where he needed to go quicker. He couldn't afford to let himself get distracted by all the nice crap this house had. When he turned a corridor he found it; which, really it wasn't that hard, since it was the room with all the fancy framed objects, some in locked cases and displayed on wall hangars. There were weapons and jewels from all over the world, he reckoned.
They wouldn't miss a stupid little crest, which he spotted after some digging. He examined the object, admiring the silver polish and the loose chain that hung from it. It was the only object in the room like it, and so around his neck it went, hiding it beneath his shirt. It felt unusually cold against his skin, even with his body cooled by the rain. A few more stray jewels went into his pockets, because, why not! It wasn't like the people that owned his house would even notice.
His boot creaked over the space between wood plankings in the floor and he silently cursed to himself.
"Why aren't you sleeping at this time of night? Is everything okay? Did you have a nightmare?"
Quinlan immediately froze! He thought the family was out of town! SHIT! He was half hidden in the darkness of a doorway and his back was to the young woman that addressed him. What did she think he was, the help? Oh, good. So she didn't immediately jump to the conclusion of intruder. That meant she was a little slow. This was better.
"Oh, I just thought I heard a mouse!" he said in a high-pitched voice, even slunking his form down a little and moving through the door.
