The fuck he thinking? Xander thought, noticing that Nicholas had slowed down slightly. He kept his mouth shut - shockingly enough - so he could simply observe, but not much gets past his attention.

As he walked, the conman felt Nicholas' mind planning. Knowing people was a survival skill Xander had, so he was very alert to any changes in his company's personality.

In the blink of an eye, Xander whirled around with a throwing knife in his hand and a gleam in his eye. He always had some kind of weapon on him, so assuming the dagger Nicholas had stolen was the only one would be a potentially deadly mistake. He smirked, flipping the knife in his hand. "I wouldn't do that," he said with a slight tone of arrogance.

He continued walking, backwards that time, and put the knife in his belt. Xander smirked, pulling out his cards and riffling through them quickly. "These things could kill ya, if you ain't careful. Watch." The man took a card between his fingers and threw it like a knife at a tree about twenty feet away. It lodged about half an inch into the bark. "Don't try to con a conman, asshole," he said, pulling the razor-edged card out of the tree.

Nicholas jumped in surprise. He hadn't even touched the guy! "Ah, damn it. You caught me!" Seeing Xander with his cards, he momentarily thought he might be challenged to a game, before seeing it land in the tree. An observer most likely would have seen two peas in a pod, arrogance and more arrogance. But Nicholas only saw an idiot with an inflated ego, and himself, a pillar of cunning and wisdom.

Still, the thief couldn't help but feel a bit deflated from his failure. "This guy thinks he's so cool with his stupid cards!", he grumbled to himself. The most frustrating part had to be not having anything else to say or do. It was pretty much clear that Xander had asserted himself here, so he just walked on behind, silent for the time being. He'd get him back when the opportunity arose. "Still, I mustn't lose sight of the goal".

A while later, bored with the walking, he asked "So, Xander, let's figure out our plan. What'll we do once we get there? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love improvisation, but I figure we're probably gonna need to have this coordinated, you know? Or are you just gonna do some magic with those fancy cards of yours?"

"Magic tricks are fun 'n' all, but I got a hunch that guy ain't one for parlor tricks," the man said.

He really wasn't sure what would happen when they got to the mansion. Xander wasn't the biggest fan of breaking and entering, especially into the home of such a well-respected nobleman, but he wasn't about to let this guy get all the credit for such a fantastic reward.

Xander huffed, glancing around. "I ain't one for forgery, so unless you can whip us up two invites to the ball, we gonna have to sneak ourselves inside. I'd say safest bet'd be to go in as kitchen hands. Carry 'round trays and cater to the fancy folk before snatching the ring and makin' off with it, yeah?"

Nicholas' eyes lit up when Xander mentioned a ball. "So you do know something! A ball, you say? Alright, gimme the details! When, where, who?" He confidently strode ahead. A ball made everything better. A chance to torment the posh nobility was always welcome to him.

Xander's face scrunched with tightly closed eyes and hunched shoulders. Shit, he thought at his slip. Well, there was no way to cover that one up.

"Fine!" He grumbled, continuing along the path. "I ain't telling you where." With his luck, the other thief would zap over there as soon as he gave the address. "That Lord Victor guy's famous for the parties he throws 'n' goes to with all them fancy-folks, so it'd be a damn shock if he weren't goin' to one every other night. All the folks who's anybody'll be there for sure."

Nicholas almost jumped at this. "All the folks who's anybody. This will be a hoot." After hearing this, he was honestly rather content with just following along behind Xander. "Sure, he didn't organize the thing, but he put me in a good mood".

Following silently behind for now, Nicholas was content to wait until they reached town before piping up again.

The rest of the trip was pretty much silent aside from the general comments about nothing that Xander would mutter to himself. Though the idea of attending a ball - rather crashing a ball - was one that the thief had always wanted to play out, he wasn't exactly excited to be doing it while having to watch his own back and make sure his partner didn't make off with the ring.

It wasn't the longest trip, but it felt like an eternity. Xander silently kicked himself for not thinking of taking the horses when they were at the carriage.

As they drew closer to town, the man felt an uneasiness settle inside of him, but he brushed it away quickly. Not that it actually went away, but he knew jumpy nerves was the last thing he needed during that kind of job.

"Come on," Xander said. "We got bout a half mile till we reach the door." He waved his hand in the direction of a stunning mansion - borderline castle - on a hill in the distance with carriages lined up practically for the taking if they hadn't been after something worth so much more.

"Wow". The mansion was like nothing he'd ever seen before. Towering over its surroundings, Nicholas would estimate that no grander place had been built in the history of Le'raana, certainly none he'd seen. "Looks like a jackpot, eh, Xander!" He smiled crookedly at the man beside him. He picked up his pace, and motioned for Xander to do the same. "Come on, there's raiding to do!"

The man huffed slightly, easily speeding up to walk beside Nicholas. If he was being completely honest, Xander was kind of glad to have backup for a score like that one. He didn't like working with someone else, but it was always good to have someone watch your back when committing a robbery in such a crowded and hectic affair.

As they approached the mansion, Xander felt his heart race. Of course it was from nerves, but also just the addicting adrenaline that came with pulling a score as grand as that one.

He motioned for Nicholas to circle around with him and spoke quietly. "You're on your own gettin' a disguise, 'kay? We goin' for kitchen staff, but get whatever ya can to blend."