WHAT... is your favorite color? ][ open

[baguablade]

Who: Cain (baguablade) & you!
What: A questing we will go...
When: January
Where: Olympia
Warning(s): none

( a: disturbing the dead )

[ The crypt is hardly the most welcoming of places, but Cain and his partner are making do. Sure, there's the general unfriendly atmosphere of cold stone, disgusting dripping walls, and so many twists and turns that Cain's head is spinning. Not to mention the way the whole place is rigged as a death trap. From the spikes that had nearly taken off Cain's head at the front door, to the giant rolling boulder that had nearly squashed the two of them until they managed to duck into a lucky crack in the wall, to the alligator pit, the less said about that, the better.

Deeper in, and the traps only get worse. Cain's a bit fraught, streaked with dirt, completely on edge from having to keep an eye out for the next fun thing that'll try to kill them. He's given up on even trying to keep a hand on his sword hilt; there's no point when the danger comes from the environment rather than an attacker.

Still, despite the many perils, he's pretty sure they're close to finding the Ivory Hogs' cache. The layout of the tomb makes an odd kind of sense, a layout that's maze like in more than just its confusing turns. There's a center to the passages, Cain's quite sure, and they're near it — and the treasure. But that just means the traps laid for trespassers are getting more dangerous.

Cain pauses midstep, his hand stretched out to the side to stop his partner, too. ]

Did you hear something?

[ Was that a low, moaning howl? Or maybe the sharp click of some sort of mechanism arming itself? ]

( b: a day in the life - closed to yona )

[ Cain's a little wary of any partner recommended to him by Voss. It's nothing to do with Yona, personally. It's just that he trusts Voss a significantly shorter distance than he can throw him, and that extends to anyone Voss trusts. Still, Cain's willing to give Yona the benefit of the doubt. He knows better than to think that appearances like Yona's mean that she's harmless, but Cain himself is here, working for Voss for his own reasons, hoping that despite the shady nature of who he's received his task from, the information he's gaining will let him discover just what kind of corruption is lurking in Olympia's upper ranks.

Besides, Yona's earnestness is catching. Cain's not sure he's ready to trust her entirely, but he's usually pretty good at reading people. He'll take the risk; after all, if they get caught, they'll both be in trouble here.

Which is why Cain's shown up with two hooded cloaks, conspicuously bearing the symbol of the Royal Guard, one of which he's currently draping over Yona's head, tugging it down to hide her face in the shadow. He's awfully good at it, his expert appraisal as he pulls the hood to a bit more of an angle speaking of lots of experience. ]

There. [ He's also brought a pair of handcuffs, which he holds out to Yona. ] What do you think? Should I play a fellow guardsman, or am I a prisoner you're escorting to the cells?

Comments

[baguablade]

Ha ha, well, I've got a bit of experience with this sort of thing...

[ Namely that back home, this whole snooping around, getting himself into places he wasn't supposed to be in, was part of his job. But that's not the kind of thing he really needs to be telling anyone here, especially not someone he doesn't know very well. Even if Yona does seem more impressed than suspicious by this particular talent.

In any case, Cain doesn't have much time to consider saying anything more, since Yona's heading straight for the desk to poke around already. He takes a quick step after her, not grabbing her this time but resting a light hand on her shoulder. ]

Wait, slow down. We've got be careful. We want to leave things exactly as they were, as much as we can manage. And we don't know if there are any countermeasures to make sure no one snoops.

[ Which means carefully rifling through the papers, replacing books at the same angle they're currently resting, and checking all the drawers for any traps or telltale wires that'll show signs of tampering. ]

[cutefaced]

Eh?

[...oh, that's true... Yona takes a few moments to think about it, and then her whole face lights up.]

Oh, I have an idea! You know how our phones can take pictures? We should take a couple so we can be sure we put the room back exactly the way it was before we started.

[baguablade]

Perfect! It's much easier with a reference.

[ Cain's used to doing it by memory; he still keeps forgetting the conveniences of his phone. But having a picture of the scene of the crime is simple and brilliant. Yona, despite her demeanor, is much more suited for this kind of work than she seems, isn't she?

He turns to Yona and gives her a wink as he pulls his phone from his pocket. ]

You know, you're quite good at this. Not many people would think of a trick like that.

[cutefaced]

[She just likes snooping and hates getting caught, honestly.]

I wish I'd had something like this when I was younger... I probably could have gotten away with a lot more!

[...wait, that's not a very ladylike thing to say.]

...but, I want us to do a good job. This is how we're going to prove ourselves to that man, right? [Voss. His name is Voss, Yona. It's not a long name. Remember it?? Anyway, now that they have a handy-dandy reference, she'll get to work rifling through the owner of this office's personal belongings.]

There's a lot of papers...

[baguablade]

That's right. And once he trusts us, maybe he'll be more willing to help us.

[ Instead of using them as errand boys. Really, it's a pain having to work his way up the ranks all over again, Cain's used to being in charge! Having to prove himself to get information is so slow. But at least there are jobs like this, where he can go dig things up himself, feel like he's actually doing something instead of just running errands, busywork that doesn't help anyone.

Cain takes a few pictures then sets into sorting the papers, skimming them before quickly discarding any that seem useless. It's a practiced sort of way that he flicks through the papers, used to picking anything important out of reports, and he keeps his attention focused on his task even as he answers Yona with wry humor. ]

But hearing you say things like that makes me feel like I'm only leading you to trouble... Ah, look at this. [ He holds one of the papers out to her, showing her the half-finished note. ]