The 11th of Saun 718
Just past midnight
The Mortalborn was considering a plan. He’d overheard a conversation that seemed to suggest he might not be needing to actually pay off his supposed debt. Really, that Solomon fellow had a lot of guts to come up with something this ridiculous. Oberan was certain the man was merely pissed he hadn’t showed up for whatever the merchant had planned, and had crafted some bullshit tale about having made expenses. His greed and wealth had gone to his head. He’d seen an opportunity to make more money by bullying some jester into paying him a lot of gold nel, and he had grabbed it with both grubby hands.
A fatal mistake.
Oberan didn’t buy the story, and he wasn’t one to be pressured into doing anything. Certainly not paying back money he didn’t owe anyone. However, from what the Mortalborn had gathered, it appeared he would be willing to ignore the money in return for doing some so-called ‘odd jobs’. The report of Oberan’s escape had brought this on, with the merchant thinking he could use that nimbleness.
Honestly, the thief was intrigued. It did not sound half bad. Though he did not believe he’d manage to worm his way out with just one or two jobs. He’d probably be stuck with the merchant for a long, long time, and he didn’t like to be tied down. No matter the path he took, Oberan would have to leave the city eventually. Or he’d have to kill the man, but he wasn’t quite willing to go that far.
If he would have to run anyway, why not have a little fun before it came to that? Do the jobs, pretend to be under his thumb, then steal a sum of coin equal to the ‘debt’ he owed and the price for the services provided. Hide for a while, see the frothing rage on the man’s face, and then he’d run.
Not that he would make it easy for the merchant and his goons to catch him though. He’d first toy with them a little. Turn it into a little game. Avoid being spotted by the goons so they’d have to come back trial after trial emptyhanded. He’d have them catch glimpses of him from time to time, of course, just so they would know he hadn’t left the city. No doubt Solomon would then bribe some Blackjacks to look for Oberan as well. It’d become increasingly difficult, but that was why it’d be worth playing.
First though, he had some other business to take care of.
While had to admit to his shame that he’d neglected to practice his lockpicking since it frustrated him how much his time in jail had eroded his skill, the lock was bypassed easily enough. It was a very simple one, so he raked a lockpick from back to front while he applied torque to the lock’s cylinder. It clicked open the next moment.
She was asleep if her breathing was any indication, and Oberan snuck inside quietly, careful not to wake her up just yet. The black cat sat curled up on a chair, its ears perking up as the intruder entered. Oberan blinked slowly at the pet, content to see it blink back.
He crouched down near the woman’s footwear and dropped a tiny pebbled inside all of them, none of them bigger than a couple millimeters in diameter. He chuckled quietly, knowing that despite their size, they’d be a royal pain nonetheless.
That wasn’t why he was there though, not at all.
He had a message to relay.
To that end, he sat himself down on her table, one foot on the top, knee bent, the other dangling off the edge. He reached over to the cat and scratched it behind the ears for a moment, then focused on the sleeping form in the next room. The house itself wasn’t very large, thankfully, and his range extended from his current position to where she lied sleeping. Excellent.
Slowly but gradually he lowered his own thrill and fed it to her, increasing hers more and more until she would eventually snap awake. Then he’d take all the borrowed thrill back so they’d both be in neutral state once again.
Sure, he could have woken her up the normal way, but what was the point of being an Immortal if you said no to some theatrics?
