Realistic or Modern The Conman and the Sneak Thief

[Araellion]

Hera let out a hum, glad that the wait was finally over. It felt like the time had disappeared in a flash, yet had also taken forever at the same time. Probably because of her nerves. She gave Persia an overly polite smile, slipping fully into her role. "Of course. Let's make our way towards the main entrance, that's where I told the curator we'd meet him."

Without looking back, Hera started to calmly walk towards the entrance, trusting Persia to follow her. She kept her gaze forward, not getting distracted by any of the art pieces surrounding her. Of course, she would have to feign polite interest later, but for now she was on a mission.

The curator wasn't there when she arrived, of course. He probably expected them to be fashionably late, which was absolutely stupid, but Hera could see the reason. It felt like she was one of the few who didn't think herself so important as to waste other people's time just to prove that to herself.

She considered striking up some kind of conversation with Persia, but for once didn't know what to say, so she stayed silent.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

'We?' Persia was flabbergasted. She didn't plan on, nor wanted to meet anyone. She ended up trailing behind Hera anyways. She thought it would look suspicious if Hera was alone after saying the two of them would be there. Her nerves were starting to waiver. She just hoped she wouldn't have to say anything.

They ended up waiting for a few minutes in silence before a strapping middle aged man had appeared. He was fressed in an expensive looking black suit, his hair slicked back and had short, well-groomed facial hair. He spoke in a posh voice, upbeat, yet he clearly thought he was better than the common riffraff, "Hellooooo miss Bellmonte, it is such a pleasure to meet you!" Persia didn't like him.

 

[Araellion]

Hera's smile was mostly genuine when the man greeted them. He seemed enthusiastic and that would make things so much easier. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance." The curator hadn't introduced himself, which was just as well. Hera had no intention of asking his name.

She shook his hand before gesturing at Persia. "This is my personal assistant. She will be taking a look around, taking note of security and the various pieces of art you have here." Hera's smile sharpened. "I like knowing what I'm dealing with before spending large amounts of money. I hope that won't be a problem?"

Hera had come up with the idea of Persia being her assistant when seeing that she had brought along her backpack. Thank goodness that she had, Hera had been struggling to come up with something that would explain both her presence and the lack of it later on. This was perfect.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Persia gave a discontent huff at the mention of personal assistant. After Hera's short spiel Persia said, "I'm going to... catalog... some things." It came out more awkwardly than she had hoped. She then turned to walk away. She grabbed a tablet from her backpack, almost as an afterthought, as if it would help sell her role. She did not like the position she was put in. But for Hera, it'd be worth it.

 

[Araellion]

Hera gave a huff of amusement as Persia awkwardly excused herself. That girl really wasn't used to operating like this, huh? It was almost adorable. With a fond shake of the head, Hera turned back to the curator. "Good help is so terribly difficult to find, isn't it?"

She waved away whatever response he had been about to give, not interested in hearing it. The less she had to interact with these people the better.

"How about we take a look around? I would love to see whatever security you have set up," She said pleasantly, hoping the man wouldn't ask too many questions. Though, he didn't look surprised at all. Probably used to dealing with the eccentricities of the upper classes.

"Of course, of course. We have some of the best security systems in the world, with well trained guards as well." He spoke animatedly, with an upbeat kind of energy that Hera immensely appreciated. She didn't even care if it was faked, it was still comforting.

The curator led her around the museum, Hera insisting on stopping and striking up a chat with most of the guards they came across to set a precedent. When they finally got to the hallway they were supposed to be in it didn't seem odd that Hera stopped to ask the guards a thousand questions.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Finally away and on her own, alone, Persia felt at ease. She knew Hera needed time to eventually make her way to the guard shack on the second floor. She had planned for that. Her first task would take some time anyways. Before she disabled the cameras and locks in the shack she needed to disable the alarms.

The alarms would normally be impossible to disable. They require two people on two ends of the building to operate separate keys and input a code and press a button within seconds of each other. Though, thanks to a contact she had that had, she could access any building's blueprints.

She made her way to the elevators. Specifically the one near the service elevator. She rode the normal elevator to the top, the fourth floor, making sure she was alone. Then she sent the elevator to the basement floor before climbing out of the access hatch at the top. This would give her time before the elevator came back up.

There was no wall between the elevators, so Persia was able to manuever to the nearby ladder, shuffling over to the service elevator shaft. There was enough space so that if the elevators came to the top she wouldn't get crushed. Above the service elevator is where the wiring for the alarms was routed through. Several moments and a panel later she had completed her task.

By this time Hera should be working on getting the guard out of the shack, or creating some diversion so she could get inside without being seen. That's where the display locks and camera access was, so she made her way down to the service elevator, which was less likely to have people in it than the other ones. So far everything was going off without a hitch. Just as planned.

 

[Araellion]

At this point, Hera hoped she was remembering the plan properly. She knew the gist of it—the mantra hallway, shack, heart would forever be stuck in her head—but that was all. And while those were the most important components in her opinion, she really wished she could remember some of the smaller details right now.

Like, how long was she supposed to distract the guard in the hallway? Welp, if she stayed here any longer it would probably be suspicious. Hera would just have to trust that Persia was past this point. And even if she wasn't, well, she probably wouldn't be questioned if she said she was on official business. Would Persia even think to say that?

The curator clearing his throat brought her back to the real world. Right, now was definitely not the best time to be spacing out. "If you are satisfied there is plenty more to see?"

"Right, of course. I was just admiring this painting." Hera said, gesturing to the piece in front of her. It was an odd work of art, definitely something she didn't think such a posh museum would showcase. She had a feeling that a monochrome image of some sort of hell-beast screaming would cause quite a bit of offence.

"It's very...emotional. You can truly see the suffering in its eyes." And God, she really needs to learn when to shut up. Now Hera really wished she had paid more attention every time Jamie had dragged her to a gallery or exhibition back in their college days.

"Ahh, yes. One of Kachikawawa's newest paintings. Very mysterious artist," He said, now looking at the painting as well. Thankfully it didn't seem like Hera had said something too stupid. The curator looked back at her, eyes shining. She got the feeling that he enjoyed his work. Good for him. "They say he creates while listening to the most obscure classical music out there. Of course, who can say whether such rumours are true?"

Hera gave him a wide smile, before leading them further into the museum, no longer stopping to talk to every guard. It would take too long and even Hera had some sense of timing. She didn't know what she would do about the guard before she got there. For one, just distracting them wouldn't work. She had to drag them out from the shack and keep them away for a while.

So what she ended up doing was insisting that every guard in the area come along with her and show their favourite pieces of art. As well as encouraging them to talk about why they liked it. After all, how could she invest in a museum that hired people who didn't even care enough about art to want to protect it? It was a bit of a flimsy reason, but thankfully nobody asked for her reasons. They just somewhat reluctantly showed the way to their favourites one after the other.

There. That should give Persia the time she needs.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Persia had to wait for Hera, so she snuck into a dark corner where she could watch the shack from. She also had the pleasure of watching Hera work, so it wasn't all bad, waiting. Hera had a way with people. They seemed to have no choice but to do ask she asks. Persia had a passing thought of manipulation again, but didn't have time to dwell since Hera had cleared the shack.

This part of the job was easy. A cake walk even. Not only was Persia a skilled electrician, but she had the circuit boards she needed to access already pulled up on her tablet. She quickly opened the appropriate panels, disabled the cameras, adding in innocent loops so suspicions wouldn't arise, and then cut the wires for the alarms. A laughably easy way to dosable an otherwise complex security system.

tidied the place back up, replacing the appropriate panels before heading out. A guard happened to see her. He approached her, "What were you doing in there?" Luckily Persia had already planned on a response should she get caught at this point, "Looking for a guard. This is the guard shack, isn't it?" The guard looked surprised. He peeked around Persia. Upon seeing no one he apologised and asked what she needed. "I'm looking for..." She wasn't sure if Hera gave a fake name, so she proceeded with, "my boss. Eccentric lady. About yea tall, pretty brown eyes you could lose yourself in. Know where she went?"

"Ah, yes," the guard politely gave Persia directions. He probably knew she was supposed to be some big shot looking to spend a lot of money, so he didn't give Persia any problems. And with that Persia took off towards the heart. It just so happened that Hera was around the same area.

 

[Araellion]

It was a shame the guards left so early. Apparently after a guard had presented their favourite they thought it was fine to just leave. Good grief, how rude. Not that there was a whole lot Hera could do about that now. She just had to hope that Persia had time to do what she needed to do.

Thankfully she spotted Persia right where she was supposed to be. Close to the heart. The fact that Hera was also in the same area with a lot of the guards definitely wasn't a good thing though. She tried to think of an excuse to lead them away that wouldn't sound too fishy.

Turns out she didn't have to. One of the younger guards, probably around Hera's age or younger, was actually enjoying himself. If the glint in his eyes was anything to go by. He had waited patiently for his turn to speak and now that it was his turn he lead everyone towards the entrance of the building to look at some sort of sculpture. Apollo, if she had to guess.

Well then. She didn't know what she had done to deserve such good luck, but she wouldn't question it.

Hopefully there wasn't some part of the plan she was forgetting. Were they supposed to meet at the heart? No, surely not. That wouldn't make sense. Yeah, Persia would just come and find her at the entrance and they would leave. Probably. Hopefully.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Persia tapped Hera on the shoulder. It seemed as though she were having a riveting conversation with an enthusiastic guard. When Hera turned to face her, she said, "I have finished cataloging everything here," her body relaxed, as though nothing were wrong. Persia felt they should come up with a script next time. Though she was more than ready to leave now.

 

[Araellion]

Hera almost flinched when Persia tapped her on the shoulder, but managed to keep herself still. Jeez, she could have sworn her spatial awareness was better than this. How had the girl managed to sneak up on her? No matter, that wasn't important right now.

She turned to Persia, giving her a nod. Someone else in the girl's pretend position probably would have taken longer to do the job, but Hera could easily pass that off as being efficient. Or lazy and doing the bare minimum. If anyone asked she would go with one of those two. Probably the second option unless Persia was listening to the conversation.

Hera turned to the curator, getting the polite chit-chat and business talk over with as soon as possible. She didn't promise she would be a sponsor, but didn't outright deny anything either. Frankly, she wasn't sure yet what she would do. She would have to see how guilty she felt about the theft later.

Turning back to Persia, she gave her the same polite smile that had been plastered on her face all day. "Right. We'll be leaving then."

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Persia would wait until they left before speaking. "By distraction at the heart, I meant everyone, not just the guards," though there was no hint of anger. Contrary to her chastising, Persia wore a smirk across her face. The job went smoothly enough. Now Persia just needed to find a way to present the heart as a gift. Luckily, she had already planned that out beforehand, like everything else.

 

[Araellion]

"Oh, right. Sorry," Hera replied with a sheepish smile. "I told you I'm no good with plans." If there was too much focus on the bigger stuff, she always forgot the details. Better to not have a plan at all then. She was just glad nothing too bad had come of it. And Persia didn't seem upset, which was a small miracle.

Hera quickly made her way to the car, eager to get away from here as soon as possible. Not that the museum wasn't nice, but she really wanted to get home, put on some fluffy hoodie, and watch terrible rom-coms with her cat.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Persia tooted her own horn, "You're lucky I'm so good." Once they got in the car and started driving Persia said, "I'll fence the heart and give you half of what I get." This was, of course, a lie. Persia had planned on staking out Hera's home, waiting for her to leave, breaking in and placing the heart somewhere, with a note, as an apology for breaking the glass dragonfly in the days past.

Persia always felt a sense of relief and thrill after a job was finished. She didn't consider fencing the item as part of the job, as that was the easy part. She asked Hera where she wanted to go. She had a secret desire to be asked to accompany Hera, as she's taken her along before, but she made no indication of her wants.

 

[Araellion]

Hera gave a snort of amusement, happy that Persia seemed to be in a good mood. All in all, this day had been quite a success.

"Thank god. I really don't want to see that heart ever again," She said with a shudder. Just the knowledge that the fragile crystal was in this car and probably not packed into anything that could be called protective was terrifying. To be fair, it probably wasn't as fragile as she imagined it, but it never hurt to be cautious with these things.

"Just take me straight home, please? I really need to relax after that." The job hadn't been difficult, but it had definitely been risky. Hera could feel the tension in her muscles, which was starting to become painful. She had relaxed a bit after getting to the car, but just a bit.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Persia frowned, disappointed. "You don't like the heart?" After Persia said that, the thought of Hera reacting similarly to it before. She followed up with, "Don't you think it's pretty? Or are you just worried about breaking it?" Persia was satisfied with her questions. She thought they would give her the answers she wants without giving her away.

Persia had a lot on her mind, so naturally, she said very little. If Hera was just worried about the fragility of the heart, she had to think of a way to give it to her so she wouldn't have to worry about it. Being caught up in her thoughts, it didn't take long to get to Hera's place.

 

[Araellion]

"I like it, I guess," She said with a shrug. "It's pretty." Just not all that useful. Hera didn't own anything that wasn't useful or wasn't a trinket with a memory attached to it. She often blamed Skimbles for that, but that wasn't the entire reason. As cluttered as her apartment could be, there was never anything around that didn't belong.

"I just don't like having purely decorative stuff laying around. Got enough of that as a kid." She always had to be careful when walking the hallways of her family's home, even now, so she wouldn't knock over a vase or something. Hera vowed never to have a house like that herself. She much preffered something clean and functional.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Frustrated, Persia said, "Then why would you get me that glass dragonfly as a gift?" A small amount of that frustration seeped out of Persia's voice. She wasn't really mad, but more scared. Afraid that her efforts would be in vain.

 

[Araellion]

"I..." Hera honestly didn't know what to say to that. It took her mind a few seconds to catch up, and when it did it still didn't make things any clearer. Caught up in all of the things happening lately, Hera had completely forgotten about that event. It was odd that Persia was still thinking about.

She pursed her lips in thought. Her first impulse was to tell the truth. Not only because she hated lying, but also because Persia deserved as much. Then again, a selfish part of her whispered that it would be quicker and easier to come up with something to appease the girl. And Hera was just so God damned tired from this day.

Sagging into her seat, Hera went to a draw a hand through her hair, but had forgotten about the ponytail. With a frustrated sigh, she drew the band out, fluffing out her hair just to give herself some more time.

"Why are you bringing that up?" Hera chose the cowardly option, and hated how tired-sounding her words came out.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Persia watched as Hera's expression changed, like she was going through some internal struggle. She didn't understand any of it. Though Hera's question caught her off guard. Her first instinct was anger, of course. Yell at her for not answering the question. Instead, she settled on, "I just thought you liked crystal things. That's why I chose this job." She felt proud for a clever misdirection and hoped it was enough as she nervously played with the steering wheel, parked outside of Hera's home.

 

[Araellion]

Hera frowned. Looking out the window, she was tempted to just exit this entire situation. To just go home and relax and forget this conversation. Well, not forget it, but have it some other time when she had more energy.

"I'm not much of a materialistic person." Especially now that she had to be hyper-aware of anything fragile because of Skimbles. But even without him in the equation, she had no use for things that sat around collecting dust. Not that she was going to tell Persia that. Hera really didn't want to hurt her feelings more than necessary.

"Besides, I got the dragonfly as a gift you." Well, and also because she felt bad about stealing from a small business. Not that the girl needed to know that.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Persia got angry with Hera's response. Not at all what she wanted to hear. Her eyes narrowed as her voice raised in volume, "Well, I got the heart as a gift for you!" There it was, out in the open. Persia suddenly remembered the ring Hera holds on display, adding to her outburst, "And what of that ring you keep on display, miss 'I'm not a materialistic person,'?"

Persia turned aggressively away from Hera, intently focusing on nothing in particular in front of her. Her face had the closest thing she would ever manage of a pout, though there was only the slightest hint. She felt like her plan had gone to ruin, her efforts wasted. She felt like she was being rejected, again, even though Hera had no idea of her intention. She felt like crying, but would keep up a tough appearance.

 

[Araellion]

Hera winced at the girl's volume, squashing down the urge to cover her ears. She had a feeling that wouldn't be taken too well right now. Or ever.

"I..." Hera trialed off, not sure what to say. To any of it. She desperately wanted to ignore Persia stealing the heart for her, because her brain just felt too full to deal with that at the moment. Later, she told her brain. Later when she would have the mental energy to properly pick every part of that statement apart into pieces that made sense to her.

As for the ring... "The ring is just pure pride," She whispered under her breath, hoping Persia hadn't heard it. Hera hated to admit it, but that was the only reason that made sense. Because why else would she keep the ring? It was a reminder that she had won. "No, that's not quite right," she amended in her normal volume. "It is also a little reminder that I know you. If that makes sense."

God, she was so tempted to leave. But the tense atmosphere kept her rooted in place. She went over her earlier plan of just sleeping the rest of the day away, and decided to try and call Jamie instead. She was sure Jamie would love to hear about the day she had had. Besides, Hera really wanted a comforting hug right now.

 

[PauciloquentPumpkin]

Persia watched as Hera struggled for words. It only made her indignation grow. Hera had nearly whispered, talking about pride. This caused all expression to fade from Persia's face. Hera's voice had grown muffled, Persia no longer registered anything Hera said. She wondered if she were just some trophy to Hera, something to keep around as a reminder of her victory. Her mind wondered back to her earlier suspicions of being manipulated.

Devoid of any emotion, Persia said in an eerily calm, cold tone, "Get out." She turned her head to Hera, wondering if the words had registered. She was prepared to repeat the statement, but wouldn't allow Hera the satisfaction of any more emotion, not even anger. Persia felt deeply wounded, she would likely drown her sorrows in alcohol later.

 

[Araellion]

Hera flinched at Persia's cold tone. That was the last thing she had expected. She was used to outbursts of anger, shouting, things like that. And she could deal with those things. Not this though. She looked at Persia, trying to see if there was anything she could say to make things better. But for once Hera truly had no idea.

She felt a dark pit growing in her chest, holding back tears. No, crying here wouldn't be fair to either of them. It would be best if she just nodded and went home. So that's what she did. Her movements were sluggish, both because of having used up all her energy earlier, and because a part of her mind was convinced that there was something she could do here to work things out. But she was too tired and shoved that thought aside.

She looked back into the open car one more time, before closing the door and calmly walking to her apartment. Maybe they both needed some time to cool off. Things would definitely be better later. Hera didn't know if she truly believed that, but she had to cling to the hope. She hoped she looked calm and put together, because she definitely didn't feel like it.

At the last moment Hera changed course and started on the trek to Jamie's place instead. Her mind was spinning out of control at an alarming rate, but she still had enough presence of mind to know that she shouldn't be alone right now. Even if Jamie wasn't there—which Hera very much doubted would be the case—the familiar surroundings would help.