Same Old Mess (Open)

[FELICIA GREENWOOD]

Cause we find ourselves in the same old mess
Singin' drunken lullabies

Location: Riverwood in The Whiterun Hold

Felicia had been tailing her target for a few days now. Though Tailing might be the wrong word to use in this situation. She had been keeping a close eye on the female Nord for quite some time now, getting used to her routines. She had finally gotten used to it enough to be able to get the things she was assigned to. Felicia was on another mission from the Thieves Guild and had currently set herself up in Riverwood. She had managed to convince the inn keeper to let her stay for around about a week and a bit and mentioned nothing about being a Thief. Most of them had a bad name and she didn’t want people chasing her out of the small village if anything went missing. No-one had thought it suspicious that she had come to the village. Why should they? Travellers came through Riverwood most days anyway. Felicia smirked to herself as she thought of this, trying not to let out a small chuckle into the night. No-one had any clue about what she was doing and she had a perfect cover story. At the moment she was currently trailing her target back to her house, which she hoped the woman would go to sleep and let her get on with her work. Felicia carried on her planned path, maintaining a low profile while keep a few metres away from the Nord.

Her plan was simple. Making sure that no guards were about, Felicia would break into the back door of the house, being careful as to not alert anyone inside or outside while doing so. She would close the door and sneak around the house, collecting all the pieces she was assigned to get. If she was successful in not alerting anyone, Felicia would then proceed to pickpocket the woman and take the flawless Diamond she had. After doing all this, she would sneak back out of the house, spend the remaining two days in Riverwood and then leave. She had used it various times before and had never been caught. But something could always go wrong. Thankfully, Felicia had thought this through. She had mad sure that the house had more than one exit and that her skin tight black outfit still fit. It was better to blend in with her surroundings than stand out and draw attention to herself. She made sure that her boots wouldn’t give her away and had chosen a flat pair of shoes instead of her regular steel cuffed ones. All items had been removed from her person as to not make any noise apart from her lock picks which were pinned into the bun she had done on her head. Her red warpaint had been replaced with white, which only came out when she was thieving or sneaking around and had the time to put it on. She was preying that this would go as planned because there was a massive coin bonus in it for her if she did.

Felicia watched as the woman slipped into her house through the front main entrance. She took up her position in a bush near to the back door. She would have to wait a few minutes to be able to let the woman get settled. This gave her time to slip a few of her lock picks out of her hair and onto her sleeve. It was easier to put them on there nearer the time of the breaking and entering. After a few minutes, Felicia moved forwards, continuously checking to make sure that no-one had seen her. Reaching the door, she pulled her lock picks off her sleeve and began to try and pick the lock on the door. Her lock picking skills were advanced. They needed to be to be able to get into the Thieves Guild. Granted her expertise was pickpocketing, but she needed to have abilities in all ranges of thieving. Just as Felicia popped the locks, she heard a rustling behind her. She froze completely, her heart rate speeding up and blood started pounding in her ears. ‘Oh horker balls’ She cursed, removing her lock picks and turned to see what had caused the rustling.

[/blockquote]

[DAERON]

Daeron flexed his arms lightly as he crouched in the shadows, an Elven dagger in each of his hands. He was stationed in the garden of one of Riverwood's cozy little houses, waiting for the street outside to be deserted, and for the Nord inhabitant to return to her dwelling. The mask of his cowl was pulled snugly against his face, so only his dark brown eyes shone out. The hood and mask did well to conceal his identity; the last thing he wanted was for people to remember his face, after the mysterious death of one of their citizens.

Daeron was currently on a contract for the Dark Brotherhood. The task was rather menial, and wouldn't pay very well. But work was work, and it was the Wood Elf's duty to fill out these contracts. Not every Black Sacrament sent a death wish to an important noble or businessman, after all. Today's victim was a Nord woman, who lived in Riverwood. He was delighted that it was in such an easy location. Riverwood was a little set away from the major towns and had a lot of forestry to melt back into. Not to mention that it was only lightly guarded, and there were no gates or walls that needed to be scaled.

The Bosmer assassin was alert, his eyes fixed on the street. A couple of guards and a few latecomers were straggling along the street, but he knew that the roads would stand empty soon enough. Guards would sleepily move to their posts at the village's entrances; citizens would gladly retire to their beds; and even the town's drunkards would either stay in the inn for mead, or huddle by the blacksmith's forge for warmth. Riverwood was a sleepy village - this mission was going to be his easiest yet. The only problem Daeron could foresee was picking the lock of the house, as that wasn't really his style. No, he much preferred to find a suitable moment to pick off his targets in broad daylight. Mass hysteria and confusion were amusing to watch, and made for good getaways.

A light breeze passed across the town, and the mer was thankful for his close fitting Shrouded Armour. Not only did the tight, leather armour keep him warm, it also meant that he moved silently. There were no decorations or loose parts to clunk or creak in the wind. While it might have been adorned with buckles and straps, they were fitted as tightly as the leather itself, and caused no problem. Daeron fiddled absentmindedly with one of the said buckles as he waited. By Sithis, what was taking this woman so long? He had expected her to have returned to her house at least an hour ago.

Just as he was contemplating getting up and finding out where she had gotten to, she turned onto the road and began walking to her house. Dae let out a silent breath of relief, watching her tall silhouette approach the house. Damn giant Nords, he thought, even the women are looming over me! The elf resisted the urge to scoff, instead staying stock still and holding his breath as she entered her household.

The Dark Brotherhood assassin paused for a few moments, contemplating the best route of action. The back door of the cottage would probably be safer as an entrance and an exit, as it was slightly set away from the road; a guard was more likely to notice a front door being tampered with, no matter how sleepy and blurred their vision was. With his attention on the front door of the house, he hadn't even noticed the female Bosmer slip into the garden. Making a decision to go for the back door, Daeron begin to creep towards it - and stopped dead in his tracks as he heard the lock of the door pop open.

In the dimness, he could make out the lithe shape of a fellow Wood Elf in front of the back door, and at first he wondered if he'd accidentally taken a contract another Brother or Sister had already claimed. But, no, he certainly didn't recognise the face. Who else would be skulking in the shadows, and breaking into houses? His first guess was the Thieves' Guild. A regular petty thief wouldn't have been able to pick a lock right under Daeron's nose. In fact, how in the name of Sithis had he not noticed this girl? The assassin was quite impressed, to be honest.

He smiled a little at the woman before realising she couldn't see his face, and kept a firm grip on his daggers. Thieves and assassins were both very paranoid creatures, and while the Thieves' Guild prohibited murders while on the job, one could never be too sure what a criminal would do when backed into a corner. "Well, this is awkward," he commented, chuckling lightly. He kept his voice barely above a whisper, not wanting to alert any guards to their presence. Daeron raised an eyebrow, waiting for the thief to make the next move.

[FELICIA GREENWOOD]

Cause we find ourselves in the same old mess
Singin' drunken lullabies

Felicia looked over the person who had caught her in the act. She let a small breath out that it wasn’t a guard. She would’ve been in deep trouble otherwise and would’ve had to scarper as fast as she could. Looking the person over, she determined that it was definitely a male. That was as much as she could tell since the guy had pretty much all of his face covered apart from his eyes. Though from what Felicia could tell, he wasn’t a Nord and definitely not anything like a Khajiit or an Argonian, his skin was different. He was probably some sort of elf. Felicia wondered why she was pondering what race this guy was instead of either running or getting back to the job at hand. He clearly wasn’t going to alert the guards otherwise they would’ve been over here already and didn’t look like he was going to make any sudden movements. But the daggers that he held seemed to provide a different explanation. She felt her breathing lift up a notch. He wasn’t here to steal anything that she was comfortable with. A life maybe, but nothing like she was doing. She had a strict rule, as did all the thieves, to never take a life when doing a job. And this guy clearly wasn’t with them. Most likely the Dark Brotherhood.

She hadn’t noticed she was frozen stiff, ready to bolt until the male spoke. “Really? Because I thought it was rather comfortable.” Felicia hissed through gritted teeth. She wasn’t ready to give up just yet. There were ways for her to still be able to complete this mission without doing anything rash. Sure this guy turning up had thrown a minor wrench in her plan, but nothing that she couldn’t fix. “Now, what do you want?” She whispered, feeling her teeth unhook from each other. She had no weapons on here. Her stuff was all back in the inn after slipping out the window and round the back. She was quite nimble so there was a chance she could slip past the guy if he advanced and tried to attack her. “If you’re wanting to get in here assassin, you’re going to have to wait.” He would have to wait until she’d gone about her business first. She didn’t care what he was as long as she didn’t have to be a part of it. She’d gotten here first and had been staying her for quite a few days already and wasn’t going to get out of being paid so easily. This woman had something quite valuable that the guild needed.

“Now wait there until I’ve finished.” She couldn’t do anything to stop him advancing though, which was her problem. If he wanted to go in and get his job done, Felicia had no way to stop him. While they were both roughly the same size, the guy could very well overpower her. Felicia turned back around to the door, placing the picks back into her hair before advancing. If she was going to do it, now would be the best time, as long as the male didn’t distract her or cause any noise. If she was mistaken, then whatever would happen would happen.

[DAERON]

Daeron laughed again as the woman all but hissed at him, although being careful to keep his usual hearty laugh as quiet as possible. "For a sneak thief you've got a bit of a loud mouth on you," he commented, smirking at her. The assassin relaxed his grip on his daggers; he knew that neither of them wanted to cause a kerfuffle, lest they alert the guards of their presence. However, a physical fight had been the least of his worries. If this girl was with the Thieves' Guild, she would be upholding their 'no kills on the job' rule, and that would be highly problematic for him.

Curious, the Dark Brotherhood representative peered at his somewhat unwelcome companion. In the darkness, he could only discern her main features. She was definitely a Bosmer, and a pretty one at that. He guessed that she was a few years younger than him. Her build was small and lithe, much like his own, albeit obviously more feminine; heavy warriors weren't suited to being thieves and assassins, he supposed.

He tugged the mask of his cowl off to talk to his new 'friend' better, grinning fully at her. The fellow Bosmer was obviously a thief, and so he ran no risk of her reporting him to the authorities. Dae couldn't help but snort when she asked him what he wanted. "Look, girl, I'm hiding in the shadows with two daggers, wearing full Dark Brotherhood regalia. What do you think I might want?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow. The male elf found it highly amusing how irritated the woman seemed, and he was looking to push her as far as he could. It would definitely be entertaining to watch if she snapped at him and roused the guards. It would botch his job too, of course, but there was always next time to come back and try again. Daeron vaguely recalled the Thieves' Guild getting rather cagey over deadlines.

He raised his other eyebrow when she told him to wait there. "Sorry, sweetheart, I'm not a very patient man," he whispered, shrugging in mock apology. "You could always wait here while I finish, though. Dead bodies are easier to rob, no?" The thief didn't seem to be listening to him anymore, though; her attention was back on the door, and Daeron frowned a little as she began to enter the silent house. Muttering a short prayer to Sithis for strength, he tutted quietly and moved to shove past the woman. It was a risky move, as he was chancing her flipping out at him, or even just knocking against the door and making noise. But he certainly wasn't going to let somebody get to a mark of his before him, regardless of whether or not the mission was the same.

[FELICIA GREENWOOD]

Cause we find ourselves in the same old mess
Singin' drunken lullabies

Felicia let a small smile appear on her face as the male spoke, even though he was essentially calling her a loud mouth. He was blunt, she liked that though. She was forced to roll her eyes at his next statement, not bothering to reply to his question. She would only get a negative response back off him anyway, even if she made a decent quip at him. Clearly he’d figured out who she was with anyway so it didn’t matter if she stated the facts. “And for an assassin, you’ve certainly got an arrogant attitude.” Felicia muttered to herself, unsure whether or not the male heard her. She wouldn’t have made the comment if her temper hadn’t raised ever so slightly. Why couldn’t this guy just leave her alone for about five minutes? She’d be done in that long. She continued on with the door. While she had managed to pick the locks, there was still the matter of getting inside without waking the occupant. Of course there was a handle on the door, but she was still uncertain as to whether it made a noise when opened. She placed a hand on the handle, ready to take the chance. Whatever happened would happen and if the door made a noise she would take the risk. There would always be the chance that the occupant was in a deep sleep already and wouldn’t wake.

She would’ve got further in with the door, but she suddenly felt a force trying to shove her out of the way. Felicia stumbled, her door still on the handle. She quickly let go, grabbing onto the nearest thing that could stop her falling. Unfortunately, her grip landed on the Bosmer’s arm. She didn’t fall yet ended up pulling the male with her a little bit. Felicia’s heart quickened. Had anyone heard that? She stayed still and silent for a few seconds waiting to see if anyone was going to come and get them. She let out a small breath as no footsteps were heard and then focused her attention on the problem at hand. There was no way for her to be able to stop him from going inside the house without causing some sort of a scene. Felicia really didn’t want to botch this mission up by having to run away and she certainly wasn’t one to give up easily. A small idea popped into her head. It would take a great chunk out of her energy, but it was the best thing she could come up with. “I’ve been here for more than 5 days waiting to do this, now if you would wait five minutes at least, I’ll be in and out.” She whispered, drawing close to the male Bosmer.

Felicia concentrated fully while speaking, feeling the prickle of sweat on her forehead. Her hand tightened as she tried to summon a small flame. Her destruction magic was weak and she knew it would take a load of energy just to create this, but it was her only distraction. She reached out when she felt the magic finally start to work and pointed her finger at the edge of the males cowl. Felicia felt her energy drain faster than she anticipated and knew that if the flame didn’t jump soon, she would collapse. The flame flickered for a second and she thought that it wasn’t going to work but then it jumped. What happened next, Felicia had no clue as the rest of her energy jumped to the other task in her mind. As quietly as she could, she pushed the door open and crept through the door. Apparently her item was on the third shelf of a dresser. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, glancing of the still sleeping figure of the citizen and landed on the item. A gold statue stood on the shelf next to the figures bed. Padding her way across the room, Felicia reached out to the statue and gripped it tightly in her gloved fingers. Success! Her attention was then drawn to the diamond on the next shelf down. She reached out and grabbed the flawless gem, shoving it within the pocket she'd sewn into her side. She would deal with that later.

Or so she thought when she turned towards the door to leave. One of the floorboards creaked and the occupant stirred. Felicia cringed and ran as quietly and quickly as she could out of the door, where another problem occurred.

[DAERON]

Daeron figured that he'd be done with the thief, now. She probably wouldn't dare follow him in, for fear of making too much noise. Even if she did, he could see the glint of something shiny and precious in the corner of his eye, and was almost certain that that was what she had came for. Anyway, she surely wouldn't try to persist with annoying a professional assassin. Would she? Regardless, the Bosmer pushed her from his thoughts. He was now focused on the job, and the job alone; in the silent house he could see the narrow stairway, which would certainly lead to his slumbering target.

But of course, it couldn't all go exactly to plan. Dae felt a firm grip on his arm, and he stumbled backwards, ripped out of his brainstorming for the best way to ascend the stairs without making a noise. He grunted slightly, but managed to keep his footing, swinging his head round to look at the thief. To his dismay, she'd kept her footing as well. Gods, if only he'd pushed a little harder, and managed to shove her into a nearby bush, he could have given himself a lot more time. I'm just too much of a gentleman, he mused, almost snickering at his own thought.

"Frankly, dear, I don't care how long you've been here," he said, smiling slightly at her. His tone was not unkind, if a little blunt. "My style tends to be quick, and precise, and you're kind of making that a problem..." The Bosmer had planned to say more, but was distracted by the other mer pulling close to him. While he knew that she was probably coming close to hiss a threat in his ear or tell him to get lost, Daeron couldn't help but let his mind wander over other things that the proximity could lead to. Hey! You're on a job. How unprofessional, the businesslike part of his mind scolded. When his attention drew back to the present, he realised that his cowl was on fire.

His cowl was on fire! And that damn thief had scurried into the house while he'd been distracted. Daeron had to give it to her - by Sithis, that had been clever. He chuckled lightly, impressed, but was soon reminded that he was currently a fire hazard by the small flame licking dangerously close to his cheekbone. He let out a small yelp, and froze stiffly. The guards must have heard that cry of surprise. The assassin ripped the cowl off, throwing it to the ground and stamping the magefire out. The hood was now a dusty, muddy mess, but it was better than it being aflame. Dae shook his hair out - which had, thankfully, avoided being singed - from where it had been flattened under the cowl, and turned towards the door again.

He could hear footsteps, inside the house and out by the road as well. Gods dammit, they'd not only alerted the guards, but the target as well. There was virtually no point even trying to take the now-awake Nord by surprise, now. As he stood in the garden, torn between just attempting to finish the contract, or just fleeing, a nimble black blur flashed out of the door. Daeron didn't miss the flash of gold in her hands, though. Dammit! There was no chance of him letting her botch his job, and yet get away unscathed while successfully completing hers. He leant out and grabbed her arm, just as she had done to him before this whole catastrophe occurred.

"Well, thief, the guards are coming. Luckily for us, I remember a shortcut from the last time I was here." He couldn't risk even being seen by the guards, now that his hood had been ruined. Ah, yes, that reminded him. "Oh, and you owe me a new cowl!" Dae jerked his head in the direction of his planned getaway - a small, overgrown path that had probably been a deer trail at one point in the past. Truthfully, the Dark Brotherhood member wasn't annoyed at the failed contract. He didn't see it as a failure, it was just... put on hold, that was all. The female Bosmer had been crafty, and thought on her feet, and he was genuinely impressed. Not to mention that she'd managed to sneak forward and pick the lock to the door right in front of him, in the first place. The job didn't matter to him awfully. It had only been a small contract, and Dae had always done his jobs at a leisurely pace. Besides, the elf intrigued him, and it didn't seem right to abandon her to the guards when she'd peaked his interest so much.

[FELICIA GREENWOOD]

Cause we find ourselves in the same old mess
Singin' drunken lullabies

It seemed her distraction had worked to some degree. Her small fire wasn’t harmful enough to do much damage, but Felicia figured it’d given her enough time to do her job. Doing that much magic as well as trying to get the statue out without waking someone had drained most of her energy and a cold sweat had appeared on her face. Felicia clung the statue to her chest, risking it and stepping out of the door. She was met with darkness of course and the male Bosmer. So he hadn’t left. At least he hadn’t come in after her, which she was please with actually. She’d already gotten what she needed and could leave within a few days after everything had blown over. The last thing she wanted was to leave this small town after something had happened and have the suspicion get dragged onto her. Not that they’d ever find out who she was. She’d used a fake name throughout the whole time she was here and the likelihood of anyone finding her based on her looks were slim. She fingered the diamond located within her pocket and started to inch around the male Bosmer, trying to get away quickly before the guards and the occupants got here. If he was angry for what she did, he wasn’t showing it and she didn’t want to stay around to hear about it if he was.

She was just about to break free from the scene when Felicia felt fingers clamp around her upper arm. The grip was strong and for a second she thought that a guard had snuck up on them and made an attempt to arrest them there and then. She then realized that it was the Bosmer himself. Why she had thought that a guard had got here so quickly was beyond even her thought process. Normally she wasn’t so jumpy, but since there was an extra person more than she was used to, she had to be on guard. It didn’t look like she was getting out of this so easily either. She though she’d managed to avoid at least one problem tonight. Obviously not. Felicia rolled her eyes in his direction. “Good for you. I don’t owe you anything. You got yourself in this mess.” She jerked her arm out of his grasp and swiftly headed down the path the male had nodded towards. “Shouldn’t have made a fuss.” She mumbled quietly. Keeping the statue close to her chest, Felicia swiftly, yet silently moved down the path. She didn’t care if the male Bosmer followed her or not, at the moment all she wanted was to get out of her so she wouldn’t get in trouble.

A few plants got in her way as she made her way through the overgrown plants. Felicia dared not step on any just in case the guards managed to figure out where they went and ended up following her. She heard the guards and the occupant get closer to the spot where she previously was. If she didn’t hurry up, they would see her and try to arrest her. Felicia quickened her pace until, she was as far away as she dared before she started jogging. This made a little bit more noise than her walking, but at this far away, the guards shouldn’t be able to hear her. She only had enough energy for a few seconds, but it just enough for her to get further away. Felicia stopped a short distance away from the path she’d just walked, leaning against a tree for support. Her instinct from home nearly kicked in for her to try and climb it, like she used to back in Valenwood. But then again, after her accident, she’d become a little nervous about climbing trees, not that it stopped her much. However, Felicia knew that if she tried, she wouldn’t get that far up anyway. Too much of her energy had been drained trying to cast the fire spell and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to cast a restoration spell with the little she had left. Not that it would do much good. What she really needed now was a rest and maybe something with sugar in it. The latter was going to be much harder to find out here and there was no way she was going back into Riverwood after what just happened.

Felicia slid down the base of the tree, leaning back on the bark as she crouched in the darkness, trying to regain some energy and sense before heading back into town. She heard a rustle of leaves yet hoped the fact that her dark clothing and stillness made her hard to see.

[DAERON]

Daeron was ready to make a witty comment before the other elf ran off, but before he could open his mouth, the rambunctious clanging of the town guards cut him off. The assassin scoffed lightly. When were those fools, blundering around in heavy armour all over the shop, going to realise that sounding like a herd of mammoths gave criminals fair warning to run away? He shook his head at the stupidity of the watchmen, before nimbly darting through the overgrown trail. When he was confident he was out of sight, he paused briefly, listening intently for any signs of being followed. But the voices behind him were distant, no doubt questioning the house's occupant on what she had heard. Dae advanced a little further up the path, just to be safe, and then stopped again to consider his surroundings. He hadn't been along this path for a long time, and really, it had been a stroke of luck that it was even still passable as a trail. The lush forestry had grown wildly over the years, but a faint dirt path could still be located, if one was looking for such a thing. As he continued silently along the worn trail, it occurred to him that his companion had slipped away again. Really, it didn't surprise him. Thieves were flighty creatures, and he didn't doubt that she would want to make herself scarce from Riverwood as soon as she had finished her business. Regardless, he felt mildly disappointed at the sudden solitude - he was a sociable person, and the 'company' of the woman had been interesting, to say the least.

The assassin glanced around at the bountiful nature around him, and wrinkled his nose a little. Such rich, green shrubbery reminded him a lot of Valenwood, and Valenwood wasn't a place he wanted to be reminded of. True, the forest was advantageous in that it was easy to hide in, and shadowy, but Daeron preferred shadowy corners of houses, and the hidey holes in places around towns. The woods just felt suffocating, and they had far too many indefinite dead ends. Not to mention that they were ever changing, untamed, and wild... He focused instead on the sounds around him, attentive and ready for any sign of trouble. He was also trying to keep a vague idea of where exactly he was going; it would be terribly awkward if he managed to circle all the way back round to Riverwood. Speaking of going back to Riverwood, is that where the thief had disappeared to? He hadn't noticed any gear on her, and he highly doubted that she'd travelled from the Rift to Whiterun Hold unarmed. Perhaps she was staying somewhere? Then again, it wouldn't make sense for her to return right after the scene of the crime. Distracted by his musings of the elf's plan of action, he didn't notice he'd strayed from the path - until he almost stumbled right over a black mound at the base of a tree.

Snarling, Daeron leapt back from the shape, daggers in his hands, waiting for the shape to move. He'd expected it to be some sort of animal, all the way out here and isolated in the woods. But as his eyes adjusted to the gloom of the forest, he realised it was a person. An elf, to be precise. It was - by the gods, it was that thief! Again! The Bosmer's stance visibly relaxed as he recognised the other elf, and he sheathed his weapons, chuckling lightly. "By Sithis, at this rate you'd think I was chasing after you, wouldn't you?" he commented, amused at the situation. Maybe, subconsciously, he had been looking for her. Nonetheless, he certainly hadn't expected to almost fall over her in the darkness of the woods. He glanced over his shoulder, just triple checking that no guards had caught their trail, before grinning at the female mer and moving to sit a small distance away from her.

[FELICIA GREENWOOD]

Cause we find ourselves in the same old mess
Singin' drunken lullabies

Just able to make out the shape that practically came crashing through the woods and nearly barging into her, Felicia glared at the male Bosmer. If it was anyone, it would’ve been him. The guards were too stupid to be able to find a path like that and even if they did, they’d never be able to get this far. And if they did..well she’d rather not think about it. If anything, she’d probably be forced to climb the tree. He had his daggers drawn as he snarled at her. Clearly he didn’t recognise her just yet. But then the thought seemed to hit him about who it was. At the moment, she didn’t care whether or not the male could see her face, she wanted him to go away and leave her alone. Felicia wanted to get her energy back and head of toward Riverwood again to be able to get to a bed a sleep for the rest of the night. If she ever got the chance that is. There was a small chance she could fall asleep leaning against the tree. It made her feel like she was back at home, what with all the overgrown foliage around her. But she knew that if she walked into the inn tomorrow morning, covered in dirt and carrying the exact things that had been stolen the night before, things wouldn’t go down too well. It was better to creep in through the window like she had done when coming out.

Felicia didn’t reply to the male’s question, continuing to glare at him as he went to sit down near her. She shuffled away from him. She still didn’t trust him, not even after what had just happened. The small conversation that the two of them had back there had made her wary to be around him. That combined with the fact that he was a member of the Dark Brotherhood, this man didn’t sit well with her. She was tempted to get up and walk about, but she feared that if she stood up, her legs would give way, so she just stayed put for the time being. “What do you want?” Felicia very nearly snarled these words out, but managed to control herself right at the last minute. The last thing she wanted was to run away again, especially from someone who could very well kill her at any second. Her posture never slackened, neither did the grip of the statue. She would inspect it to see what it was worth, but with the Bosmer near her, she wanted to keep a firm eye on his activity. Felicia knew she shouldn’t be so harsh on the guy, he’d got her out of the way of the guards. Though, she probably would’ve been able to get out of there by herself if the elf hadn’t been there. In fact, she would’ve been able to do the whole thing perfectly if he hadn’t even shown up in the first place. In fact, she wasn’t even sorry for her attitude.

She certainly wasn’t going to give him anything. He could pay for his own damn cowl. If he hadn’t shoved her out of the way, Felicia wouldn’t have set the damn thing on fire in the first place. After a few seconds she felt a bit of energy draw back into her and she considered getting up and moving. Letting herself feel her body, she guessed on if she could. She might have to wait a little while longer before she was able to walk properly without wobbling, but Felicia felt that she could stand. Taking the chance, she put one hand out against the tree, keeping her other one wrapped around the statue, hoisting herself up, using the tree as something to lean on as she did so. It took a while and she practically ignored the male elf. She finally stood on her own two feet, making sure she wasn’t going to fall before taking a few steps further away from the Bosmer. “If you’re wanting something for the cowl, you can forget it.”

[DAERON]

Daeron's grin only widened at the girl's obviously annoyed glare. Truly, nothing could faze him; you could be spitting death threats and insulting him until you were blue in the face, and he would be as calm as ever, still with a big grin on his face. He still wasn't disheartened when she pointedly shuffled away from him, although he did notice her locked grip on the statue, and the way that she was watching him like a hawk. "By Sithis, you need to learn how to relax. I'm an assassin, not a thief - I'm not going to take that statue off of you, and I don't have a contract out on you. You've got to nothing to worry about." She was being quite unfair, really, he thought. He could've left her to the guards, but he'd pointed out a hasty exit to her, Not to mention that she'd managed to finish her job, and he hadn't! He supposed that none of the situation would have arisen if he'd just been patient and waited for her to finish before he went in, but Daeron had never been patient. Besides, it wasn't his fault they'd been hitting the same target, why should he be the one to suffer?

Well, it wasn't like he cared. She could stew in irritation all she liked, but he refused to be put down by her hostile attitude, and he was determined to make her come round and just be damn light hearted for once. Since they'd become... acquainted, all she seemed to have done was be angry and on edge. Dae wondered if she'd always been like this, or if his profession made her feel nervous. He didn't understand why his line of work made people feel differently about him. Like he'd said, he only killed people he had a contract on. It was business. Seriously, he didn't tear around Skyrim shoving a knife into the gullet of every poor fellow he met. He was a social person, and stabbing people was not the best way to initiate conversation.

Regathering his thoughts, Daeron realised that the female Wood Elf had since rose to her feet. He stood up quickly after her, not liking the feeling of her looming above him. Gods, he got that enough from everybody else he met; he'd be damned if he wasn't going to take advantage of the (very, very) minimal height advantage he had over the other Bosmer. He did notice, though, that she seemed to quite struggle with the simple task of standing up. "Tired?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow. What exactly had made her seem so void of energy? As far as he could tell, her job had been more or less effortless. Break in, take loot, run away. Neither of their jobs were particularly taxing, really, considering they were both heavily based on stealth. Even if she'd sprinted from the house to this spot, surely she wouldn't have been that tired.

"If you're wanting something for the cowl, you can forget it," she told him. Dae chuckled lightly, shaking his head. His cowl! As if he really cared about that. He knew for a fact that it would be laughably easy to root around for a new one at home. And, well, it was against the Tenets to steal from a Brother or Sister, but a handful of them didn't wear their cowls, and he was sure they wouldn't care if he borrowed one of theirs on a contract now and then.
"Ah, don't worry about that," he said good-naturedly, although he was quite sure she hadn't been worrying in the first place. "I'm sure there's loads laying around back in Fal- ... um, back in the Sanctuary." Dammit, that had been a mistake. It wasn't wise to let those outside of the Brotherhood know the location of the Sanctuary. Even though she wouldn't get past the Black Door, and it was unlikely she would do anything in the first place, it was still dangerous. Daeron frowned, but then figured it was best to just hope she wouldn't pick up on it. But where else in Skyrim begin with the syllable "Fal", other than Falkreath?

"Really, I was more looking for company." The assassin grinned at her again, trying to gloss over his slip and change the subject. "Although, you're making that extremely difficult..."

[FELICIA GREENWOOD]

Cause we find ourselves in the same old mess
Singin' drunken lullabies

Usually, Felicia wouldn’t be so hostile towards people, but there was a part of her that still didn’t trust this guy. At the sight of his widened, she glared at him even more and inched further away. True he might be an assassin, but that still didn’t mean she should relax around the guy. “It’s not the statue I’m worried about, it’s my life. I know what you people are like. It doesn’t mean you won’t get a contract out on my life and have to stalk me like a deer.” She inched further away from the guy so that there was a semi comfortable amount of space between them. “Which by the way, is entirely possible if you think about it clearly.” While the chances were slim, it didn’t mean that they weren’t possible. Sure there were thousands of people in Skyrim that could have a contract out on their lives; Felicia was just as likely as the next person to get one. It didn’t mean she wouldn’t get one sooner or later. She continued to keep her eyes on the male Bosmer as she kept one arm on the statue, the other gently touching the lump in her pocket. The diamond was still there and hadn’t dropped out. At least her contract had been met. Unlike the male in front of her. It almost made her smile.

Really, she shouldn’t judge him that badly. Surely not all of the Dark Brotherhood were bad people. Felicia quickly shook off this thought. She had met a fair few people who had been in the Dark Brotherhood and had turned out to be a right piece of work. They usually ended up stabbing her in the back one way or another. Not literally, but there had been a couple of run ins with her family and she had learnt not to trust them all too lightly. The same could really be said for the Thieves guild really, since they stole other people’s belongings. But the majority of the time, the jobs she had didn’t involve the people she knew. She didn’t accept any contracts in Whiterun, despite it being a good place for business. Her family had made a home in the city and she didn’t want to disrupt it by stealing stuff and lose people’s trust. Breaking that trust would get her run out of town.

Felicia knew that the Bosmer would see her moving, it was kind of hard not too despite the darkness. A black shape moving would hardly go amiss. The way she stood up wouldn’t go amiss to the males eyes either. That was made clear when the male spoke up again. “None of your damn business.” She growled. Her breathing came out a little strained, but that didn’t stop her from moving away as the male stood up as well. She wasn’t going to tell him how much energy that small flicker of flame had used up to save her from the ridicule that male would probably give her. The tree was becoming ever an option at the rate this conversation was turning. Even with the minimal energy she had as well as the one free hand, Felicia reckoned she could get up pretty high. She could circle round a few times, drop down on the other side and sneak away before he’d ever realize she’d gone. At the rate this conversation was going, Felicia was tempted, but it would take a few more pushes before that would happen. She clutched the statue again, taking a few more steps backward, which wasn’t really a good idea in the darkness. “Why don’t you just go home? You can always come back some other time and leave me alone.”

Hearing the male chuckle, Felicia resisted the urge to snap at him, refusing to give him the pleasure. She still frowned at the male as he shrugged it off, rather good naturedly in fact before noticing him mess up. That was different. She wasn’t used to seeing the Dark Brotherhood mess up. Especially in terms of where their hide out was located. What other places in Skyrim began with ‘Fal’? Unless there was some secret place she didn’t know about, only one.[ color=Blue]“In where? Falkreath?”

[/color] Her frown changed into an expression of cunning, her right eyebrow raised. She was trained to pick up mistakes, whether it is in speech pattern or body language. Not that the Guild had done much for it, it was mostly down to her nature and own way of seeing things. “Well, that’ll certainly help for knowing where you’re based.” It was a bluff really, Felicia wouldn’t go near that door for a thousand septims. But if she ever needed the knowledge of where the Brotherhood was located for the Guild, it would certainly come in handy. For both her death and some missions that could come up. If that slip up didn’t warrant something to happen to her in the near future, Felicia didn’t know what would. Though it wasn’t really hard to figure out where it was.

Her scowl returned however, when the Wood Elf tried to change the subject. Oh no. That name was going to stick with her, whether he tried to cover it up or not. It wasn’t going to get past her that easily. “Really. I wonder why.” She said through gritted teeth. “Maybe it’s because you won’t leave me alone and insist on trying to make a conversation.” Felicia was being unnatural difficult with this guy. While it was rather infuriating, it was slightly entertaining watching him try to make pleasant conversation. But this wasn’t really the time. It was dark. It was cold and Felicia wasn’t all that pleased with what had happened with her mission. If word got back to Riften of how her mission had turned out, then things wouldn’t go down that well, despite her bringing back more than what was asked more. Well, it might help smooth things over a little bit.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[DAERON]

Daeron stiffened visibly when she guessed the location of the Dark Brotherhood. There was no point trying to cover over his bluff, or deny the location. A pigheaded Nord with a brain like a plank of would could've worked out he meant Falkreath. His concern was that she knew at all. He didn't have anything to worry about, really - Falkreath's woods were thick and extensive, and he doubted there was really anything she could do, even if she did find the Black Door - but it was more than that. She had a weapon against him now, something to hang over his head if she felt annoyed by him. Moreover, who was to say that the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild would never fall out? She might not be able to do anything with the information herself, but her superiors certainly could. Daeron mentally kicked himself, considering all of the terrible fates that could befall his Family and his Sanctuary because of his one slip up. Even though none of them were likely to ever happen in the slightest, he still felt like a massive moron for making such a blatant mistake. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
"Send anyone near that Sanctuary, and I'll gut you and all of your family like fish," he said cheerfully. While his demeanour and tone remained fairly upbeat and good natured, his posture was still ever so tense, and his dark eyes narrowed the slightest bit. His threat might have sounded bright and chipper, but it was a threat nonetheless, and one he wouldn't hesitate to act upon. For a few moments, under his laid back attitude, he just wanted to give the other Wood Elf a glimpse of what his line of profession was, and what he could do. He hoped that that would scare enough sense into her to just forget that he ever mentioned where the Sanctuary was.

But he didn't want to scare her off. Definitely not. She still intrigued him - he didn't know many people who would casually mouth off to a Dark Brotherhood assassin - and, well, he was quite bored. After his warning, Dae relaxed, leaning against a nearby tree and surveying the Bosmer again. He grinned at her, already smoothly moving onwards from his mistake, and subsequent, light-hearted death threat. Yes, she was definitely something different. He liked those who had a bit of a backbone to them, and the woman's harsh attitude towards him proved that she definitely wasn't lacking a spark. The assassin didn't really understand why exactly she was being so adamantly harsh to him, but he dismissed it. He laughed a little at her complaint. 'Maybe it’s because you won’t leave me alone and insist on trying to make a conversation.'

"Well, sorry for trying to be sociable, my dear," he chuckled, raising an eyebrow at her. "Normal people generally attempt to make conversation when they meet new faces, you see. Although, I'm not sure if the two of us would be viewed as normal..."
Daeron mused at the situation, finding it quite amusing. A carefree Dark Brotherhood assassin, who just so happened to hit a target's house at the same time as a seemingly cagey, hostile Thieves Guild recruit. By Sithis, what a catch they were!

"Why don't we put aside our differences and start again?" he suggested lightly, pushing away from the tree and moving towards the thief. He extended a hand towards her, waiting for her to return the handshake. "I'm Daeron," he began, after slight hesitation. While the elf didn't distrust the sneak thief, he was still a little apprehensive about giving her his name. But, really, there was no point in fabricating a false name; she'd probably see through the bluff, anyway. He wasn't good at thinking up false names, and while on contract he tended to rely on either a good reputation, or the anonymity of going nameless. "I came here from Valenwood about four years ago, and I'm not here to kill you. Okay?" He waited for her response, his hand still extended.

[FELICIA GREENWOOD]

Cause we find ourselves in the same old mess
Singin' drunken lullabies

Felicia’s face darkened at the assassin’s threat. “You do anything to me, any of my brothers and sisters or the Thieves Guild and I won’t have to do. I’ll hold this information to myself until the time comes when I need to reveal it.” Her tone had gone cold as she made her threat. He knew just how sneaky Thieves could be, she had managed to get to the door and pick the lock practically underneath his nose anyway. He had seen how quick she could be, while that might not be as fancy as sword fighting or magic, it could still prove to be quite a pain in the backside if used properly. “Just keep that in mind in case you think of doing anything against us. I know where you guys are hiding and I could easily make your lives a living hell if I wanted.” In reality, it was only half a threat. She could make his life a living hell at least. Or she could try. She’d already got a few things in mind to try and dig under his skin. Getting into their base would be difficult and time consuming, but it wasn’t impossible. Surely he knew that right? Felicia had no idea how she would go about pulling it off, but hopefully there would be no need for that if the two factions kept their distance from each other.

“This isn’t exactly a normal situation either and I don’t particularly socialize with people like you.” Well as long as she didn’t know about what they did, then Felicia wouldn’t mind talking to them. But the second she found out that they were part of the Dark Brotherhood, her whole perspective changed on them. That faction was wrong with a capital W. Why would someone want to go around killing people for a living? It was inhumane. In her mind, there’s no explanation to why someone would want to do it. Thieving was different from it in her opinion. While she did feel guilty about doing it on some occasions, she needed the gold to be able to get by. Though there were some cases where the occupants were asking to be thieved, leaving their valuables out to be stolen in plain sight. And in any case, Felicia didn’t go around killing people for it. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she backed up a little bit more.

As soon as the Bosmer made a movement and started heading towards her, Felicia backed up even more. No matter how hostile she might be appearing and how out of order it might appear to be, there was no way she was getting close to this guy. She didn’t trust him and now that she knew who he worked for, there was little to no chance that she ever would. Her arms tightened even more around the statue as she shielded herself away from the handshake. “I still don’t trust you. Not even with my name.” She hissed out, glaring at his outstretched hand. At least she had some leverage over him. There weren’t too many Daeron’s out there, let alone that were of Bosmer race and were a part of the Dark Brotherhood. She wasn’t a fool. Giving her name out to someone who could very well track her own and kill her was a very dangerous thing to do, especially after what she’d just found out. The pounding instinct of climbing up the tree was ever stronger and she inched her way closer to the trunk of it. “You say you won’t kill me, but there’s always the chance that you might.” Once Felicia got to the base of the tree, she placed a hand on the bark. She looked up and saw a sturdy looking branch that could hold her weight. If Daeron came any closer, she’d be up the tree in a blink of an eye. Granted the statue would slow her down, but he didn’t look the type to climb trees very often, despite coming from Valenwood. She continued to glare at him, hoping he would put down his hand to save himself from looking like an even bigger fool. Though in a sense, Felicia herself was acting like one at the moment. But she was still on edge since she still had her prizes on her and the guards could come crashing through the overgrown plants any second now.