Plenty of opportunities

[Simone]

The night was young yet, having just turned dark an hour earlier when she arrived at the Sky High. Her dark locks were tied up for the most part, though intentionally messy, some locks curling about others and hanging down in perfect disorder. She wore, of course, her usual black leather Corset with a short black intricately designed, jacket over it, unbuttoned in the front and a pair of long black, soft leather pants complete with knee high leather, healed boots. Her large dark eyes were painted with black lids just enough to accent her black irises and accented by thin black eyeliner making those brilliantly shining orbs stand out in any crowd. She didn’t want to look soft and playful tonight, she was looking to be the bitch that she was and on these nights was the time she usually ended up having the most fun.

She stepped into the Sky High and looked around at the early population and then decided she would take a seat at the bar. It was still early and this was usually the place where most people passed trough anyway once the party got started in any case. For now, people would content themselves on waiting to be served, but in another hour or so, when the crowd got larger and the people wanted to drink faster, there would be plenty of people passing through here, plenty of opportunities for her to be a bitch.

Most of the women here wore much more makeup than she did, trying to impress the males, little whores in her mind. “Money grubbing whores.” She stated quite clearly to the waitress as she passed by on her way to get more drinks for a table out on the floor as she gave them all a look of disgust. The waitress smiled slightly, thinking the same thought of course.

Simone then turned around and faced the bar tender, ordered a drink and then after it was paid for, turned herself back around again to watch the population grow both in numbers and in drunkenness.

[Grim]

A little bit later, the crowd had begin to grow. The sun had set outside and the day was over and people were ready to party The Sky High was the place to be in the city Celesta's night life. All the middle and upper class people who wanted a good night out would go there to drink and dance. Everyone there was there to have a good time in the vibrant environment of loud live music and flashing colored lights from all the glass and mirror work the place had along the walls and over the lighting torches. With all the money in the place that everyone threw about senselessly for drinks and entertainment and for trying to impress the people in the crowd, a man could see other oportunities there.

Grim Gordon had decided that he needed to pay the place a visit. It wasn't a regular thing for the king of thieves to party it up in public. He did have his own bar at the guild, but for all the things he had heard of the Sky High, he figured it should give him a good time, one way or another. He wasn't there to drink and dance, or to pick up chicks like all the other men in the bar. Grim was there to play the field at what he did best, and cause a scene while he was at it. There was no reason for people to feel secure in a place where there were so many people, and such a diverse range of them at that. Grim watched countless people flash their money bags and hang them on their sides. He saw inumerable dancers bumping each other and brushing people they weren't even paying attention to. It seemed wrong to him that all those people could safely carry themselves with such blissful ignorence. Something had to be done.

After having only stopped for a minute or so just inside the door to take a look at the crowd, Grim started to make his way through it. As he reached the bar counter on the far side of the crowd, Grim watched several people at a time collect their ordered drinks from the servers across the counter. He walked up to the stretch of the bar that had no stools to sit on, where people just walked up to get their drinks. One man ordered a drink to Grim's liking, so when the lady behind the counter served the mug of dark ale, the thief king stepped behind the customer and reached one arm around to take the drink. It wasn't the most subtle thing to do, but it offered him a chance to take the man's cash bag with his other hand while he was at it.

"Hey that's mine!" came a stern response to Grim's taking of the ale as the offended man turned to face him. Grim was standing still immediately behind the man so that when he turned, he had to lean back or risk bumping the thief's chest. silently, Grim lifted the mug to his mouth and took a long draw of the dark ale.

"It's mine now, and I rather like the taste of it." he responded with a cold wink at the man as he continued to stand still, awkwardly close to his victim so that he was leaning back against the counter. "You order well." he finished with a grin and another sip before finally taking a step away. The servers across the counter offered the customer no support, since they were too busy probably even to notice.

"Who do you think you are?" returned the thief's victim agressively, standing up straight and taking a step towards the large man who had stolen his drink.

"The name's Grim." Grim said sarcastically as he turned and offered the man his hand and then took another long draw.

"Well fuck you Grim." the man proclaimed as he swatted the thief's hand. "Buy me another ale."

Grim laughed, took one more draw of the dark ale, and splashed the rest at the man. He had started something already and he felt quite proud of it. The man shoved Grim with a hand on either of his shoulders and grim laughed harder. "YES!" the thief yelled happily. It had been a while since anyone had challenged him to a fight. true, he had had to provoke this man, but he was balsy enough, or probably just drunk enough, to challenge rather than cower. This swift success at causing a rise at the club may cut the king of thieves' visit short, but it would surely be worth it.

With a single returning blow, Grim struck the man in the head, despite his attempt to dodge, with the empty mug from the ale he had stolen and splashed on the victim a moment before. The glass shattered and fell on and around the man as he himself fell as well. The man didn't fall all the way though; he cought him self down low and thrust forward to tackle the thief who was larger than him, though not vastly. Grim braced and leaned into the man's assault and wrapped his arms around his attacker's back as he struck him, and pushed the man down with his hands on the man's back, forcefully slamming him chest first against the solid floor. The man was too winded to move immediately, so Grim took a step back from the man and booted him once hard in the face.

The battle was quick, but it drew it's due attention. there were rarely fights at the Sky High since the club's security force was so daunting. By the time Grim was turing to walk into the crowd, two enormous bouncers were pushing their way through. Grim took a few steps into the spreading crowd, then turned and punched a random onlooker in the face. The blow dropped the man to the floor, and provoked his friend beside him to throw one back at Grim. He dodged the hit, throwing an elbow back at the man behind him, who immediately grabbed at his then blood gushing nose. The bouncers came through the path spread in the crowd and faced a small wall of scurrying people rushing to either leave the brawl or join it. Several people had reason then to fight Grim, but few had paid much attention as it all had happened so fast.

Grim had taken a few blows among the mess, but had eventually slipped past a number of people where he had stirred the pot. the commotion had caused something of a clutter in the crowd and through it all, none of the club bouncers had gotten a good look at Grim. He then was a part of the crowd and slipped back in, throwing a few hits and taking a few too. throughout it all, he snagged a few coin bags and dropped them in his pockets.

[Simone]

Simone’s quick eye and the fact that she was perhaps the only one watching and not flirting, caught sight of Grim and his entrance and the dark Mage smiled, her darkened orbs flashing to life as she knew this was going to be anything other than a slow night.

As she continued to watch the King of Thieves she continued to remain seated as well. He had started a fight, almost the moment he had arrived. “Typical.” She rolled her eyes at his lack of restraint.

The Dark Mage watched and watched and it wasn’t until a girl came running up to yell something along the line of “I know Who Star…” That was as far as the little slut was allowed to cry, in a manner of about the time it would take to blink, Simone had pushed a large stool into the girl, knocking her over and into the trampling feet about her.

“Oppsy” Simone smiled darkly as someone trying to step out of the way from being drug into the fight kicked the girl in the head, knocking her out. “Oh my…” Simone said, putting a hand over her mouth in fake horror. “Scuse me?” She turned to the bartender. “But some one really should get that poor thing off the floor before..” Simone cringed. “Oh, never mind, too late.” She shook her head and grimaced again as the girl’s unconscious body was swept inward through the fighting and panicking crowd.

After a few moments, Simone caught sight of Grim once more and whispered him name, sending it on the back of a blown kiss to travel to him through the shadows his way.

“Oh honestly!” She then turned her head to push a few people away from her that had fallen into her section of the bar. “Go find someplace else to play, this is my place.” She growled as she commanded shadow to push them back and away from her and then returned her head toward where she had last seen Grim.

It didn’t take her long to notice him at all and she allowed her lips to turn up at their sides in welcome to the King of Thieves. She honestly held him in no way ill will for their first meeting, it was after all, her bad and she had know it going into it from the start.

[Grim]

Since there was a rukus started, Grim took to simply thieving as was his original intent. He had heard his name whispered from afar and though it seemed strange at first, he recognized the voice and it suddenly made sence how such a whisper could carry through the crowd. He was making his way over to the dark mage, but he wasn't about to put off his daily work to get to her.

After picking nearly twenty pockets, ripping sacs entirely off a half dozen others' belts, and stepping on and miscellanious others, Grim made his way to the counter where the familiar voice had originated. He had even gone out of his way to step on a few fallen people among the sprawling brawling mix of comotion. The baggy pockets in the thief king's pants were full by then and quite clearly bulging from all the coins and goods he had taken off all the random people too distracted to notice. It was a good thing he had worn his overcoat, because it provided a good partial cover for his otherwise obvious holdings. It also gave him more places to put more stolen goods, as it had many baggy pockets of it's own.

"This place is high on it's self." The king of thieves told the woman when he reached her. "I would have thought it quite below you. the crowd here is righteous and trusting." Arriving then at the bar counter, Grim handled himself up with a pitcher of ale in either hand and took a gulp from each. with the crowd in such a bustle, there were numerous drinks left unattended. Why should the drinks be left to warm? Not that Grim needed an excuse to steel them.

"I like the look of this place better now." Grim said as he looked out at the crowd from where he stood leaning against the bar next to Simone. "It was far too benevolent when i got here. Someone had to give it some agression." he finished off with a shrug.

[Simone]

Simone was busy smashing someone over the head with a bottle of what looked like whiskey by the time Grim made his way over. She’d secured the bottle by simply calling over to her through the shadows and found that it was quite the handy thing to use, should the crowd decide to get to close to her nice, clear position.

“Well, I was about to start something myself, when who should come along and start it for me but you.” She stated as she raised a foot in the air and kicked some guy, who was falling toward her in the small of the back, back out into the crowd where he belonged. ‘Good work by the way.” She told him with a laugh as she saw one of the security guards go under. “Not much for riot control are they?” She more stated than asked just before taking a small sip from her drink of earlier, amazingly she’d kept it from spilling the entire time, and she planned on keeping it that way until she was done with it, after than, who cared what happened to the container.

“I often come in here, just to start crap with the local whores that seem to think themselves worth something.” She explained as the crowd began to work its way closer to them again. “Oh honestly, haven’t you learned yet?” She purred as a dark shadow rose up from the floor before her and sprouted a dozen or so angry hands that grabbed people and tossed them harshly back into the fray while the mass of the wall pushed once against the mass and then fell away as they all swayed or fell the other way. “But I must admit, this is much more delightful, thanks.” She darkly giggled at what enjoyment she was having in punishing those who would get too close.

Simone then sat up in her seat and bent over the counter, her feet dangling in the outer side, while her head disappeared on the other side. “Hey, how’s about another?” She asked the bartender who was cowering under the bar. He nodded as Simone slid her way back down into her seat.

[Grim]

"I don't know how you waited." Grim said before taking another long draw from each of the pitchers he held in his hands. "No one even expected anything to happen. that kind of security sickens me. people shouldn't be allowed to live so carelessly. It's naive." After saying that, Grim readied a wad to spit, but stopped before hawking it on the floor and spat it instead on the face of a passer by. Then he took another drink from each pitcher.

"There are only so many of them." Grim said about the bar's bouncers. "They weren't ready for this any more than this guy was." He added, motioning one pitcher in the direction of a man who was crawling on all fours in front of them. As he took another drink from both his hands, Grim kicked that man in the face. Those drinks emptied the pitchers, which he tossed into the crowd.

"They're not entirely worthless." Grim said to Simone as he reached out and grabbed one woman by her ass. He squeezed it tightly and pushed his thumb firmly over the girl's asshole before releasing her back into the crowd, as violated as she would then have felt. She looked about eighteen and had a very nice body. That could be clearly seen through the black tights that she wore. "She doesn't carry money." The thief said about the girl. "Or wear underwear. Clearly, she has her drinks paid."

Another woman shuffled ahead of Grim, and this one had large shapely breasts. He tore the front of her shirt open to bare her bare breasts and gave them each a squeeze to the woman's shock. "That's her worth right there." He said to Simone as the woman slapped him across the face. He took the hit without contest and without flinching as well. "She doesn't carry money either." he added, turning his head to look at Simone as she leaned over the counter. He managed a good view of her while she spoke to the bartender.

"The city guard will be coming soon I'm sure." Grim said, almost dissapointed that the brawl would be stopped. "I'll have to go out the back door when they do." He added, thinking of how obvious he looked with every pocket bulging.

[Simone]

Simone watched grim as he abused the two girls, or rather the woman and the girl and rolled her eyes with a sort of silly male smirk on her lips as her dark orbs glistened with mirth as well. “My point exactly, and don’t try to tell me they don’t pay for those drinks, as I am certain they both do, and do it often as well.” She told him with a raised brow, as a hand appeared from behind the counter with a glass matching the one she’d had in her hand only moments ago. “Thank you.” She stated as she plucked her new drink form the bartenders grasp as his hand slipped back behind the counter. “I would suspect nether one of those two really took too much offence to your handling of them, as I am certain they both now think themselves even higher that someone paid them attention even as a brawl of this size was going about, and will tall tales of it, feigning rape of some sort to gain whatever attention they can.” She finished what she was saying and then took her new drink to her lips and sipped from its contents for a moment at the same time as she raised a long leg once more to press the heal of her boot into the temple of a passing girl who had fallen into her space. Simone gave a slight push and the girl fell off her heal, dead on the floor where she fell. “Oh, oops.” Simone chuckled darkly, giving Grim a totally innocent look as the body was swept away by the crowd

“Or you can just hang around, I am certain I can get you out of here easily enough, though you may not find it appealing.” She chuckled as the dark shadows played about her eyes again. Death always seemed to bring this on, death and general adrenaline rushes. “Most find my way of travel a bit upsetting at first, though I think you may find it if nothing else, convenient.” She winked at him

It was true, Shadow walking was usually very upsetting to the nerves as well ones equilibrium the first few times they traverse that realm, but all in all, the cold dark was always a most valuable way to escape any situation should one find the need to get away on top of their list of things to do.

[Grim]

"We both know there are other ways to pay for things than with coins." Grim replied to the mage whom he had previously taxed. "I only said they dont carry money." He figured that Simone's perception of the womens' inevitable conception of the thief's acts to be highly likely. They probably liked it anyways.

"Nothing comes for free." he added, concluding his previous statements about the women, and also rising to the next innevitable question. He watched the mage put her boot through another woman's head and kick her off, and he shrugged that off. "What is this travel costing me?" he asked while lifting another abandoned drink to his lips. He did still have all the pockets in his coat to fill, so there was yet plenty to gain from extra time in the bar. If he was going to stay too much longer though, he had best get at collecting the goods to fill those pockets and the price had best not be greater than what he could steal in the time he gained. business was business after all.

He took one long gulp from the drink after speaking, and reached out with his other hand to pull another coin sac from the belt of another man. He did this quite forcefully and the man turned to face him. "What?" Grim questioned him fiercely, leaning forward at the man with an agressive look while he opened his jacket and put the man's money bg into a pocket in his own coat right before him. The man reached out to snag his cash back, but Grim swirled his coat around to dodge the man's grab attempt, then swung his other arm and smashed the warming mug of ale over the man's head, nocking him to the ground in a puddle of stale ale and broken glass.

[Simone]

Simone watched him as he took the money form the man and then just as quickly as he’d done so, he dropped the patron to the ground with one fell swoop of his trusty ale mug. Her now totally darkened orbs looked down at the bleeding man and she chuckled darkly again before returning her gaze to Grim.

“Well, sometimes payments have already been made, even if one thinks it hasn’t.” She stated as the man’s fallen body suddenly became entangled in dark twisting shadow and swallowed up in through the floor at Grim’s feet.

Simone gave a slight shiver and closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, the shadows returned the man, flesh plucked from his bones. “Sometimes, the things that live in the shadows need to feed.” She stated and then chuckled again just before finishing her drink and tossing the glass into the crowd.

There was a piercing scream at that point; someone had seen the skeleton lying on the ground. “Oh, but I do say, if you still have work yet to be done, you had best get at it, if that scream doesn’t make them come, I don’t know what would.” She stated quite calmly as she turned her head and searched out the source of that scream, her once more darkening orbs settling on the woman close by. “Oh please do shut up, my head already hurts, you children play so loudly here at the Sky High, it is no wonder I seldom visit.” She reprimanded the girl with a look of disgust. At that, Simone hopped down from her throne, so to speak, and walked over to the girl, elbowing a few people in the face while she was at it and slid an almost loving hand about the girls’ shoulders. “It’s alright, really it is.” She told her in a silken manner, her voice taking on a motherly aspect as she elbowed a few others, away from them, bringing the girl back to her seat where she sat her down, the girl looking at the skeletal remains of the fallen man, the entire time. “He won’t bite, or at least, not any more.” She stated as she brushed the girls hair from her face and lifted her chin, forcing the girl to look at her. The girl began to sob uncontrollably and Simone wrapped her arms about her, laying her head on her shoulder softly, one hand stroking the girls’ hair. She turned her head slightly to look at Grim. “Well, you’d better hurry, if your going to do it, honestly, now would be a good time.” She said, turning her head back to the to the girl where she laid her head on top of the others. “Soon, it will be all over and you won’t remember a thing.” She told her and then, as if Simones’ words had calmed the girl, she went silent, but when Simone pulled back from her, dark tendrils of shadow had driven themselves through the girls eyes, mouth, up her nostrils and danced now through her glazed orbs, all connected to the pendant Simone almost always wore. The girl was quite dead and Simone laid her head on the counter in front of her, patted the young girls hair once more and covered her pendant with her hand, breaking the connection, turned and waited for Grim and the local watchmen from the street to arrive.

[Grim]

Grim wasn't sure what Simone meant by payments already having been made. He himself regularly took payments multiple times, simply for the sake of it. She didn't seem to be concealing anything from him, but Grim still had to wonder what she would be gaining form transporting him. It seemed to him to be a useful service; one that could be worth a good deal in tight situations.

He raised a brow at the skelaton himself, but Simone was right. Grim had best get along with his thievery if he was going to make good use of the time she was providing him. He didn't have too much time left before the brigade of law heaving tools marched through the front door, especially with the mage's extra antics. He had quite a few pockets left to fill, so he wasn't going to be subtle.

Grabbing a passing man by the collar, Grim pinned him against the counter and took everything from every one of his pockets and slipped them into his own before tossing the man headfirst over the countertop. With one hand, Grim took a bottle from the counter and poured some vodka from it into his mouth. In all the rush to steal, he couldn't ignore the obvious alcahol he could steal from the club in the process. Quickly finishing what little was left in the bottle, the thief slmmed the empty glass container against another man's head, then cought him in one hand as he fell. Grim propped the man over a bar stool and emptied his pockets as well, then turned at the site of a shiny necklace and snatched it off the passing woman's neck. She was mortified, but her crazed attempt to retrieve her jewels only opened her to more horror as the thief king grabbed her hand and pulled off her diamond ring. It was a nice one too.

After taking what expensive goods the woman had, Grim forced her over the stool next to the unconcious man, then lifted her skirt and gave her a spank. Her jewels didn't take up much space in his jacket, which was good and bad for his current endeavor; mostly good.

Turning around, Grim took to yanking a few more coin sacs from men in the crowd. that was easy enough. He passed another busty woman who was not carrying any change, so he ripped her shirt as he had the other at the counter and took his squeeze; they were quite nice. He had to steel something after all, and he was in too much of a rush to take anything else from a woman like that.

After making his rounds through the crowd taking coin bags and jewelery as well as a few miscellaneous other valuables and roughing up a number of men and violating a number of women, Grim had packed his coat fairly well. Good timing too, since the first of the city guard was entering the club. more followed swiftly, since they had come together ready for the trouble. Lucky for Grim too, Simone was not far from him.

[Simone]

Simone stood against the counter, her elbows resting behind her as she watched Grim make his way through the Sky High, ripping bags of coins from people and making his select groping of several women along the way. Her lips turned up to form a slight grin as she watched him work. Truly a Master in his art, something she did admire, even if he was an ass, but then perhaps that was part of the charm she enjoyed about him in general.

The dark Mage had perhaps overextended her power tonight and was going to push it just a bit further to help this ass of a man, why she honestly didn’t know, perhaps it was the amusement he gave her when she was bored? Perhaps it was for another reason altogether different, but either way she looked at it, she’d made him a promise and that promise she intended to keep, even if it would do her more harm than good, though after what she’d done, it would do her good as well to make a hasty retreat incase anyone recognized that she was the one who’d killed those people. At least though, his need to fill his pockets would give her a few moments to rest before she would carry him through the shadows.

She watched the door as well, listened to them coming before they arrived. “Noisy lot.” She said to no one in particular, not that there would be anyone listening in the first place, most had either been too busy fighting or trying to get away from the fray, stumbling over fallen forms and falling themselves in the process. Chaos at its finest was the best way to put it.

Grim was right there, an arms reach away and the moment the guards crashed in on the party, Simone lurched forward grabbing Grim about the waist and with a hallowed laugh, drug him into the abyss of shadows with her, leaving the Sky High behind.

The trip she had decided on taking would be a long one, and she held tight to her passenger, for letting him go would mean his death for certain. The things in the shadow as they wound their way through the darkness, a darkness so cold and so total that Grim would not have been able to see a thing, though the sounds of darkness and feel of its cold fingers trying to pull him out of her hands was nothing he’d soon forget, this much she was certain of. As to how it would affect him physically, especially as long a trip as this, was another story all together, and she’d have to wait until they got to the other side before she found that out. A few more moments and they finally stepped out into the Thieves guild into a darkened room, where she wasn’t certain, nor did she care as her knees hit the ground and her grip on him pulled him totally out and away from the lingering fingers that would have him.