Meeting a New Partner? ((Scotland))

[Lovino Vargas]

Swearing a bit to himself, Lovino continued to weave through the throngs of unfit businessmen in tacky, ill-fitting suits. Feeling a slight but fleeting rush of pride, he straightened out his perfectly-tailored slate-gray three-piece suit with its navy waistcoat, glad to be looking extra-professional. He had a meeting with a man hoping for some old blueprints for a printing press that had been recovered from an old city's remains out in the Wasteland. The blueprints had been stolen from the Government for this sale, and Lovino had to hurry if he wanted to make it on time. If he didn't get these schematics sold now, he was screwed. This business-man was a fickle man and if his orders weren't met then the Italian had shit to worry about. He shouldered his way through the crowds as best he could, and it was obvious that the young brunette was more than slightly on edge, the way he clutched at his sleek briefcase turned his shaking knuckles white stood out even amidst the other stressed and nervous businesspeople. He needed to get to the meeting place, or even just out of the crowds soon or Lovino was going to snap and start screaming at people, which wouldn't help with keeping him incognito. He was distracted and irritable and just wanted this done.

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Harsh jade eyes scanned over each body studying their movements and uncovering their hidden life with just a glance. When his artwork stopped selling Hamish moved to his real passion, robbing every human blind. Businessmen were easy targets that often didn’t carry anything worth the trouble of stealing making them nothing more than bait for amateurs. Just as he was about to move to his next location a brunette rushed through the crowd. His mannerisms told Hamish there was something to earn. Moving with ease the ginger seemed to only need to glare to get through the crowd. Positioning himself behind the brunette Hamish waited until the Italian was shoving someone to slip his hand into the male’s pocket to retrieve the wallet. Opening the wallet Hamish smirked, feeling a little cocky, and leaned forward just enough so his lips almost brushed the shell of Lovino’s ear. “Thanks fur the money,” he whispered letting his hot breath brush against the tanned skin. Stepping back Hamish slowly moved away to watch the man continue in his rush to his destination.

[Lovino Vargas]

The minute Lovino felt hot air brush against his ear he jolted, nerves shrieking at him and going into overdrive. He had nearly leapt out of his skin at the sudden presence and he cursed himself for getting so distracted as he whirled around, accidentally hitting a few people with his briefcase but ignoring their outraged responses as he spotted a head of vibrant red hair beginning to vanish into the crowd. A slim hand reached for his pockets and felt no wallet like usual and his normally slightly frowning face twisted up in an expression of rage. "Oi, get the fuck back here and give me my fucking wallet back, you son of a bitch!!" He snarled, completely forgetting about his meeting in order to hunt the pale redhead down and tear his full, untouched wallet from his twitching fingers. Nostrils flaring and taking in the odd scent of oil paint and tobacco, Lovino immediately started racing towards the wannabe-pickpocket. "As if I'm letting some amateur steal my fucking wallet, get back here!!" There was no way the Italian was going to let his reputation be ruined by some idiot with sticky fingers. The man was going to pay for that.

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Unlike most, who went into shock at the sound of Hamish’s voice, Lovino seemed to react immediately. In back of his head Hamish screamed at himself for allowing his actions to become so cocky and amateurish. The ginger had found himself picking pockets since his childhood, where he developed his love of stealing. With the loud shout he knew it was time to escape to his art studio before the Italian caught up to him. Jade eyes narrowed while the Scottish man began to desperately look for an escape route. Knowing he couldn’t stay still with the angry man advancing toward him Hamish began to step through the crowd. Each step was precise and made the pale Scotsman appear to be dancing through the crowd. Once he felt the distance was increased enough to stop the Italian from spotting him, Hamish moved to the side hiding his body behind a pillar. “Amateur? I’m far from that,” he whispered while trying to catch his breath. If he still hadn’t escaped the small male Hamish wasn’t sure if he should try to fight or yet again flee in hopes of finding an escape that would lose the other.

[Lovino Vargas]

With that weird scent still swirling in his nasal cavities and swaying through the air, Lovino knew he could keep track of the man as far as he ran with no problems. Anger helped his mind focus only on the redheaded pickpocket he was targeting and the Italian be damned if he didn't catch the bastard soon. As he ran through the crowd he fumbled for his sunglasses, to help muffle his sight and increase his scent of smell without drawing more on his power than necessary. The crowd had heard his shouts and were letting him through, actually helping him find the thief and Lovino couldn't help the slight rush if irony-induced amusement at that. That red head of hair was no longer visible but the scent was still strong, wafting from somewhere nearby. "You fucking bastard better not think you can run! I can follow you wherever you choose to fucking go!" He snarled, gently pulling on the reigns of his power just enough so that he could see clearly for a hiding place. A tall building with column was in front of him and he knew that the pale redhead-head had to be near here. Judging from the scent-trail, he was behind the... Lovino's hand darted out and wrapped around a slim wrist, tight enough to bruise, as he smirked dangerously up at the man. "Found you~ Now give me back my fucking wallet, I have a meeting with a man about blueprints that you are making me late for!"

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Looking at the crowd Hamish could feel his rage beginning to build seeing that instead of letting him pass the crowd seemed to part like the red sea for the Italian to advance toward him at a speed that would soon allow him to catch up to the ginger. By the time he hide himself behind the column he was out of breath. Placing a hand on his chest Hamish tried to calm himself but felt his rage building once again. Not knowing the powers the Italian he robbed possessed made this a risky job. In most cases Hamish could pick any pocket and escape but this man seemed able to follow after his every move. The shouts were beginning to become closer making the Scot start looking for another escape route. Never would he allow himself to be caught stealing something as small as a wallet. Realizing he couldn’t run his eyes began to look for the right shadow path to use. Just as his eyes found a shadow on top of a building his wrist was caught in a tight, bruising grip. “Let gang o' me! Looks lik' ye'r gaun tae be missing yer meetin.” Still not willing to return the wallet he worked to take Hamish made a small circle out of shadows then threw the wallet on top on it. Smirking the ginger made the wallet levitate out of their reach. “Oops.”

[Lovino Vargas]

When Lovino spotted his wallet he dropped the ginger's wrist to try swiping the expensive leather from his other hand. Unfortunately the reaching hand missed as the wallet landed on a circle of shadows and soon crawled out of his reach. Once that happened he snarled, glaring neon-green eyes peeking over lopsided polarized sunglasses. "Goddammit, I don't have time for this!" He growled, using his anger to hide the nervous sweat he could feel chilling his skin. If he didn't make this meeting he could kiss his freedom goodbye, that was something the dark-complected Italian knew for a fact. When fear and anger come together desperation is born and brings about some stupid ideas. Which is exactly what happened to Lovino as he took a swing at the pale man's head with his briefcase. "Give me my wallet back before I fucking kill you, you son of a bitch!!"

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Watching the changes on the Italian’s face as the wallet moved out of their reach only made Hamish’s lips twitch into a smirk. The neon-green eyes that peered into him seemed to draw the ginger’s interest. With a flick of Hamish’s thin index finger a shadow line shot out toward the Italian stopping centimeters from hitting him. Moving his finger once again the line touched the sunglasses and with slow movement pushed them back into their proper place. Dropping his hand the shadow disappeared as if it were never there. The sudden look of desperation left Hamish feeling confused. Jumping backwards Hamish barely dodged the briefcase that was now being used as a weapon to hit him in the head. Reaching forward he tried to take hold of the briefcase only to instead take hold of the clasps and pull them open causing the contents to fall free. In shock the concentration he had on the floating wallet was broken. The shadow disappeared allowing the wallet to fall free to the ground. “Blueprints? Sae ye'r a thief tae!”

[Lovino Vargas]

The sudden movement of a black thread-like shadow had nearly stopped Lovino's heart then and there. If it hit the right place he was as good as dead, that the chestnut-haired Italian knew for a fact. He tried to pull away, eyes growing wide because he was halfway through his swing at the pale man's head and couldn't stop, but when all that happened was his sunglasses were shifted back into place his mind momentarily ground to a halt. That period of thoughtlessness is what the Italian blamed the next several moments on.
The swing went wide of the man's head, barely missing a freckled nose, and Lovino's heart stopped as pale hands reached out, grabbed the briefcase, and tried ripping it from his hands. Instead there was a momentary tug-of-war before the clasps broke and the contents were sent flying through the air. Old and faded blue pieces of paper scattered in the breeze and if Lovino was scared before he was terrified now. The sleek leather case slid to the ground from nerveless fingers as he began to shake. Tearing his gaze away from the surprised redhead the dark-complected man dropped to his knees, hurriedly trying to gather the blueprints together. "Of course I am, you idiot!!" He hissed, glasses once again slipping down his nose. "I said I wasn't letting an amateur steal my wallet and I fucking meant it! Now keep your fucking voice down, you never know what damn Government officials might be around and I can't get caught with these!!" Fear and rage colored his words as his actions began drawing a slight crowd and if some nosy businessman caught sight of the stolen goods in his hands Lovino was just asking for a lifetime in prison or whatever else the Government did with criminals.

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Confusion came over Hamish when he watched the reaction the other had when his shadow thread only moved to fix the Italian’s sunglasses. If he were going to kill someone using a thread of shadows Hamish would make sure to kill without alerting his victim. In his eyes it was humane to kill someone without allowing them to feel fear and giving them a quick, almost instant, death. Hamish took note of how he could see the others mind begin to go blank for a mere moment. Feeling the breeze against his face, as the briefcase missed his nose by a hair, he wiggled his nose a little. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to catch some of the papers that he had caused to get loose Hamish snarled allowing his anger to build before wrapping some of the blue papers in a shadow. Lowering the shadow bag he placed it above the Italian’s hands before making it disappear allowing each paper fall into the tan hands. “Howfur wis ah suppose tae ken ye wur a fellow thief?!” Once again Hamish formed another shadow that grabbed any of the loose papers and the wallet that he had stole and this time released it so they fell into his own pale hands. Taking hold of the Italian’s arm Hamish pulled him into the shadows, away from the forming crowd. He knew someone would spot them soon meaning it was time for an escape. Once again feeling his anger take over he began pulled the man so they were running through the shadow created by the wall before both vanished and reapeared a few feet from their first encounter. The distance was more than what Hamish was used to traveling and adding another person added to the strain. His skin become more pale and he looked as if he might pass out. After a minute his body regained its usual color and he looked down at the Italian. "Hamish Gray nice tae mak yer acquaintance."

[Lovino Vargas]

As the papers scattered, Lovino's normally dark skin had paled to almost rival the redhead's because it looked like some of the others in the crowd were reaching for the odd papers with curious looks on their otherwise brainless faces. But then more black threads were wrapping around every stray paper and dropping them either into his hands or into the older man's, which was barely comforting given the other's sticky fingers. The Italian had just managed to gather what was nearby, leaving nothing behind, when he was being dragged up by his arm and towards a dark archway he hadn't noticed before. "It should've been fucking obvious after I said 'won't be stolen from by an amateur! Now stop fuckin' saying that out loud, you're going to get us both arrested!" He hissed as he was carted along, taking one last glance back. The last thing he saw before utter blackness were a few scared looking businessmen and women, and a few on their phones.

When, rather than coming out inside the building or even in an alley or something, the two ended up reappearing in the street further up from where they had first met each other, Lovino realized that the redhead had used his mysterious power to get them out of direct attention. But the wannabe thief was paler than he had been minutes before. Deciding that, despite this situation, he was going to honor the other's attempt to help him by not ratting him out now. Besides, fellow thieves had to stick together. "Ciao, Hamish Gray. I'm Lovino Vargas. Now, I'd love t'stay and chat, but we have a meeting to get rid of my cargo before the fucking Government shows up. C'mon, people are starting to look this way." Scooping the papers together and back into the small folder they were originally tucked in, the dark-complected man directed the newly-introduced Hamish Gray to follow him.

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What the Italian said was right but Hamish growled hearing the other refer to him as an amateur once again. No matter how the tan male thought of him he was far amateur and if he wanted he could have stolen the blueprints, leaving the other to be arrested. “We aren’t gaun tae be liftit by ony o' th' morons that hear us! Stop acting sae paranoid or you’re gaun tae be th' yin wha causes us tae be liftit.” The last thing he needed that day was for some of the scared on lookers to report the two and have Government officials after them.

Once he was able to catch his breath and calm himself Hamish thought about pointing out to the man he rescued that with that power he wasn’t going to be caught and could have escaped with the wallet if he wanted. There was no use of bringing up that he would have been able to get away unless he wanted to upset the Italian. Now that they seemed to be on good terms Hamish didn’t need to piss anyone off that might turn him into the police. Being able to follow Lovino and see where he did his business made Hamish almost excited. “Och howfur romantic! Ah steal yer wallet 'n' then ye invite me tae dae business wi' ye.” Smirking a little Hamish followed after Lovino.

[Lovino Vargas]

"We're more damn likely to get arrested by being called in by people who overhear you shoutin' about illegal shit than we are by people who see me being a little paranoid. Everyone here is a little paranoid now," Lovino reasoned quietly, reaching up to fix his sunglasses as rich but dark green eyes took in the stiff way people were moving as they slowly dispersed back into a moving mass of people, helping further hide the short brunette and tall redhead from any potential pursuers. Like many people in the crowd the Italian's grip on his folder was white-knuckled. But then the older man's words brought a slight smirk to his face as he reached over and plucked his wallet out of the other's hand but left the papers, for the moment. "Well, dependin' on the type of business you're talkin' about you might end up stealin' what's in my wallet anyway." Slipping his wallet back into his front pocket, Lovino simply payed attention to where he was going, trying to spot the relatively large shipping company building the brunette was meant to be meeting his client at. "Maybe our meeting was fated to happen, si?"

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Green eyes rolled over the fuss Lovino was making over things when no one seemed to be paying them any mind now. “Fowk juist think I’m mad 'n' a' blether sae I’m nae gaun tae worry aboot thaim believing anythin' ah say. I’m nae paranoid ower anythin'. Thare is na reason tae be paranoid sae calm doon.” While the Italian seemed to talk in a harsh whisper Hamish spoke at a normal volume where anyone could hear him if they managed to understand the accent. His quick words sometimes began to blur together so unless you were paying attention there was a chance you might miss a single word and become lost. Hamish’s hand twitched as if he were going to try to take the wallet again but he stopped himself before the fight could begin. “Ah wis gaun tae return yer wallet bit it's crakin' tae see howfur wee ye trust me.” While they moved through the crowd Hamish studied everyone that passed by still not able to stop himself from looking for his next target. “Aye, we wur fated tae meet as Romeo 'n' Juliet wur fated tae die.”

[Lovino Vargas]

Rolling his eyes, Lovino continued leading the redhead forward, after a moment slipping into a rather busy-looking news agency. "Being paranoid is a good life skill, so shut up and stop being so condescending. It's kept me out of trouble so far and it's gonna keep me out of trouble later." With that said, he nodded over to the receptionist, who gestured for Hamish and him over to a set of nondescript sliding doors leading to a private elevator. Confidently walking forward, Lovino continued without once trying to glance back and make sure the taller man was following. "And if I had tried stealing your wallet, would you trust me?" Upon reaching the elevator, he pressed the button to call it down, finally aiming an amused look at Hamish. "Trying to liken this shit to Shakespeare? Pretty sorry attempt, considering they weren't fated to die, they were just too stupid to figure out how to live. Now look," with that, the brunette's expression turned serious as he stared up at the other behind his sunglasses. "This is an important meeting, and I know I can't get you to give those back t'me without causing a scene so just pretend t'be my partner or something and don't say fucking shit, va bene? I'll even give ya a small cut, but once this is done with go rob someone else and leave me alone."