Krys POV

Krys emerges from an alleyway, having just returned to the surface after navigating a few underground guild tunnels from a nearby info broker's office. Losing himself in the evening traffic, he relaxes and unwinds with each passing step before pulling his hood back; his fluffy orange hair and ears poof out and perk up as he takes a deep breath and sighs softly.

Stealing a glance at the map the guild master gave him earlier, he reoriented himself and started heading for the Boss' shop to hand over the information he acquired. However, as he walked, he couldn't help but wonder how lucky the Boss was in general.

Whatever vendetta the Boss had against this blind priest, the gods seemed to favor him. Not only was a set of schematics available for this specific temple, but it was also recently updated thanks to a series of renovations ordered for the temple by one of the priests. A brother of one of the info brokers also just happened to be one of the workers on the site, thus granting the brokers a means to quickly get onto the temple grounds without drawing much suspicion.

According to what he remembered on the copy of the map he got, there were even a few openings on the rooftops and within the interior of the temple grounds due to the ongoing renovations. Honestly, it seemed like it wouldn't be hard to swipe a few shiny baubles and goods from the place, though most thieves he knew didn't mess with churches for fear of incurring the wrath of some god if they took something too important or precious. However, as far as he could tell, something like that wasn't a concern for Vito.

Crossing a street and rounding a corner, he soon made his approach to Vito's new shop. The building itself didn't have any distinct markings or signage quite yet, though he did notice a small, discrete set of symbols around the top right hand of the front door's frame, which marked this shop as being protected or affiliated with one of the Under Council's guilds. With that in place, Vito won't need to deal with any unwelcome visits from his fellow guild members, hopefully at least.

Pushing the door open, Krys' ears perked as a metal-sounding chime rang out rather distinctly above him. He couldn't help but cringe at the noise just outing his position like that, but then again, it's not like he was trying to hide right now. Shutting the door behind him, Krys glanced up at the source of the sound, his ears flicking at the soft jangle of the door closing as he spotted what looked like a small iron bell hanging off a short, curved, thin piece of metal that seemed prone to wobbling at the slightest moving. "Huh... That's... Different."

Turning his attention to the rest of the room, his nose twitched at the scent of fresh wood and maybe even tree sap. Several standing shelves were set up around the room, each appearing seamless, almost as if they were molded like clay to take their shapes rather than being carved and nailed into place. There were also a few short but wide pedestals scattered about the room that looked fit for somewhat larger displays if he was looking at them right, but beyond that, there wasn't much else to look at, considering all the shelves had nothing on them at the moment.

"Hey you, where have you been?" Sera called out as she descended the stairs that rounded the shop's back corner.

"Just running an errand for the Boss." Krys explained as he reached into the space between his armor and tunic around his shoulder and pulled out the temple map before holding it out.

Sera promptly plucked the map from his hand with eager curiosity. She unfurled it and looked it over, turning the map from side to side as she studied it. A smile already formed on her lips at the prospect of some work. "What is this place? Are we doing a heist?"

Krys chuckled a little at her excitement but shook his head. "No, that's a temple the Boss plans on breaking into tonight. Supposedly, one of the Priests crossed him, so he intends to pay them back in turn."

Sera looked clearly disappointed, letting out a sighing huff before examining the map for another moment and then glancing back at Krys with a quirked brow. "Wait, is the Boss about to take somebody out?" Though she didn't appear particularly concerned or appalled, just curious.

Krys needed a moment to think about that before shaking his head in confident certainty. "Nah, it seems like the payback the Boss is looking for is more like surprising the priest in return after getting blindsided by them earlier today." He then flashed a grin as he reached behind him, digging through the hem of his hooded cloak before drawing out a smaller slip of paper and holding it to Sera again.

Sera nodded slowly, studying the map all over again before noticing that Krys had another slip of paper. Noting the look on his face, she smiled in response while handing the map back to him and taking up the slip in turn. "I knew you were holding out on me." She mused before unfolding it and looking over its contents. "Aha, a heist!" She declared excitedly, already bouncing on her toes as she happily punched at Krys' shoulder.

"It's been a while since we acted fully independently, so we had better be careful with this one." Krys urged though he couldn't help but get carried away by Sera's excitement as he grinned with her. "We have three days to complete the job, so we should get to scouting out the place soon so we know what we're walking into."

"That's a given, of course." Sera nodded agreeably as she tucked the slip of paper away in her sleeves before snapping her fingers excitedly. "And we've got a local guild member who could possibly help or at least make sure we're in the right area."

Now, that surprised Krys as his ears perked and tilted towards Sera. "Really? How'd we swing that?"

Sera waved him along as she started up the stairs. "Well, we didn't really do anything." She admitted readily. "He robbed that masked guy, Wither, and ended up getting jumped by some thugs or something and nearly got killed. Luckily, Wither stepped in when he did, took care of them, and got the Boss who handled his injuries."

Krys nodded along as they entered what looked to be a living room. It was cozily illuminated by slightly yellow crystal lights, which gave the room a warm feeling, though his attention was quickly caught by Zax, who was sleeping on a nice-looking couch and quietly snoring away. “So how do we know the local will help us?” Krys asked as he looked back over at Sera.

A topless Wither sat on a comfortably large pillow on the ground in front of the couch. His mask had a few blood stains, but otherwise, the man seemed to look mostly all right beyond the old scars that littered his body. Wither, in turn, quietly watched Fester, who sat in front of him on her own pillow, as she poked at a large-looking hole in a hide vest with a strange-looking glowing needle, the material seemingly being mended as the hole gradually disappeared. Krys got the vague impression that they seemed to be communicating with each other through their shared bond with the Boss, but he didn’t care to pry.

“Well, for a number of reasons, I’d think.” Sera mused with a confidently assured smile on her lips. “He owes the Boss his life, robbed one of his subordinates, and broke some of his things.” As Sera mentioned the broken items, he caught Wither’s shoulder sagging fairly distinctly, though the man didn’t say anything. “Besides, he’s got an initiate’s tassel. So the kid is likely a prospect still undergoing his trial period, which means he’ll only benefit by helping us on a real job.”

Krys nodded along some more before squinting as he ran through everything she said before quirking a brow. “Wait… Kid? How young is this local?”

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Sera shrugged a bit, bringing her hand up and making a vague hand-waving gesture. “Eh… Ten-ish, I’d say.”

Krys sighed a bit as he ran his fingers through his thick hair and scratched the back of his head. “I dunno how I feel about teaming up with someone so inexperienced, let alone one so young.”

Sera could only smile as she stepped closer, poking him on his leather shoulder guard while gazing intently up into his eyes. “Oh, don’t be like that. We were that young when we got started.”

Krys scoffed, though a smile creased his lips as he shook his head. “And I remember the busted lips and black eyes we would get when caught. We’re just lucky no butchers or guards had the bright idea of taking one of our fingers or hands for the mistakes we made during those early days.”

Sera stepped back as she crossed through the living room and made for a short hallway. “Exactly, we had to figure things out ourselves until we got good enough to spy on other guild members to see how they did things. Just think of it like showing him the ropes while we get some cheap labor.”

Krys nodded slowly as she made a decent point. After another moment, he just sighed and shrugged. “We don’t even know the kid’s personality yet. Let’s talk with him first to see if he’ll be a good fit.”

Sera seemed pleased regardless as she smiled and nodded in turn. “Of course, that’s why you’re the head and I’m the hands. You get to make those complicated little decisions, while all I gotta do is make sure to get us the goods.” She mused cheerfully before stepping up to a door and rapping her knuckle against it.

“Come in.” Vito called out from within. Letting themselves inside, Sera pushed the door open as Krys spotted Vito standing over a young-looking rabbitkin boy with short, blonde fur. His hand on the kid’s chest as it faintly glowed with what Krys assumed to be some kind of magic. “Nice to see you back safely, Krys; how’d it go?” Vito asked, taking a moment to look over Krys and Sera and offering them an almost gentle-looking smile before turning his gaze back down to the kid lying on the bed.

“Yeah, I got you that map you wanted. It was recently updated too.” He said as he held the map out to him. “They were able to get some current drawings due to there being some active construction for renovations in the temple; they even marked some of the current openings in the building if you want to make use of them.”

Vito used his free hand to take up the map, his eyes widening with clear interest before the map vanished into thin air. “Excellent work; I’ll be sure to put it to very good use tonight.” He enthused before turning his attention back to the kid. “Did anything else come up while you were running my errand?”

“Nothing in particular, no, Boss.” Krys said with a slight shake of his head. “Though I hope you don’t mind, I did pick up a job for my team to handle during our off time.” If they had off time, now that he thought about it.

“Oh, that’s fine with me. I’ll be sure to let you know when I explicitly need your team for something. Otherwise, you’re free to act as you need to.” He said as he offered a rather charming smile, though it seemed a thought occurred to him as he continued. “I would recommend you stay away from the dungeon. At the very least, you and Ren.” He said as he tilted his head from side to side. “It may or may not like me, and you might come under some unwanted attention. Though if you do end up doing business with it or those involved, Sera and Zax should be fine interacting with them in your place.”

That earned a curious glance from Sera, though Krys just took it in stride, not really understanding why he would need to avoid the dungeon but knowing enough that Vito wouldn’t tell him something like this for no reason. “Very well, Boss, I’ll keep that in mind.” Though at the mention of Ren, his ears perked as he looked around and listened for her, wondering where she was.

However, Vito piped up with an amused look before he could ask. “She’s out shopping with Basti and the kids. They’re getting snacks and groceries, among other things.”

At that, Krys relaxed as his ears returned to a resting position before curiously studying the rabbitkin kid lying on the bed. “So, how is he?”

Vito looked back down at the kid in silence as he finally pulled his hand away, the glow of his magic fading within a second. “He’s going to be fine now.” He said before sitting on the bed and looking between Krys and Sera. “He suffered several cracked ribs, a perforated lung, and a shattered left wrist while his right arm suffered hairline fractures in both bones in his forearm. His head was mostly fine, save for a nasty punch to the face, which would have swollen his eye shut. There were a few other minor bruises and scrapes here and there, but they looked older than his encounter with that alley trash.”

Sera whistled at the short list of career-ending injuries, and Krys couldn’t help but nod at that sentiment before looking the kid over for himself. There wasn’t a mark on him, and he seemed to breathe just fine.

“I had to take my time and treat each individual injury since he doesn’t have a manaheart. But like I said, he’s fine now… He’s just tired, though I expect he’ll feel especially hungry and thirsty when he wakes up.”

“Got it, Boss, I’ll uh… Leave you to it then.” He said, unsure what else to say in this circumstance.

Sera chuckled a bit as she tapped his arm with the back of her hand. “Come on, I’ll show you where we’ll be staying.”

Vito just offered a silent nod, returning his attention to the kid as the door shut behind Krys.

Crossing through the living room and descending the stairs again, Sera led him up to a door at the other back corner of the shop and went down those stairs. He found a relatively narrow hallway with a single door on his left and right-hand sides when Sera approached the door on the left.

Following her in, he looked around to find a simple-looking bedroom set up with two beds that looked like they could comfortably fit a person or two, along with two separate storage trunks and a dresser on each end of the room. The room itself was illuminated by the cool glow of one of the crystal lanterns used when camping on the way to the capital.

Upon seeing the two beds, he briefly wondered if the boss was just giving him a room to share with Ren. As Sera quickly made herself comfortable by flopping down on one of the beds and stretching with grunts of delight, he piped up with just a hint of confusion. “Oh? Are we sharing this room?” He asked, pointing at himself and then at her with a simple finger wave.

Sera flashed an almost feline-looking smile as she lay on her side before casually rolling over to lay on her back. “Well… I suppose the Boss intended for you to share this room with Zax… But wouldn’t you rather share with me instead?”

Krys felt his cheeks heat up at the prospect. They’ve definitely fooled around before, but the idea of sharing a room with her felt like a different sort of endeavor altogether. “Uh… I mean, yeah, sure. That sounds like it might be, uh… Interesting.” He offered, doing his best to maintain his composure and not feeling like he had succeeded in the slightest.

Sera looked pleased as she popped back up to her feet and stepped closer to Krys, reaching out and draping her arms around his shoulders before pulling him closer down to her level. “You’ve made the right choice… Now, how about we break in one of these beds, hm?”

Krys could feel his tail swishing and flicking behind him, clearly portraying his excitement at the idea. “W-well, I suppose there are two… We should check to see how each one feels.” He mused.

Sera chuckled softly before leaning in, pressing her lips against Krys’ lips with clear eagerness while Krys returned the favor by bringing his hands down to her waistline, keeping her close and savoring the sensation of her soft warmth.

Before they could do anything else, his attention was suddenly grabbed by the sound of the chiming bell above them, followed by Sera breaking the kiss and sighing softly with what sounded like vague disappointment. “Damn, sounds like they’re back already…” She said before flashing a little smile and kissing Krys’ neck almost forcefully when she pulled away. “Go on; I suppose you should check in with your sister.”

Krys couldn’t but still smile, absently giving his upper lip a lick before scratching the back of his head. “Y-yeah, I should.” With that, he started for the door but glanced back at Sera and spotted her watching his tail as he left.

As their eyes met again, she flashed a mischievous little smile when she began taking off her belt of throwing knives. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it.” He mused before stepping out of the room and making his way up to the store when he saw Ren’s tail rounding the corner of the stairs to the living room and followed her up the rest of the way.

Coming into the living room, he watched as Ren, Basmori, and Freyli worked together to organize various dried goods and foodstuffs into various cabinets or the enchanted ice box for the stuff that needed to be kept cold. All the while, Legosi found a nice spot in one of the room corners where he curled up his large body and got straight to sleep.

Ren turned to see who had opened the door and smiled upon seeing that it was Krys as she hurried up to him. “You’re back! Where have you been?” She asked more out of curiosity than concern.

Krys just smiled as he pat Ren’s head before pulling her into a half hug and stepping back. “Just running errands for the Boss, how about you? What have you been up to?”

Ren’s tail swished with excitement as she recalled what she had been up to since they left the restaurant. “Miss Basti took us shopping and bought us a bunch of clothes and other stuff. Check it out; she even bought me my own pen and a journal to do whatever I want with.” She said excitedly as she dug through her bag before showing off the items in question.

“Whoa, those look really nice; just be sure you don’t lose them.” Krys warned cheerfully as his tail swished slowly behind him at seeing Ren so happy.

“Of course not; it’s never leaving my side, and you can count on that.” She expressed with a charming amount of confidence while tucking the items away.

Before he could say anything else, he spotted Basti and Vito come out from the hallway at the other end of the room, arm in arm, as Vito flashed a bit of a smile. “Alright, you all, we’ll be heading out for the night. Don’t stay up too late.” He said rather cheerfully.

"Oh sure Boss, uh… Good luck and have fun, I suppose.” Krys offered with a smile as he stood tall to properly address him.

“I’m sure we’ll find plenty of things to occupy ourselves; we’ve got a long night ahead of us after all.” Basti mused as she flashed a toothy grin before leading Vito out of the room by the arm who in turn looked like he was both excited yet maybe even a little anxious.

With the door shutting behind them, Krys turned his focus back to Ren and smiled again. “Now then… Where were we?”