NIEE caramel smoothie
Authors: Marina and Casey
Story: Nothing is Ever Easy universe, so Caramel it’s not even funny
Challenge: Cookies n’ Cream 25 (cover), Prune 19 (like taking candy from a baby) [Marina]; Apple Pie 25 (moving), Green Tea 7 (twilight), Watermelon 16 (you’ll never know the difference) [Casey]
Toppings/Extras: Caramel, Malt (Romance Challenge for the week of 6/18), Smoothie
Word Count: 3,934
Rating: PG
Summary: Three friends realize they have to perform a preventative heist sooner than planned.
Notes: So, in the interest of adding still more generations to Casey’s already gigantic canon… Simon is Ren’s great-grandson. This is now past superCaramel to ultraCaramel. That said, this piece stands on its own, and this is Casey’s last Green Tea! Which means that starting next week, you all can has the rest of TR :D
Ben studied the two men standing on the opposite street corner, who were lolling about and casually keeping an eye on the inn kiddy-corner from all of them. The boy squinted, trying to catch their words among the noise of the mid-afternoon flow of people in the street.
"Gotta...tonight," one of them said, the words floating to Ben's ears.
His eyes went wide and he quickly turned, skirting down the alley and the five or so blocks towards home, a smaller, more well-worn inn that his mother and her best friend had run for as long as Ben could remember.
When he burst through the door, his eyes fell almost immediately on Avalon and Emma, sitting at their usual table. "I'm home, Mom!" he yelled.
"Okay, Ben! Dinner's in an hour!" she called back.
Avalon looked up at his name. She was Ree's daughter, not his mother's, but people sometimes mistook her for a member of the family because she had blonde hair and a fair complexion, like he and Emma did. They were so close she might as well have been, regardless. "Hey, Benny," she called, waving enthusiastically.
"Hey," he said, bounding over and sliding in across from her. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure that the common room was empty before leaning forward. "We've got trouble."
Her eyes had fallen back down to the homework assignment in front of her, but they shot up again at hearing that. "What?"
"I think they're gonna hit tonight, not two nights from now."
His younger sister's eyes went wide, much as his had. "But...how?"
"What'd you hear?" asked Avalon, almost at the same time.
"I thought I'd take another look at the inn, maybe figure out a way to get inside and get a look at the vase again, but they were there, watching, which I thought was weird," Ben said, and then shrugged. "They said something about it having to be tonight."
"We'll just have to get in there first," said Avalon, matter-of-factly.
Emma frowned, fiddling with her homework. "But that means we have to go in tonight, and early, if we want to do it before them."
"Not sure we have a choice, Ems, unless we let 'em get away with it," said Ben.
"Which we can't." Avalon drew a lopsided flower on the corner of her slate. Ben winced; he hadn’t meant it as a serious suggestion. "I'd feel bad."
"Yeah, and we promised Tanner we would," Emma pointed out. Tanner, the one-armed stable hand, had once been in the business of high-profile heists himself, and had taught the three everything they knew. Though they didn’t really work for him, the three felt somewhat obligated to carry on the tradition. None of them liked disappointing him.
"So we gotta figure something out," said Avalon.
Ben glanced down at the table. "Well, they'll wait late enough to make sure everyone in the place is asleep or on the way there. We'll just have to take a chance and hope they all go to bed early."
Avalon nodded slowly. "If we finish our homework before dinner, Mama and Anne probably won't be paying attention either."
"Are we ready enough to do it?" Emma asked, kicking the table leg.
He shrugged again, attempting to play it cool. Emma was three years younger than him and Avalon, and more cautious as a rule. Sometimes, she needed a little extra reassurance. "I think so. It's only one night early...and earlier in the night."
"If Benny thinks so then we're probably okay," said Avalon firmly.
"Hope so!" Emma said, frowning thoughtfully. "Should we talk to Tanner?"
"No," Ben said firmly. "He trusts us to do it and we're gonna prove him right. Plus, what could he do? He taught us because he can't do it any more."
"Benny's right," Avalon agreed. "We can totally do it."
Emma was undaunted, rolling her eyes. "I know we can, but that doesn't mean it might not be smart to talk it over with Tanner." Avalon eyed her, then glanced at Ben.
"We'll be fine. We always have been, right?" Ben said, holding first Emma's gaze and then Avalon's. "Right, Loni?"
A cocky grin formed on her face. "Of course."
Emma glanced between them, calculatingly, then grinned. "You two realize that Simon thinks you're gonna start going out any day, right?" she said, smugly.
Ben promptly kicked her under the table.
"Rude," said Avalon, as if she didn't care, but there was a faint pinkness to her cheeks.
"Just sayin' what Simon's told me." She looked entirely too pleased with herself, despite the kick.
"Why in the name of the gods are you and Simon even talking about that stuff? Why can't you be as shy with him as you are with everyone else?" Ben grumbled.
His sister shrugged. "It's Simon." Then she sat up straight. "If we go tonight, Simon won't know!"
Avalon had been in the middle of a smirk, presumably as a precursor to teasing Emma right back, but she paused at that. "We better send him a message."
"I'll go tell Mom or Ree and ask her if we can invite Simon over after school tomorrow," Emma said, hopping down from her seat and scampering back behind the bar and into the kitchen, calling for their parents.
Ben glanced at Avalon. "We'd better finish our homework so we're prepared and the moms are off our back."
"I'm pretty much done," said Avalon, brandishing her slate. "The assignment wasn't hard, though, so you should be finished in no time."
He rolled his eyes, but got to work.
***
Ben tucked a dark cloak in the bag they had designated for their heists as he slipped next door to the room the girls shared. He knocked, and then let himself in. "Ready?" he asked, checking the balance on the bag.
Avalon glanced up from the black cloak she was folding. "Almost."
Emma nodded, slinging her bag over her shoulder and tightening it. "Ready," she said, with a quick smile. Avalon finished folding and packing the cloak, then stepped up next to Emma.
"We'll have to go out the back. I checked and Mom and Ree are still servin' and stuff," Ben said. "That's good, though, cuz it'll keep them distracted."
"Let's go," Emma said.
The three of them slipped out of the room and down the back stairs, to an alleyway that wasn't quite on the way to the other inn, but the least inconspicuous they could be in the not-quite-dusk. Ben glanced at Avalon, wondering if she was as worried as he was about this attempt. She didn't seem to be, but then, Avalon rarely seemed worried about anything. He almost never caught her showing anything but confidence. Sometimes he wished he could be the same way, but he also saw nothing wrong with letting people know when he needed help, and that was something his friend had trouble with at the best of times.
At the end of the alley, he held up a hand to stop the girls, and peeked out. "Okay," he murmured, "it's quiet. Let's go." Avalon removed her cloak from her bag and put it on, making sure the hood covered her face. Ben hesitated long enough to make sure his sister's hid her too before pulling his out and on. "Stay close," he said unnecessarily and slipped out. The two girls followed close behind him. He made his way towards their target, keeping to the shadows.
The other inn was a little larger than their mothers', a newer establishment that catered to more high-class clientele. As such, their dinner hour ended earlier to make more time for evening activities in the rear rooms. Ben supposed that the front entrance would be closed down for the night, as the owners did not make new bookings after dinner. When they rounded the next corner, he found that he was right-there were very few lights that could be seen from the front. Most of the patrons were probably retiring to their rooms or the back parlor for the night. He knew for a fact that the object in question was in a prominent location in the front room, so if they could manage it, a quick snatch and grab and then they could go hide out until Simon would be able to sneak out to meet them.
"Okay, who's standing sentry this time," Avalon said lowly.
"I am. Ben's got the bag," Emma whispered.
"Okay. Lead the way, Benny."
Ben nodded and edged towards the door, peeking in the window to make sure it was clear. His eyes fell on the piece even through the window but he forced them away to make sure no one was present. The room seemed empty so he gestured for Avalon to enter, glancing at his sister.
"Trust me," she murmured, smirking.
Avalon flashed Emma a thumbs-up and brushed past Ben into the inn. Ben followed her in, leaving the door slightly cracked as Emma perched herself outside, blending into the shadows in her cloak.
In the deserted, dusky front parlor, an heirloom vase belonging to the inn's owner sat prominently displayed on a table. Normally, it didn’t sit out quite so obviously, but Oakbridge was in the midst of a festival week, and the owner was nothing if not a bit of a show-off.
Ben slipped forward. "Got the bag?" he asked.
"You have it," she shot, in a whisper, "or so Emma said, anyway."
"Oh, crap, right," he said, quickly digging about until he pulled it out, holding it carefully open. Avalon cast a quick glance over her shoulder and then neatly took the vase by its ornate handles and slipped it into the bag. Ben grunted quietly at the weight and pulled the bag shut. "Time to fly."
Just then, Emma let out a low whistle, meaning people were coming. "Oh, great," Avalon hissed, grabbing Ben's hand and pulling him toward the back door. If Emma could see people, that meant the front was already too dangerous an exit. Ben paused for a moment, digging his feet in, instinctively worried about his sister. "She's fine, you dope, now come on." Her hand tugged more insistently at his.
"But," he said, even as he let her drag him.
She weaved their way around the back stairs toward another door. "She'll know we're not going out that way and loop around. Seriously, Ben, your sister's like a shadow knight or something, they couldn't catch her if they wanted to. Now tuck that thing under your cloak before we get caught with it."
Ben stopped for a moment, long enough to sling the bag over his shoulders and tuck the cloak around it so in the dark it was barely noticeable. He heard the front door creak open. "Where the hell is the back door?" he muttered, hurrying to catch up to Loni.
"It's down here." She hurried toward the dim light around the next corner, where a trio of doors stood, illuminated by a wall sconce that held a single lit candle. Only pausing for a moment to listen at the right-hand door, she carefully opened it, snatched his hand again, and began to hop down the back steps into the alley beyond.
Ben was paying a bit more attention, so he spotted the two goons keeping eye on the door. "Loni," he hissed, grabbing her and pulling her towards him.
She saw them, then, but it was too late-one of them had already seen her. He blinked in surprise, then grinned and nudged his partner. "Look at that. You don't see young love that much these days."
The words sunk into his brain as he stared at Avalon, feeling the weight of the vase quite heavily on his shoulder. They needed to do something and quick to cement their unintentional cover story. "Oh," she said, looking between the strangers and Ben and coloring just the right shade of red, "we're not-"
"It's all right, little miss," said the first man, very amused. "We're not going to rat on the pair of you, are we, Arnie?"
"Never. C'mon, you two, show us a little love," the second guy said, with a wide grin.
Ben put an arm around Avalon's waist, blushing as well. "We should, um, get home, honest."
"Sure, kid." The first one waved them on, not looking as if he believed that was where they were really going. "Run along to your mamas, now, and no more funny business."
Avalon glanced back at Ben as if to say 'can you believe this?' but before he could react, she turned forward again, lowering her gaze in a very pretty display of embarrassment. "Let's go," she murmured, taking his hand again.
Ben made a point of smiling, although even watching Avalon pretend to be demure threw him off. "Okay. Thanks, sirs," he said, bobbing his head and pretending to hustle her off. He made sure to keep the bulging side from the vase on the far side from them. Neither he nor Avalon looked back at the men as they trotted down the alley at a fast-but-not-frantic pace.
As soon as they were out of sight, Emma materialized beside them so quietly Ben jumped. "Gods' Breath, Ems!"
"Told you," said Avalon, flashing a quick smile at the younger girl.
Emma grinned brilliantly. "Get it?"
"Of course," Ben said, a bit affronted. "C'mon, let's get out of here and take an hour or two until Simon's ready for us."
"That sounds great." Avalon looked quickly back at the alley. "It's not going to take them long to figure out someone got there first."
He nodded and took the lead, heading quickly into the familiar back allies of Oakbridge, angling towards the castle so they would be close when Simon would be there, according to the code Emma had put into the message for him. Neither of the girls said anything as they went along.
Finally, when they were several blocks away from the scene of the crime, Ben let out a breath, relaxing slightly. They had made it to a particularly desolate stretch of street. There was very little activity, but it was close enough to the castle that they were less likely to be jumped, especially as they were in a group. "Okay, we can wait here."
"Good." Avalon slumped against a nearby wall and ran her hands over her face. "Gods, that was a close one."
"What happened?" Emma asked. "You were both scarlet when I found you."
"Nothing," Ben said, looking towards the castle to hide any possible vision of the blush freshly creeping up his cheeks.
"Nothing," Avalon agreed. "Just a close brush at the back door."
"You two are both really bad liars," said Emma. "Even you, Loni, and don't you deny it."
The older girl shot her a glare. "Em, drop it."
Ben glanced back at the two cautiously, not at all surprised to see Emma just grin in response. "Fine, fine, I will, for now. Maybe I'll see what Simon thinks."
He groaned. "Emma, you aren't supposed to get annoying until you're our age. That's what Mom and Ree say."
"Yeah but Emma's never been that far behind you in development," Avalon muttered darkly.
"Mom also says I seem to do a lot of stuff early cuz I always hang out with you two and Simon," Emma said in unconcern.
"Hey now, I'm not annoying," he complained, ignoring Emma for the moment.
"You are annoying," his friend said, without venom. He made a face at her, and then settled in to wait.
***
An hour and a half later, he stretched and stood. "C'mon, Simon should be ready for us by now and we've got a few minutes to get there." The girls silently fell into step with him.
They reached the edge of the alley by the small gate where Simon always met them. Ben looked up and scanned the top of the walls. "Okay, clear," he murmured and slipped across the open space to the wall. Emma reached past him and softly tapped on the door three times.
Avalon hung back a bit, leaning on the wall. Her posture retained its usual straightness, but she seemed a little less sure of herself than usual, looking at the ground instead of the door. Ben studied her, figuring his gaze was hidden by the darkness as they waited.
It took only about thirty seconds before the door swung open and a boy his and Avalon's age slid out to join them. "Hey, kids," he whispered cheerfully.
"Hi, Simon," said Avalon, with an air of nonchalance.
Even though he was Prince Nicholas’ son, red-haired Simon had gone to school with them for as long as they could remember. His KIN ties had, in fact, landed them their night job. He was Ben and Avalon’s closest friend, outside of each other, and Emma had taken to him immediately, which was unusual for her. "Change of plans, I see. What happened to tomorrow night?"
"They changed their plans so we had to hit it first," Ben said, pulling his cloak back and carefully pulling the bag containing the vase over his head, glad to be rid of the weight.
Avalon raised her eyebrows. "It wasn't an inconvenience for you, was it?"
"Not an inconvenience." Simon flashed a wide grin at her. "I like sneaking around the castle. Makes a nice change from the rest of the time, but still, that doesn't always make it easy."
Ben rolled his eyes. Simon was such an obnoxious flirt, but at least it wasn't with his little sister this time. Or at least, he tried to tell himself that.
She grinned back. "I knew there was a reason we were friends with you."
"Yeah, it's not because we like him or anything," Emma said.
"Definitely not," Avalon agreed.
"You two cut me to the core," Simon deadpanned.
"That was the point."
"Hey, now, I might not do the hard part, but I still play an integral part of this little operation."
"Yeah, but you couldn't do it without us, either."
"I wouldn't be good enough to. You two are the talented ones."
"You two?" Ben repeated, making a face at him.
Simon grinned, patting him on the shoulder. "Sorry, misspoke." Avalon snickered behind her hand.
"Screw you," Ben said, unable to put much malice into it. "Now are you gonna take this thing or not?"
"You know, I don't get paid enough for this."
"We don't get paid at all for this," Avalon pointed out. "We do it because we like it."
Emma snorted. "And we all know you take a lot of glee out of sneaking around behind your uncle's back."
Simon grinned. "True, that does make it worth it."
"What would your uncle do if he found out?"
"Dunno, don't really care to find out either, thanks."
"Then you better take it and get inside," Avalon said.
Simon stuck his tongue out at her. "Fine, be that way. Do I really get to come over after school tomorrow?"
"Mom and Ree'd be suspicious if you didn't," Emma said.
"Not because we want you there, or anything," Avalon added easily.
"Yeah, we don't like you at all."
Ben groaned quietly, thrusting the valuable package into Simon's hands. "Go away, you pain in the butt."
Simon chuckled. "Fine, fine, I'll see you all tomorrow at school."
"Bye, Si." Avalon waved and turned away.
"Night, friends!" he said, slinging the bag over his shoulder and favoring them all with a crisp salute before vanishing back through the door, which shut without even an audible click.
"What happens to you when Simon's around?" Ben demanded as soon as they were back in the safety of the alley, heading for home.
His friend glanced at him. "Who, me?"
"Both of you!"
"I dunno what you're talking about," Emma said.
"You two are ridiculous," he muttered.
"You’re ridiculous," said Avalon, with a roll of her eyes. "Benny, he's our friend. We talk crap about him because we're comfortable with him. That's the way it's always been."
Emma giggled. "We're all ridiculous. Simon too. I mean, c'mon, look at us. I'm ten, and I've been breakin' into buildings for two years."
Avalon grinned down at her. "Yeah, how did you talk us into letting you help, anyway?"
"I'm just special like that."
"I believe you threatened to tell Mom and Ree on us," Ben said dryly. Avalon nodded her agreement.
Emma grinned. "As I said."
The older girl shook her head and glanced at Ben, who shrugged. "You know as well as I do that Em's unstoppable. I don't argue any more."
"Damn straight," his sister said.
"Emma! Language!"
"Benny, that's all you," Avalon said, grinning.
He made a face. "She's not supposed to imitate everything."
"And this is the part where I get to be the smug only child."
"Hardly!"
"Let's try 'this is the part where the pair of you pipe down a bit,'" a familiar voice sounded behind them.
Emma started and Ben tried to hide that he did too. "Tanner!" he said in relief as the voice filtered in.
"Not cool, Tanner," Avalon grumbled.
The man, a brunette in his mid-thirties who wore his empty right sleeve pinned up to his shoulder, grinned down at the three kids. "And here I thought you all prided yourselves on stealth."
"Yeah, when we're doing a job but we're done," Emma said, bouncing over to give him a hug.
Tanner embraced her with his good arm. "Yeah, I noticed you were missing tonight. Did something happen?"
"We had to go in a day early," Avalon explained.
"They changed the rules," Emma said with a shrug. "But Simon's got it."
Tanner smiled at them and led the way down a long alley, the most direct way back to the inn. "Good. I'm glad you were able to be on top of it."
"It was a bit of a close call, but it came through," Ben said. "Mom and Ree didn't notice, did they?"
"They didn't seem to," said Tanner.
"Perfect!" Ben leaned around him to grin at the girls. "Another successful mission!"
Avalon beamed. "Yeah. You weren't worried about us, were you, Tanner?"
He smiled. "I just wanted to make sure you had it all under control. This is the first time you've had such short notice of a heist change."
Ben straightened proudly. "We got it done," he said, nodding to emphasize his point.
"Good," said Tanner. "There wasn't a doubt in my mind."
The boy beamed as they entered the alley to the back of the inn. Tanner's praise meant more than anyone's, except maybe Avalon's.
Tanner gestured them in. "Get upstairs before your mothers really do notice."
"Yes, sir." Avalon gave a playful salute and then hurried inside.
Emma bounded after her while Ben watched them go. "Tanner?" he asked, when they were gone.
"What is it, Ben?"
"D'you miss it?" he asked, glancing up at their mentor.
Tanner smiled down at him. "A little," he said, only a bit wistfully. "But I have no regrets."
Ben nodded, glanced after the girls again and couldn't resist one last question. "How soon until I can get a knife again?" he asked, trying his best hopeful look.
"Don't ask again until you're fifteen, kid." Tanner winked at him, and headed back to the stables.
Ben sighed loudly enough he was certain Tanner would hear him. "Night!" he called, as loudly as he dared, before racing after the other two.
Story: Nothing is Ever Easy universe, so Caramel it’s not even funny
Challenge: Cookies n’ Cream 25 (cover), Prune 19 (like taking candy from a baby) [Marina]; Apple Pie 25 (moving), Green Tea 7 (twilight), Watermelon 16 (you’ll never know the difference) [Casey]
Toppings/Extras: Caramel, Malt (Romance Challenge for the week of 6/18), Smoothie
Word Count: 3,934
Rating: PG
Summary: Three friends realize they have to perform a preventative heist sooner than planned.
Notes: So, in the interest of adding still more generations to Casey’s already gigantic canon… Simon is Ren’s great-grandson. This is now past superCaramel to ultraCaramel. That said, this piece stands on its own, and this is Casey’s last Green Tea! Which means that starting next week, you all can has the rest of TR :D
Ben studied the two men standing on the opposite street corner, who were lolling about and casually keeping an eye on the inn kiddy-corner from all of them. The boy squinted, trying to catch their words among the noise of the mid-afternoon flow of people in the street.
"Gotta...tonight," one of them said, the words floating to Ben's ears.
His eyes went wide and he quickly turned, skirting down the alley and the five or so blocks towards home, a smaller, more well-worn inn that his mother and her best friend had run for as long as Ben could remember.
When he burst through the door, his eyes fell almost immediately on Avalon and Emma, sitting at their usual table. "I'm home, Mom!" he yelled.
"Okay, Ben! Dinner's in an hour!" she called back.
Avalon looked up at his name. She was Ree's daughter, not his mother's, but people sometimes mistook her for a member of the family because she had blonde hair and a fair complexion, like he and Emma did. They were so close she might as well have been, regardless. "Hey, Benny," she called, waving enthusiastically.
"Hey," he said, bounding over and sliding in across from her. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure that the common room was empty before leaning forward. "We've got trouble."
Her eyes had fallen back down to the homework assignment in front of her, but they shot up again at hearing that. "What?"
"I think they're gonna hit tonight, not two nights from now."
His younger sister's eyes went wide, much as his had. "But...how?"
"What'd you hear?" asked Avalon, almost at the same time.
"I thought I'd take another look at the inn, maybe figure out a way to get inside and get a look at the vase again, but they were there, watching, which I thought was weird," Ben said, and then shrugged. "They said something about it having to be tonight."
"We'll just have to get in there first," said Avalon, matter-of-factly.
Emma frowned, fiddling with her homework. "But that means we have to go in tonight, and early, if we want to do it before them."
"Not sure we have a choice, Ems, unless we let 'em get away with it," said Ben.
"Which we can't." Avalon drew a lopsided flower on the corner of her slate. Ben winced; he hadn’t meant it as a serious suggestion. "I'd feel bad."
"Yeah, and we promised Tanner we would," Emma pointed out. Tanner, the one-armed stable hand, had once been in the business of high-profile heists himself, and had taught the three everything they knew. Though they didn’t really work for him, the three felt somewhat obligated to carry on the tradition. None of them liked disappointing him.
"So we gotta figure something out," said Avalon.
Ben glanced down at the table. "Well, they'll wait late enough to make sure everyone in the place is asleep or on the way there. We'll just have to take a chance and hope they all go to bed early."
Avalon nodded slowly. "If we finish our homework before dinner, Mama and Anne probably won't be paying attention either."
"Are we ready enough to do it?" Emma asked, kicking the table leg.
He shrugged again, attempting to play it cool. Emma was three years younger than him and Avalon, and more cautious as a rule. Sometimes, she needed a little extra reassurance. "I think so. It's only one night early...and earlier in the night."
"If Benny thinks so then we're probably okay," said Avalon firmly.
"Hope so!" Emma said, frowning thoughtfully. "Should we talk to Tanner?"
"No," Ben said firmly. "He trusts us to do it and we're gonna prove him right. Plus, what could he do? He taught us because he can't do it any more."
"Benny's right," Avalon agreed. "We can totally do it."
Emma was undaunted, rolling her eyes. "I know we can, but that doesn't mean it might not be smart to talk it over with Tanner." Avalon eyed her, then glanced at Ben.
"We'll be fine. We always have been, right?" Ben said, holding first Emma's gaze and then Avalon's. "Right, Loni?"
A cocky grin formed on her face. "Of course."
Emma glanced between them, calculatingly, then grinned. "You two realize that Simon thinks you're gonna start going out any day, right?" she said, smugly.
Ben promptly kicked her under the table.
"Rude," said Avalon, as if she didn't care, but there was a faint pinkness to her cheeks.
"Just sayin' what Simon's told me." She looked entirely too pleased with herself, despite the kick.
"Why in the name of the gods are you and Simon even talking about that stuff? Why can't you be as shy with him as you are with everyone else?" Ben grumbled.
His sister shrugged. "It's Simon." Then she sat up straight. "If we go tonight, Simon won't know!"
Avalon had been in the middle of a smirk, presumably as a precursor to teasing Emma right back, but she paused at that. "We better send him a message."
"I'll go tell Mom or Ree and ask her if we can invite Simon over after school tomorrow," Emma said, hopping down from her seat and scampering back behind the bar and into the kitchen, calling for their parents.
Ben glanced at Avalon. "We'd better finish our homework so we're prepared and the moms are off our back."
"I'm pretty much done," said Avalon, brandishing her slate. "The assignment wasn't hard, though, so you should be finished in no time."
He rolled his eyes, but got to work.
***
Ben tucked a dark cloak in the bag they had designated for their heists as he slipped next door to the room the girls shared. He knocked, and then let himself in. "Ready?" he asked, checking the balance on the bag.
Avalon glanced up from the black cloak she was folding. "Almost."
Emma nodded, slinging her bag over her shoulder and tightening it. "Ready," she said, with a quick smile. Avalon finished folding and packing the cloak, then stepped up next to Emma.
"We'll have to go out the back. I checked and Mom and Ree are still servin' and stuff," Ben said. "That's good, though, cuz it'll keep them distracted."
"Let's go," Emma said.
The three of them slipped out of the room and down the back stairs, to an alleyway that wasn't quite on the way to the other inn, but the least inconspicuous they could be in the not-quite-dusk. Ben glanced at Avalon, wondering if she was as worried as he was about this attempt. She didn't seem to be, but then, Avalon rarely seemed worried about anything. He almost never caught her showing anything but confidence. Sometimes he wished he could be the same way, but he also saw nothing wrong with letting people know when he needed help, and that was something his friend had trouble with at the best of times.
At the end of the alley, he held up a hand to stop the girls, and peeked out. "Okay," he murmured, "it's quiet. Let's go." Avalon removed her cloak from her bag and put it on, making sure the hood covered her face. Ben hesitated long enough to make sure his sister's hid her too before pulling his out and on. "Stay close," he said unnecessarily and slipped out. The two girls followed close behind him. He made his way towards their target, keeping to the shadows.
The other inn was a little larger than their mothers', a newer establishment that catered to more high-class clientele. As such, their dinner hour ended earlier to make more time for evening activities in the rear rooms. Ben supposed that the front entrance would be closed down for the night, as the owners did not make new bookings after dinner. When they rounded the next corner, he found that he was right-there were very few lights that could be seen from the front. Most of the patrons were probably retiring to their rooms or the back parlor for the night. He knew for a fact that the object in question was in a prominent location in the front room, so if they could manage it, a quick snatch and grab and then they could go hide out until Simon would be able to sneak out to meet them.
"Okay, who's standing sentry this time," Avalon said lowly.
"I am. Ben's got the bag," Emma whispered.
"Okay. Lead the way, Benny."
Ben nodded and edged towards the door, peeking in the window to make sure it was clear. His eyes fell on the piece even through the window but he forced them away to make sure no one was present. The room seemed empty so he gestured for Avalon to enter, glancing at his sister.
"Trust me," she murmured, smirking.
Avalon flashed Emma a thumbs-up and brushed past Ben into the inn. Ben followed her in, leaving the door slightly cracked as Emma perched herself outside, blending into the shadows in her cloak.
In the deserted, dusky front parlor, an heirloom vase belonging to the inn's owner sat prominently displayed on a table. Normally, it didn’t sit out quite so obviously, but Oakbridge was in the midst of a festival week, and the owner was nothing if not a bit of a show-off.
Ben slipped forward. "Got the bag?" he asked.
"You have it," she shot, in a whisper, "or so Emma said, anyway."
"Oh, crap, right," he said, quickly digging about until he pulled it out, holding it carefully open. Avalon cast a quick glance over her shoulder and then neatly took the vase by its ornate handles and slipped it into the bag. Ben grunted quietly at the weight and pulled the bag shut. "Time to fly."
Just then, Emma let out a low whistle, meaning people were coming. "Oh, great," Avalon hissed, grabbing Ben's hand and pulling him toward the back door. If Emma could see people, that meant the front was already too dangerous an exit. Ben paused for a moment, digging his feet in, instinctively worried about his sister. "She's fine, you dope, now come on." Her hand tugged more insistently at his.
"But," he said, even as he let her drag him.
She weaved their way around the back stairs toward another door. "She'll know we're not going out that way and loop around. Seriously, Ben, your sister's like a shadow knight or something, they couldn't catch her if they wanted to. Now tuck that thing under your cloak before we get caught with it."
Ben stopped for a moment, long enough to sling the bag over his shoulders and tuck the cloak around it so in the dark it was barely noticeable. He heard the front door creak open. "Where the hell is the back door?" he muttered, hurrying to catch up to Loni.
"It's down here." She hurried toward the dim light around the next corner, where a trio of doors stood, illuminated by a wall sconce that held a single lit candle. Only pausing for a moment to listen at the right-hand door, she carefully opened it, snatched his hand again, and began to hop down the back steps into the alley beyond.
Ben was paying a bit more attention, so he spotted the two goons keeping eye on the door. "Loni," he hissed, grabbing her and pulling her towards him.
She saw them, then, but it was too late-one of them had already seen her. He blinked in surprise, then grinned and nudged his partner. "Look at that. You don't see young love that much these days."
The words sunk into his brain as he stared at Avalon, feeling the weight of the vase quite heavily on his shoulder. They needed to do something and quick to cement their unintentional cover story. "Oh," she said, looking between the strangers and Ben and coloring just the right shade of red, "we're not-"
"It's all right, little miss," said the first man, very amused. "We're not going to rat on the pair of you, are we, Arnie?"
"Never. C'mon, you two, show us a little love," the second guy said, with a wide grin.
Ben put an arm around Avalon's waist, blushing as well. "We should, um, get home, honest."
"Sure, kid." The first one waved them on, not looking as if he believed that was where they were really going. "Run along to your mamas, now, and no more funny business."
Avalon glanced back at Ben as if to say 'can you believe this?' but before he could react, she turned forward again, lowering her gaze in a very pretty display of embarrassment. "Let's go," she murmured, taking his hand again.
Ben made a point of smiling, although even watching Avalon pretend to be demure threw him off. "Okay. Thanks, sirs," he said, bobbing his head and pretending to hustle her off. He made sure to keep the bulging side from the vase on the far side from them. Neither he nor Avalon looked back at the men as they trotted down the alley at a fast-but-not-frantic pace.
As soon as they were out of sight, Emma materialized beside them so quietly Ben jumped. "Gods' Breath, Ems!"
"Told you," said Avalon, flashing a quick smile at the younger girl.
Emma grinned brilliantly. "Get it?"
"Of course," Ben said, a bit affronted. "C'mon, let's get out of here and take an hour or two until Simon's ready for us."
"That sounds great." Avalon looked quickly back at the alley. "It's not going to take them long to figure out someone got there first."
He nodded and took the lead, heading quickly into the familiar back allies of Oakbridge, angling towards the castle so they would be close when Simon would be there, according to the code Emma had put into the message for him. Neither of the girls said anything as they went along.
Finally, when they were several blocks away from the scene of the crime, Ben let out a breath, relaxing slightly. They had made it to a particularly desolate stretch of street. There was very little activity, but it was close enough to the castle that they were less likely to be jumped, especially as they were in a group. "Okay, we can wait here."
"Good." Avalon slumped against a nearby wall and ran her hands over her face. "Gods, that was a close one."
"What happened?" Emma asked. "You were both scarlet when I found you."
"Nothing," Ben said, looking towards the castle to hide any possible vision of the blush freshly creeping up his cheeks.
"Nothing," Avalon agreed. "Just a close brush at the back door."
"You two are both really bad liars," said Emma. "Even you, Loni, and don't you deny it."
The older girl shot her a glare. "Em, drop it."
Ben glanced back at the two cautiously, not at all surprised to see Emma just grin in response. "Fine, fine, I will, for now. Maybe I'll see what Simon thinks."
He groaned. "Emma, you aren't supposed to get annoying until you're our age. That's what Mom and Ree say."
"Yeah but Emma's never been that far behind you in development," Avalon muttered darkly.
"Mom also says I seem to do a lot of stuff early cuz I always hang out with you two and Simon," Emma said in unconcern.
"Hey now, I'm not annoying," he complained, ignoring Emma for the moment.
"You are annoying," his friend said, without venom. He made a face at her, and then settled in to wait.
***
An hour and a half later, he stretched and stood. "C'mon, Simon should be ready for us by now and we've got a few minutes to get there." The girls silently fell into step with him.
They reached the edge of the alley by the small gate where Simon always met them. Ben looked up and scanned the top of the walls. "Okay, clear," he murmured and slipped across the open space to the wall. Emma reached past him and softly tapped on the door three times.
Avalon hung back a bit, leaning on the wall. Her posture retained its usual straightness, but she seemed a little less sure of herself than usual, looking at the ground instead of the door. Ben studied her, figuring his gaze was hidden by the darkness as they waited.
It took only about thirty seconds before the door swung open and a boy his and Avalon's age slid out to join them. "Hey, kids," he whispered cheerfully.
"Hi, Simon," said Avalon, with an air of nonchalance.
Even though he was Prince Nicholas’ son, red-haired Simon had gone to school with them for as long as they could remember. His KIN ties had, in fact, landed them their night job. He was Ben and Avalon’s closest friend, outside of each other, and Emma had taken to him immediately, which was unusual for her. "Change of plans, I see. What happened to tomorrow night?"
"They changed their plans so we had to hit it first," Ben said, pulling his cloak back and carefully pulling the bag containing the vase over his head, glad to be rid of the weight.
Avalon raised her eyebrows. "It wasn't an inconvenience for you, was it?"
"Not an inconvenience." Simon flashed a wide grin at her. "I like sneaking around the castle. Makes a nice change from the rest of the time, but still, that doesn't always make it easy."
Ben rolled his eyes. Simon was such an obnoxious flirt, but at least it wasn't with his little sister this time. Or at least, he tried to tell himself that.
She grinned back. "I knew there was a reason we were friends with you."
"Yeah, it's not because we like him or anything," Emma said.
"Definitely not," Avalon agreed.
"You two cut me to the core," Simon deadpanned.
"That was the point."
"Hey, now, I might not do the hard part, but I still play an integral part of this little operation."
"Yeah, but you couldn't do it without us, either."
"I wouldn't be good enough to. You two are the talented ones."
"You two?" Ben repeated, making a face at him.
Simon grinned, patting him on the shoulder. "Sorry, misspoke." Avalon snickered behind her hand.
"Screw you," Ben said, unable to put much malice into it. "Now are you gonna take this thing or not?"
"You know, I don't get paid enough for this."
"We don't get paid at all for this," Avalon pointed out. "We do it because we like it."
Emma snorted. "And we all know you take a lot of glee out of sneaking around behind your uncle's back."
Simon grinned. "True, that does make it worth it."
"What would your uncle do if he found out?"
"Dunno, don't really care to find out either, thanks."
"Then you better take it and get inside," Avalon said.
Simon stuck his tongue out at her. "Fine, be that way. Do I really get to come over after school tomorrow?"
"Mom and Ree'd be suspicious if you didn't," Emma said.
"Not because we want you there, or anything," Avalon added easily.
"Yeah, we don't like you at all."
Ben groaned quietly, thrusting the valuable package into Simon's hands. "Go away, you pain in the butt."
Simon chuckled. "Fine, fine, I'll see you all tomorrow at school."
"Bye, Si." Avalon waved and turned away.
"Night, friends!" he said, slinging the bag over his shoulder and favoring them all with a crisp salute before vanishing back through the door, which shut without even an audible click.
"What happens to you when Simon's around?" Ben demanded as soon as they were back in the safety of the alley, heading for home.
His friend glanced at him. "Who, me?"
"Both of you!"
"I dunno what you're talking about," Emma said.
"You two are ridiculous," he muttered.
"You’re ridiculous," said Avalon, with a roll of her eyes. "Benny, he's our friend. We talk crap about him because we're comfortable with him. That's the way it's always been."
Emma giggled. "We're all ridiculous. Simon too. I mean, c'mon, look at us. I'm ten, and I've been breakin' into buildings for two years."
Avalon grinned down at her. "Yeah, how did you talk us into letting you help, anyway?"
"I'm just special like that."
"I believe you threatened to tell Mom and Ree on us," Ben said dryly. Avalon nodded her agreement.
Emma grinned. "As I said."
The older girl shook her head and glanced at Ben, who shrugged. "You know as well as I do that Em's unstoppable. I don't argue any more."
"Damn straight," his sister said.
"Emma! Language!"
"Benny, that's all you," Avalon said, grinning.
He made a face. "She's not supposed to imitate everything."
"And this is the part where I get to be the smug only child."
"Hardly!"
"Let's try 'this is the part where the pair of you pipe down a bit,'" a familiar voice sounded behind them.
Emma started and Ben tried to hide that he did too. "Tanner!" he said in relief as the voice filtered in.
"Not cool, Tanner," Avalon grumbled.
The man, a brunette in his mid-thirties who wore his empty right sleeve pinned up to his shoulder, grinned down at the three kids. "And here I thought you all prided yourselves on stealth."
"Yeah, when we're doing a job but we're done," Emma said, bouncing over to give him a hug.
Tanner embraced her with his good arm. "Yeah, I noticed you were missing tonight. Did something happen?"
"We had to go in a day early," Avalon explained.
"They changed the rules," Emma said with a shrug. "But Simon's got it."
Tanner smiled at them and led the way down a long alley, the most direct way back to the inn. "Good. I'm glad you were able to be on top of it."
"It was a bit of a close call, but it came through," Ben said. "Mom and Ree didn't notice, did they?"
"They didn't seem to," said Tanner.
"Perfect!" Ben leaned around him to grin at the girls. "Another successful mission!"
Avalon beamed. "Yeah. You weren't worried about us, were you, Tanner?"
He smiled. "I just wanted to make sure you had it all under control. This is the first time you've had such short notice of a heist change."
Ben straightened proudly. "We got it done," he said, nodding to emphasize his point.
"Good," said Tanner. "There wasn't a doubt in my mind."
The boy beamed as they entered the alley to the back of the inn. Tanner's praise meant more than anyone's, except maybe Avalon's.
Tanner gestured them in. "Get upstairs before your mothers really do notice."
"Yes, sir." Avalon gave a playful salute and then hurried inside.
Emma bounded after her while Ben watched them go. "Tanner?" he asked, when they were gone.
"What is it, Ben?"
"D'you miss it?" he asked, glancing up at their mentor.
Tanner smiled down at him. "A little," he said, only a bit wistfully. "But I have no regrets."
Ben nodded, glanced after the girls again and couldn't resist one last question. "How soon until I can get a knife again?" he asked, trying his best hopeful look.
"Don't ask again until you're fifteen, kid." Tanner winked at him, and headed back to the stables.
Ben sighed loudly enough he was certain Tanner would hear him. "Night!" he called, as loudly as he dared, before racing after the other two.