@ask-the-hidden-thief || continued.
Alex started at the unexpected reply to his comment-addressed to his contact on the other side of the line as he pocketed his phone, before he dropped it, which seemed very likely to happen.
The very last thing the thief had expected was to actually find another person up here, on the very high rooftop of one of the best guarded, highest buildings of the city centre. Least of all someone who perched rather precariously at the very edge of the roof, peering down to the traffic below.
“I…what?” he blinked-and chided himself a moment later, he’d definitely seen stranger things, he was sure-as the woman regarded him disinterestly for a moment before returning to her vigil. Her voice was soft, her tone gentle, but there was no mistaking the dismissal in her tone.
“Right,” he shrugged a moment later. She was clearly not building security, if she was ignoring a very obvious, very startled intruder all but staring at her, he decided. “I was jus’ talking on my phone, not really havin’ any sort of revelation,” he explained smoothly, stepping closer to the building’s edge himself to get a better look at the mysterious stranger he’d encountered. “Present company an’ encounter excepted, that is.”
She knew he was on the line as soon as she saw him putting the device away, and his words confirmed to her conclusion. Mortia lifted her chin, following the stranger’s progress closer to where she was. The wind was gentle that night. It tugged at her hood, now and then revealing parts of her face, but mostly letting it conceal her features. “Careful,” she warned, the seemingly genuine start blurred with the barely visible quirk of her lips and the next words, “it’s a long way down.”
From her cloak she drew out a pair of dark red gloves and tugged them on. Only her scythe left hidden, but it was to be the last before her moment.
“Worry not, I would not be your company for long.” Her eyes were back on the streets. Two minutes. ”Then you can get back to your business and forget all about me.”