Roofrats 1

It always seemed to be summer in the Offwhite City, the only conurbation worth seeing in the whole of Instar. The roof of Aonu Distiller's liqueur shop was sunlit and gently berry-scented. It was occupied by a solitary man, dressed conservatively in the current myrtle and cerise, who was biding under a silk awning.

He was intent on one of the buildings across the street, but not so much so that a light tread didn't alert him.

Nico had come up here to get a bit of peace and quiet and fresh air, without running into anyone - there had been a handful of incidents with less than friendly individuals this morning, and it had started to get on her nerves - but then, anyone encountered on a rooftop was worth speaking to.

She didn't try to sneak up on him - not very hard, anyway - and leaned forward, extending her neck, which made her look very young and curious. She was wearing a loose, short-sleeved shirt and short trousers, both cream coloured.

"Hello? You like the view here?"

"Hi, citizen. Official business here," the man said. There may have been nuances that escaped Nico, but he sounded friendly and self-assured; as though, even more than most others Nico had met in the city, he belonged here.

The man was a mid-aged grey, nicely toned and now splitting his unblinking attention evenly between the building and Nico.

"Ah, yes, I think night is time for break-ins," Nico answered conversationally, because it ws the first thing that came to mind. It might be clear from her accent she was not exactly from here.

"Oh sure, if you're a stupid amateu--" He broke off and turned his head in Nico's direction again. "Dealing with petty crime is not one of my duties, miss. If you want to report something, find a police service. If you want to break in somewhere, find a different building."

It irked here that even up here she wasn't being left alone - the fact she had bugged him first notwithstanding, and she sat down instead.

"So, is making them?"

"I beg your pardon, miss?" The man's auto-pilot, which had been labouring hard, took a nose dive. "Hang on, what? I'm no burglar. Haven't you heard of--hst, be quiet!"

The man had been paying close attention throughout to his apparent target, but that might as well have been a lazy glance compared to his level of concentration now. An onlooker might have felt an instinctive urge to hold their breath.

An entirely ordinary couple left the building, waited for a taxi to pass, crossed the street and headed away towards a café.

After a few moments the watcher relaxed again. "All right. Sorry. What?"

Rather than holding her breath, Nico gave him a suspicious look, then watched the pair. The ostriches distracted her a bit. She liked the taxis here.

"I ask, making petty crimes, is it part of your duties," she said patiently.

"No, citi-- ma'am. I'm a monk. We're the good guys," he said, with what might have been meant to be a reassuring, encouraging smile.

"You're inquisitive for an alien. Remind me of someone."

She shrugged, smiling, obviously taking that as a compliment. "I go places for curiosity." And on the topic of curiosity, "Remind you of who?"

He patently couldn't believe he was getting into this discussion.

"Well, once when I was offworld I met this short female alien disguised as an empress fisher." The monk searched his memory, looking again at the building and back to Nico.

"She was... ohmigrace. Nice in a way but completely unserious. Never stopped asking questions and had no respect for auth...or...i... Nico?" he finished lamely.

She looked at him with narrowed eyes for a moment, then broke into a grin and said, falling back into the more familiar Interworld common, "Death! I should have recognised you, with the red, but so many people are wearing it. Ah, Weft, I mean. What are you doing up here?"

He almost came out with the "official business" line again, but stopped himself.

"Stakeout. I'm on duty. I had no idea you were in the city. Have you just arrived?"

"No, I've been here a while. It's a big city with much to see."

She wrapped her arms loosely around her knees and pointed at the house opposite. "What are you watching for?"

"No, I'm just watching. For everything." The majority of the time, Weft's eyes were still either on the building itself or analysing anyone who approached it. That happened quite often, since this was one of Offwhite's artisans' districts and it was the middle of a trading day.

"And yes, there's tons to see. Restaurants, studios, galleries, shows, all sorts of hidden gems of gardens you wouldn't know were there... I'll show you some if I get time off. Not right now, though, obviously."

"That's be great."

Nico watched Weft watching everything.

It wasn't too long before Weft began his 'more intent than a canvas seam' act again. This time his attention was among the sparse mass of people in the street.

He breathed something in his native language.

Nico followed his look, and tried to guess what had caught his attention.

"Trouble, there," he said lowly. "Hired toughs. Marigold culottes and scarf, and behind her, carrying an ear jambiya."

The two Instarrians he'd identified were approaching the building at which Weft had been gawping. They were male and female, auburn and fawne; both were slim, fluid and beautifully sleek, the very stereotype of Offwhite City dumb muscle.

Much like Weft, in fact.

Weft rose and stretched ostentatiously, apparently not worried about being unobtrusive. As if he could he have been, dressed in bright pink and green. "I've got the word to move in," he said. "Don't... get killed or anything, yeah?"

He started towards the edge of the roof. There were no stairs on this side.

Nico raised an eyebrow and smirked behind Weft's back. She'd come here for a break, not excitement, so she'd damn well not try to look for trouble.

Moving to a slightly better vantage point, wondered what Weft expected her to do.