Thief and the Hero

Chapter Eleven

"Lifty, come on!"

Lifty flinched as he hid his things in the hole he made in the wall, taking care not to crush his figurine with the PlayStation. It had been a few weeks now since his night with Splendont. Almost every night, when Shifty wasn't home or dead asleep from drinking, he played on his PlayStation and sent texts to Splendont throughout the night. The hero always responded to him immediately. It was nice and he couldn't help himself when it came to Splendont.

It's nice to have a friend.

Lifty pocketed his phone and ran out of the room where his brother was waiting for him, annoyance on his face. He gave him a nervous smile and Shifty led his brother out to where his gang was waiting on them. He fiddled with his hands as they talked amongst themselves, ignoring him.

"So, what's today then?" Dreamy asked, his arm going around Shifty.

"The history museum. Sniffles and Lumpy went on a trip and got some fancy jewels from Egypt. Prim looked into it, they're worth over hundreds of thousands of dollars if we can get them on the market first."

"Right, shit, that is." Truffles said, in his hands a half-eating burrito. "I bet it's cursed like the last thing Sniffles brought in, stupid cunt."

"Well if it's anything like the last one, we just have to get rid of it quick before the curse takes effect." Shifty said, elbowing Dreamy off of him.

"Nah, it's just jewelry. It'll be fine." Prim said, looking into a handheld mirror.

Lifty watched, his interest in them a few weeks ago were nonexistent now. He had wanted to be friends with them like Shifty was, but since he had Splendont now, who took an interest in him and his hobbies, he began to see what they were really like. He particularly disliked Dreamy, who always wanted to put his hands on his brother. He didn't know why, but it made him uncomfortable. Shifty never seemed to notice.

"Lifty, come here."

He blinked and looked up when Shifty waved him over. Curious, he picked up his pace to walk beside his brother and suddenly an arm went around his shoulders. He was confused now, Shifty hated walking beside him. They hadn't walked together like this since he was twelve. He didn't think too hard about it when Shifty smiled at him and he smiled back. His brother was definitely in a good mood today. They made their way to a car, where they all piled in to ride into town today instead of walk.

"We need a getaway car once we swipe everything," Shifty said when Lifty looked confused.

"O-oh. Okay." He nodded, smiling when he got to sit by the window.

He watched as Shifty took the seat right beside him. Shifty was being rather... affectionate towards him today. He kept his mouth shut though, not wanting to ruin his mood. He wondered what exactly Shifty was planning since he wasn't allowed in on the heist details, considering he seemed to ruin most of them when he got ahead of himself in an attempt to impress his brother. The ride was just as pleasant. Unconsciously, he grabbed the phone in his pocket, almost bringing it out to see if Splendont had texted him back yet. Shifty was supposed to go out tonight with the others if the heist worked or not tonight and he wanted to see the hero. Splendont had a surprise for him.

I wonder what it is.

He leaned against Shifty, lost in thought, not noticing the others getting ready or what Shifty was attaching to his waist. Briefly, he felt his cheek and lips tingle and a blush formed on his face.