Thief+Dishonored Fics

Woke the Sleeping Dog

Only the occasional creak and the murmuring of the wind outside break the quiet of the house. But that's only because nobody has seen the shadow drifting through the rooms yet. The house would be decidedly less quiet if they had.

Garrett crouches by the door, peering through the keyhole until he sees the servant walk by again. He waits for two more heartbeats before he opens the door, shuts it behind him. He moves down the hallway in the opposite direction.

"Ohh... What did I do with it?" The servant mutters. He opens and closes the door to the kitchen, retracing his steps. Again. Garrett is tempted to tell him if it wasn't in the kitchen the third time he looked, it's just not in there.

If he understands the poor boy's rambling right, he was supposed to take his mistress's ring, take it to get polished, then bring it back. Apparently he didn't put it back in the bedroom where it belonged after he got back, and now he's too anxious to sleep until he finds it. Luckily for him, Garrett is here tonight to take the troublesome little thing off his hands.

He checks every room along the way; the parlor, the laundry room, the bathroom. He doesn't find what he's looking for, but he does line his pockets along the way.

He stops in the pocket of shadow behind an open door near the stairs to take stock of the second floor.

The second floor is reminiscent of Eastwick's place. He had his suspicions when he first saw the house,  but now he's sure. It has all the trademarks of his work: grand to the point of gaudy and a bit too spacious for the people who actually live here, like the architect just couldn't help himself. He'd be willing to bet it has some secret passages hidden up here somewhere too. Eastwick was known for his love of secrets.

The nobles here, like most others, were some of the first to get the Baron's electric lights installed in their home. Little wall-mounted lamps light the second floor hallway, except for the very corners. Vases, the ones with the flower pattern every noble seems so fond of, are set on little round tables at uneven intervals throughout the hall. He can more or less see all the doors on this floor from here. And all the guards.

There are more guards up here than downstairs. In fact, there were none downstairs. It is a little out of place. Usually guards are split between the first and second floors, with a few scattered outside if the occupants can afford it. Why would they have guards outside and on the second floor, but not on the first? For the same reason that servant is being allowed to wander the house after everyone else is asleep, he realizes. The ring.

If the lady of the house noticed her ring went missing after entrusting it to that boy, she might well be suspicious. The extra guards might be there to discourage the boy from stealing again, or they might be there to catch him in the act. Either way, guards have never discouraged him. But if the lady is looking for proof then she might not have the ring either. He resigns himself to searching the second floor room by room too.

He eyes the lone guard standing outside what must be the master bedroom. The riskiest place but still worth checking. If he doesn't find it anywhere else, he'll check there. But for now it's a last resort.

He starts with the room whose door he's hiding behind: a guest room. Empty of guests, but one of the guards in the hall comes in to check the room every so often. Except, 'check' isn't quite right. Really he just stands in the doorway and scans the room before going back to the hallway. The best security money can buy. Garrett's not complaining.

It does occur to him one of the house guards might have the ring. It's not uncommon in noble houses and businesses around the City. The same ones they pay to keep them safe are the ones they really need to look out for. But it's not like they steal enough to be considered serious competition. Most of them only take the small things; a couple coins here, a piece of jewelry there. Again, you won't hear any complaints from him. A dishonest guard is less likely to report missing items. He'll just have to check their coin purses as he goes.