Seven Levels Below

IX

It really does take Mitch a while for it to sink in that this scruffy goofball lounging around the evenings on his couch is actually a highly trained soldier and politician. Of course, he knew this rationally when he found out who Scott was, but he didn't really start to process it until one day when they were strolling through the market together looking for some random materials for Mitch's creations.

He hadn't come back to the market to steal people's valuables since the day he met Scott, feeling too guilty since being caught. It wasn't a common enough activity at this point for him to miss it or rely on it, so after the scare of pickpocketing the prince, he had felt it best to just stop. Also, he was doing a bit better financially with Scott providing snacks and gourmet dinners from the palace all the time. The man really knows the way to a girl's heart.

Despite his lack of practice in the last few weeks, Mitch had still spent enough time dabbling in the past years to still be fairly familiar with the art of sneaky theft and how to avoid it happening to him.

Scott did not.

One casual bump into a teenage boy and Mitch just barely saw the thin fingers sliding along Scott's wrist as he laughed about some stupid joke Mitch had made. The glint of the gold reflecting the harsh neon lights of the signs along the market stalls twinkled for just a moment and it was gone.

A hand thrown up and a "wait here a minute" were all the warnings that Scott got before Mitch slid off into the crowd after the little thief, leaving Scott confused and spinning around to try to find where Mitch had gone.

The kid had managed to get a head start, but he was slightly taller than Mitch and therefore, easy enough to follow through the crowd. What Mitch didn't expect though, was the fist in his sweater, (Be careful! He just finished this last week, dude!), and the slamming of his body against a brick wall as he was swung around a corner into an alley, pinned against the rough concrete by an arm.

Again with the stupid alleyways.

"Look kid," Mitch tried to start, but a harsh slap across his face made him snap his mouth shut as his cheek stung and his eyes began to water.

"This is my shit, I won it fair and square," the kid hissed, waving a finger in his face. He was leaning heavily on Mitch now, trapping him against the bricks and forcing the air out of his chest in a rough wheeze. "Leave me alone, dickhead. I got it, so it's mine now."

"Oh, very creative language."

The heavy arm was pulled off of Mitch's chest, allowing him to gasp for the air he had lost so quickly, and he stumbled forward at the sudden balance change. There was a screech as the kid's legs went out from under him and he flopped rather ungracefully onto the ground. A booted foot placed itself between the boy's shoulder blades, effectively holding him down as he moaned at the impact.

"Sorry. You told me to stay but I didn't listen," Scott shrugged apologetically over him.

Mitch gaped at him for a solid four seconds, but snapped himself out of it and kneeled down over the kid. Rifling through his pockets was a little difficult considering he was laying face down in the dark, but Mitch found what he was looking for fairly easily after the whole ordeal.

"Do yourself a favor and don't let this become a habit," Mitch patted the whining kid on the shoulder and stood up, brushing himself off and striding back towards the open market. Footsteps followed behind him almost immediately, but he waited until they had walked through the other end of the market and were well on their way back to Mitch's apartment before he slid the watch out of his pocket and offered it back to Scott.

"Sorry for all that, but I saw him snatch it and figured you might want it back... again."

Scott stopped in the middle of the dim sidewalk and stared at him.

"Are you kidding me?" he gasped as he slowly reached out towards Mitch's waiting hand. "Again?"

"The streets down here appreciate your fashion sense in a much different way than the streets up there." Mitch nodded up towards the other levels floating distantly above their heads.

Scott shook his head dumbfoundedly as he clasped the watch back onto his wrist and continued his pace. "I think I'm just gonna stop wearing it, in case you're not around next time."

"When am I ever not around?" Mitch glanced over curiously.

"Well..." Scott's face was very adorable, all scrunched up as he fought (unsuccessfully) for an answer as they climbed up the steps to Mitch's building.