2013.05.01 - Thieves in the Night

Remy LaBeau may be playing it mostly straight these days, but he still needs to make money. To wit, theft. The five fingered discount. Of course, if you've got the skill, the money is still in high-end arts and antiquities. Harder to move than bearer bonds, but less well protected. And more fun to steal and fence.

If his Inverness jacket wasn't so meticulously cleaned, Gambit would almost look like a bum that'd wandered in off the street. With his dark fingerless gloves and his shock of red hair, he certainly isn't a discriminating art patron. He's kneeling in front of a security door, doing something with a code slicer and a bundle of cables hanging from the open access port.

Black Cat has taken a fair amount of hits lately, her lifestyle and pricy career alone made this undesirable. So she also had the same place selected. Take from the rich and give to the poor after all, at least that was her motto lately.

For that evening she pulled he ever-handy disguise. She was mopping in the middle of the room for her super-late night shift that was about to pull off big-time.

Gambit pops the lock. Of course, Felicia's doing it the easy way- sneaking in as a janitor? That's practically cheating. The door to the rear exhibit halls pops open, and Remy tucks the code breaker away into his voluminous jacket. He steps quickly on silent boots through the hallways, glancing left and right with his unusual red eyes.

Heading to the back galleria, he looks over his shoulder towards the main gallery, listening to the steady swish-swish of Felicia's mop. He grins crookedly and starts in on the lock to the 'special' gallery, using a pair of picklocks to pop the mechanical lock on the door. He keeps glancing surrepitously over his shoulder towards the janitorial noises as he efficiently breaks his way into the 'rare arts' exhibit, vanishing around the door with a whisper of his jacket.

Cheating was one of the best ways to get what you want. Black Cat checked to see if anyone was around before kicking off her Janitorial clothing and wig and tossed them into a nearby garbage can. She ran her fingers through her long white hair, and was revealed to be wearing a black flattering domino mask, along with a black skintight leather catsuit with white fur trim around the chest and limbs.

Her role as the friendly neighborhood janitor wouldn't let her into the rare arts exhibit that time of night, and she had her eye on a particular statue. She grapple gunned her way towards the exhibit, quick to be catching up with Gambit.

Gambit is busy disabling an alarm system when the sound of the grapnel gun catches his ear. The Ragin' Cajun glances once over his shoulder, then with a sweep of his jacket dives for the shadows. Just as Felicia enters the room, he disappears into a deep shadowy crevice between two exhibits, hunkering down in a low squat that eliminates his profile to hide him as effectively as the shadows blur out his coloration. He watches with pursed lips and raised eyebrows as the sultry thief stalks into the exhibit, then grins crookedly to himself as she saunters in and makes a beeline for the statue. He rests his elbows on his knees and watches curiously as she starts her work.

Black Cat walked with a sexy saunter, she placed a hand on her hip as she made her way to the beautifully crafted cat statue carved lovingly out of onyx, with red rubies for eyes. She held out her pinky finger, which then exposed a sharp nail, and drew a circle opening. Catching the glass before it fell, she reached in and gently took the statue. There was other nice art in the room, but she was always drawn to this cat's lovely eyes. She wanted it.

"Somehow, ah don' tink yoah part of de crew heah, mon ami," comes a rolling Creole accent from somewhere in the room. The shadows next to a lovely ivory sculpture twist and then split, and a man with all the whipcord grace of a hunting cat takes two steps into the light. His features are lean and ruggedly appealing, but offset by intriguingly disturbing red eyes with a deep black sclera. "But I like yoah taste in..." his eyes give her a roving head to toe, and a crooked grin crosses his face. "Art."

Tossed the statue into the air and caught it, as she began to circle around this fellow thief. At least, there was no way he was a part of the art gallery staff in that getup. He had a sort of odd charm about him. It must be the eyes. She glanced down at the cat's ruby eyes and then back towards his, as she finished circling around him, "Oh? You wouldn't happen to be after this old thing? Ohh, what bad luck. Of course I should know quite a bit about that. I'm Black Cat. And you are?"

Gambit purses his lips. It does appealing things to his features. He rests his shoulderblades nonchalantly against the stone pillar behind him, but answers her question with a mysterious smile. "Dey call me Gambit," he says after a moment of deliberation, watching her movements with a lazy appreciation. "An' dat ol' ting? C'est pas mon truc," he mumurs. "Not my ting," he clarifies, a moment later. "Ah'm lookin' for de lil' poster behin' you." He nods at a valuable canvas painting on the wall a few feet away. "Special request. You know how it goes. Ah'm workin'- but you look like de kinda lady who's shoppin'." He takes a step forward, well out of grabbing range, and rests a delicate finger on top of the cat's head in her arms. "It's a fine piece of artwork. Not as pretty as de lady holdin' it, mind. Dis for you?"

"Gambit? HmmGambit, Gambit. The name rings a bell. I've heard about a quick thief from the south, but no one ever said he was handsome." She held up the cat statue and admired the features, and leaned forward to give it a soft kiss in between the eyes, "Little shopping for me. I needed a bit of stress relief,"

She looked back at his canvas, "It's a good piece, but not my mark. Have it it. I'll watch. I've been a voyeur from time to time."

"You like to watch, eh?" Gambit grins crookedly and heads over to the portraint. With a few effortless motions, he disables the security sensors, and starts breaking the canvas out of the frame. "Ah tink I recognize you, too. De famous Black Cat, oui?" he says, working with efficient motions. He starts to roll the painting up to secure it in a plastic tube hanging under his jacket. "Dey say you were pretty, but- well, ah never realize how much de rumor not doin' you de credit," the Cajun says with a wink over his shoulder.

"Oh? Well that's just too bad. Rumors are never up to snuff anyways. And I've gotta say Gambit.."

As he jumped up onto the wall, and took a quick glance at his bottom. She nodded to herself and thought, "Not bad, not bad. Mm. Now to compare how that ass compares to the boyfriend's."

She places the cat statue into her black over the shoulder bag, "You look like you know what you are doing. Let's see how you react under pressure, handsome."

She took a few steps forward and pulls the nearby fire alarm, "Oops."

Gambit presses a hand to his ear, listening to... nothing. "What's that, mon cher? Is dat de fire alarm?" He wags a finger at her. "Dat's low, even for someone as pretty as you." He grins unconcernedly at the woman. "But ah appreciate de help, non de less. Be easy to slip outta here wit all de commotion of de fire trucks, an' de firefighters breakin' der way into heah." He reaches for a wall sconce and does something with a rag and the lightbulb behind the shade, which promptly starts issuing black smoke. "Ah, see, look at dat. Shoddy wirin'."

Gambit slips past Felicia, stopping shoulder to shoulder with her, and flashes the woman a grin. "Be seein' you 'roun', mon cher. An' if you want to take a look at de goods," he adds, murmuring into her ear, "all you gotta do is ask." He grins into her flowing hair and departs, with a quick pinch to her own bodysuit-wrapped derrier left behind.

Black Cat takes a moment to blink, "Oh no sweetie, when it's okay to do that. You /know/."

She concentrates her bad luck ability towards Gambit and oh! Wouldn't you know? The seams on his jacket suddenly split and all of his cards go spewing about. And since he keeps so many they are all over."

She laughed and used her grapple hook to open the vent above the above the room, "Come and catch me, if you can stud."

Gambit blinks at his jacket. "Dis is an /Inverness/!" he gasps. "Dis is my favorite jacket!" He stoops and gathers his cards into his hand as fast as a card shark can deal, even shuffling them with a flourish of his fingers. "Woman, ah catch you, ah'm gonna turn you over my knee," he promises, calling up the vent. He eyes the vent, then turns and starts running, heading out the way he'd come in. He gets outside of the building fast and with only his boots and fingertips, starts scrambling up the side of the building, far faster than someone can crawl through the vents. In scarce moments, he's on top of the gallery and leaning casually against the vent's only exit, waiting for the nimble female thief to scramble out of the ventilation system.

That's nice. But with the ventilation system as compared to the round-about way Gambit had to leave the building? It was a straightaway shot, especially since she had her "Bad luck" powers going for anyone or anything around her to go her way. And in just enough time to sneak up behind him, she crawls up behind Gambit and taps his shoulder.

With a laugh she uses her grapple hook to make her getaway, she calls out as she moves. "Tag you're it!"

Gambit flicks his wrist absently, and a glittering shard of light flies from his hands. It hits her grapnel line a few feet above her hands, just as she starts to build a little momentum. Gambit is already moving, a six-foot quarterstaff appearing in his hands. "Tag back!" he grins, tapping Felicia once. He vaults a twelve-foot fence between buildings and lands on a piece of wall that can't be a foot wide, and starts running along it as effortlessly as if it were the size of a city sidewalk, leaping onto an adjacent building with an effortless, flowing motion.

Oh this one could keep up with her, oh this isn't going to end well. Black Cat giggles as she tosses the grapple hook into her bag. She had just enough slack to land on this little slab to run on. Black Cat quickly keeps up with his pace, but pushes out more bad luck towards his direction. Cards fall where they may.

Oh this one could keep up with her, oh this isn't going to end well. Black Cat giggles as she tosses the grapple hook into her bag. She had just enough slack to land on this little slab to run on. Black Cat quickly keeps up with his pace, but pushes out more bad luck towards his direction. Cards fall where they may.

Gambit trips and falls over a low-hanging wire, one that hadn't been there a moment before. He grunts and stumbles, turning it into a low, controlled roll that brings him bounding back to his feet. "Dat's cheatin', mon ami!" he calls back to the Black Cat. "Don' know if dat's magic or what, but Gambit don' trip!"

He turns and pauses for a moment, then slaps his hand on the narrow bridge he'd just crossed. It surges with a flicker of light, then shatters with a sharp crack of masonry, leaving an easy twenty foot gap between the buildings. Gambit winks at Felicia and sticks his hands in his pockets, walking casually backwards on a six-inch wide highbeam. "You tink you kin make dat jump?" he asks, looking at the gap between them.

Black Cat lets out a flirty laugh. Even without her grapplehook she was sure to make that. She was trained to be a world class gymnast and then some. Black Cat took a few steps back and ran into a jump. She perhaps landed on her toes just on the edge of the area Gambit was on. Black Cat took a step forward and touched a finger to the tip of his rugged chin, "Tag. I bet you aren't you aren't used to women challenging you."

"Au contraire, mon cher." Gambit grins at Black Cat. "But ah ain't met one yet ah couldn' beat in de long run. De chalange is de fun ting." He stands perfectly balanced as she draws close, turning those intensely red eyes on her domino-masked face. At this range, his presence could easily be described as intoxicating. "Some girls, dey like to be outran. But ah tink you de kinda woman who like de race as much as ah do." He leans closer, until their noses are almost touching. "Dat kinda woman is de most fun to run wit'."

Black Cat leaned in close, as if she was only half an inch away to kiss, "Then I hope you stretched, Gambit."

She let out a laugh as she jumped down a few stories, and landed onto the edge of a railing, she couldn't remember the last time she had fun with the intention of having fun. Who was tagged now? It was hard to say.