Scipio leaned against a wet stone wall deep within Venice's maze of winding alleys. He pulled out a small pocket watch by its golden chain and flipped it open while shielding it from the pounding rain with his other hand. Nearly one o'clock. Everyone would be asleep. He snapped the watch closed again and stuffed it back in his pocket. He ran a hand through his soaking hair and then yanked open the rusted, metal door behind him. He crept down the darkened hallway and into the silent theater. He stood for a moment looking out over the sleeping children. He then took a tentative step towards one of the mattresses, but stopped. He ran his hands through his hair again and pulled his head back to look up at the theater's vast ceiling. He squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. Why did this have to be so damn hard? A hand gently touched his shoulder. "Scipio?" Hornet said gently. He lowered his hands and turned to face her.
"Scip!" an excited voice yelled as Bo appeared beside him. There were several more surprised murmurs as the other children awoke to find the Thief Lord standing there, unannounced. "What are you doing here?" Bo asked tugging on Scipio's arm.
"Just go back to sleep," Hornet said. She gave the others an embarrassed smile as she intertwined her fingers with Scipio's. She gave his hand a small pull and led him up the aisle and out of the theater.
"You little whore!" Scip said laughing as they burst out into the alleyway.
"It got them to shut up, didn't it?" she asked. She pulled her hand free and wrapped her sweater more tightly around her body. The pounding rain had now slowed to a constant drizzle. They walked in silence for awhile eventually stopping under a lone street lamp along the canal. "Why'd you come, Scip?" she asked. He slowly turned around to face her. "You said you wouldn't be back for a week- at least."
"I don't know..." He gave a heavy sigh and turned, looking out over the water, watching the normally calm surface being disturbed by the steadily falling rain. "I just-"
"Wanted to see Prosper?" she asked mockingly.
"What? I- No! You thought...?" Scipio stammered.
"Thought so," Hornet said jokingly, nudging him with her shoulder. He jerked away from her touch and pulled his mask out of his pocket. He pulled it on over his face and then proceeded to kick a small stone at his feet into the canal.
"You can't keep hiding behind that mask," she said. She reached out slowly to grab it, but a hand shot up and grabbed her wrist. "Scipio," she whispered, "you have to talk to him." He lowered her arm and silently looked out at the water, at the broken reflections of lighted buildings. He reached up and wiped the rain from his eyes. "Scipio..." she said again.
"And tell him what?" he asked fiercely, whipping around to face her. "Tell him, 'Sorry, Prop, but I think I may have fallen in love with you.'?" He stopped abruptly. "That- that came out wrong," he stammered.
"Did it really?" Hornet asked.
