Chapter Three (Written by Rei Nokato)
Mr. Skinner hadn't slept much the next few days. He was additionally troubled of Dorian's return. He had only tried once, but he had been awoken by the screams of birds outside the HQ.
For those next few days he had felt like drifting off to sleep when he wasn't occupied, but he never let himself become that vulnerable... He had learned throughout all of his time as a thief that letting your guard down is a mistake that cannot be left unseen to. Anything could happen. That's why he had to stay awake and fully alert, waiting inaudibly in the obscurity of the shadows for signs of invasion.
The whole deal with the Karma Sutra book... Well, Skinner had no idea of the anonymous delivery yet, since Tom had taken the package for himself.
On the day that Mina discovered Tom reading it, she stormed everywhere around the HQ calling for the invisible pickpocket.
You could say that all that yelling on her part was a plain waste of time. For Rodney wasn't even present at the warehouse. He was, however, roaming the streets of London.
He walked at a swiftness that hinted he was windswept. sigh OK. That just sounds stupid. He walked at a swiftness that made him look... tempting. OK let's try that AGAIN. He strode at a steady swiftness, his jacket catching the wind slightly. .The Thief's imperceptible face was shielded from the rain by the brim of his hat. The infrequent drip slipped down the inside of his jacket, setting him a-shiver. O o What a possessed word.
He had been walking through the streets of London since the small hours of the morning. The unforeseen homecoming of Dorian Gray had preoccupied him for the last few days. He was working as a protector of the League, looking out for anything suss coming around corners. He was awaiting any news of attacks, taking a peep at the headlines of newspapers as he sauntered by them.
As the rain became consistent, a slim fog hung in the air.
Skinner knew that bandits worked well on rainy days, so he stayed entirely attentive, ready to lash out at shifty forms similar to himself.
The Invisible Man drew back as he distinguished a familiar outline in the mist; the outline of the Immortal.
Rodney retreated sideways to an abandoned passageway. The suspended coat and hat were suddenly whipped off and placed carefully on the ground.
Knowing his clothes would be pinched if he did not hurry, he made his way towards the deceitful ex-league member.
Intermission. Jin has already told this part of the story, I just thought I'd be a waste-of-timerer and explain what Rodney was doing outside in the first place. In a way that makes sense but... meh. This next part is AFTER Skinner groped Dorian. Yeah... Intermission. :
The Gentleman Thief made his way back to the passageway where he had left his clothing.
Utter silence... '.'
A roar of anger profusely holding a cockney accent echoed through the boulevards of London.
Rodney gathped. His fine-looking coat... His beautiful hat... They'd been stolen! DRAMATIC GATHP
As he attempted to pull himself together, he heeded the scuff of feet stopping. It had come from the other end of the alley.
Performing his regular routine, he snuck to where the noise had come from without making a sound. He peered around the corner to see a youngster who appeared to be in his teen years. He was taking feeble intakes of breath, clasping his chest with one hand, a nice-looking coat and hat in the other and he was firmly pressed on the wall. He was clearly a thief like Skinner, but he only seemed to be a novice.
The boy breathed a sigh of relief. He gulped and edged towards where Rodney was standing. The professional thief kept his ground as the youth bumped against him.
The boy jumped sideways back to where he once stood, petrified. How could you run into thin air? His grip tightened on Skinner's belongings.
"'Scuse me, pal, but would it be too much to ask for my clothes back?" Rodney's typical smirk came back.
The tyro thief recoiled as a voice rang out of nowhere. "Who-who's there?" The adolescent made an effort to sound gutsy.
"The question is who are you? Trying to pilfer a professional thief's outfit?" The Invisible Man asked in reply.
The lad started trembling, looking in every direction for the source of the voice.
"Who... are you?" The boy muttered loud enough for Rodney to hear.
"Never mind who I am. Give back my gear." He said patiently, his smile getting broader by the second.
"But... where are you?" The lad's voice broke.
Skinner became suddenly impatient and grabbed his clothing out of the boy's hand. The coat danced in mid-air for a moment, before it rested on the shape of a man. The hat flew upwards and halted above the coat.
The boy slid down the wall, stunned.
The jacket bowed along with the hat. "Thank you! You've been a wonderful audience! And just a tip for you, young man," he tilted forward closer to the lad's face. "Thieves don't return things. Keep that in mind next time!"
Skinner straightened, with a reasonably smug look on his face that no one could see. He tipped his hat and skipped down the lane.
He sashayed back to the headquarters, his sense of self stronger than before.
The front doors unbolted. A suspended jacket and hat entered the foyer. Rodney placed his clothing on a chair in the gathering quarter. He sniffed, a cold finally getting to him after walking around London in the buff... Well, nude under his jacket anyway. -- Too much information...
He began searching for someone to annoy when he remembered. The Immortal had made his first threat against the League; against Jekyll. Skinner had already reached the second floor when this came back to him. His self-righteousness had almost cleaned it off his mind.
He reversed his path so he was heading downstairs. Only one thought was running through his head: "Gotta find the Doc."
Reaching the bottom of the flight of steps, he discovered Mina. She was locking the front doors, murmuring wrathfully under her breath.
As much as he would love to do a bit of butt-grabbing right now, Rodney stayed focused on locating Jekyll. Yet for the first time that Skinner strayed away from an opportunity, Mina called him back without meaning to.
"Skinner, I really would have expected better from you." She sighed to herself it seemed, with the air of one who is conquered.
The thief stopped in his tracks. "Really?" He came out with instantaneously.
Mina stared at where she had heard the galling voice. Her eyes narrowed. "I found you!" She walked quickly towards him.
"Why were you looking for -" Rodney's question was left unfinished. The woman hit him hard across the face.
Slightly infuriated at being slapped for no reason at all, the Invisible Man said "Is that the best you can do?"
One second Mina's face twitched and turned bright red. Next second Rodney was wincing and holding his crotch. "Actually, that's the best I can do!" She sneered. "That's what you get for leaving that foul book lying around for Tom to find! He's only a child!"
The thief had no idea of what she was going on about, but he didn't care.
"You know what? I think you're on to me!" Skinner grinned. He was ready for anything this time.
"Oooo, ya think?" Mina aimed another kick, but Skinner was too speedy for her. He jumped to the side, ducked behind her and gave her a good grope.
Mina yelled with frustration and whirled around to whack Skinner over the head. Fortunately, she missed. Heheheh.
Rodney left Mina to walk around the room trying to relocate him, her arms out in front of her as if she were blind. If he were to warn Jekyll of Gray's menace, he had to do it now.
In a single motion he grabbed his jacket and tossed it on. He hastily walked through every room of the ground floor. The Doc was nowhere to be found.
As he entered a room on the second floor, the door on the opposite wall burst open. It was Mina again, still aggravated at Skinner.
She darted at the leather coat hanging perfectly still in the air.
"Easy there, Mina!" The sleeves of the coat made a halting gesture. Mina stopped in front of him.
"What?!" She snarled dangerously, as if she couldn't wait to rip him apart. Skinner backed away a little as he thought of this as fact.
"You wouldn't happen to know where Dr. Jekyll is at this point in time, would you?" He asked in a rush.
"As a matter of fact I do, Mr. 'Karma Sutra'!" Harker shouted.
Rodney blinked. "Me? Mr. Karma Sutra?" There was a short silence as he considered it. "Are you sure you're not on to me?"
"Don't be such a dim-wit!" Mina stomped her foot mindlessly. "You know what I'm talking about!"
"Mr. Karma Sutra, Gentleman Thief..." Skinner acted out. "Pretty satisfying, eh?" Mina shook her head in disgust.
"OK. You know what? I'm just going to leave you alone for now." Harker walked past Rodney quickly. "Oh yes, and about Dr. Jekyll; he left for a walk earlier this afternoon."