Record Player

A moment in time wherein Sylf and Tomlyn are on a date, and Tomlyn wants to steal a record player.

Timeframe: Row House (Pre-rebellion)

It wasn't often that Sylf felt like she could really be herself when she was out in town. There was usually someone who knew her as Alais, and as much as she tried to keep Alais' persona as close to her actual self, it wasn't fully possible to be herself. But tonight, the Timmet's Tinker Circus was in town, and there were too many people about for her to be recognized. While she was still cautious, at least she didn't have to pretend to be a lonely housewife.

"Mm, Sylf. Have the last bite."

Sylf turned to Tomlyn, who was tearing the fluffy fried cake between his teeth and fingers. He arrived back in town late the previous night and they spent the day languishing in bed, relaxing in each other's company before heading out to the circus that evening. She loved walking by his side through the town and as they passed by the various attractions with her hand clasped in his, as though this was something they did every day.

With a yank, Tomlyn pulled the cake apart, white powdered sugar tossing up in the air and onto his face. Sylf chuckled as she took the last bit of cake from his fingers and stuffed it in her mouth. As she finished chewing, Tomlyn wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing white power all over his face.

Rolling her eyes, Sylf reached into her pocket and pulled out a clean handkerchief.

"What? It's not that bad, is it?"

"Stand still," she instructed. She dabbed the fabric on her tongue and proceeded to clean his face as best she could. "How is it that you always make a mess when you eat sweets?"

He flashed her a wide grin, "Maybe it's because..." He trailed off leering at her. She glared at him, but he said it anyway. "I'm so sweet!" he finished, laughing.

Sylf noticed a bit of sugar in the corner of his mouth. She moved closer to him and leaned in for a kiss, her tongue roving over the sugar in the corner. Her lips curved into an amused smile as he turned and caught her mouth with his. He did taste sweet, like the sugar and the cake and that bitter taste that he always had.

She pulled herself back from the kiss a bit breathless, feeling a warm giddiness rush through her. Tomlyn gazed at her fondly, though his smile smile soon turned to his wolfish grin.

"Time to head back?"

"Let's take our time," she replied.

Tomlyn slipped his cool hand into hers and they walked closely together as they weaved through the crowd. As they neared the circus exit, the sound of music drifted above the buzz of people's chatter.

Tomlyn frowned. "That doesn't sound like live music. Want to check it out?"

Sylf gestured for him to lead on, and they made their way to a tent with a large crowd. A gnome with wiry hair was standing on a stool so he could shout above the crowd.

"Come one, come all! Come see the device that plays music all on its own: the record player! Only for a thousand gold and this wonderful, 100% Tinker-made machine can be yours!"

Sylf craned her neck to see the device as Tomlyn stood on his toes. She caught a glimpse of a large rectangular box with a raised silver arm and a black disk resting on its surface. The arm, she noted, had a needle on the end. The gnome leaned over as he turned a crank attached to the box. Sylf thought the disc was spinning now, but she couldn't see clearly through the crowd.

Next to her, Tomlyn audibly gasped when the gnome set the needle on the disk, and a waltz began to play. "The music is on the discs! And then you can play it instantly!" he explained excitedly. "And you just have to crank it up! It's pure magic!"

He came down off his toes and Sylf knew exactly what he was going to say before he opened his mouth. "I need this."

"No."

Tomlyn placed his hands on her shoulders so she had to look at him squarely. "Okay, just hear me out."

She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"With this amazing contraption, you can listen to music while you're in the house! While you're fixing yourself a meal or sitting in your reading nook—actually, this fits perfectly in your reading nook and—"

"And, when you come over, we can dance whenever you want?" She interrupted.

His grin widened. "Yes! Exactly. See, we're on the same wavelength here, riiiiiiight?"

Sylf rolled her eyes, despite how cute Tomlyn's excitement was. "Tomlyn, I do not have a thousand gold to spend on a vanity item."

Tomlyn scratched his chin, thinking. "Okay, fair point. That is a lot of gold." He paused, then added slyly, "You could just skip a payment on the house for a month right? That's about what you pay each—"

Sylf maintained her stoic glare and he held his hands up in concession. "Okay, right. Missing a payment is a bad thing. Scratch that."

Tomlyn started glancing around and now Sylf knew the next thing he was going to ask. With a mischievous grin he leaned in so only they could hear and whispered, "What if we 'acquire' it, instead?"

"Great idea," she retorted back. "Assuming we can get it out of the circus area, how are you going to get it across the bridge, through two districts, and into the house unseen?"

"You have your Bag of Holding, right?"

"You do realize that it's the size of a coin pouch, right? How would we actually fit something large in it?"

Tomlyn stepped back and let out a breath. "Okay, okay, what if we—"

"Tomlyn," Sylf said pointed. "I don't think it's going to happen."

He paused, looking at her for a long moment. Then he sighed, resigned, and looked back at the record player longingly. "Fine, fine," he said begrudgingly.

His hand slipped in hers again and they made their way through the crowd. Tomlyn was whistling a low tune, but he didn't have the same energy as before. Was he really that disappointed? It wasn't as though Sylf was wrong—the heist would be challenging with the circus being in an exposed area.

As they started to cross the bridge into town, Sylf jumped to the side as a horse and cart nearly stomped right over her.

"Hey!" Tomlyn called to the cart, "Watch it!"

"I'm fine," she said irritably. As they passed through the gate, she noted how the guards didn't seem to be inspecting the goods—just a quick check and they moved the cart along. …Interesting. She felt the familiar itch begin to scratch in her brain and she couldn't help but pay attention to cart as it progressed through the districts.

They followed the cart through Old Town and then the Residential District up to the border between of the Market District. The cart owner began unloading goods in a storage area, which Sylf recognized because it was near a sewer access point.

As they entered the row house, Sylf barely heard what Tomlyn was saying as she hung up their cloaks. When she reentered the kitchen, Tomlyn was pouring himself a glass of brandy, looking sour.

"That device is too big for the bag of holding," she said slowly, making her way to the wine.

"Wow, you really weren't listening to me this entire time," Tomlyn scoffed, shaking his head.

"And it's too big to outright steal and run off with. Too risky."

"Oh, sure, ignore me and rub in my face that I can't—"

"Would you shut up?" She snapped, glaring at him. "I'm trying to think!" He returned her glare while taking a large sip of the brandy, but he didn't say anything.

Sylf poured herself some wine and sipped, the gears in her mind slowly clicking into place. Then, she could see it—the tools they needed, the disguises, the con, the heist. She walked over to him slowly, the plan formulating with each step.

"How long are you around for?" she asked.

Tomlyn looked as though he didn't want to answer, but he did anyway. "A week or so, why?"

Sylf nodded towards the back of the house. "There's a sewer access point nearby. It's tucked away in a corner near a storage warehouse."

Tomlyn frowned at her. "I thought you said it would be too risky to go through the sewers."

"I said it was too risky because of the distance. From the circus tents we would have to basically traverse more than half the length of the city itself."

Tomlyn frowned for a moment, thinking. Then he set his brandy down, a devious grin spreading across his face. "But?"

Sylf continued, "The circus ends in three days." She paused, and he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her to him.

"Mm, keep talkin'," he murmured. Her gaze locked onto his visage brimming with excitement.

"So, what if we don't try to hide the device? What if we just walk right out of the circus with it, in the box, and we bring it here in plain sight?"

Tomlyn sighed longingly, pressing his forehead against hers. "I love it when you talk dirty to me." He dipped his head down and she closed her eyes slowly, savoring the kiss. Tomlyn stepped away from her too soon, and Sylf wouldn't have minded heading back up to the bedroom.

But Tomlyn was already taking her by the hand and pulling her towards the study, where the Lair awaited them. "This is going to be a good one!" he exclaimed, grinning. Well, seeing him happy like this was worth the postponement of her desires, she supposed.

After careful planning and a bit of luck, four days later Sylf was in Tomlyn's arms, dancing away to a lively dwarven tune with no one the wiser. A well-executed heist indeed.

Tomlyn finally gets some love haha! I have a few more snippet ideas for Tomlyn so you'll definitely see more of him!