Bruno was with the recruit, a Breton named Giorno Giovanna, and he wanted to see how much he could steal in a crowd. However, he didn't think he'd bring him to a large party in Cheydinhal.

When Giorno told Bruno to change into some fancy, he was unsure of his plan.

"Trust me," he said.

Bruno had bought some soft, velvet clothing in his favorite color—blue. Now he wore it to a party he wasn't invited to. Hopefully, that guard with long white hair doesn't notice him.

"Why are we here?" he asked.

"You wanted to see how much I could steal. I'm going to show you," the blond reminded.

The Breton casually approached an Imperial woman with short hair and a green velvet dress. Giorno had cast the charm spell before the woman turned around to face him, but the sound of it was quiet. He smiled, and they spoke, but Bruno couldn't figure out what they were saying. Soon, the young blond returned.

"I took her earrings. Now, you try," Giorno whispered, showing Bruno the silver earrings with emeralds.

"I didn't see you touch her ears. What did you do?"

"Telekinesis."

"Impressive, but I don't know magic except for invisibility."

"That's alright. Talk to someone, and don't forget to smile."

"It's impressive you haven't been caught yet. I can see you advancing far into the ranks of the Thieves Guild."

Bruno approached a dirt blond High Elf with a widow's peak wearing red garments and asked if he knew alchemy. He said no but decided to introduce himself and ramble about his work, giving Bruno enough time to slip into his pockets and steal a soul gem. Orintur, the High Elf he spoke to, directed him to Eilonwy, a High Elf in a green dress.

"That's her," the elf said, looking directly at her. She chatted with a group of orcs Bruno wanted to avoid.

Then Giorno entered the conversation. "Greetings, Orintur! Sorry, this is my new friend. He's thinking about joining the Mages Guild. He wanted to know everyone before joining."

"Ah, well, good luck with that. Arch-mage Avdol has made it difficult for others to get into the Mages Guild." The elf walked away.

"I shouldn't do this, but distract her while I take her ring," Giorno whispered to Bruno.

He nodded, and they approached Eilonwy. First, he asked if she knew who those orcs were, and then she complained that they were drug dealers and wanted nothing to do with them. He questioned why she didn't turn them to the guard, and she gave a lengthy excuse for why she couldn't. Giorno elbowed him, signaling that he had her ring. However, the white-haired guard clutched the Breton's arms.

"What's that in your hands?" he interrogated.

Eilonwy noticed her ring was no longer on her finger. "Where's my ring?" she panicked.

"That's it! Reveal your hands!" he demanded.

Giorno revealed his hands, showing the ring he stole.

"Aha! Thief!"

"I was going to return it to Eilonwy!" he explained, looking into the guard's yellow and purple eyes.

"I doubt that."

"Wait, it's true!" Bruno said. "I was about to tell Eilonwy she lost her ring. My friend here picked it up. He's telling the truth."

"That's right. It slipped and fell," Giorno defended himself.

"What's going on?" asked a High Elf who wore the same garments as Bruno. "Who are these two? I didn't invite these two. I don't even know who they are."

The white-haired guard continued to glare at Giorno. Bruno wasn't sure why he was so focused on him.

"I'm part of the Mages Guild, so I thought I could come with my friend."

"Well, you're wrong. Abbacchio, please see that these two are out."

"Alright, you two, I'll escort you out."

The guard shoved Giorno but gently pushed Bruno. After he opened the door, he pushed Giorno out while he let Bruno step out.

"Well, at least he didn't know about the other junk we stole," the blond commented.

"Are you available next week?" Bruno asked. "We could do this again."

"As much as I want to, Avdol wants me in Bruma to help rebuild, so I'll be there for a while."

It was the next week, and Bruno found himself with Narancia, a Wood Elf. The two of them were outside a warehouse in the Waterfront District. Polpo had assigned them a task to retrieve a small box of goodies.

"You are to find a small red box with a yellow ribbon with Fugo's name written somewhere," Polpo explained.

"Fugo? Hey! That's my friend!" blurted Narancia. "Wait, why are we stealing it from him?"

"It's not his gift if he hasn't received it yet," he answered. "And besides, it's from someone he doesn't like. You've heard of Tuudir Greenthorn, correct?"

Judging from the sound of disgust Naranica made, he did.

"At night, there should be one guard near the entrance. There would be two, but I managed to bribe the other into not coming. Now go! The night is nigh."

"Since you're good at small talk, I'll let you do the chatting," Bruno said as they approached the warehouse.

"And you get the box. What a simple task. I thought this was going to be much harder."

"You don't know that yet. Do you see that guard?" Bruno pointed to the long white-haired man. "He—wait, I know that guy."

"You do?" Narancia asked. "Will that complicate things?"

"I don't know. Maybe I should speak to him."

"Are you sure about this? What are you two even going to talk about?"

"Abbacchio is his name, I think." He ignored the Wood Elf.

Confused, Narancia watched as Bruno walked towards the guard.

"What are you doing here?" the black-haired Imperial asked.

Broken from his boredom, he faced Bruno. "It's you!" He smiled but then quickly killed it, possibly to appear professional. "Citizen, how may I help you?"

He chuckled. "Abbacchio, was it? Whare you doing here? I thought you were a guard in Cheydinhal."

The guard leaned against the wall. "Well, it's kind of a long story. Shortly after I had to kick you out and that guy you were with, Voranil had a word with me in private and—" As the guard rambled, Bruno saw Narancia sneaking inside. The Imperial tried to focus his sight on Abbacchio's eyes. Curious, he wondered if the guard was multiracial because Bruno had never seen such gorgeous unique-looking eyes. Bruno should pay attention to the conversation, but all he could do was stare.

"And that was the end of that. What about you?" Abbacchio finished.

He was silent for a few seconds. "What?"

"Were you paying attention?" he asked.

At the worst possible time, Narancia slipped out, but the guard hadn't noticed him yet. But the Wood Elf knew how much danger he was in and gave Bruno a glare that could kill. "Don't mess this up," he mouthed. The door behind the elf creaked, causing the guard to stop leaning against the wall and almost look at him until Bruno said something.

"I got lost in your eyes!" he blurted, causing the guard to face him. The two blushed.

Narancia muffled his snicker and snuck away.

Abbacchio smiled, brushing a strand of hair behind his ears. "I like looking at your eyes too. I noticed at the party that your outfit matched your eyes. I would've said something, but I was busy guarding. By the way, where is your outfit? You're dressed like a—"

"An adventurer?" Bruno finished. He had on a leather outfit.

"That explains why Voranil was suspicious of you. An adventurer? Wow, that must be exciting. You must've been through a lot. What's the most interesting thing that has ever happened to you?"

He didn't want to lie. He has never explored any ruins before. The only exploration he has done was probably in the sewers, but thinking about it, being in the Thieves Guild was an adventure. Although, it probably wasn't as exciting as the Hero of Kvatch's, wherever he may be. "Meeting you."

Abbacchio guffawed. "You're funny. No way am I the most interesting thing."

Narancia returned, curious as to why Bruno was taking so long. "Um, hello there."

The two of them ignored him.

"It's true. All the guards look and sound the same, but you're different," Bruno told the Abbacchio. "Even Hieronymus Lex. How well do you know him?"

"We have to go," the Wood Elf said, trying to interrupt them.

"That guy? He's obsessed with finding the Gray Fox, but he's not as bad as Adamus Phillida. Does every guard captain have an obsession?"

They chatted while Narancia tried to grab Bruno's attention.

"Hey, I got the thing!" The Wood Elf got between them and pointed at the gifted box he had stolen. Abbacchio shoved him aside. "Seriously? I stole this thing!" Nobody reacted. "No way you guys are ignoring me." But they did and kept talking. "I killed the emperor," he lied, but that didn't get their attention. "I eat babies!" he yelled, hoping that would work. It didn't, and he gave up and opened the box. A bunch of chocolates was inside, and he began eating them as he listened to their conversation.

"I never got your name," Abbacchio said to the Imperial.

"It's Bruno Bucciarati," he replied.

"Are you serious?" Narancia responded.

"My first name is Leone if you're wondering."

"Leone, I like that."

He giggled shyly. "I like your name too. Anyways, I should make sure nobody tries to enter the warehouse. Good day. Uh, I mean, night."

"Goodnight!" Bruno said. He turned around and saw Narancia. "What are you doing?" He grabbed him and dragged him somewhere private. "Where's the box? Did you manage to steal it?"

"The box of chocolates?" Narancia showed him the opened and emptied gift box. "I have it."

"What? Did you open it? What was in it?"

"Chocolates." He smiled, showing evidence that he had eaten it all.

"Polpo sent us to steal chocolates? I—ugh! Well, he won't be happy that you ate it all. Ugh, I should've gone in instead."

"Hey, it worked out. You and that Leone guy were chatting it up better than I could've done. Say, what's with you two? It looked like the guard was distracting you instead."

"That? He's just a guy I knew from a week ago."

"Right. Well, goodnight!" Narancia left.

Polpo won't be happy about this.

Last night, Polpo was upset with Bruno, expecting better from him, and sent him to do a dangerous task with Mista. He had sent them to steal some documents from the Legion offices in broad daylight, and, as it turns out, it did not go well. The guards chased them, and as Bruno feared, Abbacchio was there, chasing him down.

"Wait!" he yelled, but they kept running.

"Let's split," Bruno told Mista.

"Alright."

The two of them split. Bruno planned to look for a sewer entrance and lose them there.

"Leone, stay behind," one of the guards ordered.

"No way!" He sprinted, getting closer to Bruno, who was oddly enjoying this chase.

The Imperial turned to a corner, losing the guards except Leone, and went down the sewers. Unfortunately, that slowed him down, and Leone caught him. He pinned him to the walls.

"No way, you can't be Bruno."

"Unfortunately, I am. It looks like you have to turn me in." He couldn't believe he had let himself get caught.

"Voranil said you were a thief. He was right?"

"Yes, Leone—"

"Quiet!" He let him go, and Bruno could've run, but he didn't. "What do I do with you?"

"Is this your first time catching a criminal?"

"No, but last night, did you distract me?"

"I did."

"And you're not an adventurer?"

"I'm not."

"Wait, what did you steal? The person who checks inventory said everything was here."

"A box of chocolate, which caused me a lot of trouble after my friend ate it. So, what are you doing to do to me now?"

"I'll let you go, but I'm warning you to stop."

"And if I don't stop?"

Leone was speechless, making Bruno smile. He took a few steps away from him as an impish smile grew on his face.

"Then come chase me!" he said with a playful tone.

"Wait!" Leone held out his hand but watched him disappear into the darkness.

Be it night or day, Leone was there at every heist and robbery to stop Bruno. He would search and find him, chasing him down but never telling his superiors about him, and Bruno enjoyed the thrill of the chase. It was like that for a few weeks until one Tirdas afternoon.

Bruno had stolen a gold diamond necklace from a woman, but nobody had seen him, yet the guards searched diligently for the thief, every guard except for Leone. He searched around the city, finding him outside his uniform and leaving the city. The guard looked sullen.

"Leone," he called out, "where are you going? Why aren't you wearing your armor?"

"I'll explain on the bridge," he said.

A gentle breeze caressed their skin and hair when they exited the city, and the grass moved with the wind. Bruno gazed at the bright blue sky and watched as the few clouds raced each other, realizing he had spent too much time in the city.

"It's nice to be outside," he commented.

"The job is making me question everything," Leone said, ignoring him. "Did you know the Hero of Kvatch was a criminal? And Audens Avidius was a guard captain, but he got arrested for extortion and theft. And to answer the question you asked before we left, I quit. Who am I protecting? Every criminal I catch gets out sooner or later. Can you be honest with me? Are you a part of the Thieves Guild?"

Bruno rested his arms on the stone fence of the bridge. "Yeah."

"You guys aren't like the Dark Brotherhood, and you don't rob the poor."

"We're still thieves," Bruno reminded him.

"Yeah, but there's something about you, something righteous. I want to be a part of it. Let me join you."

He wanted him to turn away. Lately, the Gray Fox has changed since the Oblivion Crisis ended, and he wondered if he was the same person. Bruno has heard rumors of their leader committing lazy robberies and murdering witnesses. "Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"I am," he replied.

Bruno brought out the gold necklace he had stolen. "I was hoping you come after me, but it was I who was after you." He threw the jewelry into the lake. "Ugly little necklace. We should do something to pass the time before you see Polpo. Are you up for some light robbery?" He stopped resting on the fence and headed for the city.

Leone followed. "Are you kidding me right now? Did you forget about the ruckus you caused? How am I supposed to steal something?"

"Can you think of a place?"

"Hmm, I want to steal from Voranil."

"That guy is a jerk. Sure! Let's do it."

They both turned around, heading to Cheydinhal.