Garrett made embarrassingly quick work of the manual lock, but truthfully, Artemus wasn't the slightest bit surprised, his son was a professional thief after all, getting into places he wasn't supposed to was part of the job. Likewise, Artemus was wholly unsurprised by the fact that Garrett practically melted into the shadows, out of sight and mind of the mob still howling.
By the time Garrett finally beckoned Artemus from the mouth of the opposite alley, the Keeper had managed to clamber down from the rooftops, and seemingly, despite Garrett's initial concerns, the Graven were too enthralled in their bonfire to notice some lone shadow run across the street.
The Haven on the other hand was ever watchful, even despite the grim circumstances which befell them.
No sooner had Garrett slid the final lock out of place with a soft click of some hidden mechanism did Artemus press his palms to the newly exposed doorway, looking back towards the entrance of the alley to make sure no prying eyes were spying upon them from the streets before he began to push.
The door was heavy, cumbersomely so, but well maintained, the hinges blissfully silent. For a moment, Artemus prayed that perhaps he and his son would be able to slip back into the safety of the Haven unnoticed, they could cook up some lie together, Artemus never condoned lying but Garrett was starkly skilled at keeping a straight face.
Unfortunately, that hope was dashed the moment Artemus managed to wrestle the door open far enough to slip inside, keeping the entrance perched at his shoulder to make room for his son, not that he dared take another step into the Haven.
The blade laid across his throat halted him dead in his tracks.
The Haven was dim, despite numerous torches being lit, shadows bled along whatever nooks and crannies they could get into, including beneath the hood of the Keeper holding the sword to Artemus' throat.
Having lost the knee-jerk reaction window to fight back or flee, the Keeper roughly grabbed Artemus by the shoulder, expertly keeping the blade pressed just over his jugular as the Keeper slammed Artemus against the opposing wall.
Artemus watched a stray shadow dart into the halls of the Haven just before the door slid shut on its silent hinges, a brief glint of silver told him Garrett was not going to hesitate...
But then, Artemus felt his own hood being roughly tugged down.
A pause, a fragile moment between Artemus' exposure and Garrett fluidly twirling the scrap of iron once used to shave unwanted hair, now reddened and rusted from throat slit, into his palm.
"Well you certainly took your damn sweet time didn't you?" The Keeper hissed as he quickly released his hold on Artemus' shoulder, slipping his sword into its sheath before taking a step back, forcing Garrett to retreat on silent feet, drawing his hand to his hood.
All at once, Artemus blew a fragile sigh of relief, the end bordering on a hiccough which was cut short as Keeper Varia dragged him into a tight, tight hug.
"Worried me sick you did Artemus." The other man muttered against Artemus' shoulder before abruptly releasing him to begin looking him over.
"Any injuries? Open wounds?" The other man clucked like a mother hen; "You've been gone a month Artemus, when was the last time you ate anything?" Keeper Vairia rattled on before he abruptly fell silent.
"Where is…?" He asked softly, delicately as his hands fell to Artemus' arms, gently gripping the crook of the other Keeper's elbows, preparing to pull his longtime friend in for a bone-crushing hug should he need it.
Artemus sighed, raising his hands to Keeper Varia's arms in tangent; "We're fine Vari." Artemus said softly as he looked over to where Garrett stood, the blade long gone, hidden somewhere on the thief's person, out of sight out of mind; "We're both fine…"
Keeper Varia was quick to catch onto what Artemus was saying, and perhaps even faster to spin around to see who stood behind him.
"Dear Stars lad…" He murmured before gently shoving Artemus aside to approach Garrett.
Artemus didn't miss the way Garrett flinched away from Keeper Vairia's outstretched hand, and luckily neither did Keeper Vairia, who pursed his lips tightly in contemplation before moving aside, gesturing for the two men to move along.
"Let's get you two home, before someone sees, or worse, Orland finds out I've been letting people in 'an out willy-nilly."
Garrett nodded silently as he slipped past Keeper Vairia, his eyes, or, eye downcast to the floor as he walked on silent feet, like a living shadow, unnerving in ways words could not quite describe.
Artemus sighed heavily, raising an arm slightly to invite his son to his side. When Garrett was young, he would always shy away from affront gestures of affection… But now, Artemus nearly had the wind knocked out of him as Garrett hurriedly tucked himself into the alcove between his father's arm and chest easily.
If Keeper Varia noticed the apparent eagerness of the thief, he didn't comment on it, instead, the other Keeper delved right into the nitty-gritty.
"How bad are the streets?" Keeper Vairia asked quietly as the three of them began to make their way through the quiet halls of the Haven, the torches lining the walls far, far dimmer than they had ever been, the Runes lining the flame bed to promote heatless light had died along with everything else.
The Haven wasn't quite in shambles, they had learned their lesson from the Dark Ages, but that didn't mean anyone was quite happy about the situation they had found themselves in.
"Bad…" Artemus replied through a soft huff, his voice echoed in the absence of life. He couldn't remember a time the halls of the Haven were ever so lifeless, far from the heart of the Haven as they were, part of him still expected to see some wandering Keepers loitering about or running errands for their peers.
"Riots, fire… It's awful, Vari…" Artemus murmured, giving Garrett's shoulder a soft squeeze as he spoke.
"I'll take your word for it." Keeper Vairia grumbled; "We're all still in lockdown, full lockdown, rations and everything, like we're under siege, which, fine, I can understand… But after I let you out, no one else has left… Or come back."
Artemus nodded grimly at that; "How many have we lost?" He asked quietly.
"Not as many as we could have." Keeper Vairia admitted gingerly, pausing just long enough to round a corner, checking to see if there was anyone in earshot before continuing, "All of our informants are either dead or smart enough to hunker down… But the graduates?" Keeper Vairia shook his head somberly.
Artemus sighed again, it was to be expected, but being expected never made such news hurt less…
"Orland is looking for you, just a warning." Keeper Vairia huffed as they rounded another corner, finally leading them towards the heart of the Haven, or, at least towards the home stretch of hall where Artemus' apartment was.
"Did no one tell him where I was?" Artemus asked, cocking a brow, "He must have figured out that I wasn't here?"
Keeper Vairia shrugged, "The Haven's been a wreck since the new dark ages began, he's been too busy to look for you himself, and believe you me, no one is very happy with Orland at the moment with the whole lockdown and all, so most word-of-mouth messages are, shall we say, getting lost in translation… But he is asking for you, he has been for weeks so, just think of a nice lie to tell him, alright?"
Artemus nodded slowly, lips pursed in thought.
"Pa, relax…" Garrett huffed as he slipped out from beneath Artemus' arm to unlock the front door, using the key Artemus hadn't even realized he had lifted from his pocket.
"I came home before the Haven went into lockdown and you've been nursing me back to health ever since."
Keeper Vairia laughed softly at that.
"That'll do it."
"Of course it will…" Garrett muttered quietly as he opened the door.
"Orland loves nothing more than tormenting us…"