twiststheblade | Angels: Act One.

Angels: Act One.

The door opens onto a room, not small, not large. Bare, pale walls that could be made of paper, but aren't. There is a window, shuttered against the sun, pale light struggling weakly in to lie in stripes across the wooden floor.

The bed(futon) hasn't been made, white sheets tangled and draped half off onto the floor.

The only splash of colour in the room comes from a vase containing a single spray of yellow flowers, which sits atop a simple lacquered chest. Also atop the chest is a single, dog-eared book, titled 'Koshoku ichidai onna', and two small brown glass bottles, safety capped, labelled in japanese.

Miho steps noiselessly through the door, one finger to her lips, although of course she doesn't have to remind the others of the need for caution. She's all in her habitual black - soft jeans, well broken-in boots, tightly laced, the usual short-sleeved shirt and a loose kimono jacket over it all. There's a knife at each hip, and one at the small of her back. She has her forearm sheaths, as usual, and the bandolier of shuriken. There is a knife in each boot. No swords. Not. . . yet.

I can do this. It's not different than any other place. And I'm not alone. I don't have to be alone.

She raises her eyebrows to Goldy, and tilts her head to the door, a deceptively heavy affair, locked from outside.

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Having folded the shutters back, Goldy bends down onto one knee, points the end of the tool at the clear plastic and presses a small button to activate the laser. She squints her eyes as well. But as it turns out, the beam is quite faint, tending towards the infra-red end of the spectrum for most of its power. A tiny flame wicks up as the light almost invisibly burns through its target.

She slowly moves the tool upwards, an inch at a time, scoring a vaguely straight vertical line. "It looks like this may take some time. So... um... chat amongst yourselves."

Alanna returns the smile, watching Goldy for a moment before replying.

"My mother loved honeysuckle. It was her favorite,

(and mine)

Father said. He told us that much."

She treats the flower with more reverence now, offering it to Miho.

Miho twirls the stem of the spray of little flowers between her fingers for a moment, before, with an odd sort of a smile, that is still a smile, tucking it into Alanna's hair. Might as well make someone cheerful.

Then, she takes a seat on the end of the futon, watching Goldy cut through the window with the same odd smile still on her lips.

Goldy checks back over her shoulder, and her grave demeanor melts away a little as she spots the flower. She smiles too, just for a moment.

"Hey. If we're doing flowers, I want one too. We are a team."

A little surprised, Alanna reaches up to brush her fingers over the blossoms and grins. She's too anxious to sit, but she moves to stand beside the futon and absently practices reaching behind her for the sword.

"I don't think these are marigolds, but I'll give you one when we get outside."

"There are flowers in the gardens. We have to head through them for the wall."

She slips her fingers under her legs, actually sitting on her hands. Not twitching.

Goldy seems satisfied and returns to her meticulous work. She takes her time and cuts a three foot square into the window over the course of the next few minutes. Then, rather than push the piece out, she extracts her Leatherman, unfolds the larger knife blade and uses the tip to pry the perspex sheet back towards her.

She catches it as it topples in, and removes it to one side.

"Okay. We're good to go."

"Ladies first," she says to Alanna with a smirk.

Alanna rolls her eyes and crosses the room with her usual boyish stride.

"You've got me by a technicality," she grumbles good-naturedly. "Last one in, first one out."

Sobering, she quietly crawls through the hole with more grace than most would credit. Once on the other side, she moves to the left and keeps a watchful eye on the peaceful looking garden, hands ready at her side.

Miho passes through, and steps to the side, not quite flattening herself against the wall. The garden seems ominously empty, but she knows it isn't. She also knows when the men watching that section of the grounds go past. She did have a window after all.

She waits for Goldy to make it through the hole before leading the way across the gardens, soft boots carefully noiseless on the gravel.

It was almost everything Goldy could do to stop herself goosing Miho when she crawled through the window, even under these tense circumstances. She has her gun ready again as she pads along at Miho's right hand, hanging back a little. And not for the view this time.

She's not quite as stealthy as the other two, and her boots do crunch the loose stones a little. But it's hopefully lost in the steady drum of rain on the roof or in the more arhythmic dripping from the gutterways and vegetation.

The rain makes Alanna nervous. Not only does she hate to be wet, but it makes things slippery, distances difficult to judge. Her breathing sounds loud in her own ears, but she knows it's as steady as her sword arm.

Following Miho, she turns her face into the breeze, scenting the air like a hound. On any other occasion, she would find the garden delightful.

A noise sounds nearby, and in the blink of an eye, Alanna has a dagger ready and waiting, eyes trained in that direction as they continue.

A noise, but it's just a branch in the slight wind. There's no one due to cross this part of the garden for a good few minutes yet. Of course, once they reach the high wall, it will be a different matter, but for now, there's just them, and the rain, and the small of damp greenery.

Goldy had tensed as well, training the rain-slicked barrel of her gun towards the source of the sound. Noting Miho's advance, she drops it back to her hip and continues on, eyes flicking warily back and forth.

A bit further along the meandering walkway she spies a security camera positioned at the corner of the building. But their little leader seems to have them moving at a perfect lag behind its sweep. Goldy trusts this is the case anyway.

Blissfully unaware of security cameras and the like, Alanna focuses on the high, almost white wall looming in front of them. The dagger is quickly sheathed again as her eyes travel the length of the wall as far as she can see.

It's tall, but it's not insurmountable.

Smiling like the proverbial cat that caught the canary, she pauses just before they reach the wall, stooping to run gravel and dirt over her wet hands.

"We've got. . ." Miho pauses, glances over her shoulder and looks at the camera, and the empty grounds. "About two minutes. Someone boost me? I think I'm the lightest."

Goldy re-holsters her pistol and wipes her hands on her pants.

"I am most definitely not," she admits, suddenly feeling a bit porky.

She reflexively sucks her stomach in while knitting her fingers together, and stoops to allow Miho to put her foot in the makeshift stirrup.

"Thanks, love." Goldy is rewarded by a swift press of the lips.

A slight scuff of her boot against the grass to get any dirt off, and a light push off Goldy's hands, and Miho has a grip on the top of the wall. A twist, and she's lying flat on her stomach, feet hooked on either side,under the tiled top.

She makes a long arm, reaching for Alanna, as the second lightest.

"It's only because you are the tallest," Alanna reassures Goldy as she takes the proffered hand. She tries to scale the wall without putting too much pressure on Miho, and once she's at the top, she mimics the other girl's position. After a brief moment to wipe the raindrops from her eyelashes, she reaches down.

Goldy dries her hands once more, then stretches up to take both of the other girls' hands.

Almost clear. Walk in the park.

She tries to climb as well, rather than let herself be lifted. But her slightly less sensible boots don't get much purchase on the stonework, and they end up scrabbling around for most of the ascent. It is quite certain that her team mates know exactly how much she weighs by the time they heave her to the point where she can grab the top edge and fend for herself.

She looks a bit sheepish. "Sorry. It's slippery."

It's also entirely certain that the last foot of her ascent is made easier by Miho grabbing the waistband of her pants and hauling. Once Goldy is on top of the wall, Miho shifts to a light crouch, facing out. She looks both ways.

"The guard building is that way," she murmurs, pointing. "And this is where we can't avoid them. But if we're quiet and you follow me - and I mean exactly, feet where my feet go - we should manage to miss most of them."

"I'll be right behind you," Goldy mutters sourly as she readjusts her underwear. "Looking for an opening to give you a revenge wedgie."

Taking the warning about being quiet to heart, Alanna lets a nod be her only response. She bites her lip and slowly, carefully eases her legs over the wall, ready to jump.

Goldy gets a disparaging glance. However, Alanna's curiosity gets the better of her.

Softly, "what's a wedgie?"

Goldy shifts around into a sitting position, legs dangling down the outer face of the wall. She smirks to herself and reaches behind Alanna. Cold, wet fingers work adroitly, finding their target and pulling upwards.

She doesn't yank hard however. It's not enough to overbalance the knight or cause any real discomfort.

"Multiply the force of that by ten, and you've got yourself a wedgie," she declares informatively.

Miho shakes her head, laughing slightly, and boosts herself off the top of the wall. She lands lightly, about four feet away, and steps into the shade of a tree, waiting for the others.

Her eyes never stop moving though, watching for movement. She knows it'll come, she's just not too sure when. She doesn't know the patterns of the outer guards.

At first, Alanna simply scowls into the rain, resisting the urge to undo the damage done. Goldy may not have yanked hard, but it's still uncomfortable.

"You'd best be thankful I wore undergarments today."

Smirking, she gently shoves Goldy off the wall and drops down immediately after.

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