How to Pickpocket a Pickpocket

Chapter 24

Artis awoke with a nagging headache and a turned stomach. She regretted drinking that much the previous night immediately when standing up and finding that her legs were wobbly as well. She would've fallen over if a pair of arms didn't catch her.

"Whoa, there..." Etienne chuckled, "How much did we drink last night?"

She frowned, "One..."

"Only one bottle?"

"No... one barrel."

The blonde thief grinned and helped her over to a bucket of water to splash her face with, "Seems like I've missed out on quite a party." He froze when seeing what she was wearing. It took him a split second to recognize Brynjolf's armor hanging loosely from her body, "Isn't that Brynjolf's?"

Artis looked down and seemed to also notice it for the first time, "Oh, yes, it is. He gave it to me when- you know, I forgot. I can hardly remember anything from last night." Suddenly, she grew a bit anxious. She was wearing Brynjolf's armor, drank a lot and can't remembered what happened. What if they... "I need to find Bryn, like, right now."

Etienne, obviously thinking the same thing; that Brynjolf took advantage of her while she was drunk, gritted his teeth, "Just stay calm, wash up and get dressed. I'll go find him."

The blonde thief left the Dragonborn to clean up and marched towards the Flagon, his blood boiling as he searched for the familiar redhead in the small crowd of thieves. When he spotted him chatting with Vex, Delvin, Rune and Vipir at one of the tables, he shot forward and had Brynjolf by the collar of his shirt. To everyone's shock, Etienne pushed Brynjolf against one of the stone columns that were holding the Flagon up.

"You slimy, perverted son of a bitch!" Etienne fumed, "How could you?! Have you no conscious?!"

"Etienne, calm down." Brynjolf warned, his emerald eyes darkening.

"No! I won't calm down, not after what you did!"

"Wait, what did he do?" Vex tried making sense out of what was happening in front of them.

Delvin, Rune and Vipir all sat on the edge of their seats, ready to jump up and break apart a fight if one would break loose.

"He knows damn well what he did!" Etienne seethed and pushed Brynjolf harder against the column, "And I'll make him pay for it."

Without warning, Etienne threw Brynjolf aside, making the redhead roll on the floor and jump to his feet swiftly. But the blonde was quick and swung a punch at Bryn, who dodged it just in time. The two thieves engaged in a battle of fists and tackles while the others could just watch.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Rune asked and looked at Delvin.

"No." Delvin shook his head, "I want to see how this turns out. My money's on Bryn."

"Now that's an unfair bet, Del." Vex rolled her eyes, "We all know Brynjolf is quicker and stronger when it comes to fighting. You might as well bet on a wolf fighting against a rabbit."

"We don't even know what the fight's about." Vipir added, "I doubt it's about stealing each other's lockpicks this time."

"This time I bet 100 septims that it's about Artis." Delvin smirked, "I don't know if you fools noticed, but both of them are smitten over her."

"Yet, it's a stupid thing to fight over." Ver rolled her eyes, "Men, typical."

Brynjolf swung a punch at Etienne, who dodged it but forgot to lean back far enough for Bryn's elbow to struck him in the jaw, "Ready to tell me what I did?"