Amongst Thieves

1.

"Next time, Ress, for you we can use the sewers."

"You're too kind, m'lady," he mocked as he braced a booted foot on the ledge of the building, following her gaze and making his own assessments.

"One day," she reminded him as she backpedaled away from the edge. "One day you're going to need to remove that sarcasm from that title and give me the proper respect I'll deserve.

"And when that day happens, I'll buy you that ring you've always wanted."

"On that day, I'll have already been married off to a rich lord," she said as she rolled up her sleeves, "so your ring will no longer be needed."

"I said I'll buy it— I never said I'd give it to you."

"Then save your gold," she huffed as she began her sprint. "And buy me an expensive wedding present instead."

She didn't hear his response as she vaulted off the edge of the roof. There was no rush like that of soaring through the air, knowing that there was nothing beneath you to catch if you fell. Nothing save hard pavement and unsuspecting bodies. Even after having fallen in the past, with the healed bones from severe breaks and the scars from stitches, Maize couldn't get enough of the feeling of the fall, and the potential threat of dying.

It's not that she didn't understand Ress' fear of falling— she just refused to enable his irrational reasoning of not even trying.

She timed her jump perfectly, aiming not for the rooftop itself, but instead for its edge, and her fingers gripped the edge of the roof just as her body collided with the side. She let out a pained oof, knowing well she probably bruised a rib or two, but it was better than misjudging the fall, losing your balance, and breaking more than a rib.

She hung there for a moment longer, allowing the breath to return to her lungs before hoisting herself up, but her efforts faltered as the form of her partner soared over her head.

Ress may be cautious, but sometimes he was also careless. But also with the luck of a gambler in the middle of the best streak of his life.

Even luck needs to run out, but Ress' had been going strong for the last three years they'd been together.

Sometimes Maize counted too much on that.

Pulling herself up, Ress was waiting for her to keep her steady as she regained her bearings. She winced as his hand touched her side, pulling away so as not to cause her any more pain.

"I told you if you add more padding—"

"It will keep me off balance and I'd be dead regardless." They had had that conversation too many times before.

"You just want me to wrap your chest when we get home."

"You're a smart man," she winked, and the prospect had her immediately running across the roof to the next building on the block.

Returning home with Ress was always a motivating factor in getting their marks completed and turned in. The sooner they cashed in their reward, the sooner they could go home and spend their time together in bed, healing and preparing themselves for their next mission in more ways than one.

The building was closer than the last, and Maize had no issue clearing the gap, landing this time on her feet on the edge of the roof rather than needing to grip with her fingers.

"I'll race you to the next one," she called over to Ress, who was still assessing the jump.

"It's not a race!"

"Says the one who's going to lose!"

Poking at one of Ress's greatest weaknesses, she watched him just long enough to see him prepare to cross the gap before she was running full speed across the roof.