[FIN] Who Will it Be?

[TawnyAngel]

Something they could use against her, surely such a thing existed? She must think she was safe here, if she didn't she would not be so careless as she had been. Pride and complacency did come before a fall! A ten story fall would be favourite.

"Right," Zevran nodded and gave Abel's shoulder a squeeze, "let's get started quickly then. The living room, or her bedroom first?" There was unlikely to be anything in the kitchen.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Uhhh," he replied eloquently, "bedroom I guess?" That made sense, right? Bedroom first, in case she retired to it early and barred their entry or... something. Decision made he reached for Zevran's hand before following after Sonia, Caleb right on their heels, as they headed through the living room, over the plush, squishy carpeting, past the bathroom door - the sounds of the shower running persisted - and slowed to a stop at the next door left ajar. Sonia stood stock still, ears perked, and peered very cautiously, very slowly around, just in case -- and jerked her head back immediately, her ears slicked back against her skull.

Alyssa's Houndoom was sprawled over the king-sized bed, resting but not asleep.

"Never mind, not there yet," Abel whispered, taking a step back. "Living room first then, I guess."

The expansive living room held a wide variety and number of comfortable furnishings, and rather expensive-looking items had been carelessly strewn about or laid on the arms of chairs or tables. A large entertainment center with an equally large TV sat at one end, and speakers hung around the room gave the appearance of a sort of home theater setup. Books, magazines and papers lined the shelves of a large bookshelf against one wall, while a couple closed doors indicated the condo had several more rooms to check, or possibly closets -- the doors themselves gave no indication. There were no desks nor computers in the room.  

[TawnyAngel]

"It would be quicker to split up," Zevran murmured, eyes darting around the room for any likely looking hiding spots. The bookshelf had potential and so after squeezing Abel's hand he headed over to it and took a book off at random.

"I could search here," he said as he flipped through the pages and peered at the empty spot behind it for anything unusual. "If I heard the water turn off I could hide, or go out of the window or something. Cloud could watch the bedroom for me in case the hound stirs." He didn't expect Abel to agree to that but he had offered the option at least.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Even as he posed his suggestion and stepped away, Abel paled just a tad as he hastened after him with Sonia and Caleb following suit. "I know it would be faster," he whispered, placing one somewhat shaky hand on the bookshelf, "but if she finds out we're here, that's it. Game over. If we stick together there's less chance of that happening."

The book in question held little of interest to them, its pages filled with various clothes designs. Upon closer inspection, the vast majority of the titles on the shelves had 'fashion' or 'clothes' right on it, hinting pretty clearly about their contents. Nothing of interest was behind the book Zevran had picked up.

"Uh, Cloud could watch the bedroom though," the taller blond suggested after a thoughtful moment. "We'll hear if Alyssa's coming, but not the Houndoom, so it's probably best for it to be watched just in case." As he spoke, he pulled out a book at random as well - one without an obvious title - and frowned at the cover. Despite the more generic title, it had a variety of ornately-patterned dresses on the cover.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Alright," Zevran agreed without rancour, it wasn't his life hanging in the balance here after all - as long as he wasn't spotted - so it wasn't his decision to make. "Go on Cloud," he added, gesturing towards the bedroom.

Cloud expanded and then shrank again - a sort of nod - and faded from view again.

"I was hoping to find something between the pages of one of these or perhaps a false book," Zev continued in an undertone. "A hidden alcove even?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Once Zevran agreed to stick together, Abel relaxed a bit - very slightly - and flipped through the pages of the book he'd picked up. "I hadn't thought of that," he admitted, and once it became clear the book he held had nothing to hide, he closed it and replaced it, then grabbed another at random to do the same. "I don't know if any of them will, but it doesn't hurt to check, yeah." A third book, and then a fourth, had similar results, so Abel abandoned the thorough inspection of books in favor of checking out the papers scattered on a few shelves.

The papers showed little better; each was a flyer or sale ad for various department stores. Some outfits or accessories had been circled in various colors of ink.

Before Abel could suggest another course of action, the sounds of running water ceased, and the blond sucked in a breath before returning what papers he'd moved back into their haphazard positioning. A minute or two later Alyssa exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her to at least cover the important parts, and another towel wrapped around her hair. She didn't linger in the living room very long; humming a little tune, she strode from the bathroom to the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

"Well," Abel ventured once he could breathe again, "so much for checking that next, I guess."  

[TawnyAngel]

Why couldn't she have taken longer in the shower? Didn't she need to shave, or take time over her hair or something? Efficient in all things except organising her apartment, it seemed.

"Indeed," Zevran replied in an edged whisper as he glared for a few moments at the door that had closed behind Alyssa. "At least now we will have warning if she or the hound are coming. That door next maybe?" he suggested with a gesture at random, there might be something on the shelves but if there was they were unlikely to find it with a quick random search.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah, true," he agreed softly with a sigh. They would have that warning, at least... Hopefully she'd be in there a while and leave them enough time for a thorough search.

Two doors sat beside each other with a third far off to one side, all shut. Carefully, slowly, Abel twisted the knob on one of the pair of doors - it wasn't locked - and opened it more or less silently. Once there was a crack in the door Sonia stuck her nose into it like she had with the front door, though once her illusion was in place and the door opened towards them, the sight that met their eyes was rather disappointing and in stark contrast to the luxurious interior of her apartment.

"Ah.. A maintenance closet," Abel murmured with a frown, his eyes scanning the various equipment inside complete with maintenance notes and dates. An innocuous vacuum cleaner and a broom with dustpan were both tossed in the far corner. Deeming it more or less useless to waste time in there, the taller blond shut the door again quietly and repeated the slow, careful method of opening its twin. Sonia again poked her nose in, just in case anything was inside. This one was an almost identical closet, but instead of standard issue equipment in other apartments or condos, this one housed things Alyssa had placed there. Shoes were stacked along a shelf on one side - clearly she had run out of space elsewhere - and a few coats hung on the other side. A variety of hats lined the top shelf, while the floor of the closet had more shoes and a heavy, rectangular box with a padlock affixed to its front, keeping it securely shut and locked. The thing couldn't have been more than two feet wide and one foot tall.  

[TawnyAngel]

"I was half expecting perhaps the entrance to the secret laboratory where she was created," Zevran muttered darkly as the door to the supply closet closed. The next door also turned out to be a closet but this one was more promising; among the shoes, coats, and hats - more than any one person reasonably needed - was a box. A locked box.

Zevran cracked his knuckles and fetched out his tools again. "Right." Without further delay he knelt down on the floor and started to work on the lock; he was confident that they would find something of value here but whether or not it would be useful to Abel in his current predicament though was another matter.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He wanted to laugh, he really did, but he just didn't have it in him right now. He didn't have much in him right now to be honest; not much apart from adrenaline, nervous energy and sheer force of will, plus the knowledge that if he didn't find something then someone would die. Those made pretty good motivators.

When Zevran pulled out his tools to open the box with, Abel knelt down beside him with a heavy sigh. "Man, I dunno what I would've done without you," he admitted in a soft murmur, watching the delicate work his friend did with the padlock.

After a bit the padlock gave way and despite its rather aged appearance, it opened with a smooth click. Once the lid quietly creaked open, its few contents became apparent: Two small, delicate-looking but no less lethal handguns, and a lengthy, sheathed dagger.  

[TawnyAngel]

"I am glad to be here," Zevran said with a small smile but he didn't look up from his work to turn it on Abel because speed was of the essence, breaks for sentiment could come when the mission was complete. Sentiment; how strange it was to feel that.

When the lid opened and the weaponry was revealed Zevran's eyebrows rose slightly, though this was out of appreciation for the sleek weaponry rather than surprise at the discovery. "Shall we take these?" he murmured with a glance up at Abel. "If whatever will happen will happen regardless we may as well, though she might look for them before she leaves to meet you in the morning and that... that would give you less... time." Zevran's speech was wandering slightly because his mind was too. His eyes on the other hand had become fixed immovably upon the long sheathed knife. "So it was her," he stated flatly.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel frowned thoughtfully at the weapons. It was almost kind of funny to see the knife from this angle - or from any angle, really, since he hadn't seen it at all before - but he had no inclination to take it. The firearms, though... "We can, though I don't have a holster with me." He didn't particularly want it in a pocket, but given the options... hm?

Oh.

Abel picked up one of the guns and tested its slight weight in his hands before checking to see if it was loaded. It was. "Anytime anything bad happens to me these days," he said as he made sure the safety was turned on before he straightened up, not meeting Zevran's gaze whether he looked at him or not, "it's always because of her." He saw little point in lying or hiding it now. The cat was very much already out of the bag; no sense trying to put it back in again or pretend it wasn't there.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran's expression darkened a little further as he took the second gun, checked whether or not it was loaded, put on the safety out of habit, and slipped it into one of his outer coat pockets. "Why do I not find myself surprised?" he muttered as he took the sheathed knife as well and slipped it into his belt. Perhaps Alyssa had more weapons somewhere, perhaps not, but he certainly did now.

Once he had closed the box and locked it again Zevran straightened up once more. "The last door then?" If there was nothing in there they would have to try to get a chance to look around the bedroom, or search the kitchen he supposed. Perhaps she kept her secrets with her secret cookie recipes, though honestly he struggled to imagine Alyssa cooking.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The taller blond hesitated a moment before he opted not to respond. What could he say? Nothing surprised him about Alyssa anymore, and it seemed Zevran was reaching that point himself quite quickly. "Yeah, the last door I guess," he agreed quietly. Once the box was replaced and the closet door closed, Abel and his pokemon headed to the last door and opened it silently as before.

Unlike the previous two doors, the third opened to reveal a dimly lit room instead of a closet. While it didn't have nearly as many furnishings as the main living area, what it did have within looked just as expensive or high-quality as the other pieces. An expensive desk with a closed laptop atop it sat in one corner facing a window accompanied by a very comfortable-looking chair, an empty wastepaper basket sitting beside it, and a small filing cabinet nearby. On the opposite end of the room up against the wall was a glass cabinet with a variety of expensive-looking, ornate glass decorations, most of them of dark- or dragon-type pokemon. What could only be the centerpiece sat on a middle shelf; a large, majestic Houndoom with its tail curled around its legs as it reposed.  

[TawnyAngel]

Once they were all inside the room Zevran closed the door quietly behind them and then inspected the room more closely. "Office," he murmured, "good." If there was going to be something anywhere surely it was here.

Zevran headed to the filing cabinet first and tried the handle, it would be easier if it was unlocked but if not it could be dealt with.