Acting Is Just Pretty Lying

"That’s good, cause this kitchen is pretty terrible. Been experimenting with food lately. Hope you like chocolate banana pancakes!" 

"I can't say I've ever had them. I'm not much of a sweet tooth."

Three heists. One night. The scores of a lifetime. Some would, and have, said that attempting what she and her current partner are going to attempt is impossible, if not entirely foolish, but Katherine begs to disagree. Of the few people who know what they have in store—which isn’t many, and the ones that do most likely won’t live past tonight anyway, seeing as she hates loose ends—told her that most certainly she’ll be caught; the both of them will, and be locked away forever. But not everyone knows what she knows. Not everyone has an ace in the hole. And most certainly, not everyone knows that she’s a universe-hopping time traveller who can just leave at the first sign of trouble that she couldn’t escape from otherwise. Life is good. Currently, she’s standing outside of a lavish old mansion. All down the street are parked limos and other various fancy cars. Expensive cars. From inside the mansion, classical music floats through the air. It’s a grand party for the exclusively wealthy, and it’s just what you’d expect it to be: Millionaires gossiping and drinking imported alcohols. Talk about boring to the extreme, but for right now, and the next hour or so, she’s Valerie Haines, daughter of a successful banker. Aka, one of them. The real Valerie is a little… tied up at the moment. Quite literally. And as soon as her cohort arrives, “Valerie” can make her grand entrance.

Tonia approached 'Valerie' and smiled. "I apologise for my late arrival," she said in a smooth, calming tone. As they were already out in public, it was important to maintain the illusion of their persona's rather than risk being caught out over any sort of small squabble. She offered her arm to escort Valerie into the party, though they would move their separate ways soon after being announced. "Shall we?" 

"Can you change form or do you just have different senses?"

Schiraz decided to not show any emotions and replied: ”Neither you are.” Schiraz said quietly. “What are you doing here?” She asked, pointing a gun at the woman.

"So, I'm assuming you're not here for entirely legal purposes given that you've broken in and threatened me with a gun. So I'm going to assume you're either here to steal, which is unlikely given the lack of valuable possessions in this office, or you're here for the same reason I am." Toni smiled. "Research." 

"Go on, then. What 'species' are you?" 

"I have been called a witch, although I suspect they were just mispronouncing another very similar word."

"What makes me different? I have a few... special abilities."

"Emmanuel. Look, the house was empty so I thought I could crash over here but then people came over, a party happened… and yeah, now there’s a mess. I wouldn’t go to the shower if I were you, some guy vomitted like five times in a row,"

"Did you even steal anything?"

In the end, it took her nearly four hours, plus a lunch break (because she was of no use with an empty stomach) and a nearly-panic attack to find the damn thing, and another quarter of an hour to find Miss Miller. She couldn’t quite hide the smile on her face when she finally presented the case to her. “Here it is. Top condition, just as promised.”

"I trust that you've finished using the device and won't be needing it any longer?" 

"Mostly, the give away was in the fact that you didn't laugh outright when I suggested it."

"So how’d you end up stuck here?" he asked. "I mean, I’m guessing stuck’s the right word…” It was hard for him to fathom that it could be anything other than somebody’s plan B. Or C or D….

She forced a smile. "Bad luck, I guess. I don't really mind it so much, though." The isolation is nice, she thought but decided not to voice it aloud.