The Phantom Theif

This morning as she was leaving for work, Muffy caught sight of a folded parchment at the apartment’s doorway. Thinking it was a note that fell out of Chase’s pocket or something, the blonde picked it up and was surprised to see a lovely handwritten note.

Well. It was definitely not that know-it-all chef wannabe’s handwriting! The blonde peered out of her door, looking across the hallways. They didn’t have many neighbours in the apartment. But could it be a note from a secret admirer in the apartment? ♪ With her heart pounding, she read through the beautifully written words. In less than a second, Muffy’s dreamy face shifted. She realised that the letter was simply a notice from this so-called, Phantom Thief.

This must have been some kind of joke. Was this Chase’s payback? She did almost set the kitchen on fire for trying to cook spaghetti the other day.

What if it did turn out to be an actual thief? Muffy thought, mortified. Mmm. She kind of liked his style and confidence to warn his victim beforehand. She could also admire their taste! (Muffy did have the best skin products, you know!) Oh, but to forcibly take them from her at midnight? Terrifying!

The beautician had thought about bringing it to the police department immediately, but instead, she caught sight of the time and realised how late she was for work. Muffy wished she had remembered about the note she hastily stashed in her purse.

Now, she arrived home around 12:15 AM from a long shift at the Underground. Extremely exhausted, Muffy decided to treat herself to a relaxing bath before passing out on the bed. She dragged herself longingly to the apartment’s bathroom. And before she could dip her toe into the bathtub she finished preparing, Muffy suddenly remembered—She still had some facial mud masks in her dresser! ♪ Wrapped with nothing but a white fluffy towel, she hummed her way towards her bedroom. 

She swung the door open, turned the lights on, and was about to scream at the horror she had forgotten about.

Just as he had planned out, Skye spent his daylight hours fast asleep until the time came for the sun to set and for the thief to make his little visit. He was, however, surprised when he entered the apartment via the window at exactly midnight, just as promised. Not a soul was inside of it, despite the late hour. Skye shook his head, but entered anyways. 

He had just been about to seek out the aforementioned skin care products (ah, he could smell the aloe vera now), but he heard the door finally unlock. He hurried to find a hiding spot, tumbling into the small closet and hiding himself behind some clothes. Not the smoothest job he’d ever committed to, but it would have to work. He heard the bath water run minutes later, as well as the exhausted sighs that could have only come from a beautiful woman overworked. 

Once he was sure that the woman had left the main room and entered the bathroom, Skye exited his hiding spot. Just as he was about to begin his snooping to find the collection of skin care products he was sure were being used by the apartment’s occupant, Skye heard the bathroom door open and he turned on his heel. 

“Chick Beam Fire!” 

The words left his lips without even thinking about it, and a white flash of light filled the apartment as the spell paralyzed the woman in place. What Skye certainly wasn’t expecting was her state of dress (or rather, undress).

Send a symbol and I’ll answer the question about my muse. (Or answer in character. Whatever works for you!)

Claire was still standing by her door, stifling small giggles when she thought about this thief. What a fool! How could he ever think he would get past her, in all her superior intellige–

Her thoughts were cut off suddenly when she heard a voice from behind her, and she jumped in surprise, whipping around to see a flash of light. After squinting to block the flash, Claire opened her baby blues to see a man standing by her veggies, a smirk on his face. It was no wonder how he went around stealing – his looks were enough to get him off the hook. “What the he–” The blonde immediately tried to run toward the man, but was met with paralysis in her stance, her body completely frozen. Her lip quivered in slight fear, but she forcefully bit down so it wouldn’t show.

“What in the Hell did you do to me?” The blonde’s words came out furious – and the thief was standing dangerously closed to her produce. “P-Princess!? Did you really just call me princess  when you’re trying to steal my VEGGIES!?” Claire’s face was flushed with anger as she spoke. “Put that down!! You are not about to get away with this! I-I’ll get my sister over here, too, and we’ll both tear you a new one!!”

“Don’t you worry your pretty head over it, beautiful.” Skye continued to examine the produce in the basket that had been so kindly put together for him. “It’s just a simple paralysis spell. It’ll be gone as soon as I’m out of the room. You won’t be stuck there forever.” 

Skye began to place the veggies all back into the basket in a neat fashion with a chuckle. “As enticing as it would be to have the company of two lovely ladies, presuming that your sister is just as pretty as you are, I must apologize and bid you farewell. Not to worry, though, about your produce I mean. They’ll be put to good use!” He picked up the basket and began to make his way towards the back door he had come in from. 

Claire had been happily plowing away at her fields, gathering the last of here winter harvests to make way for spring. The season had been relentless, throwing many obstacles in Claire’s way so her veggies wouldn’t thrive like normal, but she persisted and eventually ended up with a plentiful harvest for winter. With satisfaction, she took a large basket of produce toward her farmhouse, humming a pleasant tune in her approach. However, the blonde stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed a certain note tacked to her door. 

Confused, Claire read the scrawled handwriting with a scrunched face, which quickly turned into a gaped mouth of disbelief. Is this guy serious? With a free hand, she ripped the note from her door, mumbling to herself as she entered her home. “Steal? From me? I’ll show this guy who he’s dealing with. Who leaves a note when they’re stealing anyway!? The gall of the dude!” Claire slammed the veggies on her table, soon regretting with the thought of bruises.

A snarky grin soon set on her face. I know… I’ll just set a trap! Make it look like he’s in for a real treat then WHA-BAM, he’s caught! With the smirk still on her face, she arranged the beautiful produce in her basket to look extremely inviting, and set it on her kitchen table, nearly right in front of the door. The veggies were basically begging someone to take a bite.

As the night grew darker and colder, Claire set herself up by her front door – just out of sight. When it swung in, it would conceal her, and she’d be able to surprise any thief with her hoe! The blonde gripped the handle, patiently waiting for someone to step through the door.

Skye arrived to the farm he had left the note for and meandered onto the property without a care. His steps were as silent as he could make them and he had ceased his humming as he approached the farmhouse. With just one cursory glance through a window, Skye could see a range of things from his vantage point at the--surprise--back of the farmhouse. 

The first thing that caught his eye was the basket of produce on the table, practically packaged and ready to go for him. The other thing was the blonde hiding behind the door with a farm tool held tightly in hand just waiting to strike. Skye would have laughed had he wanted to make himself known by doing so, but he instead stifled his amusement for the time being as he made quick work of the back door lock. Once it was open, Skye opened the door and raised a pointed finger at the blonde.