#I PROMISE I'LL THROW A CADFAEL PIC UP AFTER THIS FOR POSTERITY

[murderspice]

Day III. Night on the Town | Sweet Talker

mostly the first, but a liiiittle bit of the second prompt here, if you squint. hehe

much love again to @captastra for putting this together (you can find the prompts here!)

here was my plotting note from when I first read these prompts:

"date night but it's just illario's increasingly elaborate attempts to pickpocket cad, who catches him every single time"

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

The first attempt was intended to be a joke. Illario would slip Rook's purse from his belt, palm it, and then present it right back to him with a flourish. Like a party trick. Some marks loved a display of sleight of hand.

Not that this was—well. That remained to be seen.

He went for a simple distraction, painting the picture of what their night would entail with his words while his hands worked in tandem, starting with a light touch to his shoulder, then a teasing brush at the waist, going in for—

Nothing, as he was swiftly slapped away. Cadfael leveled him with a bemused look.

"Hands where I can see them, Dellamorte."

Illario blinked, momentarily startled, before easing a smirk onto his face. "Apologies. I was only going to demonstrate why you should keep close to me as we walk."

That earned him a snort. "You're not going to get anything from me without asking nicely." He gave the Crow a once-over, before motioning to the city below them. "Shall we?"

From then on out, Illario had a challenge to fulfill.

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

As it turned out, there were more merchant stands than just the ones that made it into the Grande Market Square. Illario happily led Cadfael through the streets to browse through each pocket of lesser known craftspeople, stopping at any that captured their attention.

A jeweler with delicate silver work caught Cad's eye immediately with the smallest pendant he had ever seen, in the form of a small bird. Its eyes were inlaid with purple gems.

"That one I'm offering on discount," the jeweler mentioned, their voice raspy but firm. "The amethyst inlays don't quite match each other."

"What a coincidence," Cad held the pendant level with his face, showing Illario how the bird's differently colored eyes resembled his own. "Neither do mine."

Despite the discount, he set the jewelry back on its display hook immediately after. Illario lingered for a moment, but he didn't let Cadfael out of his sight for long. When he caught up to him, the other was looking over an artist's stall in which nearly every surface was covered in artwork of varying mediums.

"Ah, look at these," Illario chimed, pointing to a spread of lithographs on a side table. "Works of art, are they not, Rook?"

Cadfael glanced down at the lithographs curiously. "They are beautifully done…"

"This one," The Crow lifted one of the sample pieces off of the merchant's table, simultaneously pulling Cadfael in closer. "I think is a depiction of Queen Madrigal's assassination, see the four steel swords-"

"Hands."

"Hm?" he tried feigning innocence.

"Off my belt."

Damn it. Illario set the artwork down at the same time as he removed his hand from Cad's waist.

"It was worth a shot."

Cadfael bumped him with his hip. "Better luck next time."

▪──── ⚔ ────▪ Their stroll out of the markets ended with a rather quaint looking restaurant, given what Cadfael had assumed of Illario's taste. It was a charming place with balcony seating on the second floor, and one conveniently reserved table right at the end, designated with a single white rose, trimmed to size in a small glass vase.

Even more convenient, that all the other guests tonight seemed to be seated more favorably on the opposite side to theirs. Cad would have to ask Illario about these coincidences, later...maybe after he ate his weight in the fresh bread set on the table for them.

"The Cacio e Pepe here is to die for, Rook. I daresay it's the best in all of Antiva."

Illario leaned back in his seat, taking in their surroundings like a flower took in sunlight. If Cadfael didn't know any better, he would think that Illario looked comfortable, even though he knew that Crows were almost always anything but in public spaces. If not comfortable, then…in his element, perhaps.

Either way, he was very striking.

"Did you know that there is a restaurant in Antiva City where they roll a hollowed-out wheel of cheese to your table to toss fresh pasta into before serving it to you? I was on a contract once that took me there. It's quite the spectacle, I'll give them that, but that's about all it is." He seemed to catch himself, then, taking his own piece of bread sheepishly. "I could go on, but I doubt you wanted to hear me go on a rant about Antivan cooking."

"Please, be my guest, songbird."

Illario's gaze flicked up and pinned him in place, eyes glittering. "I have a nickname, now?"

Cadfael tried to ignore the heat that rushed to his face as he held eye contact. "You're a Crow, crows are birds, and you like to talk. And, uh, you're fun to listen to. Ergo, songbird."

"Mmm." The assassin slowly broke into a breathtaking smile. "I like it."

Their orders were taken not long after that, Cadfael deferring to Illario's expertise on wine pairing. After they waited, talked, received their drinks, then their food, ate, drank, and talked even more throughout, Illario gently touched Cadfael's boot with his own.

"Allow me to pay for your meal. It's the least I can do."

"Fine," Cadfael chuckled, tapping his foot back. "But you better be using your own coin. I'd like my purse back, before we leave."

The Crow froze. "You knew it was gone."

"Illario." Cadfael stretched the name out playfully, just as the other often did to his. "I was a pickpocket before I was a Mercar. Of course I knew. You waited until you thought I'd feel safe again, walking over here, and then as we reached the table, you pulled me in and turned my attention to the view…"

"That isn't when I took it."

"No, it wasn't," Cadfael continued, tilting his head with a knowing grin. "You waited until you could pull my seat out for me, then lifted it right as I was sitting down, so I wouldn't notice the shift of weight. You've been sitting with it in your lap this whole time."

Illario gave him that beautiful smile again. "You...are very perceptive, Cadfael."

"Does that surprise you?" Cadfael laughed, raising a brow.

Illario rested his chin into his palm, elbow resting on the table between them. His eyes could barely contain the fondness when he answered softly, "It really shouldn't have."

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

While the sun had dropped past the horizon, the city remained as alive as ever on their stroll back to the Cantori Diamond. The market stalls still bustled below them as they took the rooftops, avoiding the crowds that had only grown in size as the night went on. Whenever they had to hop from one building to another, Illario went first just to hold his hand out for Cadfael to catch from the other side. They both knew it wasn't necessary, but they kept doing it anyway.

Even with a couple scenic detours, the journey back was far too short.

"I suppose this is where we part ways for the evening, my dear Rook."

They stood on the Diamond's balcony, partially obscured by one of the several trellises of climbing vines. Cadfael leaned against it, reluctant to leave just yet.

"Treviso is just as beautiful as you said." He took the rose from dinner—which Illario had tucked carefully behind his ear after paying the bill—and stepped in close to place it in the Crow's front shirt pocket, instead. Illario leaned into the touch, one hand landing on Cadfael's waist. "I had a nice time tonight."

"So did I." He reached up to fix the other's hair, where the rose's stem had gotten caught. "Seeing the beauty of it from your eyes made me remember why I love it myself."

Their faces were so close, Cadfael could feel the warmth of the other against his own face. It would take no time at all to close the distance. If Illario did, Cad wasn't all that sure that he would stop him.

He took a breath at the same time that Illario let out a lovely sigh, and let his eyes flutter closed. "Nice try," he murmured, catching Illario's wrist once more, where he had felt it inching ever closer to his belt.

And with that, the spell was broken. The sounds of bustling activity from within the Diamond gently returned to their ears as Illario backed away from Cadfael with a rueful grin, raising his hands in surrender.

"You really are an exceptional one, mia cara."

▪──── ⚔ ────▪

It wasn't until Cadfael was back in the lighthouse that he opened his purse to find a smaller velvet pouch sitting on top of all of his coin. When he opened it and tipped its contents into his hand, he was greeted with a delicate silver pendant, in the shape of a bird, with two mismatched violet eyes.

He couldn't wipe the smile off of his face for the rest of the night.

▪──── ⚔ ────▪