The crowd seemed to have only grown as the night began to dawn, with the nearing of the time of execution. For Alex that was all well and good, since it meant that the defenses stationed around the place would be more distracted, having to divide their attention up, and making it easier for someone to slip by. That was balanced out by there being a lot more guards around, but he would survive. It just made for a more exciting challenge, that was all.

He slipped past people in turn as he examined the goings on, and the Citadel beyond. He had to find entrances, exits, ways to slip in that would keep from getting noticed. There were a few ways to do that, he supposed. A distraction would be nice, a disturbance to pull guards away that would allow him to slip in. Or he supposed he could just ambush someone, knock them out, and get in, or by finding an unguarded section. But he had the feeling that he wouldn't be so lucky. 

Still, there was plenty of stuff to see otherwise. performers, lovers quarrels, long separated friends meeting once more. He wore a warm grin to all of it, since it was amusing to see. Such base ambitions, and soon enough he himself would be able to engage in such activities. A pity that he didn't have any companions, but this sort of life was a solitary one, regrettably. That was just how it worked. 

"Hm, what should I do now," he mused to himself, rubbing his chin in consideration. To anyone else it would be an innocuous question, but he knew the double meaning to it. 

Well, there was no harm in looking around and enjoying himself a bit. So after procuring a bit of food for himself, which he happily munched on and enjoyed, a hand came to rest in his pocket as he walked around. There was plenty to see, and he was eager to find what might be worthy of his attention. 

The first thing that caught it was a fire breather, a performer doing tricks and juggling flaming torches. Alex came to a stop to watch as the fiery tools flipped and spun in the air, put through whatever tricks he might have for the people watching. That was definitely a useful trick, and something that he could see a few uses for, in his own humble opinion.

That was why he applauded with the rest of them, throwing a bit of cash into the collection that was already pleasant, before slipping forward in the throngs of people and snagging one of those smaller sticks, that would be used to hold a flame, slipping it up his sleeve in the process before he made his way away. By the time that the man noticed, he would be long gone, and no one would be able to trace it back to him. Admittedly petty theft wasn't his style, but it might be useful.

That done, he continued to walk on. "One down," he muttered to himself as he neared the Citadel itself, looking for balconies, outcroppings, obstructions, places where he could get in without being noticed. It was a long shot, but he might as well make the effort, right? One way or another, this was going to happen.