[u][b]Lucas Schwarze--Out of sight, Out of mind[/b][/u]

[i]Well, yeah...[/i] thought the black-haired teen in reply, settling for an internal response and a mildly exasperated frown rather than the spoken word. Cian wasn't the only one keeping her ears on a swivel...

He'd have to find a better phrase than that. Really, "ears on a swivel"? That's like specifically scraping the bottom of the barrel, even if there are plenty of ripe and fresh apples to pick all the way up to the brim. His lyrical and eclectic mind could surely produce better results!

[i][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emNa-7IAcR4]Let's see here...[/url]

"Ears open" is good, if a bit overplayed. 

Maybe something like "keeping an ear out for trouble?"

No, no, no.

That just runs into the same issue as "ears on a swivel". Think of something good![/i]

He squatted there in silence and massaged his temples, face contorting into a scrunched-up, intensely concentrated grimace. It was a spectacle that would look humorously out of place in such a tense situation, were his compatriot able to look back over her shoulder and not be glued to watching the door and surveying the activity of the guard(s) outside. A necessary evil, and one that was surely better than the alternative.

[i]You can do this, Schwarze! You didn't pass English class with ease once you had to stop doing annotations in your books for nothing!

"Ears on point"!

"Ears in tune"!

"Ears on the ball!"[/i]

His head flopped forward, fingers squeezing his scalp in what could only be described as a midway point between the "Hear No Evil" pose and Edvard Munch's famous painting, [i]The Scream[/i].

[i]This is hopeless... Just like back when I learned of the "Courage Series" last year, and how just one word can make [u]anything[/u] sound positive.[/i]

The image of a college-aged, brown-haired girl flashed through his mind, along with the phrase "The courage to admit defeat!" said in an amused, singsong tone that brought back more memories than you might expect from the voice of someone that he, logically, should barely know at all.

His hands left his head and his fist clenched passionately.

[i]I COURAGEOUSLY ACCEPT MY DEFEAT![/i]

A sharp, yet thankfully quiet gasp escaped from his previously sealed lips, and his eyes went wide as saucers. He fell for it again despite knowing about the trick for nearly a year! Truly a masterful exploitation of simplicity, both in the language he spoke and wiring of his poor brain!

...Wait, where were we? 

He snapped himself out of his own contained aside, and glanced around the room, taking stock of the situation once again. They hadn't been found out [i]yet[/i], Cian was still keeping watch at the door, but the footsteps seemed to have died off.

Had the guard already passed? Was he stopped outside?

Inwardly, he shamed himself for losing track of the situation at such a crucial moment. Reaching to his earpiece, he clicked it on, broadcasting to all channels in a low, yet as clear as possible whisper. Better play catch up.

[b]"Jack, any more of a clue what's goin' on than the two of us?"[/b]