"Hey, Lalli, wait up a moment!"

The slim thief paused, turning to glance at whoever was following him. He already knew who it was; he never forgot a voice. He stared at Elia jogging after him, an unusually heavy coinpurse hanging from her belt- which had been wrapped in leather and had copper wire threaded through its drawstring, to prevent a thief robbing the thief. 

"I gotta meet with a foreigner- wanna come? I need someone to watch my back with this guy. I'd... really like it if you came. No one else is as good as you at judging people."

He stayed silent for several moments, letting Elia catch up and give him that curious, inquiring look that many people often gave him. He already knew she had a thing for him- they were both some of the most respected thieves in the city- the difference was, Lalli was a name known by no one. He didn't socialize or spread his name like some of the others do.

But he nodded his head, and gestured ahead, vaguely. Elia gave him a bright smile, and started jogging again. "Come on then, no time to lose. This could tip the balance of power, get us an advantage against the [i]League.[/i]."

Oh? Lalli tilted his head slightly, and glanced at Elia, who immediately flashed him another grin. She was pleasantly surprised when he chose to speak, but not quite so much about what he was saying. 

"Trying to change the balance of power could be dangerous. We keep each other in check. It's equal." 

She frowned, and obviously tried to take it into consideration, before replying.

"Yeah, but if we oust the Assies, then we can let the Council do whatever, and we can continue on with business as usual- except all over the city-" She was interrupted when Lalli pressed a finger against her lip- they were nearing a corner, and he felt something off.

She went cross-eyed, looking at her crush's finger pressed against her lips, as Lalli peeked around the corner. Taking in a stranger in foreign garb, framed by the sea out a ways through the street, he gave Elia a questioning look. She peeked too, and said, "Contact- he's the person I'm meeting. Watch my back, yeh?"

And then she was gone, walking straight out to meet the man. Lalli reached up, and climbed up the house they had taken cover behind, squirreling himself away on the roof, tracking Elia's progress.

He didn't know what they were saying- he just watched as she gave him payment, and then she started doing her thing- until the man drew his sword, and attacked. 

Lalli was already jumping from the story-and-a-half house before the sword had pierced Elia- he had a knife on its way to the man before he had re-drawn his sword to attack him. His style was unfamiliar, but Lalli worked by adapting, not going through practiced motions. He turned and threw his body to the side, lithe body easily escaping the sword that the man was wielding, and he launched another knife at the man's legs. He wasn't trying to get in close-close with the swordsman- he wanted to take him down and end the fight, get to his friend.

The cloaked man rushed him, before he could make another move, though. It seemed that both of his knives hit- there was one sprouting just inside his shoulder, and another in his thigh, but neither of them seemed to slow him down. Dodging, ducking, and evading, the cloaked man grew angrier and angrier at being unable to even cut the fabric of Lalli's coat. He weaved and threaded away, eventually getting close enough to a wall to throw himself up it, climb up, and then wait for the man to lower his guard slightly. 

The man was about to shout up, and his sword wavered slightly. Lalli jumped then, whipping out two of his last knives, rolling behind the man, getting to his feet, and then throwing the extra knives- one slammed into the man's side, and the other went flying in the direction of the approaching assassin. 

The cloaked man cried out, cursing at him in a foreign language, and glanced at the assassin, before deciding he had enough hurt that day.

Fleeing, leaving Lalli with the assassin. He stayed ready, ready to run, to dodge, but let the assassin approach, let the assassin get within talking distance. She began getting too close; he started back up until she stopped. He glanced at Elia- already dead. Getting himself killed or captured won't help her none.