Of hearts, with and without

[Neohmi]

Plok... plok-plok... plok...

A young man listened intently to the remains of the rain dripping on the edge of the roof above him. The drops fell in different paces; its tempo followed no rhythm, no master, and yet the composer five blocks north of where the young man stood swore his recent masterpiece, locked in a certain beat and rhythm, was inspired by water drippings such as these. It seemed that human beings never cease to assign order on nature's chaos. Somehow, the young man found this thought amusing.

Plok-plok... plok... plok...

The streets of Maelstren remained unlit that night. The downpour from earlier made it too much of a hassle for the lamplighters to cast fire upon the street lamps. If anybody needed to walk outside that night, they had to make do with what little light the Quarter Moon offered. Fortunately, the curfew made it impossible for most residents of Maelstrom to be out and about hours after dusk, so the only brave souls who are allowed to dare the dark are the soldiers, sailors, drunkards and fools.

The young man was neither of these people and yet he was unfazed. He leaned on a wall of a storage house near the port as if the cold did not bother him. One would wonder how this is so when he did not have a cloak on; all he wore was a thin stained-green tunic strapped with a leather belt, dark pants and well-worn leather boots. He did, however, feel the need to smoke his pipe.

Plok-plok-plok... plok...

There was always something about the end of a storm that made this young man want to stay still and be as close to peace as he could get. Quite a rare circumstance for someone of his... condition. This is why he was quite annoyed when boisterous laughter and loud, slurred remarks disturbed his treasured peace and quiet. As far as he could tell, they came from men who had just turned from the corner to the street near where he was. He wished the commotion they brought with them would go away soon.

 

[April]

"Really sky? You just had to rain today?" Charity muttered, pulling her long braid into a coil around her head and pulling a cap on. She was standing just inside the garden gates of the castle, watching the rain as she prepared to head into the town, to question the men of the town about the jewel thief, currently wreaking havoc on her kingdom. Alright maybe it wasn't hers yet, but once Charity caught the thief, she was bound to be next in line. With a smirk, she pulled her black cloak on and stepped into the street. Charity calmly walked to the center of men's late night merriment, which continued boundlessly regardless of things like rain. As she walked, she enjoyed the freedom of men's clothing in opposition to her restrictive corsets and full skirts. Once she reached the district, she began asking people about the thief.
"Excuse me, sir, would you happen to know anything about the jewel thief?" she said in her best low voice, but instead of answering, a group of obviously drunk men grabbed her elbows and jeered at her as they walked down the street.
"Lighten up kid!"
"C'mon, I practically cheer the guy on!"
"Have a drink, lighten up!"
They declared as they practically dragged her around the corner. The entire way she struggled against them.
"No, I'm alright, I really just need. Hey! Are you even listening? Just, Hey! Let me go," she called. Finally one mans strength faltered, not a lot, but enough, and this time she was prepared. She yanked her arm from one man's grip and twisted the others arm, causing him to let go. She swiftly ran down the road, and jumped into the doorway of a storage house, when she noticed a man in front of the building.
"Oh, I'm sorry sir. I didn't see you there," she said leaning her head out, "Um, you wouldn't happen to know anything about the Jewel Thief that has been causing trouble in the noble's houses?" She asked nervously as she shook out her soaked cloak and gazed upwards.
Perhaps her earlier statement made it seem like she hated rain. On the contrary, she loved rain, it usually brought her good luck, it simply made it difficult for this sort of task to be carried out. She laughed a bit quietly as she waited for the stranger's answer.

@Neohmi