Child's Play

There had always been one thing that her mother had taught her, her father had repeated, and her aunt had joked about and warned of; Clydes only trust Clydes. That had extended to the other thieving families as well, trusted only as much as thieves could trust each other. The enemy of my enemy, sort of thing, not counting the thievery council, called together at least once a year, to give any new thieves that want to come to light a nice introduction. In the future as 'Clyde' many times, and many more as regular old Bonnie Morrison. Only the oldest families knew of her identity when her parents were gone, and only they spoke of it.

Now, however, her parents were both alive and well, she wasn't allowed into the meeting, and neither was anyone else in their class. You had to be of legal age to go to these things, Mama had said - more than once - as she and the others were ordered to stay in the Morrison home as their elders went off to the meeting.

"But Papa-" Bonnie made big eyes, briefly going through each color of the rainbow before settling back on her own color. "Can't I go just this once? To see it?"

"Not this time, Landrónita." Her father lifted her easily, holding his seven year old daughter close. "Unfortunately, rules are rules, and the Sorensons-"

"Stop coddling her, brother." Her aunt's disapproval was only in tone, even as she kissed Bonnie on the forehead. "Put our little blond niffler down and we'll be back as soon as a good job's done, yeah?" Settling down on bare feet, the small girl tried her pout again, but her father only ruffled her hair, and her aunt shot her a wink before they joined the Morrisons and her mother on their way out of the foyer.

Standing there, the girl paused, watching the door closed before the calls of the other children caught her attention, and she was darting up the stairs, eyes searching for a familiar figure before she paused and retraced her footsteps.

She'd run right past him. Darn, he was either getting good at hiding or she was distracted. "Willie!" She called in what she believed was a soft whisper, unable to figure out if he was actually hiding or she was imagining things. "Willie!"

There was something attractive about being different, about not following the rules and being the good child like everyone else. And it was that tempting thing that made Will turn out the way he was. To his parents, he was just as annoying as any seven year old boy would be, but to him, it was all amusement. He loved irritating the adults in the house, his lips always turning into a grin on hearing their worry or annoyance.

He was aware of this meeting just like the others; his family had educated him well. Of course, he still had a few doubts but he knew it wasn't wise to ask out loud. His mother had tried not to involve him too much in such activities, but it was in his blood and there was nothing either of the could do.

He rolled his eyes at the chatter of other children, not moving from his hiding spot on the stairs. His eyes kept darting towards the meeting room, wanting so badly to have a small peak. Will barely noticed his friend being lectured by her father, and wasn't even sure it was her. However, on hearing her loud whisper, his eyes widened and he pulled her into the hiding spot as well, hoping no one heard them.

"Bonnie, you need to be quiet okay?" His eyes wide and pleading, his hands still holding onto hers. It was on instinct, like a reassurance for him that she was here and his friend, unlike the others who stayed away from him always.

She was trained enough not to squeak when he pulled her into the hiding spot, squirming slightly in the limited space. "Willie-" She tried again, trying to be as quiet as she could. She squeezed his hand slightly, moving closer to him as to be more fully hidden. "Move over there's no ro-"

She perked up suddenly, eyeing the door as it opened and Will's grandfather walked out. Shrinking back into their hiding place, she watched as the man made his slow way up the stairs, hesitating ever so briefly in front of their hiding place. Her hold on his hand was suddenly very tight, though she claimed otherwise when asked later and denied even being as close to the boy as she was now. Closing her eyes, she leaned into Will, her appearance changing so that she was less noticeable, darker like the shadows in that region.

She held her breath, and hoped for the man to pass.

Will didn't say anything, just suppressed a small smile and moved a bit so his friend could hide as well. The smile quickly faded when he spotted the outline of his grandfather and his hold on Bonnie's hand tightened as well.

He wasn't so scared of the man, but the seven year old knew that his grandfather would hardly approve of what he was trying to do. After what seemed like eternity, the man moved away and the little boy let put a sigh of relief.

"You ready to help me, Bonnie?" He asked ever so quietly, completely unaffected by the closure between them, since he was more focussed on his task. It was alway like that with him, an impeccable trait most of the time. "You want to know also, right? You want to sneak in as well?"

Watching the old man hobble up the rest of the stairs to watch the rest of the children, Bonnie gave a soft sigh, peeking out to look up and down the hallway. The way was clear, as it was supposed to be during a meeting, and not a soul but them seemed to be in the hallway. Grinning, she ducked back under the safety of the shadows, becoming her normal coloring again. "Course I'm gonna go in there. Whether you help me or not." She put her nose in the air, sniffing slightly. She was a Clyde, after all, and Clydes were better than Morrisons even on a bad day. That's what her auntie said anyway, and her auntie knew everything there was to know about every thieving family there were.

But that didn't matter much, because Willie was her friend, not a Morrison. She'd told Daddy he was almost as good as a Clyde. Auntie had snorted something about the 'almost', but she'd ignored it. It hadn't made much sense anyway.

"You are gonna help, aren't you?" She asked softly. "Sounds like a two man job, anyways. 'sides, I'll need someone to blame when it all goes to poo." Slipping out of the hiding spot before he could say anything about it, Bonnie stood up, glancing up and down the hallway again. It was empty still, but being out in the open had its own dangers. Almost unconciously, she changed; hair darkening, color palet changing just the slightest bit, until she looked like Willie- or rather, Willie's twin sister. It was clear who, from a distance, she would look like. Frowning slightly, she looked up the stairs toward the sound of the other girls' voices, before deciding that maybe her Willie-Twin wasn't the best for this job. The grown ups all knew that she and Will were inseperable anyway. Anything she did he usually got roped into somehow, and visa versa.

She changed again, her hair turning bright red and freckles popping into existance on her face. She looked like Stacy now, and since Stacy was upstairs, no one would think who it really was. That was Bonnie's logic, anyway.

"Ready?" she mouthed to Will, gesturing to the door. Stepping silently, she pressed her ear to the door, listening but hearing nothing but a low murmur. She hoped Willie had brought some exstendable ears, that would make things a whole lot easier.

"Pfft, I was the one hiding over here, so of course I'm going to help," the boy huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "No way my Glitch, they'll just blame us both and you know it," he pointed out, running his fingers through his hair, as though trying to smoothen it. He glanced at Bonnie as she changed her appearance, and as much as he appreciated her trying to look like him, it wouldn't work.

But before he could voice his thought, she had changed once more. He rolled his eyes and put his hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter. "Hope this works," he murmured mostly to himself and nodded his head at her question.

The brown haired boy dug into his jacket pocket and took out the Extendable Ears. He handed her one and used the other one for himself. Unable to hear anything at first, he frowned a little, and strained a bit harder. Finally the voices got loud enough and he looked at Bonnie with a raised eyebrow.