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Karia laughed and spun around a few more times before walking in a straight line again. He swerved slightly into Sam but managed to correct his course before completely knocking into the man. "Ha, don't worry. I'll be fine by the time we reach his place." After a few steps, he had gotten rid of the dizziness. "Alright, we're good. No more spinning until afterward, now." Karia gave Sam a thumbs up.
Sam looked down at Karia as the man almost ran into him, shaking his head some.
"What, trying to have a repeat of when we met?" he teased, rolling his eyes. He watched the man carefully, though, a bit worried he might actually fall down.
"Alright, good." Sam held his thumb up in turn, laughing. "Are we there yet?" the man hummed, playing with the knife in his pocket.
"Hmm, I don't know. It ended up really nicely for me, so…" Karia shrugged, a playful smirk on his face. "Um…" He looked up, taking in the area. "Yeah, actually. His main headquarters, or whatever, are in that building right there." Karia nodded towards a large, run-down building a few doors down from where they were. There were a couple of people hanging around the double doors– probably guards.
Sam looked over to the building, nodding some as he became a bit more serious.
"Shall we head inside, or will we only observe from a distance for now?" The man hummed, careful to keep his knife hidden either way. He didn't want to risk losing the game so soon, after all.
Karia slowed down slightly, considering Sam's question. "I think we should just walk on by, and you can look at anything you need to. Then I'm sure we can go around and find a way onto the roof of a nearby building and see what we can see from there, yeah?" He looked over at Sam to confirm the plan.
"Sounds good to me." Sam nodded some, smiling. He looked back to the building, specifically the people out front, sighing some.
"Things will get interesting, of course, no matter what happens. Unless you could get us into the target's most common haunt without getting spotted, of course." Sam chuckled some. Things were never that simple.
"Well, of course." Karia laughed. "Otherwise it wouldn't be fun!" He headed past the building, avoiding eye contact with the guards. They didn't bother him, as he didn't bother them, which would let Sam have a look inside the building. The double doors were open, allowing anyone who passed a view of an inner courtyard. Karia scoffed under his breath at that– Adrian was just showing off, at this point. It was ridiculous.
"True!" Sam let out a breath as they passed the guards, glancing inside to see the courtyard as they passed, as any curious person would when going by open doors. He kept his hands in his pockets, fingers playing with the hilt of his knife.
"It's fancy, isn't it?" Karia commented, leaning towards Sam slightly. "Excessively, so." He rolled his eyes and continued down the sidewalk. He had a few places in mind where they could sneak onto the roof and see more of Adrian's headquarters, though which ones would actually work out was questionable.
Sam looked back to Karia once they had passed the entrance, nodding as they left the guards' earshot.
"Too much, in my opinion," Sam said. "It'll be nice to knock him off of that pedestal." The man smirked some, looking around. "Now, which rooftop area are we going to be spying from?"
"Mmm." Karia nodded, grinning at the idea. He could take all those riches and power and give it to Ocean. One would think he would want some of that power for himself, but he didn't care about that sort of stuff. Power made him a target and limited him. Ocean could take all of that. "We'll go to that one." Karia pointed to a narrow building painted a light blue. "There's a place on the roof where we can see into the courtyard."
"Perfect, then!" Sam looked to the place, striking. He really didn't like overt power either. Too much of a target could reveal his powers, his secrets, and he couldn't let that happen. So, in fact, Sam did everything he needed to to make sure no one survived finding out about them.
Karia headed towards the building, hoping that the door wouldn't be locked. It hadn't been the last time he'd scouted out Adrian's place, but if it was, he could just teleport them both in. It would be a little more flashy, but there weren't too many people on the street. He casually tried the door, finding it unlocked today as well. "Yay!" Karia grinned at Sam and opened the door. "After you!"
Sam watched Karia try the door, laughing softly.
"Why, thank you!" He moved into the building, turning to look at Karia. The man's energy was almost contagious. Almost. Sam wouldn't open up completely, not yet.
Karia entered the building and closed the door behind him, leaning against it for a second. "So, I'd tell you to be careful, but you probably already knew that." He grinned and tucked a lock of brown hair behind his ear. "So we'll just get going!" Karia pushed off of the door and headed toward the back of the big empty space that made up the first floor of the building.
Sam laughed some, following after Karia.
"Yes, but reminders never hurt." He didn't pull his knife out to fidget, as much as he wanted to, or put his hood down. He looked around as they walked, smiling at Karia again.
"No, they don't." Karia nodded, reaching the back wall. There was a sketchy staircase leading to the second floor. It hadn't collapsed on Karia the first time he climbed it, seeing as it was still there, but it still needed to be approached cautiously. "Careful here." He glanced over at Sam. "You go first, so I can see you and be ready if you need help."
Sam looked over the staircase once, eyebrows raised.
"It looks like termites holding hands," he said, quite skeptical it could hold someone of his height and stature. Still, he trusted Karia enough, so he stepped up, trying to keep his weight in the more secure areas as he made his way up.
Karia giggled, keeping his eyes on Sam the entire time. The stairs seemed to be holding up alright, for which he was very glad. A sudden rescue would have been very tricky, though he would have done everything he could to make sure Sam didn't get hurt either way.
Sam sighed I'm relief when he came to the top, looking back at Karia.
"You coming?" He asked, laughing some with a content hum. He was more than happy that he hadn't fallen through, figuring Karia would have the same luck.
"Yep!" Karia nodded, relaxing slightly. He eyed the stairs, then started up them carefully. Since they had allowed Sam to climb them, they would probably– crack. The plank under his foot suddenly disappeared. It had broken, but Karia couldn't think about that. He was already falling and any more time spent following would probably result in him getting hurt. The next moment, Karia was at the top of the stairs next to Sam, off-balance and slightly angry.
Sam took Karia's arm to help him balance, sighing some.
"You good?" He asked, shaking his head a bit. Those stairs should have been able to handle Karia, but obviously not.
"Not too bent out of shape, are ya?"
"Yeah. Just angry that the stairs prefer you over me. They worked fine last time, and then you come along and suddenly I'm not good enough." Karia said all of this with a joking tone, making it clear he wasn't actually that mad. "Well, now that my heart is going, let's go spying." He continued towards a door in the middle of the wall on the near wall.
Sam laughed softly.
"Well, if it helps any I must say you're quite more likeable than I am." Sam chuckled, following Karia to the door.
"I wonder if we'll shoot Adrian?" The man mused, head tilted a bit.
"Apparently not to the stairs," Karia grumbled, following the statement with a big smile. "That might actually work if he goes into his courtyard at the right place." He nodded, opening the door to reveal a metal ladder. "This goes to the roof." Karia grabbed onto the first rung and started climbing.
"Perhaps so! To bad we didn't bring any guns that I'm aware of. Besides, I'm always up for a stab and go too." Sam chuckled again, moving to follow Karia up the ladder.
"What is the likelihood of us spotting him, and then the chances of actually being able to make a move?"
"If you don't have any, we don't have any at all." Karia sighed, pausing and pushing the trapdoor open before climbing out onto the roof. "Ha, yeah, that would work. And the likelihood is probably very low. He's annoyingly secluded most of the time. Doesn't go out much, and if he does, he's paranoid." Karia tapped his chin, thinking. "The chances of us being able to do anything are even lower, then." He sighed, keeping low on the roof.
"Darn," Sam said, sighing dramatically. He kept low as he followed Karia to the rooftop. He looked at the area around them, shaking his head a bit.
"Damn, it wouldn't been nice to be able to just get in and get out today, not mess with any of this anymore. Then again, we are a prime example of why he should be paranoid." Sam chuckled.
"Yeah, it would have." Karia nodded, casting a glance around the roof. It didn't look like anyone was watching the roofs at the moment, so it would be fine to get going. "Ha, we really are." He smirked at Sam, then started towards one edge of the roof. The buildings here were joined, making it easy for people to sneak into Adrian's courtyard and hard for Adrian to guard. Of course, since the last time Karia was here, Adrian had probably added all sorts of new stuff to keep people out.
Sam kept low as he looked over the edge of the roof over the courtyard, tilting his head some.
"Let me guess, he's not out," the man said, sounding disappointed. Ah well, they'd be able to come up with a plan anyway then other than burst in, stab Adrian, and get the hell out.