A Golden Opportunity
By Limewah
Commission for SarcasticKoopa
18+

The brown-furred fisher pressed the damp cloth tighter against the ursine chef’s face. The big guy only lasted a few more seconds before the fumes made his struggles cease. From there, Roman guided him gradually to the cold floor of the kitchen. 
“There we go, bud. Sleepy time.”
Once the bear was carefully laid on the floor in a foetal position, Roman peered up and around. 
“Done here,” he hissed.
“Same here,” came the voice of the thief’s co-worker. Only slight hints of the lion’s blue fur peeked out from the tight woollen cap and scarf he wore, matching the dark clothing the pair were decked out in.
“Right. Let’s move.” Roman brandished a small, gleaming stone, wrapped tightly to his wrist with a piece of cord. “Got your communicator?”
“Of course.” Rory nodded. “I’ll start with the library wing, you go for the gallery.”
“And whatever we find, we keep to ourselves.”
“Exactly. G’luck.”

They slipped up the stairs from the basement kitchen and out into the ornate halls of the duke’s manse. True to the duke’s aesthetic, it was a mixture of deep ebony and luminescent gold. Black walls, golden moulding. Golden chandeliers, black-lacquered wooden floors. It was unlike any other mansion in the entire state, which made it the holy grail for would-be burglars. Of course, that meant that getting in and out with loot was far easier said than done - no one had succeeded, all of them falling for some unknown trap.

As Roman peeled away from Rory and slithered down the eastern hallway through the darkness, he was sure in the knowledge that he was built different. He was glad he’d gotten Rory to agree to the ‘finders keepers’ rule - he knew for a fact, based on the bribes he’d passed to a butler he’d been corresponding with, that there were tons of secret compartments hidden behind various paintings in the private gallery.  He was going to make out like a bandit - and probably have to skedaddle before his ‘partner’ caught on.

Directly in front of a large, black teak writing desk was the gallery’s centrepiece; of course, it was a portrait of the duke themself. An ebony furred poodle with golden eyes, wearing a golden robe and reclining against a deep blue backdrop - the cost of that amount of pigment would have been enough to fund a small army. Roman scoffed. That dog probably wouldn’t even notice whatever he stole - they were filthy rich.
Naturally, every single painting had been set into bright golden frames with dark polished jewels encrusted into them. With his gloved paws, Roman took his time examining each one, lifting it just a little to look for compartments or indentations behind them as he popped out the jewels from the frames. The first few turned up nothing - it would have been too easy. But then he came across the first jackpot ; an assuming painting of a beautiful landscape of thousands of little daffodils. It was impressively detailed, with a great level of depth - he would have liked it more if he didn’t know that art was a total waste of time.

There was an indentation barely visible just behind the frame. He slowly and gingerly lifted the painting off the wall and set it down. The seams of the compartment were almost impossible to spot with an untrained eye. Roman, of course, was not that. A gentle push inwards made the panel click and slowly swing open on a little hinge. His face was bathed with the glitter of a golden lockbox, as big as an encyclopaedia. He tested it for weight, and could hear - and feel - the jingle and clatter of thick coins inside it.
Roman grinned. He was off to a great start.
The weight wasn’t too much of an issue once he slid it into his shadow-sack - the bag’s contents were always light as a feather. He could probably fit another couple boxes in there at most… he couldn’t get too greedy, of course.
“How’re you doing so far?” Rory’s voice was a distant whisper as the stone shone. 
“Nothing at all so far,” Roman lied with an exasperated sigh. “How about you?”
“I’m rolling in it!” Rory said, his voice breathless with excitement. “I can’t believe this… Don’t think I can fit anything more - I’ve literally got three fistfuls of solid gold rings, and there’s even more! You gotta check it out, quick…!”

Roman frowned as he listened and nodded along. On the one hand, it could have been a trick. If he was planning to fuck Rory over, Rory was probably planning the same. Maybe an ambush or a trap to steal his shit and leave him to get caught.
On the other hand, Rory was honest, credulous… and an idiot. If Roman played his cards right, maybe he could screw the lion over and take his gear. 
It was that sort of mindset that was going to set him for life. 
“I’ll be right over.”
Why not risk it…?
Roman did one last quick sweep, grabbing some golden paperweights and pens from the writing desk before he went. 
As he slipped out of the painting gallery, he failed to notice the gleaming eyes of the portrait of the duke following him, and the inscrutable expression turning briefly into a grin, before it returned to its impassive state.

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