Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rio chuckled, both at Shizuka's mention of knowing gymnastics, and at Roberts behavior that he had come to know so well over their time together.
"Well," he said to Shizuka, "I'd say being a gymnast is an admirable trait. It means you're very agile, so you'll be a good help to us. Wait here just one second."

He disappeared into the back room for a moment and returned with two boxes, one large, and one small. Opening the smaller one he pulled out an ear piece and a small microphone. "This will come in handy in keeping contact with us tonight." he stated handing it to her. "And this," he handed her the larger box, "Is your new work uniform."

Rio laughed, "You'll find your new room around this corner and to the left," he said pointing, "I think you'll be pretty fond of it. You're welcome to stay there whenever you please!"

Nadia dropped into one of the many black leather chairs and leaned back, propping her feet up on the coffee table in front of her. She fingered the combo lock in her palm as she watched Rio introduce Shizuka to the basics, remembering her first day and how excited she had been for her first mission. Come to think of it, she realized she was actually excited for tonight. No matter how many times they pulled a mission, each time still brought the adrenaline rush she had come to crave.

She followed the new recruit with her eyes as she went excitedly into her new room. She stood, motioning toward the recently shut door. “She’ll definitely be an asset,” she commented with a smile, looking forward to the mission ahead, “So what of the mission set for tonight, Rio? Have a plan or are we winging it again?” She grimaced and then smiled as if it were a joke, remembering the only time they had tried to pull a theft without planning it first.

Jojo shoved open the main door with his shoulder, for he was unable to properly open the door with his hands full of groceries. He had just returned from his bi-weekly "shopping" run, and he was eagar to cook up a good meal for the group before they ran off merrily into the night. "Oi kiddies! I'm home!" Jojo noisily sauntered into the tiny kitchen area in the corner of the building. He dropped the bags of food onto the countertop, and strolled into the same room where the others were. "Hello everyone! I hope you all will be sticking around for a quick bite to eat. Afterall, it wouldn't be too smart to be hungry while on the job. Now let's see, how many plates am I whipping up tonight?" He counted Rio, Nadia, and Robert... and himself of course. "Four then? Okay, I'll get right on it! I wouldn't want to make any of you late for a good night of stealing!"

Shizuka looked at her window, then craned her head around her open door. No one seemed to be there, well..close enough. She squealed happily and climbed out the window crawling up the building. She shimmied her way to the other side and watched them talk like a family. Maybe she would be welcomed like that too someday.

"Well Jojo," chuckled Rio, "I think you'll be interested to discover that our new recruit isn't a he, but a she. Shizuka!" he called, "Someone else to introduce you to whenever you're up to it!" Then turning to the group, he continued, "On a more serious note, I agree with Robert and Nadia, a roof entrance should do nicely for tonight. Shizuka seems to be up to it, as bubbly and energetic as she is."

He then pulled out a large blueprint and sat it on the table in the center of the room, "There's a large skylight on the roof with a fairly simple lock, Nadia, we'll leave that to you, then we will be splitting up into two teams, Team A will be comprised of Myself, Shizuka, and Jojo, we will be heading for the room containing the painting itself. Team B will be Nadia and Robert. You guys will head to the security room to disable the alarm system. After Team A retrieves the painting, we will meet back up at the skylight. I know we've still got several hours, but does everyone understand?"

Nadia grinned widely, ah.. the art of lockpicking. She tossed her long hair over one shoulder to study the blueprint yet again, this time concentrating more on the room with the skylight and the security room. “Seems fairly simple. Should be a good first mission for Shizuka. Although… their attempt at security is almost working; it has me so bored with this place I’m almost ready to leave it alone.” She winked and straightened, “I vote we do someplace with higher security next mission. I’m ready for some interesting locks and maybe even a safe or two.”

She stuffed the combo lock in her pocket to deal with later and started walking to her room to pack for the night. On her way past the kitchen, she smelled the usual amazing scents wafting from it and her stomach rumbled. “God, Jojo, that smells amazing. I don’t know how you do it.” She smiled at him and continued to her room where she opened several drawers, taking out the necessary equipment for the upcoming mission. She pulled out the utility belt and loyally stuffed several different picks and a tension wrench into one of its pocket. She attached a small yet high-powered flashlight a clip and stuffed a pair of wire cutters and a pair of pliers into yet another pocket. She spent the next couple of minutes filling the rest of the pockets with various other tools before moving on. With one hand, she dragged a climbing harness out of a bin in the closet and grabbed a cable with the other, clipping a carabiner onto the harness once she reached the bed. She looked over her work and decided anything else could wait until after dinner.

She left the room, wandering back through the hideout to the dining room and taking a seat at the massive wooden table. She pulled out of her back pocket an article that had caught her attention and sank deeper into the cushioned chair to read until the others arrived.