Like A Thief In The Night [Lars + Antonio]

Lars’ first nightshift. Interesting. The place looked so different when everybody had left. During the day there was so much going on. Models walking around, staff running all over the place, trying to get the best shot. Lars sighed. Looking at how empty the building was right now, it was rather boring, to be honest. And he wasn’t even nearly done with his shift. He would only get someone to take it over from him in a couple of hours. Until then he would have to stay awake and aware of his environment. No matter how inviting it was to submit to the thoughts of his warm, soft, comfortable bed, and just close his eyes and- No.

Just moments ago, the security guard had been sitting in the security office, staring at the screens and sipping at his eighth (or was it ninth? He lost count) cup of coffee. Though it was easy to miss something on those screens. So the Dutchman had to go out of the office every now and then to do a round and see if something was going on. He didn’t really mind, since he had never been that good at sitting still for a very long time. Besides, if he stayed in the warm office, on a comfortable chair… yeah, he’d be asleep in no time. And something told him that his boss wouldn’t like that.

And thus, Lars walked through the modelling room, the bright beam of his flashlight falling on some material that someone had left behind. Nothing seemed to be out of the odds right now. He rubbed a hand over his tired face. He should’ve gotten some sleep this afternoon, really. Though he had other things were more important to do then. Lars wasn’t used yet to night shifts either. That was probably also a part of the problem.

Usually, Antonio was not forgetful when it came to his things, (well, his cellphone was an exception) so when he arrived home to realize that his camera bag--with his wallet inside--were still at the agency, he was a bit shocked. Normally, it could wait until the next day, but he really needed money for breakfast tomorrow, he did not feel like going hungry. There were enough starved people at the agency without him contributing to it. So, this is how he found himself sneaking into his workplace in the wee hours of the morning. At least the front door hadn't been locked.

It was a lot harder trying to navigate his way in the dark. Everything seemed a lot different in the dark. The first places he checked were the photo editing rooms. He didn't usually spend time in these rooms because the IT guys always got mad when he touched the computers, but today had been different! A quick search revealed the room empty of his missing supplies. The only other place it could be then was the modelling room.

Determined, he made his way over to that side of the building, stopping when he got close enough to the room that he saw a figure with a flashlight in there. Was that a robber? Oh no! What should he do? He crept closer and peeked through the doorway, just in case. Luckily, it wasn't a robber, it was the night watchman. 'Oh! He has a flashlight, I should ask him if I could borrow it....' thought Antonio as he walked up to the man and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me?"

Because of the silence in the building, the footsteps approaching him were clearly audible. When he felt that tap on his shoulder, the Dutchman spun around instantly and grabbed the unknown person roughly by the front of his shirt. A burglar? What thief was stupid enough to alert the security guard about his presence though?

He let the beam of the flashlight fall straight in the other’s face as he examined the man’s features. Recognizing him as one of the photographers, he quickly let go of him. He hadn’t expected to still run into staff of the agency, apart from security, at this point.

He lowered his flashlight as he realized he was still blinding the other with the light. “What are you doing here?” The tall Dutchman demanded to know. This wasn’t the time for photographers to still hang around here.

Though Lars could vaguely remember seeing him sleeping around sometime. Probably, or more like hopefully for him, in his breaks. Maybe he had overslept and just woken up? He scanned the other’s form, seeing if he could detect any signs of that he just woke up.

The moments after tapping the security guard's shoulder were nothing more than a blur of shock and terror. Antonio hadn't been expecting the man to move so fast, or to grab him so forcefully. Though, in hindsight, it was good to have such a quick responding guard. He was expecting a blow of some sort, so when the light flashed on him, he thought the man had punched him in the face. However, when he realized that wasn't the case, he could only be slightly relieved. The flashlight had unfortunately blinded him, which made it difficult to appreciate the quality of the agency's guards. Instead all he could focus on was the fact that the Dutchman had released him, which left him blind and alone in the dark.

Blinking did nothing to help, so he rubbed at his eyes while answering the Dutch man's question. "I left my bag here, it's really important...Have you seen it?"

Hopefully Lars had seen his bag, because right now, it was impossible to see anything other than dots blinking in his vision.

Lars lowered his flashlight a bit as he saw the other blinking against the bright light. Not that it would help much to make Antonio see better, now that he had blinded him already. He sighed as Antonio told him he had left his bag here and didn’t know where it was. “You don’t remember where you left it?” He questioned. What an airhead.

The Dutchman thought for a moment, going over the rooms he’s already been in his mind. He didn’t recall seeing anything out of the ordinary or stuff still lying around. “Don’t think I’ve seen it.” Lars told him. “What does it look like?”

Antonio really wasn’t supposed to be here now, so Lars wanted to get him out as soon as possible. He could pick the guy up and throw him out, but he could also save himself some aching muscles in the morning and just find that bag. It was a little stupid of the Spaniard to expect he could just walk in and retrieve his bag at this hour, even if he hadn’t come across Lars or a different security guard. In fact, in that case he would’ve had even less of a chance to leave with his bag than he had now. Some of the rooms were locked, and he doubted Antonio had the key to all doors here. But Lars did. “You remember what room you left it in?”

Unfortunately, Antonio had been so busy covering shifts yesterday that he had no idea where his bag might have been left. He didn't even realize something was wrong until he was changing for bed and found that the camera was still hanging around his neck. Since he had already checked the computer lab, he assumed that the modelling room must have been where it was, but he had been running around so much that it could really be anywhere, which he revealed to the Dutch man.

"Um, it looks like...like a small, red duffel bag. I did check the computer lab and my office, but it isn't in there.." he said, frowning in what he believed to be Lars' general direction, "I figured that it would most likely be in here though! I spent most of my time here."

Turning to look around the room proved pointless, as the Spaniard actually couldn't see anything other than vague shapes. Still, he squinted in an attempt to make anything out. He was getting rather tired, it was far later than he usually stayed up and he didn't even get a couple naps in while he was at work.