The Tip
Sirius
Sirius’ fingers search the ledge for a firm grip before heaving himself further up. Finding a jutting out brick for his foot, he finds balance and turns around to look at the three boys trailing after him, having made much less progress up the wall than him.
“We’re almost there” He calls out.
All he gets in response is a series of grunts.
Pulling himself up the rest of the way, Sirius is the first to reach the roof. He stands there with his hands on his knees, panting for a second before continuing.
“Hey Reggie,”
Reg’s wide blue eyes appear from where he’s now crawling onto the roof.
“Come have a look at this.”
He follows Sirius to the other side of the roof without question and his eyes manage to widen even further when he looks around.
“Woah” He lets out in a shaky breath.
“Nice getting above it all huh?” And it really is. From here Sirius can see the entirety of Piltover. The city that they’re so used to being below is now beneath them and, despite his hatred for it, it truly does look spectacular from this angle. Every grand building, distinguished estate, and flying airship is all set out for them to see.
One of said airships swoops above them, blowing dark strands of Sirius’ hair out from where he’d tied it up and puffing smoke into Evan’s face, who’d made his own way up and had joined the two brothers at the edge of the building.
“One day” Reg announces, a new determination in his voice “I’m going to ride one of those things.”
“And one day, I’m gonna shoot one of them down” Sirius hadn’t noticed Barty appear behind him, but he sees him now, sticking two fingers out in a gun gesture motioning a shot towards the retreating airship.
Sirius shoves Barty’s arm aside and strides ahead, leaving the other three to chase after him.
“Are you sure about this Sirius?” Evan asks, concern clear in his tone “If we get caught-”
“We’re not gonna get caught” Sirius cuts him off, jumping down onto a new building with a thud. “We’ll be in and out before anyone notices.”
They follow Sirius’ lead until they’re all lined up along the edge of a new building.
“Alright everybody, follow me” Sirius leans back to get a proper view of where he’s going. “Just don’t look down.”
That’s all the warning they get before Sirius slides down the side of the roof and launches himself onto a neighbouring balcony’s rail. His legs dangle in the air for only a second, until they find their place and he’s flinging himself over the open road onto the angled roof across from them. He finds his footing and stops to turn back around.
One glance up from Sirius and Barty is already cracking his knuckles, pushing Evan aside, and following his lead. His lanky body looks a bit unnatural as he tries to replicate Sirius. He lands on the opposite roof with a thump. He’s smirking up at Sirius when a crash from beside him rattles him and makes him lose his grip on the roof. When he regains his balance, he sends a glare to Evan who’s crouching on the roof to his right.
“Couldn’t we have just walked there?” Evan whines
“Gotta stay out of sight for this one” Sirius responds, squinting the sun out of his eyes to look up at Reggie, still on the other building. He’s staring down at the ground below, and even though he’s standing so far away Sirius can see how heavy his breaths are. He’s frozen in place.
“Called it” Barty drones “This is on you Sirius.”
“I’ll get him” Evan offers but Sirius cuts him off with a wave of his hand.
“No” He huffs at Evan before returning his gaze up to Reg.
Sirius knows what its like. Of course he does, everyone starts somewhere. He knows that right now the only sound Reg can hear is the gusting wind that comes with height. He knows how his vision is contorting to make the road seem further and further away. But he also knows that Reggie has been begging to come along, and the other boys already think that he’s bringing them down. He knows that Reg wants to be more than that and Sirius knows that he can be.
“Reggie, look at me” and he sees Reg’s eyes leave the road and find his own. “What did I tell you?”
Reg’s eyebrows furrow. “That-” He hesitates for a second, “That I’m ready.”
“That’s right!” Sirius calls, “So?”
Reg takes a deep breathe, preparing to jump, but before he can leap his legs slip out from beneath him and he’s sliding down the roof. He screams as he reaches out his arms and latches onto the same rail that Sirius had landed on. He finds his footing and lets out a small sigh of relief. Twisting around to face the other building he sees the other three watching him intently. With one gasp of air, he launches himself towards them. His feet find the other roof, but his balance is off, and he starts to stumble backwards.
His arms flail as he starts to fall but Sirius’ hand reaches out and clasps his hand. Dangling over the open road, Reg spares one glance for the fate he could’ve had before looking up to Sirius with a grateful smile.
“Thanks.”
Sirius offers him a genuine smile then pulls him up to the roof where he stumbles into Sirius and looks at the others, hiding behind an embarrassed smile. He doesn’t miss the scoff Barty huffs out.
As they journey further into the centre of Piltover, the sounds of chatter and bustling streets grow louder. Soon enough they’re on the roof of their target and worry creeps its way into Evan’s voice again.
“What if Minnie finds out we’re all the way up here?”
“Look around you” Sirius brushes him off, “You think anyone ‘round here is going hungry?”
Looking at the gold-plated roof he was currently clutching, Evan shakes his head in agreement.
“Besides” Sirius continues, “This is exactly the kind of job that Minnie would’ve pulled when she was our age, so I’m going.” He turns towards the other three, giving them once last chance to back out, “Are you with me or not?”
Barty and Evan exchange a look, a conversation happening between their eyes. Eventually, Barty shrugs and Evan exhales “Minnie’s gonna kill us.”
“Only if we screw up” Sirius shoots back with a grin. “So don’t screw up.”
Barty murmurs something sarcastic under his breath, but really, it’s so hard to deny Sirius anything when he grins at you like that, so they stop protesting. Sirius wraps his hand around the end of the roof before swinging his legs down and landing on the balcony rail with a thud. He hops down and immediately starts to suss out what they’re working with, peering through the tall glass doors that lead inside. He stealthily works around the balcony checking every window before calling out to the others.
“All clear.” Before he’s even finished saying it Barty has joined him on the balcony and is already working his way towards the glass doors and trying the door handle.
“Ugh, who locks their balcony?” He groans, kneeling and getting out his pin to pick the lock, humming quietly as he does so.
The next to come down is Reggie, his hand grasping Evan’s. Once he’s helped Reg get down, Evan swings himself down until all four of them are on the balcony.
“Whew,” Evan whistles, looking down from the balcony and the busy cobblestone street below. “There’s a lot of aurors down there.”
“Means we’re in the right place,” Sirius replies while turning back to Barty, “You gonna get that door open anytime soon?”
“Working on it” Barty grumbles in response, “Seeing as I’m the only one who knows how to pick locks I’d suggest-”
But he’s cut off by the sound of smashing glass as Sirius’ leg whips past his head and breaks down the door. His hands reel back in shock, and it takes a whack from Evan around the back of his head to snap back into it, joining the others as they troop inside.
“Animals” he scoffs, his voice thick with distaste.
“Yeah, yeah whatever” Sirius returns slyly.
All teasing is put to silence as the four boys take in the room set before them. Judging from the bits and bobs scattered around the room it obviously belongs to some kind of inventor. It’s a cluttered area but the mess isn’t chaotic. No, it’s an organised mess and Sirius can tell the inhabitant has placed everything with a purpose. The bench along the wall to their left is lined with all sorts of devices and machinery that Sirius has never seen before. There’s telescopes and globes and gears everywhere they look. The far wall is taken up by a chalkboard, filled with calculations that and diagrams that would have even the smartest minds sputtering. Despite the shiny golden items and the high-tech gadgets, all of which is Sirius is incredibly intrigued by, he brushes past them, dropping his bag and practically running to start flicking through the bookshelves.
Taking Sirius’ eagerness as a greenlight, the other three immediately take off to different corners of the room and start rummaging through anything and everything that catches their eyes.
“You know, Evan” Barty throws over his shoulder as he drags a hand along the bench. “For once, you’re right.”
“Of course I am” Evan responds, “About what, exactly?”
“We are definitely not supposed to be here.” Barty rubs his hands together and reaches for two circular gadgets resting beside each other. He gives them a once over before shrugging and chucking them into his sack.
They continue like this, grabbing anything that glints and taking it for their own.
“Must be an inventor!” Reg exclaims when he sees Sirius looking over the writing on the chalkboard. Sirius hums in agreement, pretending the thought only now occurred to him. Reg is soon distracted and moves on to another artifact.
“I think this is a real Valdiani!” Sirius hears Reggie’s elated voice from across the room and smiles. This. This is his favourite part. He turns and sees how bright Reg’s blue eyes become at the sight of something new. Like a candle being lit inside him. That hopeful, innocent look that Sirius never remembers experiencing himself. He couldn’t care less about their findings today, seeing Reg like this is worth anything. And Sirius would do anything to make sure that light in him is never burnt out.
“Oh yeah? What about this?” He's pulled out of his thoughts by Barty’s grating voice as he pulls a cylinder-shaped piece out of one of the boxes. He presses a button with a smirk and the razors on the end start whirring.
“That’s a nose hair trimmer.” Reg spares him one glance before returning to the device in his hand, leaving Barty examining said nose hair trimmer with a dazed expression.
“Keep an eye out for anything that looks valuable,” Sirius reminds Reg, who was still distracted. “Before Barty fills the bag with junk.” Both brothers look over at Barty, who was now attempting to stick the cylinder up his nose.
Sirius turns back to his own scrummaging, but is once again interrupted when Barty calls out from behind him “Uh, guys?” Sirius and Evan come on either side of them to see what caught Barty’s eye.
What they find is glowing blue stone. It’s not like anything else in the room, with an obvious purpose and sure to sell well. It is, at first glance, a rock, but if it was in a room like this, then it must have some kind of importance. It puts an eerie feeling over the three boys as they all stare at it with mixed levels of interest and fear.
“Hey Sirius, how did we find this place again?” Evan asks cautiously.
Barty reaches out to poke at the stone and immediately draws his hand back when the stone zaps his finger with a fast blue light. He sucks on his finger like it’s been burnt.
“It was a tip from Prongs” Sirius replies, eyebrows furrowed with his eyes still locked on the rock.
“Prongs?” Barty echoes.
“Just leave it” Sirius says, brushing his hands off as he returns to the task at hand and gestures for the others to follow suit “Come on.”
They shrug it off easily enough, they find weird things all the time. “How could anyone have this much stuff?” Evan says incredulously.
“Easy” Barty throws back “Just get born lucky.”
Reg
While the other three had been engrossed by the stone, Reg had taken the opportunity to slip out of the room and venture further into the building. He tries the first door handle he sees, and when he finds it unlocked, he slips inside a new room. This room isn’t all that different from the last. There’s papers and gadgets scattered everywhere, rows and rows of books and bottles. The only differences are the smaller size and the bed against the far wall. A bedroom then.
Reg hums as he starts picking up little pieces he finds around the room until his eyes lock onto the desk, where two fresh sandwiches are just sitting out the open. It’s almost like they’re begging Reg to eat them. He rushes over, picking up the sandwich closest to him and taking a massive bite.
“Mm” He lets out a content sigh at its taste, he hasn’t had food this good in a long time. While chewing, he looks back at the desk to see what else is on it. Pulling aside some blueprints, his fingers brush along a chest.
Intrigued, he puts down the sandwich and wraps both his arms around the chest to try and pick it up, but grunts when he finds it too heavy. He traces his hand around until he finds a clasp. When he flicks it, the box starts clicking and rattling until it opens, and Reg’s faced is lit up in blue light.
In the box, there are six blue stones exactly like the one Barty had found in the other room.
“Woah” His voice comes out as a whisper. He wraps his fingers around one of the stones and lifts it up to his eye, examining the glow. He doesn’t know much, but he can tell that it’s valuable. And isn’t that what they’re here for? Sirius said, ‘anything that looks valuable’ and this surely fit that description. He can’t wait to show Sirius.
He isn’t given much time to think about it. From the other room, Reg suddenly hears his friend’s panicked voices and clattering, along with muffled voices he doesn’t recognise.
Before he can process what that means, Sirius has appeared at the door frame, “Reg, we gotta go.” He’s whispering, so as not to be heard by their new company, but there’s urgency in his voice.
Reg starts reaching for all the stones, he can’t leave them behind.
“Hello?” The voice calls from outside the door, which has been barred up with a chair, “Is someone in there?”
He’s starting to panic now. He shoves the stones in his left pocket while running out the door. But one stone doesn’t reach his pocket. Reg doesn’t notice, the banging on the door drowning out the sound of the sixth stone hitting the floor. He doesn’t see the spark it creates. The energy coursing around it. He doesn’t see any of that because he’s trying to get back to Sirius and get away.
He grabs onto Sirius’ hand, who was waiting in the corridor for him, together they run back into the original room. Barty and Evan are already waiting on the balcony for them. Reg watches as Sirius kneels down to close up their bag.
“We’ll be fine” Sirius assures, “just get back onto the roof”
And because Sirius is inside and the other three are outside, Reg immediately loses sight of Sirius the moment the building they’re standing in blows up.