Raging Flame
World's Greatest Lovers
World's Greatest Lovers
The Opening Gala, Redford Museum
It was definitely somewhat of a tall order, being asked by the one with the better set of eyes in their pairing to look for a very important personality, but Devi was more than up for the challenge. She had been making terrible attempts, barely succeeding, at mooching off random partygoers, so she hoped that with a clear and present goal in mind, she might end up with much better results. What was the curator's name again? Arken Aldus? What a weird name.
By some miraculous act of a god, however, Devi managed to find the curator, her target, as she was trying to finish her glass.

"That's her, right? Don't worry, darling. I got this."
With that very confident promise of success, Devi left her glass with @Aika and made her way toward the curator, one Arken Aldus. She repeated her name over and over again in her head just in case she'd forget it, hoping she wouldn't. It was vital to her attempt that she does not mess up the name and heighten her flattery of the woman's ego so as to give advantage to Aika's sticky fingers.
Devi spotted Curator Aldus mingling with some of the gala's attendees. The fiery fighter noticed that she was unarmed and unarmored, though there should have been no doubt about that. It was a gala, after all, and there were enough guards around. Even she and Aika were unarmed and unarmored. For the most part, anyway. Devi was always armed. Her arms were her weapons. But she digressed. If she remembered correctly, the woman was a retired university professor. That was pretty good information, one that she could use to her advantage.

"Excuse me... I'm so sorry to interrupt, but aren't you the curator? Arken Aldus? The woman responsible for the museum's close ties to several universities' anthropology and archaeology departments? Professor Jonas Indie has told me so many good things about you. I'm Devora Burns. Charmed."
The curator excused herself from her previous conversation partners after looking Devi up and down, from head to toe. "Well, hello," she smirked, finding Devi quite the eye-pleaser. The curator wasted no time in shaking hands with Devi. "You must be one of our many wealthy donors. Welcome to the gala! It's just a shame you had to learn all about that from...Jonas. Between you and me, he's a little...off, what with all that rubbish about the occult. I hope you're not the same?"
Devi shook her head, chuckling as if she was born for this role. Maybe she was. The curator's response should have been the only cue Aika needed to enact her own part in this scheme, that of a handsy thief.

"Oh, heavens, no! We're but old acquaintances. The oddball has managed to capture my father's heart, and he's been latching himself to his riches like a leech since. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, my father couldn't make it here tonight on account of a sickness. Jonas actually believes the Egg might be cursed?"
Devi was clearly on a roll. Unfortunately, she decided to go a bit further and botched the entire conversation with that last line. Before she delivered that dumb question, the curator was on the verge of growing to like her. Instead, Aldus snorted, "Of course he does. He needs help that boy, and I fear anyone who's acquainted with him does as well. If you'll excuse me, I need to...talk to more sensible people." And then she was off, much to Devi's dismay. Hopefully she had bought enough time for Aika to snatch her stuff?
Rolls
Expertise Check
1d100 (2) + 15 = 17 (Too terrible of a roll, so no ADV to Aika, I guess?)
Presence | Devi | 1825
