rosannean:

  Clearly, the words that the noble spoke had rung
  true — for he severely doubted if the other would
  react in a manner such as this, were he truly as
  innocent as he attempted to claim. he was blund-
  ering, uncertain of how to defend himself against
  a claim that been, more or less, a bullseye. Lips
  would purse, and Virion’s gaze would quickly flit
  downwards, so as to take in the rest of the other
  male’s appearance. He wasn’t dressed like any
  of the other citizens currently occupying the busy
  market — moreover, he did not look like a denizen
  of Valm at all. Perhaps that would explain it, then?
  He was stranded, and thus stooped as low as
  thievery to earn attention — or money?

  It was a bit of a stretch, to say the least; but the
  elder had nothing else to go off of at the moment.

        ” ᴛʜᴇ time for excuses has long since passed,
             I fear — ᴀɴᴅ I’d have vastly preferred to hear
           the truth fall from your lips, anyway. ”

  With that, the grip he had upon the others’ wrist is
  diminished, and the offending hand is released. A
  bold move, to be sure — almost as though he was
  certain the boy-thief would not immediately run.

  Even if he did, Virion would likely catch him.

     ” sᴏ, speak the truth to me. ʏᴏᴜ’ʀᴇ not of Rosanne,
      are you, boy? sᴜʀᴇʟʏ you did not travel here solely
        to attempt to pick a Duke’s pockets —. ”

                     _{Did he say Duke? The day had frankly gone from
                     bad to worse in all of a few moments. Perhaps the
                     obviously wealthy had not been the best targets.}

                                          _{A bit of shock left Vaan as the nobility had released
                                          his arm. He used one hand to clasp the other’s wrist
                                          defensively and took a step back. Had he truly been
                                          that trusting of him not to flee? Or perhaps, he wasn’t   
                                          interested in turning him in, after all? Regardless, his
                                          prying  about  Vaan’s  general  intentions  seemed to
                                          demand  an  answer.  One  which  actually,  after the
                                          other’s protests, might be better given truthfully. He
                                          had  seen  through  Vaan’s  poor  attempts  before,
                                          anyways. No use in attempting to hide his intentions.}

                _{“The truth is that I’m on my way to look
                into some rumors of a valuable west of
                here. I  was  just  passing  through and
                needed  something  to  get  by.”}

                                _{Thinking about it, that did sound rather awful to hear aloud.}

                                                        _{“Just to get to the next town, I mean.
                                                         My  loot  from  hunting  hasn’t  been
                                                         that  great  out  here,  and  ya  know
                                                         how  it  can  be…”}

        _{Reminding himself of the other’s position,
        however,  Vaan  considered  the  chance
        that the other didn’t know. The thief could
        only  hope  once  again,  but  certain  past
        encounters with officials left him doubtful.}

                        _{“Not that it changes things for you, I guess.
                          Being  a  D u k e,  aren’t  ya  gonna  have
                          someone arrest me or something?”}

rosannean:

   ᴛʀᴜʟʏ regrettable, it would turn out to be, that Virion had spent much time amongst thieves (or one, in particular) while serving in the Shepherd’s ranks. In Vaan’s case, that was; not so much the noble’s. For in observing the likes of them on the field and elsewhere, he’d gotten a feel for their tactics. Their mannerisms.

   ʜᴇ’ᴅ caught but a glimpse of the boy initially, it was true — not enough to brand him a pilferer, under any circumstances. But in realizing that the boy continuously grew nearer to him in particuar (and hesitantly so, it was noted, so long as Virion was in such a position that he could detect him from the corner of his eye), the possibility had dawned upon him. Once the dustily-clothed blond had drawn close enough, presumably to steal whatever valuables he’d thought to be on the noble’s person, Virion turned to fully face him; faint traces of bemusement detectable in an otherwise annoyed expression.

   ”ᴀɴᴅ here I thought even common thieves had enough sensibility to pick their targets with care.” His own hand had snatched the others’ by the wrist, by then; and drawn it away from the pocket it had been about to empty. His grip wasnot so tight that it would be difficult for Vaan to escape, but it was not gentle, either.
   ”ᴛᴜᴛ-tut.”

       _{He had not noticed the other’s subtle observation as he had approached, his ignorance creating unyielding confidence in his actions.}

        _{Inches from success, the blond could feel his expression of concentration shift to one of despair as he was confronted by his prey’s glower, unsure of when exactly the other had turned to him. His thoughts jumped to potential escape routes, only to find it was too late, his wrists clasped by the hold of the stranger. The pickpocket could sense the stabbing of the other’s words, more chastising than anything.}

       _{Vaan fidgeted in the other’s hold, not enough to break free, but enough to convey discomfort before reaalizing the rightful accusation floating in the air.}

       _{“Thieves? Uh, no, that’s not…” he blundered, knowing his theatrics were failing.} 

       _{“I was… uh…”}

                        _{Getting out of this one would be interesting to say the least.}

       _{“I mean, I would never…” He trailed off. It was a reach to think those half excuses were believable, but they were all he had. Biting his lip, he looked nervously to the other, in hopes of merciful release.}

            _{The market stalls stood packed, the thick of bodies among the heat of the day practically begging Vaan for picking.  His eyes flitting back and forth from person to person, they landed on the shimmer of blue hair from his left side. A finer dress, compared to the thief’s own dusty apparel drew him closer to his target.}

                                         _{Blend into the crowd … just wait for them to look away…}

_{He leaned in, after what he took to be his chance, to discover what lined the stranger’s pockets.}