Sure, it was odd that Earl sat on a blanket on top of a hill sipping his aromatic tea, but he had a mission. The sun had just set behind the old Locks, Safes, and Security business located down the hill and across the street. The owner had just pulled the cord on the open sign and had shut off the lights in the showroom. The old man shuffled back into his office, presumably to finish up his bookkeeping for the evening. Earl couldn't help but to be slightly impressed with the old gentleman's work ethic, but it was starting to get late and Earl hadn't intended on a long stakeout - he hadn't brought enough tea for that!

Looking up from his drink, Earl spotted @Zoom approaching, note in one hand and his lock-pick set in the other. Much to Zoom's surprise, he found Earl kicked back on a blanket almost as if he were having a picnic. Zoom glanced at his note again - Sundown, Dizzy Hill, bring Lock-pick set.

He folded the note and tucked it into his pocket, walking closer to his boss. Zoom raised his eyebrows and coughed into his hand, subtly trying to get Earl to start the conversation.

"Evening." Earl said, sipping from his tea, as if this scene were entirely normal for the two of them. Zoom nodded a couple times and resigned to taking a seat next to Earl, his eyes constantly darting around for any potential information about the job at hand.

"Uh, boss?" Zoom spoke after awhile, having noticed Earl watching the security shop down the hill. "Are we going to be stealing what appears to be safes that are...empty?" Zoom tried to see the logic in this, weighing the risk to reward in his mind.

Earl took a long sip of tea and exhaled, shaking his head. "You'll see", he said while still keeping his line of sight on the business at hand.

Zoom had still been getting used to working with Earl - Zoom was used to people in this line of work both having AND communicating their plans. With Earl, Zoom just hoped that there even was a plan.

An hour passed, both of them sat in silence sipping tea. The owner finally shuffled outside from the front door of the business they'd been scoping out. Slowly locking up behind him, the old man walked to his car. After what seemed like a solid half hour, he finally pulled away from the lot. Earl stood and stretched, fumbling in his pockets quickly. He pulled out a fake mustache and a monocle - affixing them to his face as he did prior to any crime. Zoom twirled one of the pieces to his lock-pick set between his fingers, mentally preparing for the evening.

For a security and lock business, the front door was entirely too easy to pop open. Zoom had gained entrance within a minute. Taking a quick glance around, there wasn't much to see. There were some cheap pictures on the wall, and a few different models of safes sitting on the floor - all open, and empty. Shrugging, Zoom walked straight towards the register, as it seemed to be the only thing in the place of worth - what good were empty safes? Hitting the "Sale" button, Zoom grumbled as the drawer slid open only to reveal but a few dollars and some change.

Earl chuckled from a few feet away, sipping from what appeared to be yet another fresh cup of hot tea. Zoom didn't understand where the hell this man kept getting hot water from, as Earl's tea supply never seemed to run out. Zoom preferred coffee, something that he often reminded his boss of. Plucking the the cash from the register, Zoom left the small bits of change and slammed it shut, still unsure of what they were doing here. 

He must have put a little too much into the slam, as the drawer clicked back into place and then shot open once again. Shrugging, Zoom turned to his boss with a frustrated look upon his face.

"The old man takes his cash deposit home every night, we aren't here for the register." Earl stated. He nodded in the direction of the office, pointing at a door that seemed to have a much higher quality lock than the one on the entrance. Zoom grinned and grabbed his tools, starting on the task immediately.

As Earl waited patiently, he pulled the soaked teabag from his cup and looked for a trash can. Having no luck, he walked up to the register and cleared a section of the tray filled with coins. With a slight smile on his face, he replaced the coins with the teabag. Sliding the change into his pocket, Earl sauntered over to Zoom - the coins in his pocket jingling with every step.

The room was almost entirely silent, except for the sound of Earl sipping his tea, and the occasional "clink!" as one of the pins from the lock turned into place. The sound of the final pin falling was almost like music to their ears. Zoom turned the knob slowly and opened the door.

The room looked almost like a hunting lodge; bear skin rug upon the floor, an old hunting rifle hanging on the back wall. The object that caught their attention instantly was a 4 foot tall safe sitting behind a massive mahogany desk. Safe-cracking was one of Earl's specialties, a skill that had developed more and more with his age.

Earl walked up to it slowly, setting his cup of tea down on the desk. Though he was a criminal, he wasn't completely without class - he made it a point to use one of the cork coasters that the manager had laying out. Walking around the exposed sides of the safe, Earl laid a hand on it and smiled in the direction of his associate.

Zoom had pocketed his lock-pick set, knowing that it would be useless on a safe of this caliber. As he took a seat in the managers chair, Earl laughed and remarked,

"Isn't she beautiful? This here is a 1931 SentrySafe - brand new, top of the line. Seven sturdy steel rods lock tightly in place to keep this door shut..." Earl trailed off, the excitement in his voice almost tangible.

Earl picked up his tea and took a sip, adjusting the fake mustache on his face. Zoom shook his head and began rubbing his temples - he had always been used to more of a 'grab and dash' style when it came to stealing, he was not used to sticking around the scene for this long.

Earl finally finished his seemingly never-ending cup of tea. After setting it back on the coaster, he turned his attention back to the safe. Pulling out a marker from his jacket, Earl laid a hand on the dial and began spinning it ever-so-slowly clockwise. Zoom listened and watched in silence, hoping to perhaps learn a thing or two. Zoom never had any issues with lock-picking, or in fact most criminal acts, but he wasn't very proficient in safe-cracking. As he strained to listen for any indication of progress, Zoom sighed - there was no audible indication, the dial glided along without so much as a whisper.

Earl maintained his composure as he spun the dial in the other direction. Working on nothing but intuition, Earl scribbled the first number on his arm. In no time at all he had the three numbers written down, grinning as he landed on the last digit - 69. Zoom flashed a smirk as Earl grabbed onto the lever, rotating it slowly. The mechanics within clicked into place one by one. Taking a deep breath, Earl pulled the door open. Zoom rose from his seat and walked up to the safe to peer inside. Earl let out a sigh followed by "Fuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

Sidestepping out of the way, Zoom glanced inside and saw...nothing. Though he was unsure precisely what was supposed to have been inside the safe, he very much assumed it wasn't supposed to be empty. Zoom eyed Earl with a questioning raise of the eyebrows - Earl had made his way back to the manager's desk. It didn't take long before he started muttering to himself.

"Clever old geezer...where have you hidden it?"

Zoom started looking around, examining the safe from different positions, trying to think what he would have done if this were his office. Glancing over at Earl, Zoom sighed. There was no way they were leaving without whatever it was they had been in search of. Zoom's eyes moved back to the safe and widened, having spotted something. Laying flat on the ground next to the safe, he grinned. The hardwood floor around the safe was absolutely plastered with scratches. Zoom sat up and informed his boss,

"Earl come look at this! I think this safe we just cracked...well, I think it was a decoy."

Earl moved faster than Zoom thought possible, in a split second he was on the ground next to him. Inspecting for only a brief moment, the two of them hopped to their feet - placing their hands on the side of the safe in an effort to move it. After a few minutes - and much swearing, the pair of them succeeded in uncovering another safe - built into the floor. 

"How the fuck does the old man do this daily?" Zoom mumbled, as Earl took to the prone position once more.

"Zoom, this is a Schwab! Probably from the 1880's. This may take longer than usual..." Earl said to his comrade, the smile in his voice quite apparent. "I've never practiced on one of these, it must be as old as me!"

Zoom chuckled and stepped aside, giving Earl a little more light.

Earl began spinning the dial experimentally, muttering to himself.  Finally after what felt like an eternity to Zoom, his boss had finally written down the new combination on his forearm. The safe creaked open and Earl pulled from it an envelope of what Zoom assumed to be records. The files within were anxious to burst out, and would have, were it not for the small flap held down with a worn looking string woven around a button.

"Jackpot!" Earl exclaimed, causing Zoom to flash his boss another mixed look of curiosity and frustration. Earl slid the envelope into his jacket pocket and shut the safe quickly. Nodding with his head to the decoy safe, Earl set his hands on it and waited for help. Zoom, still curious as to what was in the envelope, had no choice but to wait. The pair of them slid the decoy back into place with a grunt.

Earl scooped up his favorite teacup from the desk on the way out and the duo exited in silence. After a brief moment of walking back up the hill towards the car, Zoom could not contain his curiosity any longer.

"Okay - I give up. We spent two hours in there and we hit the 'jackpot' - though all I'm seeing is a beaten down envelope with some papers trying to escape"

Zoom had made air-quotes when referring to the jackpot, his skepticism quite clear. Earl couldn't help but to laugh, he was in high spirits. Opening the passenger door to the car for his associate, Earl waited until Zoom was comfortably seated before pulling the envelope from his jacket. Untwisting the string slowly, the envelope flap sprung open - Earl removed the papers within with such caution that you would have thought the contents to be almost holy. With a smirk upon his face Earl handed the stack of papers to Zoom, who began flipping through them quickly, searching for their value.

"FireKing, August 4th, Henry Johnson - 4 Nottingbrook Lane. Schwabb, September 20th, Linda McLane - 133 Delilah Avenue. What exactly is this list?" Zoom inquired, continuing to read these seemingly random words outloud.

Earl smirked once again, causing Zoom to scowl.

"Did you know that safe warranties are verified by the seller, who are required to keep records for ten years? The FireKing line of safes are some of the most expensive ones around, and they happen to be my specialty for easy cracking! Do you know who buys FireKing safes?" Earl asked.

Zoom responded without looking away from the papers, the smallest hint of a smile playing upon his lips. Usually the only people who bothered to spend good money on their safes were...

"People who need to secure their incredibly valuable items, surely."

"Exactly!" Earl nearly shouted, raising his teacup in the air in a toast to nobody. "We now have the addresses of every FireKing safe sold by this dealer - who happens to be the most successful in the city - for the last ten years!"

Zoom's expression had slowly been shifting from confusion and irritation at his boss's lack of verbalizing their plan, to a look of amusement and excitement.

"Pretty damn clever, boss... Next time, do me a favor though? Fill me in beforehand! Anyway, we'll net a fortune off of this. For now, we should really get out of here."

Earl chuckled at the request and returned a nod, He peered down into his now empty cup.

"Yes, lets get going, I'm out of tea!"

As the two had almost cleared the scene, Zoom thought back as to how it all started, he unfolded the note from his pocket again and laughed at how unprepared he was for the evening. He took a look back at the hill and asked one last thing of Earl before leaving the scene,

"Why do you call this place Dizzy Hill?"

Earl's previously delighted face turned into a serious one and it was with no trace of kidding that he responded in a low voice.

"Well you see, this one time I got really high here a few years back and ended up rolling down the fucker...never been the same since."