The city of Naveh was a strange place to Seafoam. It was a crater of reddish dirt and sand, with low sandstone buildings dotting the landscape. It was dry and their skin itched in the warm air, making them count down the hours to when they and their fellows were scheduled to leave.

But despite the discomfort it caused them, it was beautiful in it's strange way. Wind chimes left by the residents sounded in the breeze, and the striations of the stone were fascinating to trace with their eyes. But the most interesting thing was the market that Seafoam stumbled across.

They stared at the bustle of people, colorfully dressed, mesmerized. The more they watched, the more they noticed seeming patterns in the flow of people - and the brown belemoid slipping between people, tucking items into their pouch. Seafoam remembered Snickerdoodle's tale of meeting a belemoid named Hamster here, and wondered if this was the same.

They did their best to follow the figure, but was left looking down an empty alleyway.

That was, until, a voice spoke from above.

"The fuck are you trying, following me?"

Seafoam startled and looked up. Hamster was sitting on the roof above, frowning down at them.

"Oh! I uh," they hesitated, knowing this was awkward. "You were taking things from people? Without them noticing?"

Hamster gestured dismissal. "Even if I did, so what?"

"…how do you do it?" Curiosity had taken over Seafoam, and they wanted to know how the belemoid managed it with nobody seeming to realize.

Hamster squinted at them. "Why do you want to know?"

Seafoam shuffled their feet. "…it's cool?"

"Huh."

Seafoam didn't look at Hamster, and so jumped when the belemoid thumped down next to them.

"You got money?" she asked flatly, and Seafoam nodded and reached for their coin pouch, only to see it in Hamster's hand.

Hamster grinned at their surprise. "First lesson for ya: misdirection. Make them focus on something else, other than where their valuables are."

Seafoam nodded hesitantly, then winced slightly as the belemoid tucked their pouch away. Well, at least there hadn't been much in it…

"So a distraction…?"

Hamster shrugged. "Sometimes. But then you need someone else in on it. Or take an opportunity if someone starts something. But the point is - it's unreliable. What's easier to do is bump into them, or to make a dramatic gesture, bringing their eyes away from the lift."

She squinted at them and Seafoam squirmed.

"Speaking of which… you've never done a lift before, huh?"

"No," they admitted ruefully.

Hamster sighed. "You gotta be light. Quick fingered. If you think it's up? Get out of there. You can't try again from the lockup."

Seafoam nodded slowly. It sounded straightforward but still… did they really want to do that? Some of the practically gaudy jewelry on display on shoppers in the market flashed through their mind. …yes, they decided, they did.

They nodded with more confidence, and turned to the market.

"Look for rich folks. Folks with a lot of baubles probably won't miss one… but if it's a scrappy person with only one nice thing? Chances are it's a hand me down and they'll fight tooth and nail for it."

Seafoam nodded to Hamster's advice, and stepped out into the busy marketplace, moving with the flow. They wandered a bit, blending in with the crowd, before starting to scope out people.

A humanoid with gaudy clothes and adornments… but no, Seafoam was too large to nimbly remove anything.

A better target was a tar'kee who kept standing to gawk at stalls, attention clearly diverted. They had finely made clothes, and small adornments glinted on their arms and ears.

Seafoam navigated the crowd, made as if they tripped, stumbled, and bumped into the tar'kee while they were staring.

"Sorry, sorry!" They exclaimed, a genuine note of embarrassment in their voice.

But as the other turned away with a grumble, Seafoam hurried off to an alleyway, opening their hand to reveal… a sweet. They sighed, then closed their hand around it and grinned. It hadn't been the ring or bauble that they'd thought, but still - no cries echoed over the marketplace, and it seemed their lift had gone unnoticed.

It was something!