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In a sense, he should have been grateful. Another so-called "criminal" in the city who favored high-ranking Association members with questionable rises to power and flimsy politics at best meant there was someone here in Eirenhyre functioned under a similar mindset to his own. The news alone was something that should have brought a tear to his eye. It was unreasonable to think that one man alone could change an entire region, but the addition of even just one more name to the cause meant for half the individual work - another, a third! And he would have been shedding that joyous tear, had it not been for one simple fact: this arsonist, whoever they were, was going about it entirely wrong. Their methods spoke all too much about their carelessness for who got caught up in their fray, the bombastic nature of their killing a cry of attention too loud to be well-intentioned. Nikki had set his sights on tonight's target long before the other's fire had been set ablaze, and had it not been for them and their schemes - the likes of which had already made civilians into causalities alongside the monsters they made into targets - his kill would have been a simple in and out affair. Instead, the grounds were littered with faces that shouldn't have been there. What should have been an easy assassination and a quick money maker had turned into a headache, and that was before he took into account that the man slated to die had a potential second assassin.[break][break]

Nothing, however, was worse than the feeling of having to dress up in suit and tie. His client had been generous enough to loan him the black ensemble, fit enough to pass but not enough to hide the nerves strung up high beneath them, and slip him into the party as a supposed guest, but even their influence could not spare him from his inability to function well within a crowd. Worse, still, was that these were the "elite of the elite", judgmental and critical to their core. Abhorrent, in a word. All of the wine at this event couldn't have calmed him enough to have a decent conversation with any of the heirs and aspiring officials gathered here, assuming he'd even allow himself to swallow a drop. If it had done him any good, he may have considered.[break][break]

More than an hour in, and his target had yet to show his face. Or, at least, the hitman had yet to lay eyes on him. The best place to be was the thick of things - it afforded the best vantage point, the most likely place to be able to track the man whenever he finally landed in his field of vision - but the thicket of people was something he could only take for so long, and the need to escape the suffocation of the main room lead him to a balcony overlooking the city (and, further still, the destruction) beyond. The periphery of his vision told him he wasn't alone in escaping the crowd, but his presence had either gone undetected or ignored entirely, and it was as though he was the sort to initiate conversation. Views like this mattered very little to him when it all boiled down to it, spectacles and their so-called beauty lost on him more often than not, but the cool breeze was a welcome change from the stuffy heat of tight-lipped strangers attempting to mingle, and had he not bothered to roam to the edge of the railing, he may not have found an unexpected prize. No wonder he hadn't been able to find the soon-to-be corpse. He'd been outside in the courtyard the whole time. In a more forgiving world, perhaps he would have been alone on this balcony, and his target would have been alone in the courtyard, and a sniper rifle would have been able to hide between his suit jacket and button up. Instead, he was trapped her, a potential witness to his crime to the right, another figure in the shadows down below, and the only weapon on his person one that was concealed well, but ill suited for long-ranged firing. From the looks of things, they were having a conversation down there, one buried by distance as the gentle whisper of the wind. His best bet was keeping an eye out from above and waiting for his chance to strike; at least, that was the best one to come to mind. That, unfortunately, left him with company, at least until his target ditched his own.[break][break]

Said company was surprisingly young, Nikki found when he tossed him a sidelong glance, likely no older than himself. Considering most of the faces he'd met here had been well into their thirties, another such youth was surprising to come by. Regrettably, the similarities he could draw from sight alone ended there, and similar age wasn't bringing enough to mind to spark up conversation. If only he could get by with ignoring the brunet the whole time. Things, unfortunately, didn't usually go that way.[break][break]

"Nice, uh... weather we're having," he began oh-so-conversationally. Shame set in immediately. Quietly, mostly to himself (although with no great effort to keep it from the only ears around who could hear), he hissed, "Arceus, I can't believe I just fucking said that."