Lock-Picking Mayhem

Lumen eagerly fumbled with the lockpicking tools, their eyes widening with excitement as they attempted to manipulate the intricate mechanisms of the lock on Mercy's office door. "I've been watching tutorials online," Lumen chirped, beads of sweat forming on their forehead. "I'm sure I can figure this out!"

Jackal, reclining against the wall, sighed in exasperation. "Lumen, you've been at this for hours," she grumbled. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but we don't have time for your trial and error method. We need to get into Mercy's office before they return."

"It's just a bit more patience," Lumen urged. "I think I've almost got it."

"We're not gonna get a chance to try again if Mercy shows up and catches us in the act," Jackal hissed, looking up and down the hallway nervously.

Undeterred, Lumen squinted at the lock, determined to prove themselves. "I've been practicing, Jackal! The tutorials didn’t teach a quitter, I've got this."

"If you say so," Jackal sighed, checking the time on her phone. "How much longer is this gonna take? If we're here when Mercy comes back..."

"Shh!" Lumen hushed. "I'm almost there, just gotta... wait. There!"

"That was the fastest yet," Jackal remarked, as Lumen stepped away from the door, grinning and clutching their lockpicking tools in triumph. "Nice job, Lumen!"

"Thanks!" Lumen grinned, tucking the tools into a pouch in their jacket. "Now, let's go check that office out."

"Not bad," Jackal nodded, following Lumen into the office. "I've got my doubts about some of your other skills, but I'll admit that you can pick a lock."

"You know, you're a lot less rude when you're being supportive," Lumen teased.

"Oh, shut up," Jackal replied, smirking before pulling them inside the office. "We're lucky nobody came along while you were trying to get in here. Come on, we've got a limited amount of time, so we need to be quick."

“ Quick is my middle name, well it’s one of them ," Lumen smiled, before their expression turned serious. "Do you really think Mercy is hiding something?"

"I know it," Jackal replied, walking around the desk and beginning to rifle through the drawers.

“ Fair enough but where would they hide that feather anyway?" Lumen asked, looking around the room.

"No idea," Jackal answered, continuing her search. "It's not like we can just ask them about it. So I figured we'd better try and find it ourselves."

"You're not wrong," Lumen sighed. "But it's going to be really difficult to find. I mean, we could search this place all night and never find anything!"

"If you don't have the patience to search, then why did you agree to help?"

“ Curiousity and I’m too far in this weird mystery to drop out now."

"I didn't think this was possible," Jackal murmured, "but you might actually be more irritating than the others."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Lumen chirped, rifling through a stack of papers.

Jackal opened the bottom drawer, frowning. "There's nothing in here except old documents," she observed.

"They're probably important," Lumen reasoned. "But not important enough to keep under lock and key."

"I guess," Jackal sighed, closing the drawer. "Still, you'd think a headnun would have more confidential files."

Lumen’s eyes start to sparkle at the idiotic idea brewing in their head. "Let's check the bottom drawer," they suggest, reaching down to the floor and grabbing the handle. "Maybe they've got a secret compartment."

"Don't be ridiculous," Jackal scoffed, leaning over the desk.

The drawer opened easily, and Lumen's grin widened. "Hey, look!" they exclaimed. "A secret compartment!"

"No way," Jackal whispered, staring at the drawer.

It was..actually nothing! Lumen lied and Jackal promptly smacked them back of the head.

"Hey! No violence!" Lumen cried, rubbing the spot on their head where Jackal had hit them.

"That's for making me believe that was real!"

"It could have been!" Lumen insisted.

"No, it couldn't have," Jackal replied. "This drawer is just deeper than the others."

"Well, at least we learned something new today," Lumen laughed. "But seriously, you really think that Mercy would hide anything important in the bottom drawer of their desk?"

"No, I guess not," Jackal admitted, shaking her head. "But where else could it be? This room doesn't have many hiding places."

“ Hm we could go through the files but it would not be the fastest route and it would probably be more suspicious. Plus we might miss it in the shuffle, and can’t miss with the order of the folders or else they will realize someone went through them. "

" I say fuck it and go for it!"

"No, wait!" Jackal gasped, but it was too late. Lumen had already grabbed the stack of papers, scattering them across the floor.

"Oops," they murmured, looking sheepish. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Jackal assured, crouching down and beginning to collect the papers. "Just hurry up and help me clean this up."