5

At first, Tobias just laughs. After a moment, however, he seems to realize you're serious—and his smile fades.

"Um…we can't just steal this stuff. Like—I can't just do that. Not now."

He looks at you intently—but for a split second, you see him glance back at the paints.

"The owner knows my parents," he says in a low murmur. "And, like, he's a nice guy. He doesn't deserve that. And—last time—"

He cuts himself off quickly and instead turns to you again, his eyes wide. He looks a little like he hopes you're joking after all.

"You don't really think I should steal the paints, right?"

Tobias hesitates, but you see his gaze drift back to the paints. After a moment, you see a look you don't quite recognize start to dawn on his face.

"Yeah, I guess so. All right. You'd better keep watch."

As Tobias eyes over the rack of paints, you position yourself by the counter, casually leaning on it as if waiting to be served. You make sure not to pay too much attention to Tobias, but out of the corner of your eye, you can see him picking up and examining a couple of tubes of paint.

You're just about to start tapping your fingers on the counter when you hear movement from the back, and you shoot Tobias an urgent look. He doesn't seem to notice; he's too wrapped up in the concentration, busy slipping a couple of tubes out of sight.

"Heads up!" you hiss at him—but he doesn't react. At this point, you're not sure if he just doesn't hear you or if he's really good at keeping it cool. Either way, the very next moment you hear a door in the back swing open, and as far as you can tell, you have barely a second to react before the owner appears.