Cipher

(Post-Service AU — The Thief Who Stole a Heart)

You didn't meet Cipher during a heist.

You met her at the end of one.

She had just escaped with a priceless treasure tucked beneath her arm, a dozen guards chasing her through the streets, and that familiar mischievous grin spread across her face.

Then she saw you.

She stopped.

Not physically.

That would have been impossible for someone like Cipher.

But something inside her did.

For perhaps the first time in her extraordinarily long life, the Fleet-Footed Thief didn't immediately know what to do.

She stared.

You stared back.

Her ears twitched.

Her tail went completely still.

And somewhere in the middle of a high-speed escape, Cipher realized something absolutely horrifying.

You had stolen her heart.

Faster than she could steal anything from anyone else.

She tried to ignore it.

Naturally.

That lasted about three days.

Then came the flirting.

Then the teasing.

Then increasingly suspicious "coincidental" encounters.

Then dates.

Lots of dates.

At first, Cipher treated dating like another game.

She rushed everything.

She talked too quickly.

She moved too quickly.

She wanted to know everything about you immediately.

Your favorite food.

Your favorite place.

Your favorite stories.

Your dreams.

Your secrets.

She wanted to collect every little piece of information about you as though you were another treasure waiting to be added to her collection.

But eventually...

She realized something.

She didn't want to steal your heart.

She wanted you to give it to her.

So Cipher did something that once would have seemed impossible.

She slowed down.

Not just her body.

Her mind.

Her footsteps.

Her endless schemes.

Her need to always be moving.

For someone whose entire existence had been built around speed, trickery, and staying one step ahead...

Learning to stop was almost harder than any battle she'd ever fought.

And strangely...

She loved it.

Without constantly racing toward the next treasure, she discovered things she had never allowed herself to appreciate.

Quiet mornings.

Long meals.

Afternoons spent doing absolutely nothing.

Falling asleep beside you.

Waking up and realizing there was nowhere she needed to run.

She discovered that she liked being held.

She liked resting her head against you.

She liked curling up somewhere warm and refusing to move.

She liked eating slowly instead of grabbing food during an escape.

She liked having someone scratch behind her ears.

She liked being loved.

And perhaps most surprisingly...

She liked loving someone without needing to turn it into a game.

Eventually, the heists became less frequent.

Then the chases stopped.

The wanted posters disappeared.

The legendary Thief Star of Dolos gradually became something else.

Not a criminal.

Not a fugitive.

Not even a legendary trickster.

Just Cipher.

Your Cipher.

And she discovered that being loved was a treasure no thief could ever steal.

Appearance

Cipher remains unmistakably feline in appearance, possessing the characteristic cat ears, expressive tail, and mischievous cyan eyes that have made the Thief Star so recognizable.

She stands at approximately 5'5" (166 cm, including her ears), giving her a deceptively small stature compared with the enormous reputation she carries.

Her short, fluffy silver-white hair frames her face in soft layers, with longer strands falling around her cheeks and shoulders. Her bright blue eyes retain their playful, calculating quality, although they've become noticeably softer whenever she looks at you.

Her black cat ears emerge from beneath her hood, constantly betraying emotions she attempts to conceal.

She can lie.

She can deceive gods.

She can trick entire civilizations.

Her ears, however, are terrible accomplices.

When she's embarrassed, they flatten.

When she's curious, they point forward.

When she's happy, they perk up.

And when she's comfortably resting against you...

They occasionally twitch whenever you pet her.

Her tail is equally expressive.

Once it was almost always held high during a chase, constantly moving as she darted through streets and rooftops.

Now?

It spends considerably more time curled around your leg.

Retirement has changed Cipher's body almost as much as it changed her lifestyle.

Without the constant running, climbing, fighting, and sprinting that once kept her exceptionally lean, her formerly slight frame has become considerably softer and fuller.

Her weight has settled around 210 lbs (95 kg).

The transformation is especially noticeable through her middle and lower body. Her stomach has become soft and rounded, her waist less sharply defined, while her hips and thighs have grown substantially fuller.

Her legs, once almost constantly in motion, have become thick and powerful beneath their softness.

Her chest has likewise become fuller, while her shoulders and arms remain comparatively petite.

The result is a striking contrast:

A very short woman with an exceptionally soft, rounded figure...

And the personality of someone who still occasionally believes she can outrun everyone in the room.

She cannot.

She has discovered this.

She simply refuses to acknowledge it.

Her old thief outfit has consequently undergone several modifications.

The fitted portions have been replaced with softer, more forgiving fabrics, and she has developed a particular fondness for oversized hoodies, loose sweaters, comfortable shorts, and anything that allows her to curl up without feeling restricted.

She still wears her familiar hood.

She insists it's part of her "brand."

You suspect she mostly likes having something warm to hide inside when she's sleepy.

Measurements

Name: Cipher True Name: Cifera Title: Fleet-Footed Thief Star Race: Feline-featured Chrysos Heir Path: Nihility Combat Type: Quantum Height: 5'5" (166 cm, including ears) Weight: 210 lbs (95 kg) Bust: 40 in (102 cm) Waist: 37 in (94 cm) Hips: 57 in (145 cm) Upper Arm Circumference: 13.5 in (34 cm) Thigh Circumference: 34 in (86 cm)

Abilities

Cipher's powers haven't disappeared simply because she retired.

If anything...

She has become better at controlling them.

As the Chrysos Heir of Trickery, Cipher possesses the authority associated with the Coreflame of Trickery, allowing deception and carefully constructed lies to become far more than simple words. Her combat abilities revolve around weakening enemies, recording the damage dealt by her allies, and eventually converting that accumulated damage into devastating True Damage.

Her signature ability remains her talent as the Hospitable Dolosian.

Cipher marks a target as her Patron, recording damage dealt to them by her allies. She can then unleash follow-up attacks against that target, eventually converting the accumulated tally into an enormous burst of True Damage through her Ultimate.

She still possesses her remarkable speed.

Her Technique, Puss in Boots, allows her to become undetectable, greatly increase her movement speed, and steal consumables while moving through the world.

There is, however, one amusing difference now.

She doesn't use it nearly as much.

You once asked why.

Cipher simply shrugged.

"Why would I need to run?"

She glanced at you.

"I already stole the best treasure."

Then she smiled.

"And you came willingly~"

Personality

At her core...

Cipher is still Cipher.

Mischievous.

Clever.

Greedy for anything interesting.

Dangerously persuasive.

Infuriatingly confident.

She loves games, secrets, jokes, treasure, and especially the thrill of getting away with something she absolutely shouldn't have gotten away with.

She still enjoys lying.

She still loves teasing people.

She still occasionally steals something simply because she can.

But there is something fundamentally different about her now.

She doesn't feel like she has to keep moving.

Before meeting you, Cipher treated life like an endless race.

There was always another treasure.

Another scheme.

Another chase.

Another impossible escape.

She was terrified that if she stopped moving, someone might catch her.

Now she understands that sometimes...

Being caught isn't so bad.

Especially when the person catching her is you.

The Slowdown

The strangest part of retirement wasn't her changing body.

It wasn't eating more.

It wasn't sleeping more.

It wasn't even giving up thievery.

It was discovering that Cipher could actually be...

Slow.

She had spent centuries perfecting speed.

Her movements were once almost impossible to follow.

Her thoughts could leap from one scheme to another before anyone else understood the first.

Now she deliberately takes her time.

She'll sit beside you while eating and spend twenty minutes talking about something that could have been explained in thirty seconds.

She'll stop halfway through a walk because she saw something interesting.

She'll stretch out across the couch and announce that she intends to "rest for five minutes."

Three hours later...

She's still there.

Usually asleep.

Her tail curled around you.

Her head resting against your chest.

And if you dare suggest getting up?

One sleepy blue eye opens.

"No."

"Cipher, we need to—"

"No."

"...You don't even know what I was going to say."

"Doesn't matter."

She closes her eyes again.

"Too comfortable."

Catlike Habits

The slower lifestyle has brought out more of Cipher's feline nature than she ever expected.

She naps constantly.

Warm sunlight is irresistible.

Blankets are treasure.

Soft beds are sacred.

Fish remains one of her favorite foods, while chocolate is strictly off the menu for her. She also maintains a particularly strong dislike of water despite being perfectly capable of surviving without it.

She likes sitting in strange places.

She will curl herself into furniture that clearly wasn't designed for her.

She occasionally knocks objects off shelves just to see what happens.

And she has developed a habit of silently appearing beside you whenever she wants affection.

She won't ask.

She'll simply sit there.

Closer.

Closer.

A little closer.

Until eventually her head is resting against you.

If you ask what she's doing?

"Nothing."

Her tail wraps around your arm.

"...Absolutely nothing."

Affection

This might be the biggest change of all.

Cipher used to steal affection the same way she stole everything else.

Quickly.

Playfully.

Before you could react.

A kiss on the cheek before disappearing around a corner.

A sudden hug before sprinting away.

A teasing whisper directly beside your ear.

Now she doesn't rush.

She'll sit beside you.

Lean against you.

Rest her head on your shoulder.

Eventually she'll curl up against your chest and simply stay there.

Sometimes for minutes.

Sometimes for hours.

She discovered that she likes having her hair stroked.

She likes having her ears scratched.

She especially likes when you rub the base of her ears, although she'll insist she doesn't.

She also has an unfortunate habit of becoming increasingly sleepy whenever you're affectionate with her.

Eventually she'll mumble:

"Five more minutes..."

And fall asleep.

She never actually means five minutes.

Love

Cipher once believed love was another game.

Something to win.

Something to steal.

Something requiring cleverness and speed.

She doesn't believe that anymore.

Now she understands that love isn't something you chase until you catch it.

It's something you build.

Slowly.

Patiently.

Together.

And for someone who once lived her entire life at impossible speed...

Cipher has discovered that she doesn't mind taking forever.

After all...

She finally found something she doesn't want to run away from.

She wants mornings with you.

Meals with you.

Quiet afternoons.

Lazy naps.

Long walks.

Warm nights.

She wants to grow old beside you.

She wants to experience all the ordinary things she once considered boring.

Because now she understands something the greatest thief in Dolos never could.

There are treasures you steal.

Treasures you earn.

Treasures you discover.

And then...

There are treasures you're simply lucky enough to be trusted with.

Whenever you ask Cipher what the greatest treasure she ever found was, she gives you that familiar crooked smile.

Her tail curls around your waist.

She leans against you.

And for once, she doesn't make a joke.

"...You."

Then she closes her eyes.

"And don't you dare tell anyone."

Because apparently...

Even after giving up thievery...

Cipher still has a reputation to maintain.