[ At first, Hugo makes a little āohā of interest, becauseā¦ Thatās a good idea? Why hasnāt he thought of using the glamor this way? Heās so focused on himself that he hadnāt at all considered using it as a visual aid.
However. This visual aid is also a little insulting? Is that what Silco thinks his taste is??? ]
Then I must say, a preference for Thiren is absolutely nothing like a Yordle. Hold on—
[ It takes him a moment, since the Spectralsā magic doesnāt come naturally to him, and he is very pointedly not thinking of Lycaon! So, instead, that rather rude Outer Ring cat comes to mindā¦ And thus, another vision appears next to the Yordle, and the difference is clear. A Thiren is definitely much more in line with the Augmented than, uh. A Yordle. ]
Theyāre certainly not immortal either. Theyāre truly just people that happen to have animal features?
Well, yesā¦ A woman like this is on the extreme end of things, in fact. Plenty of cases are just a few features like a tail and ears.
[ A thoughtful hum, and Pulchra becomes someone else, though the feline features probably arenāt what Silco notices first. cop is probably more important. ]
Like so? Itās a whole range, and there are many different animal subtypes out there.
[ Hugo sighs as he waves his hand, and away Seth goes with it. He takes a healthy drink of his whiskey to punctuate the gesture. ]
ā¦I donāt know why Iām explaining this. Iām not ashamed of my tastes, you know. Theā¦ faux-pas of my foray is what Iām actually apologetic about.
[ Silco looks the vision of him up and down. His lip curls.
Not for the reason Hugo thinks. ]
Hopefully not the career.
[ Yeah, cop hater!! ]
Well, you have no need to to talk about your tastes. [ Again, he gestures at the yordle. ] A local brothel owner is a Yordle. We deal in such things, down in Zaun.
[ He's not going to tell him that it's ok that he made the faux pas though. Because.
Well.
Of course he isn't!! He's still mad even though it's a petty mad. Just the soul of a hater. ]
No, of course not. That's actually more insulting than the Yordle!
[ he'd kiss a yordle before a cop. sorry seth. ]
That boy is just one that I've run into a few times, so he came to mind first as one of the more halfway types. He's completely clueless, obviously.
[ Can't you just tell by looking at him? Not a thought between those admittedly very cute ears! Hugo sighs and settles into his chair, since he doesn't miss the fact that the faux-pas isn't accepted, but that just confirms what he'd been thinking. Silco will not, in fact, let that one go. ]
...I usually like to be more elegant about how I switch topics, but no, not tonight. I think we've had enough of talking about my sex life, don't you?
[ He does not want to even hint to Silco about fucking on a roof,,, ]
I did ask you to come here because I'd found something handy about the property. Coming in the way you did ruined a little bit of the presentation, but I'll just show you where it is on the way out, but. The grounds have rather convenient sewer access through one of the accessory buildings.
[ Yes, moving onto why heād wanted Silco to come over at allā¦ Much better. How did they get off track so quickly (answer: itās because theyāre both yappers)? ]
Mm, I didnāt realize it when I obtained the place, since that building had always been locked and uninteresting when I stopped by before. Honestly, Iām not even sure if the previous owner had the keys.
[ But thatās a trivial matter for Hugo, obviously. Save for the occasional magical lock that Karteria employs, all of these very old-fashioned, mechanical locks pose no challenge to him whatsoever. Actually, theyāve been a bit fun in how easy they are to pickā¦ ]
I thought you would find that handy. Iām still trying to figure out the answer to that question, since some rudimentary exploration showed that itās not the most directā¦ But you may have more luck with it than I did.
[ Silco is definitely going to be more adept at navigating the sewers than he is. Heās also not sure whether Silco would take offense or find it to be a compliment, so he just keeps it to himself. Good thing Silco gets a sewer map for Christmas, huh? ♥ ]
[ How typical of those who live above, to never look down at what lies below. Silco's eyes slid around the room, and vaguely in the direction that Hugo's eyes travel, even if it's behind him, as if he is watching to see where it is. Though he knows Hugo will show him at some point, because, well.
As he said.
This may be useful. ]
I should not be surprised, hm? And this works in our favor. I had been hoping to use the sewers to...expand. Further into the city, use it to spread beyond our two underground locations.
Well, even if he did, he wouldnāt think anything of it, right? A sewer is simply a sewer for most.
[ And honestlyā¦ Until meeting Silco, it basically was for him too. He still doesnāt like going down there, because while Hugo would resoundingly reject the label of being upper class, well. He does have some of the sensibilities. Not that he would think that wanting to be clean and not smelling like a sewer would count, exactly, but heās not going to argue it. ]
Iām hoping to make it into a bit of a safehouse, if that appeals to you? Iāll need to obtain everything off the books so that only those I tell are aware of it, so itāll take some timeā¦ But itāll be one option.
[ He points towards the floor idly, and though it is in a specific direction, it wonāt mean anything to Silco. ]
Iām setting up options, you see. A mirror downstairs will take you to Aparallaxia, but I donāt think that location is exactly ready for anything but emergencies.
[ It's not bad. Not a bad plan, not a bad setup. Hugo puts himself in a place where he is useful to others. A safehouse for himself (and for Silco), mirrors to locations where others are building. Silco sees all of it as a ploy to be useful, and consequential.
Not that he can blame the boy, of course. They need to each pull their weight, and he had built a council of chembarons with each their own individual talents for a reason.
No, it's what he would do, were he not using his own/em> particular talents to create his own particular brand of usefulness. ]
It would appeal to me. Safehouses are useful. We move through the sewers, but there is no guarantee that they will be able to make it back to me. Not quietly and without notice.
Safehouses are useful things. And necessary.
[ His fingers tapped on the table. ] I had thought to find...amenable entrances from the sewers. To move throughout the city.
[ That āhmā might as well be a glowing review. Hugoās practiced acting is the only reason that he doesnāt look deeply pleased at finally getting something close enough to praise from the man. Why does he want that? Well, he just likes to be praised, especially when itās hard-earned. Nothing to do with Silco in particular in this case. ]
Itās just about as ideal for it as you can get, I imagine. Since itās inside a building, itās easy to just slip in and out without the awkwardness of trying to pry a manhole cover up off the street.
[ ā¦Not that he thinks that was Silcoās plan, exactly. No offense, but he doesnāt think Silco has the strength to manage it. ]
So, Iāll move ahead with that little plan and leave it open to you. Though is there anything youād put in it? Iāve built safehouses before, but they served a different purpose. Renting out a few apartments in the city so my members can lay low after a heist is easy. This is a bit moreā¦ Hm, classical, I suppose?
[ He reaches up to drag his fingers down his mouth, considering. Weapons would be appropriate, but he doesn't think that it would go over well in the long term. Not because Hugo would be opposed to it, but when the time for weapons came, it would be a specific time.
Not now, for certain. ]
Medical supplies, food and water, some necessities for refueling. A hidden space for stashing materials and goods, that won't be found by the authorities were they to stop by.
[ Hugo nods along as Silco lists his ideas, and from his expression, it doesn't seem like anything is a surprise. It's about what he'd set up for Mockingbird members, though with a little more luxury than the safehouse here could be afforded. At the hidden space, though. His smile turns a little more sly. ]
Ah, that's no problem. There's a reason I picked fine art as my cover profession, and it's not just personal taste.
[ He holds up a finger to say "one moment" as he sets down his drink and stands. He heads to a meagerly populated bookshelf, though most of it looks like notebooks. After thumbing along them for a moment, he selects one, then brings it back to set in front of Silco. He opens it to a page that's full of quite complex building sketches, but they're all for packing crates. ]
Fine art necessitates bespoke storage. It's easy to add false compartments, and with a side building full of crates like these? I would really have to make them suspicious to go through the trouble of disassembling every single one.
[ Honestly? Though he looks down on Hugo's "profession" as a sign of wealth and luxury, he in this moment realizes that it holds a purpose. One that he can appreciate, at that.
He wonders, sometimes, how many thieves exist topside, how many people like like he does but they conceal it by merit of being a Topsider, and how much he could have gotten away with, had he simply been born somewhere else. How much could he have done, were he to simply be different? How much could he have done?
Did it matter, in the end? This was who he was. Nothing could change that, and he quite frankly, wouldn't want to.
His eyes skim the paperwork, looking it over carefully, nodding along. ]
Impressive. Why, I think something like that would be quite the useful addition to any safehouse. Particularly if there are... faux valuables within?
[ There it is again. Approval, however faint and however Hugo is certain that it would grate against his nerves if Silco were to voice it in the acerbic way he does... So, he'll just take this. ]
Au contraire, the valuables are real. It helps to sell the story if it's backed up as something I actually use.
[ He takes his seat again with a nod, sitting back as he collects his glass. ]
I'm not in the forgery business. That's a completely different skill set when it comes to fine art. So, if you do use it, please tell anyone else to keep their hands off my property, please?
[ He asks nicely, but there's the smallest undercurrent in his words. It's not a threat, exactly, but more that if anything he cares about is damaged, he will come to collect what he's due. ]
[ LOOK.................. actually don't he knows and he's ashamed ]
That's an acceptable plan, yes. Since they don't exactly have all of the packing materials I'm used to here, it's probably smart regardless...
[ truly rip to things like styrofoam and other nice squishy plastics to keep things in place. He'll also pointedly ignore Silco's complex here. It's only polite, since we're also ignoring Hugo's daddy issues. ]
I'll work out the details a little further, but it's mostly organizational. It'll be easy enough to make a nook for someone to hide out in for a few days at least, and any of the boxes surrounding it will be the ones with the extra work.
[ He nods, and clearly he has a good mental picture of how all of this will work. ]
Hopefully it's not something that will need to be used at all, but... I'm not actually optimistic about that. Best to be prepared well before it's needed.
[ Admitted blandly, with a twist of his lips. He knows better. ]
Making plans for something like this is a necessity. As much as it would be nice to play that we will not need to have it, we both know that it won't come to pass like that. We'll need to be prepared, because I'm certain that Patho-Gen is preparing for some of us in turn.
Me, most like, but they likely don't know how good I can be at this.
[ A thin smile. ]
Or who's working with me. That is to our advantage.
[ ā¦Silco is making that many āfriendsā in high places, huh? He canāt say heās surprised, but he thinks to himself that heās glad that theyāve already had a discussion about the gentlemanās agreement of the underground. Thereās some loyalty to go around, and Hugo would certainly never snitch on Silco, but if things got too dicey? It was a tie that heād cut to save himself. As heās sure Silco would do to him.
ā¦Not that he expects heād be on the receiving end. Their modus operandi were completely different when it came to how they treated those in power. So, he nods in agreement. ]
It is. An air of respectability gets you far. [ But his tone isnāt suggesting that Silco should take up that option. In fact: ] Just as one of ill repute does. Between us, I imagine thereās not many circles we wouldnāt be able to draw use from.
[ He takes a sip of his whiskey thoughtfully, then looks back to Silco. ]
ā¦In fact. Do you know of anyone that might be looking for an easy job? It wouldnāt be a bad idea to have one of your people working at the gallery.
How easy? I have plenty, but the skills are what I would question. And whether you want augmented or not.
[ Silco's fingers are already starting to crawl across the surface of the city, picking up pieces, weighing them, like a spider spreading out across its web. He has a lot of resources to tap, and Hugo should know by now that he's going to make sure that this will serve him well, in turn. ]
It would allow them to keep an eye out, so I don't disagree.
But I'd hate to send you muscle when you want reception.
Augmented would be preferred, considering some of the assets that are relevant to us alone. The more aligned with our view of this world as a whole, the better, I'd say. Just in case things go very poorly, you know?
[ He says it brightly, but the implication is clear. Even if Hugo loves his gallery and has worked hard to build it up, he'd abandon it in a moment. It'd be a shame, but it's still ultimately a cover and a mask of legitimacy. ]
But I have two positions in mind. One I'm much more selective about for professional reasons, but if we happen to have an overlap, then all the better. I'll need someone else to do the day-to-day management once we get towards summer, since, well.
[ He gestures towards one of the windows. Up here, he has big, thick curtains, but downstairs? That wouldn't work at all. ]
Once the daylight takes over the moonlight, I won't be able to bear being downstairs for too long, you know? It's better for the art, but terrible for me.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
i see that reddit title and i'm craughing
However. This visual aid is also a little insulting? Is that what Silco thinks his taste is??? ]
Then I must say, a preference for Thiren is absolutely nothing like a Yordle. Hold on—
[ It takes him a moment, since the Spectralsā magic doesnāt come naturally to him, and he is very pointedly not thinking of Lycaon! So, instead, that rather rude Outer Ring cat comes to mindā¦ And thus, another vision appears next to the Yordle, and the difference is clear. A Thiren is definitely much more in line with the Augmented than, uh. A Yordle. ]
Theyāre certainly not immortal either. Theyāre truly just people that happen to have animal features?
GOOD
They somewhat look a lot more like us.
[ A beat. Because yes, he showed the Yordle, and not the Vastaya for a reason. ]
Well, some of us, hm?
Yordles are a far cry from being similar to us. Vastaya, on the other hand... [ He gestures at his vision. ]
Well, a Thieren would be called that, where I am from. They are not dissimilar.
no subject
[ A thoughtful hum, and Pulchra becomes someone else, though the feline features probably arenāt what Silco notices first. cop is probably more important. ]
Like so? Itās a whole range, and there are many different animal subtypes out there.
[ Hugo sighs as he waves his hand, and away Seth goes with it. He takes a healthy drink of his whiskey to punctuate the gesture. ]
ā¦I donāt know why Iām explaining this. Iām not ashamed of my tastes, you know. Theā¦ faux-pas of my foray is what Iām actually apologetic about.
of course you'd show me seth!!!!!!!!
Not for the reason Hugo thinks. ]
Hopefully not the career.
[ Yeah, cop hater!! ]
Well, you have no need to to talk about your tastes. [ Again, he gestures at the yordle. ] A local brothel owner is a Yordle. We deal in such things, down in Zaun.
[ He's not going to tell him that it's ok that he made the faux pas though. Because.
Well.
Of course he isn't!! He's still mad even though it's a petty mad. Just the soul of a hater. ]
:)
[ he'd kiss a yordle before a cop. sorry seth. ]
That boy is just one that I've run into a few times, so he came to mind first as one of the more halfway types. He's completely clueless, obviously.
[ Can't you just tell by looking at him? Not a thought between those admittedly very cute ears! Hugo sighs and settles into his chair, since he doesn't miss the fact that the faux-pas isn't accepted, but that just confirms what he'd been thinking. Silco will not, in fact, let that one go. ]
...I usually like to be more elegant about how I switch topics, but no, not tonight. I think we've had enough of talking about my sex life, don't you?
[ He does not want to even hint to Silco about fucking on a roof,,, ]
I did ask you to come here because I'd found something handy about the property. Coming in the way you did ruined a little bit of the presentation, but I'll just show you where it is on the way out, but. The grounds have rather convenient sewer access through one of the accessory buildings.
no subject
Typical, though. ]
I didn't really want to talk about it in the first place.
[ He was just being catty because it's... Silco. ]
You have Sewer access?
Isn't that interesting?
I wonder what the most direct path would be, to where I do business, hm? And how we could use that to our advantage.
[ let's be real.
silco's advantage. ]
big thoughts: seth should have been an orange cat
Mm, I didnāt realize it when I obtained the place, since that building had always been locked and uninteresting when I stopped by before. Honestly, Iām not even sure if the previous owner had the keys.
[ But thatās a trivial matter for Hugo, obviously. Save for the occasional magical lock that Karteria employs, all of these very old-fashioned, mechanical locks pose no challenge to him whatsoever. Actually, theyāve been a bit fun in how easy they are to pickā¦ ]
I thought you would find that handy. Iām still trying to figure out the answer to that question, since some rudimentary exploration showed that itās not the most directā¦ But you may have more luck with it than I did.
[ Silco is definitely going to be more adept at navigating the sewers than he is. Heās also not sure whether Silco would take offense or find it to be a compliment, so he just keeps it to himself. Good thing Silco gets a sewer map for Christmas, huh? ♥ ]
O H........................
[ How typical of those who live above, to never look down at what lies below. Silco's eyes slid around the room, and vaguely in the direction that Hugo's eyes travel, even if it's behind him, as if he is watching to see where it is. Though he knows Hugo will show him at some point, because, well.
As he said.
This may be useful. ]
I should not be surprised, hm? And this works in our favor. I had been hoping to use the sewers to...expand. Further into the city, use it to spread beyond our two underground locations.
no subject
[ And honestlyā¦ Until meeting Silco, it basically was for him too. He still doesnāt like going down there, because while Hugo would resoundingly reject the label of being upper class, well. He does have some of the sensibilities. Not that he would think that wanting to be clean and not smelling like a sewer would count, exactly, but heās not going to argue it. ]
Iām hoping to make it into a bit of a safehouse, if that appeals to you? Iāll need to obtain everything off the books so that only those I tell are aware of it, so itāll take some timeā¦ But itāll be one option.
[ He points towards the floor idly, and though it is in a specific direction, it wonāt mean anything to Silco. ]
Iām setting up options, you see. A mirror downstairs will take you to Aparallaxia, but I donāt think that location is exactly ready for anything but emergencies.
no subject
[ It's not bad. Not a bad plan, not a bad setup. Hugo puts himself in a place where he is useful to others. A safehouse for himself (and for Silco), mirrors to locations where others are building. Silco sees all of it as a ploy to be useful, and consequential.
Not that he can blame the boy, of course. They need to each pull their weight, and he had built a council of chembarons with each their own individual talents for a reason.
No, it's what he would do, were he not using his own/em> particular talents to create his own particular brand of usefulness. ]
It would appeal to me. Safehouses are useful. We move through the sewers, but there is no guarantee that they will be able to make it back to me. Not quietly and without notice.
Safehouses are useful things. And necessary.
[ His fingers tapped on the table. ] I had thought to find...amenable entrances from the sewers. To move throughout the city.
Perhaps this would be the first.
no subject
Itās just about as ideal for it as you can get, I imagine. Since itās inside a building, itās easy to just slip in and out without the awkwardness of trying to pry a manhole cover up off the street.
[ ā¦Not that he thinks that was Silcoās plan, exactly. No offense, but he doesnāt think Silco has the strength to manage it. ]
So, Iāll move ahead with that little plan and leave it open to you. Though is there anything youād put in it? Iāve built safehouses before, but they served a different purpose. Renting out a few apartments in the city so my members can lay low after a heist is easy. This is a bit moreā¦ Hm, classical, I suppose?
no subject
[ He reaches up to drag his fingers down his mouth, considering. Weapons would be appropriate, but he doesn't think that it would go over well in the long term. Not because Hugo would be opposed to it, but when the time for weapons came, it would be a specific time.
Not now, for certain. ]
Medical supplies, food and water, some necessities for refueling. A hidden space for stashing materials and goods, that won't be found by the authorities were they to stop by.
[ You know. Basics. ]
no subject
Ah, that's no problem. There's a reason I picked fine art as my cover profession, and it's not just personal taste.
[ He holds up a finger to say "one moment" as he sets down his drink and stands. He heads to a meagerly populated bookshelf, though most of it looks like notebooks. After thumbing along them for a moment, he selects one, then brings it back to set in front of Silco. He opens it to a page that's full of quite complex building sketches, but they're all for packing crates. ]
Fine art necessitates bespoke storage. It's easy to add false compartments, and with a side building full of crates like these? I would really have to make them suspicious to go through the trouble of disassembling every single one.
no subject
He wonders, sometimes, how many thieves exist topside, how many people like like he does but they conceal it by merit of being a Topsider, and how much he could have gotten away with, had he simply been born somewhere else. How much could he have done, were he to simply be different? How much could he have done?
Did it matter, in the end? This was who he was. Nothing could change that, and he quite frankly, wouldn't want to.
His eyes skim the paperwork, looking it over carefully, nodding along. ]
Impressive. Why, I think something like that would be quite the useful addition to any safehouse. Particularly if there are... faux valuables within?
no subject
Au contraire, the valuables are real. It helps to sell the story if it's backed up as something I actually use.
[ He takes his seat again with a nod, sitting back as he collects his glass. ]
I'm not in the forgery business. That's a completely different skill set when it comes to fine art. So, if you do use it, please tell anyone else to keep their hands off my property, please?
[ He asks nicely, but there's the smallest undercurrent in his words. It's not a threat, exactly, but more that if anything he cares about is damaged, he will come to collect what he's due. ]
no subject
Oh, of course, of course.
Just make sure they are wrapped, hm? I would hate for our dirty little fingers to leave...marks, as it were.
Ruin it.
[ A way to say hands off, without saying so. A way to indicate what is so delicate or cannot be touched, without requiring them to evaluate it. ]
no subject
That's an acceptable plan, yes. Since they don't exactly have all of the packing materials I'm used to here, it's probably smart regardless...
[ truly rip to things like styrofoam and other nice squishy plastics to keep things in place. He'll also pointedly ignore Silco's complex here. It's only polite, since we're also ignoring Hugo's daddy issues. ]
I'll work out the details a little further, but it's mostly organizational. It'll be easy enough to make a nook for someone to hide out in for a few days at least, and any of the boxes surrounding it will be the ones with the extra work.
[ He nods, and clearly he has a good mental picture of how all of this will work. ]
Hopefully it's not something that will need to be used at all, but... I'm not actually optimistic about that. Best to be prepared well before it's needed.
no subject
[ Admitted blandly, with a twist of his lips. He knows better. ]
Making plans for something like this is a necessity. As much as it would be nice to play that we will not need to have it, we both know that it won't come to pass like that. We'll need to be prepared, because I'm certain that Patho-Gen is preparing for some of us in turn.
Me, most like, but they likely don't know how good I can be at this.
[ A thin smile. ]
Or who's working with me. That is to our advantage.
no subject
ā¦Not that he expects heād be on the receiving end. Their modus operandi were completely different when it came to how they treated those in power. So, he nods in agreement. ]
It is. An air of respectability gets you far. [ But his tone isnāt suggesting that Silco should take up that option. In fact: ] Just as one of ill repute does. Between us, I imagine thereās not many circles we wouldnāt be able to draw use from.
[ He takes a sip of his whiskey thoughtfully, then looks back to Silco. ]
ā¦In fact. Do you know of anyone that might be looking for an easy job? It wouldnāt be a bad idea to have one of your people working at the gallery.
no subject
[ An easy job? ]
How easy? I have plenty, but the skills are what I would question. And whether you want augmented or not.
[ Silco's fingers are already starting to crawl across the surface of the city, picking up pieces, weighing them, like a spider spreading out across its web. He has a lot of resources to tap, and Hugo should know by now that he's going to make sure that this will serve him well, in turn. ]
It would allow them to keep an eye out, so I don't disagree.
But I'd hate to send you muscle when you want reception.
no subject
[ He says it brightly, but the implication is clear. Even if Hugo loves his gallery and has worked hard to build it up, he'd abandon it in a moment. It'd be a shame, but it's still ultimately a cover and a mask of legitimacy. ]
But I have two positions in mind. One I'm much more selective about for professional reasons, but if we happen to have an overlap, then all the better. I'll need someone else to do the day-to-day management once we get towards summer, since, well.
[ He gestures towards one of the windows. Up here, he has big, thick curtains, but downstairs? That wouldn't work at all. ]
Once the daylight takes over the moonlight, I won't be able to bear being downstairs for too long, you know? It's better for the art, but terrible for me.