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Post by Linyü on May 30, 2024 17:21:40 GMT -6
Seveth smiled back. "I might be in the market for a property," he ventured.
The horned man laughed. "A young investor! I love it. Sit." He indicated a chair that had seen better days, but it was stain free, which was more than could be said for a lot of other things in the room. Seveth sat, and reminded himself to keep his posture open, relaxed. The horned man lit a cigarette and took a drag, then leveled his gaze at Seveth. "So, what were we thinking? A little condo in the city? One of those big farms?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of a fixer-upper, actually. You know, a place with history. One I could grow into. You catch my drift?" Seveth was still smiling, they both were, but now there was a shrewd, evaluative quality to the way that the horned man was looking at him.
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Post by Linyü on May 30, 2024 17:22:28 GMT -6
No, that wasn't quite right; it had always been there, but now he was wearing it more openly.
"How cheap are we talking?" he said. Seveth blinked, caught a little off guard by the abrupt change of pace. No preamble, just cutting to the chase as soon as it became clear that Seveth wasn't working with much.
... Well, they were always going to end up here, so maybe this was for the better -- like ripping off a bandage. Except, actually, ripping it off all at once did hurt really bad, and sometimes some skin or scab or whatever came off with it... No, never mind about that. "Right," Seveth said. He tossed out a number, and the smile dropped off the horned man's face completely.
"Get out," he said.
"But--"
"Get out. You're wasting my time here, kid. They'd have to be selling places by the room for you to get anything with that much. Hell, maybe you can afford a closet in Miisaa."
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Post by Linyü on May 30, 2024 17:22:53 GMT -6
This time, when the horned man took a drag, he blew the smoke directly into Seveth's face.
Holding his breath, Seveth scanned the desk, racking his brain for ideas. It wasn't that he really expected to get what he wanted on the first ask, but he also hadn't gone in with an exact plan in mind. He was used to more... playing things by ear, making it up on the fly, and sometimes that meant he struck out. But-- Ah, there, a picture frame! He could just make out the horned man and two younger, taller figures. There was enough of a resemblance, and an age gap, that they were probably his kids. Around his own age, maybe a little younger.
Okay, He could work with that. He tried to take a deep breath, only for the lingering smoke to fill his lungs, and leave him coughing and sputtering. But that, too, worked in his favor; when he straightened, his eyes were wet with tears.
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Post by Linyü on May 30, 2024 17:23:13 GMT -6
"Please, you've gotta help me," he said, clutching at the edge of the desk. Gone was any pretense at dignity; now he made himself as small and woebegone as he could, staring up at the horned man with the most pitiful look he could manage. "I... I don't have anywhere else to go! My landlord kicked me out without any notice, and I haven't got any friends here. This is all I've got, but I'll take anything! Even a closet in Miisaa!"
The horned man narrowed his eyes, but he also shifted in his seat, looking a little uncomfortable now. Good, it was probably working. Seveth decided to push a little more.
"Please, sir, I don't want to end up on the streets... This was all my papa left me before he..." Trailing off, Seveth gave a pathetic little sniffle. Maybe he was laying it on a bit thick, but hey, his desperation was real.
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Post by Linyü on May 30, 2024 17:24:36 GMT -6
He dug through his bag and produced the stash of bills, thanking the gods for once that San had no sense of style. The battered old leather wallet that San had consolidated their money into was just the thing that a late father might leave behind.
In the midst of all of this, Seveth sent up a wordless apology to San's father if he was still alive, but if San had any family, he'd never spoken of them. No one of that nature had ever contacted them either, so it was pretty clear that he was on his own here. Hopefully San and any kin he might have would understand this little transgression, since it was in the name of finding them a place to stay.
The horned man scowled, the crease between his brows deepening with every word. Seveth held his gaze for a moment, willing a few more tears into his eyes.
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Post by Linyü on May 30, 2024 17:25:03 GMT -6
He was debating whether it would be worth it to burst into full-blown sobs when the horned man finally threw up his hands and said, "Fine, fine, just stop it with the damn waterworks! Gods almighty." He ground his half-smoked cigarette into a full ashtray, then began sifting through his stacks of paper while muttering under his breath. "Look, I don't have anything for you-- Hey, let me finish!" he snapped, a slight note of panic in his voice as Seveth teetered on the edge of tears again. "I don't, but I've got a buddy with a place he's been trying to offload for almost a year now. Might be I can talk him into giving it to you for a real discount."
"Really?" Seveth tried not to brighten too dramatically. He still had to play the role of a hapless, grieving young man, lest the horned man caught on that he was being bamboozled.
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Post by Linyü on May 30, 2024 17:26:54 GMT -6
A guy like this had probably seen his fair share of frauds in his day too. Seveth consoled himself that the con he was trying to play, if you could even call it that, was too small-scale and tame to inspire any long-term grudges, but it wasn't as if they'd sealed the deal yet either.
The horned man was shaking his head. "It's only a chance, mind you. And the place is... A 'fixer-upper' would be putting it lightly, that's for sure." He grimaced, and if circumstances had been different, Seveth might have reconsidered at this point whether he ought to back out. But if circumstances had been different, he wouldn't be here in the first place. He had to take anything he could get. And from the sounds of it, this was at least an actual property, and not a closet -- he didn't think San would tolerate that kind of arrangement, if only because it didn't leave any room for Roku or Rei.
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Post by Linyü on May 30, 2024 17:27:27 GMT -6
"Th-Thank you, sir! I really can't thank you enough. It's been so hard since..." Another sniff, but this time Seveth smiled.
The horned man heaved a long sigh. "Don't thank me yet, kid. Here. This is the address, and here's a note. I'll give him a call to let him know you're coming." He handed Seveth a hastily written letter and a card, then rubbed at his face with a weary hand. "That's all I can do for you, alright? Now get outta here. I'm not gonna ask you again."
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Rei gave Seveth another dubious look as Seveth flashed the letter and the business card at her. "See? I'm taking care of it," he said.
She frowned -- or what passed for a frown with Rei, anyway -- but said nothing. They stood like that for a long moment, before she said, "Aren't you going?"
"Ahaha, well, about that... Do you know where this is?"
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