tampered | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

When; February 13th
Rating; PG-13 probably.
Characters; Theo and Meyer
Summary; Theo runs into Meyer in the underground... doing some not so nice things ... either of them.

Log;

The Underground always held an appeal to Theo. He liked being around creatures of the night. He also found a very nice business in retrieving magical items that probably shouldn't be hanging around. It was a Thing he decided to do after his knife got stolen.

Currently, he was wiping said knife off of a body. An undead of some sort - one he'd never seen before except in the City - was trying to sell some cursed items to people without saying they were cursed. Theo decided to stop that sort of business. The creature didn't appreciate it. Undead really shouldn't attack necromancers. Especially demi-god necromancers.

Hearing footsteps behind him, he spun up, pointing the knife at whomever it was behind him. "If you're looking to buy or sell, he's not interested," he said lightly.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If Theo notices it, it's not shown on his face.

"I'm not sure what these curses are just yet, but I don't think you'd enjoy having them."

He carefully puts the gems back in the bag, making sure he doesn't touch them with his skin, and tucks the pouch in a pocket.

"No, I highly doubt I would, which is why I'm always very cautious about the business I do down here."

That, at least, is true. There's a benefit to doing business in the Underground, but there are also obvious risks. And as someone who prefers to be cautious in general, he's glad he'd hadn't stumbled across any of those curses.

"I would hope so. You weren't looking for him, were you?"

"Him specifically?"

A pause, and then...

"No, but unfortunately, I've been unable to locate the person I was looking for."

"Who are they? Maybe I can help?"

Questions. Questions. Questions.

"No, I rather think it's outside of the realm of your normal... endeavors. I'll find them another time."

He's absolutely not telling you anything, Theo, no matter how much you may want to 'help.'

Aww. You're no fun Meyer.

"All right. I would hope you're not in my sort of business."

"I'm absolutely not in your sort of business, and I highly doubt you're in mine."

He doesn't quite know what sort of business Theo is in beyond the casino, but he doubts that it's something he himself would like to be involved in.

There's a tilt of his head. Sometimes Theo wishes that he could have some of his father's abilities to make people tell him want he wants to know.

But, his father has over ... thousands of years of experience doing that sort of thing...

"Probably not, or we'd have run into each other before."

"I take it that means you spend a good deal of time down here, then."

What else could it possibly mean?

"It appeals to the side of me that Adrienne says I shouldn't indulge in and if I do she will thump me."

Apparently there are some things he'll do that his wife won't approve of in the City.

"And what better place to do things like that than a place your wife very much isn't? I'm sure you enjoy being able to get away with far more here than you would at home."

"Well, there's certainly less regulation in the City."

It's really hard to know what he means by that.

"There's almost no regulation in the City. Interesting, isn't it? I'm sure it makes things easier for you."

He's being purposefully vague, of course. It makes things easier for anyone with a vested interest in committing less than legal (or moral, for that matter) activities, and he himself qualifies as one of them.

"There's no real governing body, either. And I'm sure it makes things easier for lots of people."

Vagueity vague vagueness.

"Even in worlds where there are governing bodies, it's not so hard to maneuver around them."

They both know that they both do illegal or immoral things. Why be quite so vague about it?

"Considering my father probably owns at least thirty five percent of my world..." Theo mutters. "No, it's not really."

Probably because they don't want to admit to it. After all, they've got images to maintain, right?

"Yes, well, you come from a great deal of privilege that most of us aren't quite so lucky to have. Although..."

He lights himself a cigarette, looks down at the guy on the ground, then back up at Theo. "I imagine that having such a powerful father can be a little daunting in it of itself."

"It can be. Most people seem to fear that I'll make them disappear if they piss me off enough."

He says this, completely without irony, as he's standing next to a dead guy who he killed, possibly because he pissed him off.

"I wonder what could possibly give them that impression," he says dryly, looking down at the body once again. It's really a pity Theo had killed the guy, since he'd been intending to work out some kind of business arrangement with the man, but there will be other customers. There always are.

"Yeah. Well. He's only dead. That's a lot different than what my father does."

Yeah. There will always be someone else.

"He leaves them alive... but completely erases their identity from the world so no one knows who they are."

"Well, that is an impressive talent."

And one he's quite glad nobody in his world possesses, as far as he knows (of course, if they did, he likely wouldn't know it.)

"I associate with a man--"

Because he can't say he works for him anymore, can he? Not after what had happened... but that's better not to think on.

"-- who enjoys operating in a similar way, although of course less... drastically."

"He's had quite a lot of time to perfect it."

Theo nods. "They're probably the more dangerous people out there because of what they're willing to do."

"And are you one of those people, too? Like your father?"

It's a casual question, but it's certainly a pointed one.

After a moment of contemplation, he says, "I hope not to be."

At least he's honest in his answers. Because he really doesn't know. Right now he's not, but the future... well who knows what that's going to bring? And he's got a lot of future to look forward to.