Open The Slups The Grand Crime Market

[Ivo Suresight]

Ivo clicked his tongue and put his paw on her shoulder. He had his priorities straight so far. But he was in the end a beast like any other, one that had needs that run deeper than ambitious plans for becoming a grey eminence within the city.

“I think ‘tis the moment where we have t’go somewhere private. This ain’t d’place to talk secrets.” He moved her paw from his chest, keeping it in his. His tail now moved around her waist as he continued his ministration to ensure this whole affair to work out in the way he wants… and maybe desires.


“Your place o’choice of mine?” He asked with coy smile. Happy with his the choice of his words.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna knew exactly what he was doing, and hated that it was working. A confident smile and a few brushes of the tail? Really Marianna, is that all it takes? It was never a feminine voice she heard chastising her in her mind, but a masculine one - likely her father finding a way to shame her from beyond the grave. From what she'd read of the fox, he'd certainly have found a lot to be ashamed of in her.

"Your place first," she decided, stepping back just a pace, though she did not drop his paw. "If I'm going to be inviting such an unpredictable element into my innermost circle, I need to better understand him, after all... and they say a male's den says a lot about his personality."

 

[Ivo Suresight]

Ivo nodded… and immediately considered the fact he has to get back to the Zann’s Backyard while walking with someone reasonably affluent. The vixen wasn’t stupid for sure, but the ways he normally used would guarantee some blood spill from somebeast.

Grasping Marianna by her paw now, he decided on the scenic route by the Slups main streets. One that would at least give a modicum of safety. Ivo enjoyed an idle chatter and to keep appearances it was perfect. Also allowed to kill time and take some attention away from remembering the path too easily. About twenty minutes later they managed to get to the (in)famous Zann’s Street beyond which a much nicer neighbourhood lied.

He of course still, more out of habit than anything, chose a rather convoluted route to his home. A perk of being the one who maps the cities was knowing them like the back of your tail. Another quarter of an hour later, the two finally entered a humble and ordinary tenement.

Ivo’s apartment lied on the floor, it was clean, nicely furnished and hold many various art pieces. Nothing a rich person couldn’t do without any problem but Ivo being an artist himself, could find what looked great no matter who made it.

One notable thing about his living room however was the very light sign of usage. Clearly it was a house well maintained but also one barely lived in. That is at least until Ivo without a word, immediately brought Marianna to his office/bedroom. This one was clean but messy due to hundreds of sketches, notes and drawings lying around. Some of which while seemingly harmless, like a map of the Imperial Docks, held much information about their secrets, security and strategic points of interest.

Ivo kicked a short cupboard to reveal a secret stash of small bottles of liquor, some clearly smuggled, before sitting down and waving his paws around the room. “Welcome t’my den. Hope y’ll enjoy yer stay.” He chuckled and wagged his tail. There was certainly pride in his voice about his little empire of intelligence.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna paced about the room, examining each of the sketches in turn. They were impressive, in that she could recognize each location at a glance, and even noticed some details that had slipped her notice in the real place. "You have a very fine eye," she mused, "and a fine paw." She paused, recognizing one of the sketches as the interior of the Lilting Lily, the tavern that the Furotazzis still operated - really their last functional business property. She moved on from it without comment, coming to a sketch of the exterior of the Epicurean Bank. "Based on this sketch," she inquired, "what could you tell me about the structure of the building? What secrets did your eye uncover?" Her gaze briefly flickered to his bed, but she forced it back to the sketch instead. There would be plenty of time for that later, especially once they started into the liquor.

 

[Ivo Suresight]

Iva picked the sketch up, looking at it opened a very spacious drawer in his mind. One he could now freely pick from to recover all his observations as he desired. He was there to map the insides at the "request" of the Town Hall and did so properly. Of course all his actual findings and truly sensitive data were held only in two safe spots. One of those was his mind, the other was in a place not even he could find easily.

"Bank... I'member that one. They've fail'd to spot a blank zone here and here." Ivo put his claw on the paper at two outer rooms that weren't looking special at all. "Yer wanna robbit? Give sum Gilders to a guard to jus not be there fer few moments. Then ya can enter through t'window with not one beast seein' ya from the inside at all. Having a good suit'll get ye to the safe room. There ya only need someone to open them locks as they don keep guards innit to keep'em dumb."

There was more of course. Fact that they had a secret wall that was great to escape or direct access to underground network for Misanthropes was another story, one that Ivo needed a moment he spend running his paw over Marianna's tail to decide if it was worth sharing.

"And once ya hav'em valuables, here they have a secret wall to make guards and visitors dumber. You can exit to the main hall. Jus be careful as MisMino's have a tunnel to there fer some damn reason." He finally added. That was it now. He would keep his maw shut until she spilled something more.
"And why's that ya banker/stock sorta lady are interested in this? Gonna rob'em? Or is it yours and you wanna strenghten it?" He chuckled

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna felt a chill race up her spine as the fox ran his paw down her tail, and hated herself for the thrill of it. He was a bit forward, presumptuous in that way that always ended in pleasure and heartbreak... at least, back when Marianna had been foolish enough to gamble with her heart. That she still held onto tightly; this beast was trouble, a thief by inclination, someone who was there one moment and gone the next, and absolutely the type who would steal her heart and run with it if she let him. Her body, she decided, he could have; her time and attention, her affection even, but not yet her heart. They were a long way from that sort of trust.

"Fascinating," Marianna mused, not addressing his immediate question about her purpose in asking. Robbing the Epicurean was a criminal enterprise's rite of passage; most spent far more on supplies than they were able to take from the vaults, assuming the ever left alive. Someday, she decided, they would be ready to make a run at it - but not yet. Her tail swished as she thought, brushing against his paw as she considered his work. "If given a target," she inquired, her tone speculative, "say, a mansion in the Insanely Rich Area, privately owned, do you think you could get inside for an inspection? Pose it as a structural safety review or whatever it is you do?" Nycaria's contact was working on getting the architectural plans for the Vermillion Mansion from the Department of Niceties, but those only showed so much. An actual beast walking through the halls, observing all the security in place with his own eyes, could turn this job from a moonshot to... well, maybe not a cakewalk, but something possible to accomplish, at least.

 

[Ivo Suresight]

Ivo shrugged and nodded along her words. He did such a thing once or twice... but on the request of the Town Hall itself. It wasn't impossible, it was merely something that took a lot of preparation and favours. He needed to know if it was worth it first... And this vixen clearly must have a good reason for such need.

"Possible? Yes. Few favours an sellin' sum informations where needed'll let me do it with Mino's blessings even. But I need to know why yer interested in this one... And what sort of details are there to make it worth me spending my capital. Secrets are worth aplenty so to trust ya I should spent sum of'em, I need ya to explain it to me."

Ivo liked directness and didn't like keeping secrets in partnerships. And the idea of being grounded in one with Marianna seemed to rub his instinct the right way. A shame he needed to trust her first and to do so, he wouldn't let her have a secret that he wouldn't be privy to.