- Location
- California
Business at the Tailor's
Raymond strode into Everfour Tailoring. By now he'd gotten used to the idea of this being Cicero's meet spot. He was looking at the assorted hats, considering one against another with a dark blue suit jacket. "Hm. I'm not completely sure. What do you think?" he asked the man behind the counter.
The counter clerk gave a slight bow, "In my humble opinion my lord, a grey or black would work best with your outfit. Black would help cover any sudden… stains… very well. Though grey works with anything."
Raymond nodded. "Black it is. You never do quite know when you end up with those sudden stains, and it would be rather better to not demonstrate them for all to see." He looked around. "Oh, and I believe there's something I was getting adjusted."
The clerk nodded and pointed towards a door nearby that opened up, "Please, head through there. Someone will guide to your room my lord."
Raymond headed through the door. "Excellent. Thank you."
The moment Raymond stepped through the door another employee stepped out of a nearby recess into his field of view, "My lord, please follow me to your room." The employee turned around and started walking, confident that Raymond would follow. He took Raymond down and up a few flights of stairs, past various doors, but to a different room from last time though still a fitting room, "My lord, the Tailor will be with you shortly."
Raymond followed through, mentally cataloguing the place. It was amazing how well they used the space, as this much real estate would have had to cost a fortune if it were all on the same level. "I look forward to seeing him."
The clerk nodded before turning around and leaving, the door silent on its hinges as it closed. A few seconds went by and another door, previously a wall, opened up and the Tailor stepped into the room complete in his regalia, "Good afternoon, my lord. Here for an adjustment yes?"
"Yes, I find this suit has been a little bit loose. It's possible all the running around this summer has me a little thinner, or the fabric may have shrunk in the wash. I'm not entirely sure myself," he offered.
The Tailor nodded, "Of course my lord, simple enough." It took a few minutes but the Tailor quickly and efficiently took new measurements and with a few questions on what he wanted his new outfit to be colored and styled in, left through the same door he came in from. At the same time, Cicero slipped in right before the door closed, a bottle of wine and two glasses in hand. With a nod in acknowledgement he placed the bottle and glasses on a nearby table and motioned to the two seats the table stood between, "Care to join me Baron Raymond?"
Raymond took a seat and a glass. "Of course. I've been getting to work collecting intelligence and one of my agents stumbled across someone from your house. I thought it might be nice if we coordinate our efforts, rather than working against each other or going over the same lead twice."
Cicero nodded as he took a sip, "Ah that incident. We knew you were getting to work what with your recent installment onto the Council and we have been keeping an eye out for your agents but things slip through the cracks all the time. A few people to liaison between our two groups as you suggest would help cover those cracks better."
"Yes. I've got a merchant who works with me on this side of things. She has a reputation for rare goods, which gives her reason to be able to go any number of places. She goes by Anna. Perhaps you've heard of her?" Reddington suggested. "She and her beau Jake should be good liaisons from my side. This tailor shop from yours?"
"Ah Anna, yes I've done business with her once or twice before. And yes, this location would be best," he said, "just say that you're here to drop off a package. Are you personally overseeing everything?"
Reddington tilted his head. "That is my job, isn't it? Ensuring the establishment of a network of agents who can provide intel to the rest of the council, for starters, right?"
Cicero nodded, "True enough, true enough. Might as well hash out all the details here and now then, let me get my Spymaster in here and we can talk business," Cicero placed his glass back on the table before he knocked on a nearby wall. A few seconds later the hidden door opened again and the Tailor came out with a set of outfits in hand, Cicero glanced over at Raymond, "Baron, my Spymaster, the Master Tailor of this establishment: Jareth Wulf. Jareth, I trust you are able to talk business at present?"
Wulf nodded, "Of course my lord, I had the outfit for the lord Baron finished quickly enough, we had the materials needed on hand," Cicero nodded and turned back to Raymond.
"While I do know the going ons of my agents, he knows the more finer details that I usually miss."
Raymond nodded. "I see. I've got agents gathering intelligence throughout the world, collecting a tax from criminals in exchange for letting them continue to operate. I understand your organization is more focused internally. So long as we share information and understand that there will be occasional overlap of jurisdiction, I see no reason we can't work together."
Cicero hummed quietly as he brought information on his network to the forefront of his thoughts, "That is acceptable, though I have also been making inroads into subverting the local criminal elements. I prefer a more invisible hand though, making them believe they are still independent criminals lead by other criminals versus them knowing outright they are under the thumb of the Crown."
"A tax and a blind eye on one side, an invisible hand on the other. Squeeze the juice out of crime while still allowing it to grow enough to continually be harvested. Rather like a fief on the other side of the law," Raymond observed. "Two different approaches from two different individuals with two different goals. Seems only natural to have two different outcomes."
Cicero's lips lifted slightly while Wulf grinned outright, "Direct force is often the easiest and most blunt way of doing things," Cicero said, "but subtlety is at times more efficient and has a longer lasting effect. Smashing through the wall in your path means you've passed it, but going around it leaves it standing to be an obstacle to others. I suggest we split the income three ways, a portion to me, a portion to you, and the last to keep the operation maintained and growing."
Raymond nodded. "I agree with your income division. I imagine we will at some point discuss at length the advantages of simple and direct plans which allow for multiple actions to take place at once in comparison with one more complex plan which relies on multiple factors being at positive valence, but which is more subtle and may not necessarily be detected immediately. Perhaps something we could actually discuss in polite company, particularly in the context of chess. I would be surprised if you didn't play."
Cicero nodded, "I am indeed familiar with chess. We'll have to schedule that in sometime," Cicero took a sip from his glass. "I am aware of course of the idiom that things should be kept as simple as possible when planning, but there is a sense of accomplishment that is hard to find anywhere else when a plan comes together perfectly."
"I believe that settles our business for the time being," Raymond acknowledged. "Unless there was something more?"
Cicero shook his head, "No, I believe that th-" he froze for a second, before he narrowed his eyes at Raymond, "actually… I do have one thing…" Cicero glanced to Wulf and with a tilt of his head told Wulf that this was a private conversation.
Nodding, Wulf stood up, "My Lord Baron, the outfit is ready for you to try out. When you conversation with my Master is finished I will return to make sure it works out correctly," and left. Waiting a second or two for Wulf to take a few steps away, Cicero looked back at Raymond.
"How do you feel about Morcar?"
Raymond nodded, waiting. "Exhibit A if one were to build a case against a monarchy. I'm not sure if he will prove corrigible to attempts at smoothing his rough edges and disciplining his habits. An accident of birth and an accident of death led to this wastrel being on the throne, but he is there and he is king."
Cicero quietly waited as Raymond said his piece, "I see, similar enough to I more or less. I should probably inform you that in one of his drunken episodes with his toadies and yes men he ordered me to commission a fair to, and I quote, 'have some excitement around here, something to take our minds away from the grim losses we have suffered as of late.' Apparently it is to also be done in Lady Alysanne's memory, not caring that the Ladyship held fairs in distaste. He said to put forth one thousand Dragons."
"Toadies and yes men, as though he tolerates the company of anything else for longer than he strictly has to," Raymond observed. "Careless, thoughtless, self-absorbed, ruled by sensation...nothing I wasn't at his age, but I also didn't have a kingdom on my shoulders. A thousand Dragons on a fair. Were he anyone else you could make an open-and-shut treason case out of that; can a King even be a traitor under Anchor law?" He shook his head. "I believe it might be a good idea to discuss the direction of the realm with the other Councillors, somewhere we can all speak freely."
"I agree, would you like to do the honors of inviting them or should I?" Cicero asked.
Raymond thought a moment. "An unusual meeting of the Council with the subject something along the lines of treason? I don't want to seem formulaic, but that seems to be the way I get things done, doesn't it? I'll arrange the invitations."
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