14460/Low key magical meeting

Low key magical meeting
Date of Scene:	20 March 2023
Location:	Park Row - Bleake Island
Synopsis:	Vacuums are sold, an artificer begins her career and a connection is made.
Cast of Characters:	Roberto da Costa, Susan Sullivan

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Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa looks more than a little out of place, well dressed tailored suit. Maybe a bit like a high-end vacuum salesmen but definitely not the one you would expect in this neighborhood, or maybe that's the point as the locals cut a wide swath around him despite his pleasant demeanor. It is obvious that the expensive car parked near the corner is his, less so is the black suv, more expensive than most in this neighborhood but still fairly modest and parked to keep a line of sight to the corner. They have the look of high end security. One wonders what they think of their charge endangering himself on random street corners.
    Roberto wears dark sunglasses and sips his coffee cup, it's from a bodega about half way down the block, he got a sandwhich too, but that is already eaten.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Okay, so vacuum cleaners is maybe a long shot, but the seller was willing to meet somewhere on her way home from work, so she's giving this a shot. She's dressed reasonably professionally for a gardener, but there's nothing about her that screams 'money'. When she arrives at the street corner in question, she looks around a bit before approaching the well-dressed gentleman. "Are you the guy with the vacuums?" she asks.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa smiles and nods at the succinct appraisal, he nods, and takes a remote control again, "Yes, I have the best vacuums on the market, the most special if you will, low-key special even." He offers a little smile as if that was some sort of joke, he looks too young and well to do to be a dad but you never can tell these days.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan nods. "Okay," she says, not really sure what to make of the man. "Let me see what you're offering. You didn't really give me a lot to go on. I assume the vacuums have some kind of special features, yeah?"

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa nods and presses a button on the remote, opening the trunk space on the SUV parked near the corner, inside are three vaccums: a cannister vacuum, an upright and a stick vacuum. "I have a number of others but these are a sampling, the extra features are entirely random as far as I can tell. The cannister, doesn't suck, it actually blows and seems to shoot small nodules of ... ectoplasm? at random intervals, the upright sings while it works, no normal vacuuming noises, just song. It prefers opera but will take requests and can learn, it's been picking up some hip-hop on the way over. The stick, well, honestly, I don't know what that one does, it works as a normal vacuum and that might be it, but... "He shakes his head, "Normal vaccuums are a rarity with this bunch and it feel like it wants to do something if that makes sense." Inspecting vaccuums show that they are each of non standard brands from known vacuum manufacturers. "I have others if you had something else in mind. These were a random sampling." He walks over and lets you take a look at the merchandise.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan's eyes are wide as she looks over the vacuums. "How much for each of them?" she says. She quickly shakes her head. "No, no. How much for ALL of them." She looks at him intently, very serious about her requst. "Even the other ones. I want to buy them all."

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa nods considering, he takes out a business card and writes something on the back, Then hands it over, "This is for those three, the whole batch, we would have to do some more negotiation. But on these three I am ready to deal... let me know what you think."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan takes the card and doesn't say anything. "I really want the whole lot," she points out. That alone indicates she's got at least enough money that she THINKS she can afford it all, or maybe haggle him down a little if she tries hard enough.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa nods slowly, "That's why I gave you my card, this price for the three, and then we can talk about the rest." He smiles, "I don't want you to get buyer's remorse and come looking for a refund over a sale that size. There aren't any other buyer's in the market but I've also heard there's a literal market around this time each year. The Troll market?" He frowns and shakes his head, "Magic is not my scene but I do have some friends and wanted to at least explore that before I tapped out. You'd have to offer my quite a bit to get me to sell at this point. Northward of seven figures." He raises his eyebrows more with curiosity than expectation.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "I've heard that before," Susan admits. She pulls out a drafting pencil and writes another number on the back of his card. If the number he was quoting her for was the average cost of three and not the low-hanging-fruit he'd brought with, then she'd actually have just about enough. Unfortunately, he DID bring the low-hanging fruit, and that seven figures was not in her budget, it looks like. "That's everything I have in savings," she points out. "Look, I'm making an offer not knowing what kind of ridiculous, dangerous, or even just mundane vacuum cleaners you're selling. I'm basing this off these three and willing to buy the rest sight unseen. I'm a maker," she points out, "and I'm doing my best to learn artifice. You want something bespoke? You name it, we'll work it out. You want a minion? I can do that. Susceptible to holy energy, but fully vegan. No moral questions." She takes a breath and lets it out, "Work with me, here," she says.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa licks his lips and considers as he looks at the card, He sighs and takes out a pen that is worth more than the three vacuums and twirls it as he thinks, then he looks at you and pause and chuckles after a beat. He sighs as he takes out another card from his pocket, the first flaring to ash in his fingers, his hand darkens just before it does so but then returns to normal after as he takes the pen and writes something again, it is a number, which would leave you about 50K and an instruction a series of letters and the word buy. The letters are the stock ticker symbol for an up and coming tech firm. "Having an artificer I can call on has some weight, especially with the things that I am looking to get into." There is a thin smile, "I will take you up on your  offer. I've never been able to take someone's last dollar unless I truly hate them." He shrugs, "And your money should always be working for you, saving money is losing money. The cost of inflation is making that cash work less everyday. The zelle is on the front of the card." He takes the three vacuums out of the car and places them on the curb. Then he turns to show you the key to a storage unit a few blocks away. "It's paid through the end of the month, you can keep it for yourserlf or empty it, your call."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan takes the key. She nods. "Alright," she says. Somehow, she wasn't entirely sure she was coming out on top of this deal, despite the significant price cut. Still, she's got what she came for. She snaps her fingers at an alleyway in a very specific pattern. A few...men?...very covered up shuffle to the curb and pick up the vacuum cleaners. The figures rustle like leaves as they move. "Pleasure doing business with you," Susan says with a nod.

Roberto da Costa has posed:
Roberto da Costa regards the minions and nods, "Interesting." Roberto nods as he puts his pen away and lets the minions take the merchandise. Once they are done Berto closes the SUV's trunk and tosses the keys to Susan.