The Haystack [Open]

[vasco reyes]

The acrid smell of tobacco filled the room, Specifically the bar in La Aguja. The Needle. Vasco had chosen the name because the place was meant to be like finding a needle in a haystack. He had been very careful to keept he place poorly advertised. It would seem as though such a strategy would make his business unprofitable, but it turned out there was a certain subset of customers that found that absolutely perfect. The much more popular, not to mention far nicer Leaky Cauldron just a few blocks work from here took up all the honest tourists and travellers, meanwhile  La Aguja took in only those clients with darker designs, and a need for discretion. Vasco ran the place on this principle. La Aguja's rooms were available to anyone, no questions asked - but if there was a wanted poster on the street lamp outside, there was certainly an extra fee or too involved in keeping things quiet. Then there were the services that Vasco Reyes offered his clients. 'Housekeeping'  didn't ask too many questions if the price was right, and in his time, Vasco had played host to murders, vampiric transformations, and unbreakable vows sworn at the point of a wand and a promise of death. That was what kept him in business.

The sun filtered through the window of the hotel and illuminated the weathered face of the owner. Vasco  blinked slightly in the light but didn't express much more discomfort than that.  As he heard the bell tinkle, the sound of someone else entering the establishment through the bar entrance, Vasco looked over, calmly.  "Welcome to La Aguja, esse." he offered in a casual tone. as he stood to regard the newcomer, not troubling to stub out his cigarette, even as he made his way from the booth he''d sat himself in to the bar. It wasn't hygienic, or appetising but that wasn't why people came here, usually, and if that was a turn off for this particular visitor, well then the Leaky Cauldron would owe him yet another 'thank you.' Of course, if the visitor was an Auror, or someone  here to settle a score with one of his guests - that would be a problem, and Vasco was ready to deal with that issue. He had his wand on his person, and his constrictor snake form  at the ready.  His gruff, disinterested smile never once faltered, as he stared down the stranger.

[hugo granger-weasley]

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There had yet to be a moment where Hugo missed the family that he had come, and since he had run away from home no one had noticed him since his hair cut and since his hair had been bleached. He simply passed off as an albino standing outside the hotel. You see, Dulf had some pack business to do. He had told him that he wouldn't be long, but after five minutes Hugo had become bored and decided to follow the man that he looked up to inside the building.

It wasn't unnatural for a nine year old to be impatient. He was still young. Still had some maturing and growing up to do. So to expect him to wait outside whilst business was being conducted was a little unethical. As he stood in the entrance way however and was stared at as if  he were trying to do something wrong.

"Can I... wait... here... until my friend is back?"

The stare made him feel extremely uncomfortable, not to mention scared for his life. In fact if he were to face that stare for much longer there was an actual possibility that he would pee his pants out of fear.

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TAGGED: vasco reyes         

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[vasco reyes]

Unattended children were, perhaps surprisingly, not that uncommon a sight in La Aguja. Children were often overlooked, their presence in a place was ignored more often than not. If they were careful to remain discreet, and quiet, it was unlikely there would be an issue of a child being discovered. Vasco himself had taken polyjuice to masquerade as a young kid a few times in his crininal career, usually as a means by which to remain undetected while he was transporting something suspicious, or escaping trouble when apparation, wasn't an option. Of course, knowing the criminal potential of Children, Vasco regarded the young man shrewdly. He might have been some spy trying to detect sensitive information. He may have been some disguised ministry official testing his character - would he allow an underaged child into such an adult location? Then he mentioned a friend.

"You're here with Mister Barrows?" Vasco asked. His demeanour changed when he considered that. If a child was here with Barrows, they were probably going to be under Fenrir Greyback's protection, as a potential packmate. At least that seemed to hold true and Vasco's deliberately limited understanding of the Werewolves' unsavory activity. It wasn't that Vasco judged. Far from it he was just as nasty and just as ruthless in his own right, and had been an accomplice more often than not.

Vasco set his cigarette aside for a moment as he poured the young man a glass of pumpkin fizz. "Have a drink." He said to the young man. He wasn't going to serve the child alcohol, at least not without being paid for it, but a glass of soft drink for the boy seemed courteous, and it was a simple way of showing appreciation for Barrows' repeated custom. He indicated to the bar stool before him, wanting this boy out of the doorway before he attracted undue attention.

[hugo granger-weasley]

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As Hugo continued to feel nervous about the way the man acted towards him, he ran a hand through his short bleach blonde hair. It was still a little weird knowing that he no longer had the more prominent feature of a Weasley being red hair.  He had had it for his entire life, and had he not had a pack family it would almost be safe to say that that hair would have been something that defined his life.

Always one of a crowd, never sticking out.

When the man asked if he was with Dulf he gave a nervous nod. The man had done nothing to calm his nerves. Was this a friend of Dulf's and the pack, or was this one of the enemies that his friend had mentioned? The icy facade that the main was putting on however soon dissapated and he made his way to the bar and the waiting pumpkin fizz.

"Are you a friend of Dulf's?"

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TAGGED: vasco reyes

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[vasco reyes]

"Si." He answered the boy with a nod. Friend wasn't quite the right word for it. But it was close enough for the young man. The two of them did get along well, they understood one-another but their relationship wasn't exactly personal. It was professional, even if they had exchanged more than a few dark jokes. "You're a friend of his too?" Vasco asked as he crushed out his cigarette into the ash tray sitting on the bar, sliding the young man's drink across to him, before he lit another smoke, and, out of instinct offered it to Hugo. He hadn't even considered that the young child may not smoke. He'd had children in this hotel do far worse things than have a cigarette.

Vasco regarded the child with a little curiosity. He was probably a werewolf, more than likely a future customer, if he was running with Barrows' pack or even Greyback's. He contemplated the bleach blonde young man's appearance. He was well looked after - he'd obviously come from caring home before he'd ended up with Dulf, but Vasco couldn't see Barrows babysitting, so it didn't take him long to deduce that that was at an end. "Vasco Reyes." He introduced himself, the cigarette still betwixt his lips as he did. "And you are?" He posited.

[hugo granger-weasley]

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He relaxed a little as the man agreed that he was in fact a friend of Dulf's. It was a relief to say the least. At least now he knew that this man wouldn't hurt him because he knew and trusted the man that he had grown to look up to.

"Yeah, he kind of saved me..."

He ignored the drink as the cigarette was held out to him. It was something that he had seen numerous adults using this very item, so naturally the boy was curious about it. None of the adults in his family smoked... or at least that he knew of..  but he did however see it when they went about their business.

He saw adults walking past with cancer sticks in their mouth. He'd seen others leaning against walls and smoking it. Some even talking with it in their mouths. So slowly he reached out for the cigarette that was offered to him. Curious both as to what drew adults to put this in their mouths time and time again as well as what it actually did.

With the cigarette in hand, all he did was stare at it... there was no attempt what so ever to stick it in his mouth... yet...

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TAGGED: vasco reyes

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[vasco reyes]

Vasco nodded as the boy didn't disclose his name. He was no stranger to anonymity. Barrows had probably specifically told him not to say. Perhaps it was better the Animagus didn't know. He studied the young man. Barrows couldn't have cared for him like this, Barrows probably wouldn't care for himself like this if it wasn't for his job, or his military obligations. Who was this child? Vasco cared but he wouldn't investigate. the sooner he looked into it the sooner he would find himself forming biases, and bias wasn't good for business.

"Saved you?" He didn't believe that the werewolf had an altruistic bone in his body what would he possibly have saved the youth from? It, simply put, wasn't right. Barrows was clearly using this impressionable child to his advantage, and  honestly that made perfect sense. Children were useful. Nobody cared where they went or what they did, so long as they didn't make a scene or wander into a distinctly adult circumstance.  He was convinced the young man would end up a spy to the werewolf army.

Vasco took a draw of his cigarette, looking at the child curiously, "You don't know how to do it, do you?" He asked, more amused than he probably should have been by the notion of teaching a child to smoke. He blew a cloud of smoke not quite at the youth, but not particularly away from him either, as he boredly flicked his wand tidying up the countertop a little bit. "Just hold it in your mouth and breath in through it." He explained gently to the young man, who had clearly been fascinated by the cigarette in his hand.

"You know not to talk about this place, don't you?" He asked wanting to be sure that Barrows hadn't made an unfortunate mistake by bringing the young man here. He let out another cloud of acrid smoke into the bar, and toward the boy as he fingered his wand with his free hand still, keeping it out of sight behind the counter when he wasn't using it for cleaning.

[hugo granger-weasley]

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At first the smell of the cigarette toyed with Hugo in a negative way, but the longer he was exposed to it, the more those feelings subsided and gave way. As Vasco questioned his statement on being saved however he simply nodded before beginning to explain.

"My parents fought all the time and I came from a large family... he gave me a family that cares for me and a place where I actually mattered. He gave me a place where I fit in and belong."

Smoke was blown near him, the scent dancing within his system as the man explained how to actually smoke the smoldering twig within his digits. At this point he had inhaled enough smoke for his lungs to be requesting more, and with that egging him on as well as a growing curiosity and a slight feeling of peer pressure he raised the cigarette to his mouth and followed the older man's instructions. A fit of coughs soon followed... a common reaction to one's first proper intake of nicotine.

Once he caught his breath again however he responded to the man's latest question.

"He has... I think it was part of the reason he wanted me to wait outside to be honest..."

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TAGGED: vasco reyes

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[vasco reyes]

"He has what?" Vasco asked taking another draw of his cigarette contemplating the young man darkly. Did this child mena to say that Barrows had spilled the beans about this establishment to a child? A nine year old bloody boy? Vasco's hand tightened into a fist, the action hidden by the bar as he tried to focus on the flow of smoke from his lungs in an attempt to calm himself. Steer himself back from the anger of the conclusion he had very nearly jumped to. He respected Barrows more than that. But if he was to find out his trust was misplaced, well, the Werewolves would be needing a replacement, wouldn't they?

The boy came from a big family. that was interesting. Vasco wasn't stupid. He'd read the missing person's reports. A prominent ministry official's son doesn't just go missing and then never receive any coverage. It was starting to click that that big family was probably the Weasley family. But Vasco thought it better that he not speak to the conclusion he'd come to. He eyed Hugo with a little more interest after that particular comment though. Not because of who he was. Dead and missing people found themselves staying in La Aguja more often than one might have expected from your average inn. Vasco's sterling reputation for subtlety made sure of that.

"My family was... large, too." Vasco said. it was relatively true, though he had been the only wizard in his family, and his criminal father had always treated him well, even in the wake of that revelation. Indeed, Columbia's general lack of a strong magical government had allowed Vasco to put his magical skills to the test at a younger age, and help to increase his father's profits by a tidy amount. Still. He knew what fighting was like. Probably worse for him than Hugo. He looked sympathetically at the child. "Well. At least Barrows is taking care of you now." He wasn't surprised by the notion of a politician and her husband having a broken family life, and so he never really stopped to question.

"Do you know what Bardulf is doing here?" Vasco asked, more to gauge just how much Dulf had told the kid.

Note: Surprise, hugo granger-weasley

[hugo granger-weasley]

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Confusion filled the boy's face at the man's question. Was there more to this place than Dulf had told him? Was something else being hidden from him?

"That I'm not to tell anyone about this place or the fact that we've been here?"

It was a silly question really. He was only a kid and no one really told a kid much out of worry that it would go in one ear and out the other. Silence fell between them as cigarette smoke danced with their senses, the boy using the time to try another puff of the cancer stick, breaking out once again in a coughing fit. He shrugged at Vasco's second question.

"He just said he had an errand to do and told me to wait outside. Is it normal to cough like this when you smoke?"

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TAGGED: vasco reyes

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