Written Wonderland

((OOC: Everything you wrote fits perfectly well. I made some new threads in a new sub-board to start gathering data we might refer back to over time for various places, in part cuz trying to fit much more aesthetic description about the place into this post was feeling awkward lol. So, there’s a bit more data about The Black Butterfly Lounge there (as well as a thread for The Mimosa Bloom tho I haven’t fleshed that out nearly as much just yet). You can probably safely fill in details that seem to fit with the overall aesthetic I’m goin for; also always feel free to ask questions in messenger or Plotting (or, the specific Meta thread if that seems like the place for it? I’m wingin this a bit actually lol) if you could ever use more details before making a post.))

Serio turned his gaze back to the club as well, mirroring Juniper's sightlines as the man shared his thoughts. While still maintaining his overall very chill and laid-back affect, his smile did hint at some amount of pleased and perhaps even excited feelings about the present conversation. Quite frankly, he was absolutely drinking this up.

He nodded subtly in agreement with the assessment that The Black Butterfly was a bit detached. Almost as if to illustrate the point, he watched while their recent acquaintance Cory turned away from the painting he'd been admiring, and seemed to do his own bit of taking stock of the room. Thinking no one's attention was on him, he looked a little tellingly lost, truth told. Not scared or even particularly unhappy about it, just... directionless, and maybe tired. He moved closer to the social group he was ostensibly heading towards, but then fairly immediately found a statue along the way to admire, and seemed almost relieved about the excuse to pause for a bit again. Followed quickly by a genuine appreciation for the new work of art he’d discovered, of course.

Not everyone was quite as adrift as Cory seemed to be, but there was a common thread among most everyone there - if one was looking for human connection outside of people they already knew or social groups they were already with… well, this was a tricky environment to find it in. As such, most folks remained in the social groups it appeared they came with, and those who did meander seemed to already have ins to the various groups they flitted among. Most folks seemed quite fine with that - either already content with their current social group, or seeming to have a fine enough time on their own and enjoying the collective buzz around them. For true, Serio certainly found himself in such a mood every now and again. Not that that was actually why he came here tonight, but that was neither here nor there.

Serio took another sip of his drink, before glancing surreptitiously back towards the bartender. He was down at the other end of the bar, working on presumably the order of drinks Cory had shown up to request. Serio seemed… well, not disappointed about that fact, as he turned his attention back to Juniper.

“Yeah, there aren’t too many options in town for feeling in on a secret, at least short of finagling private party invites.” The man paused just briefly, eyes paying close attention to Juniper’s expression, trying to get a read on whether he was barking up the right tree here. The direction he was thinking to go with this wasn’t exactly without risk, but… “That’s something I’ve been thinking about lately, actually.”

Anddd, that was plenty to see what Juniper would bite on. To continue playing coy and relaxed, Serio took another sip of his drink, and peered back out into the club again. Anyway, he figured it was prolly about time to give that singer another tasteful ogle.

Watching Serio's attention wander over to Cory before turning back toward the singer, Juniper suddenly remembered the last time he had been at the Mimosa Bloom and had the feeling he understood where Serio was taking the conversation. While the Mimosa Bloom was a respectable establishment, Juniper knew well enough what was possible with beautiful women behind closed doors, though he had never confirmed any of the rumors himself.

Despite himself, blood rushed into his face, and he took an uncharacteristically large swig of his drink, which seemed to go right to his head. You're getting careless, he chided himself. In his practiced way, he took a long, silent inhalation followed by a slow exhale and a drag on his cigarette.

If Serio was going to be coy, two could play this game.

"You've worked your way up in this city," Juniper began, "so you know there is money in secrets." He relished the words as he spoke them; they felt polished and velvety across his loosened tongue and landed like a fine fabric. "But New York is already full up with secrets. Secrets are commonplace now with illegal alcohol behind every door and a gentleman's club on each street corner. The trick is finding a secret that still has value."

Self-satisfied, Juniper allowed himself another momentary glance at Cory, who was admiring that statue like it was the only thing that existed. He got as far as to think I wish someone would look at... before slamming the thought deep down into his stomach and padlocking it twice.

For the most part Serio kept his eyes on the singer and his whiskey near his lips while Juniper talked, his face holding his rather signature friendly-but-stoic smile. His eyes did trail over to Juniper when the man finished talking - just in time to catch Juniper's eyes head towards Cory. Serio brought his gaze back to the singer, and took a sip of his drink, contemplating.

"Would you mind terribly if we went to go admire some of the art while we talk?"

Y'see, soon enough the bartender would finish up the drinks for Amelia's group, and once that happened, he'd almost certainly be making sure to listen in on Serio and Juniper's conversation - if he wasn't already. Now, Serio wasn't about to fault the guy for that - the bartender at The Mimosa Bloom would do the same - but nonetheless, if he and Juniper were going to continue chatting, it needed to be away from prying ears.

Juniper had a momentary flash of fear that he had not been as discreet as he meant while looking at Cory, but quickly assured himself that there was no reason for anyone to guess. No, it was far more interesting that Serio seemed to want to continue the conversation more privately. To avoid looking too eager, Juniper pursed his lips slightly and looked back at the bar as if contemplating needing another drink. As his drink was still half full, he turned back to Serio and shook his head subtly.

"Not at all," he said in a rush as if to convey--politely, of course--that it was the slightest bit inconvenient.

Serio's eyebrows raised ever-so-slightly, perhaps just a touch caught off-guard by Juniper's terseness. Here he'd been expecting the man to be outright pleased with the proposal... perhaps he was letting wishful thinking get the best of him. Or, perhaps Juniper was just posturing. Both were certainly possible.

Either way, though, Juniper had agreed.

So Serio nodded, his eyes softening just enough to turn his smile apologetic in answer to the inconvenience hinted at in Juniper's reply. That done, his expression returned to that contented poker face of his, and he slid to his feet and gestured lightly towards the painting Cory had been admiring not long ago, before leading the way over to it.

As it happened, the position and angle he stopped and stood at left the obvious position and angle for Juniper to stand one that made for rather easy glancing at Cory over Serio's shoulder. If Serio set that up on purpose, he was masterfully casual about it; it seemed equally likely that he just took the farther-away-from-the-bar position since he was in the lead, and wasn't thinking about Cory in the slightest.

Serio stood for a moment and regarded the painting. Admittedly, there was a notable difference between how Serio looked at the painting and how Cory had looked at it a few minutes prior. Cory had been enraptured by it, his eyes zooming in and appreciating every little detail. Serio was a bit more aloof - mostly taking in the painting as a whole, although his eyes did move around a bit, happily following the motions present within it.

After they'd had a moment to appreciate the painting, Serio spoke up.

"I fear I wouldn't be able to make The Mimosa Bloom into what you're looking for, even if I found the right secret. There's a trade-off about secrets - value and risk." Serio drew in a breath like he was about to say something else, but then paused, and started to bring his drink up to his lips. Even that motion didn't quite finish, though, as the man let his eyes get just a little bit more lost in the painting - still clearly focusing on the movement of the brush strokes, leading his gaze across the canvas.

"Ren's already decided exactly the sort of risks he's interested in taking." he finally said, and then finished the motion of taking a sip of his drink.

Juniper's eyes glinted at how quickly his daydream about the ideal club had formed into a possibility in Serio's mind, even if it wasn't a likely possibility. He heard the resignation in Serio's voice and gestures and knew it well. It was frequently the moment he waited for before pitching a business proposal. Very little could have distracted Juniper from this newly viable train of thought, though some distant part of his mind was stubbornly trained on preventing him from staring over Serio's shoulder where he knew Cory was standing, lest his self-control betray him.

"It would be incredibly difficult to completely redesign the entire theme of a place after it's already in full swing," Juniper offered. He let the smallest smile slip as he waved that idea away casually. "But theoretically speaking, what sorts of risks would you be willing to take?" It was impossible to prevent his own imagination from running away from him about how to make the perfect underground setting. He'd practically purchased the linens already. 

Serio was glad he'd taken his time with that last sip of his drink, as rolling the whiskey over his tongue before swallowing was about the only thing keeping him from grinning like a child in a candy store.

Juniper was biting. And with such a wonderful question.

"To provide something actually interesting to people who are starving for it?" Serio turned his gaze just enough to the side to meet Juniper's eyes, his expression decidedly playful - with, perhaps, a shade of daring in his quirked eyebrow. "That's a hill I'd die happy on, my friend."

Juniper had a wild idea cross his mind from the part of his brain he was accustomed to shutting down. What if there was a club for people like... me? He reacted with mixed emotions internally, grappling with the admission and wanting to shove the thought down with the others, but his entrepreneurial side held up a finger internally, much to the dismay of his self-control.

But even if creating such a place was possible, was Juniper really going to pitch that idea to Serio? Seriously? And how many people would actually attend at the risk of outing themselves? Could it even stay open?

Juniper badly wanted to dismiss the thought altogether, but it would not leave his mind.

"And what do you think people are starving for?" Juniper asked.

At that, Serio softly clicked his tongue and turned his gaze back to the painting, his smile looking just a mite bit sheepish.

"Well, 'something actually interesting' is about as far as I'd gotten, truth told - though I rather like your 'feeling in on a secret' framing, which I'm chewing on. I've certainly toyed with some ideas, and some have panned out well in tightly curated parties, but that's quite a different setting from an establishment."

The man paused there, glancing down to his drink while his hand tilted the glass, swirling the last bits of liquid around the bottom. He was stalling, and he knew it. Truth was, he did have an idea - a handful, actually, but how to tactfully segue...?

"The main thing I figure, is it's about time for a club that doesn't center the proclivities of straight men who think that drinking up booze and women is the most interesting thing in the world."

There he paused again, but turned his gaze up towards the ornate ceiling above them, and then over towards Cory and the statue he admired; the social group behind him by the stage; the dancers in front of the stage; the singer still serenading the room.

"The Black Butterly almost does that - but by including a huge swath of demographics, all of which the 'booze and women' crowd is still comfortable with. Which, I'm glad exists, but isn't what I'm interested in."

As it happened, while Serio's gaze was focused on the singer during that comment, the woman actually looked his way, for the briefest of moments. Oh, she still didn't offer a smile or a wink or anything of the sort, but it was an unmistakable moment of eye contact, to anyone who was paying attention for that split second. Serio's smile curled, perhaps tellingly reaching his eyes, but he drew his attention back, and returned his gaze calmly to Juniper.

"I want to make the 'booze and women' crowd uncomfortable, to actually make room for the interesting stuff."

The next comment would require a bit of delicacy, so Serio turned his eyes back to the painting, not wanting to put Juniper too on the spot.

"One thought that's crossed my mind is taking women out of the equation entirely, but given my own proclivities, I'm not sure I could give the clientele of such an establishment what they're actually looking for. I know some potential patrons, but no-one who has the bandwidth to help with a project, unfortunately."

Juniper's torso went numb as all the blood in his body seemed to rush in two directions, one straight up to his now significantly reddened face and the other... well... Clearly, Juniper hadn't been totally off the mark with his wild fantasy, and how perfect would that be? He could practically taste the delight of curating such an experience on his tongue, a place where there was no need to hide because everyone had the same secret to keep. Juniper savored the thoughts greedily, immensely grateful that something else had momentarily caught Serio's attention. 

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to shift his body into a more acceptable circulation pattern before Serio turned back to him, Juniper considered the tact necessary to throw such a plan into action. His paranoia crept up the back of his neck, whispering that perhaps someone from Chicago had told Serio something, maybe he was ferreting out some confession to ruin what Juniper had created in New York. But, on second thought, Serio didn't seem the jealous, vengeful type; in fact, he seemed rather authentically... bored with the Mimosa Bloom. 

Paranoia overruled, Juniper rolled "given my own proclivities" over in his mind. If he was reading into that correctly, especially after taking the constant glances at the stage into account, Juniper could confidently say that Serio was not... interested in men, which did impart some additional risk. But it also did not seem viable to pretend not to be interested in men because, well, how could two straight men run a gay establishment? 

There was definitely an offer on the table, and Serio had created an easy and obvious opening for Juniper to accept, but he still could not help hesitating. Compromising, he went after the only angle he could think of. 

"And these private parties you've played a part in, were they well attended?" Juniper asked. At the very least, Serio would know it wasn't a "no."