Don't Rock the Boat

His magic wasn't completely useless, not really. Just... selective. And immaterial. And added absolutely no worth to him. But it could make pretty things, and his art had been getting better. It could also be surprising enough to make stupid people (or, better, monsters), go another direction, but it really wasn't meant for close, stuffy, airless, suffocating quarters. Had Uwe just realized he was probably a little claustrophobic? Possibly. It was not the least obvious answer. His magic wasn't completely useless, but it absolutely was in this instance. Maybe someone else would be able to do something with it, but that Winkler boy? Impossible.

It wasn't fun to see Sylen trying not to look disappointed. Not only could the other man actually do things, but Uwe couldn't even do what he was "known for". It was obvious, apparent, and definite - Sylen was much too good for him. Which he'd known before, even if the other man didn't dress especially well (comparably). He could do stuff, and that was a worthwhile reason to continue living.

And a worthwhile reason to get out of this basement.

He'd also realized a lot of things that Uwe hadn't even thought about. Their captors had things they weren't supposed to have? He'd been attempting to surround himself with such opulence that the haphazard appearance and random fine items hadn't even registered as "wrong." What would Sylen say if he went to Uwe's rooms? As friends. As a critic, just meant to pick apart the implausibility of his sham and tell him what he needed to change to make sure people didn't realize anything was fake. Not that now - or ever - was the time to discuss it, but it was a nice thought for the moment.

A dark thought passed through his head. Sylen had seen his failures, Sylen could report him as incompetent, Sylen could ruin everything. Did he really want Sylen to be able to get out and tell people what he'd learned. Not that he believed the other man was a gossip, but, well... you never know. He hadn't seemed to really know of Uwe and what he was "known for" very well, so maybe it wasn't a surprise, but could he risk it? Could he risk his carefully constructed lies becoming exposed? He completely ignored everything the slightly taller man was saying, everything until... "Ready?" He wasn't, Uwe most assuredly wasn't, but maybe that would work to his favor. Maybe something would... happen, and then he wouldn't have to make any decisions at all. Decisions, after all, were very difficult. "Uh.. absolutely. After you. I'll cover."