"...really?" T'shhim says, holding back some form of laughter. "You say this now rather than when I was nearly-naked in dancer's silks?"

He waves a hand, "The leathers suit you," he laughs, not really attempting to defend himself, "And I wasn't really in the mood to appreciate it last night," he shrugs, "If you'd caught me before I talked to Sibold, it'd have been different."

"Well here I was fooled into thinking you were heterosexual," he says, the smirk not visible behind his sand veil but definitely audible in his words.

He gasps as though mortally offended, "I never-" he breaks character with a snicker. "No I just get all up in my head when I've got an interesting problem to work out in front of me," he shrugs, "I can get pretty oblivious when I'm like that."

"Well you look cute when you're oblivious so I don't mind."

"I'm almost always cute, so that makes sense," he agrees, with a healthy measure of cheek, "It's a skill I've trained until it's automatic."

"Is it? You did good, it looks natural and effortless."

"Always nice to have my work appreciated," he laughs, "And, likewise." He pauses a moment, thinking back, and then adds, "Where do you get those silks. I know you said nearly-naked, but I think you actually looked more naked in them than you would have if you'd just been nude. That strap that gathered the front so the cloth juuust teased a glimpse here and there... That's some masterful work."

He grins, though that's only visible in the crinkle of his eyes. "Same place I first learned how to dance, with the Thavnairian dance troupe. Or, well, I slightly modified the design and added some Dalmascan touches and then when I had enough money for it had others made in similar style and with better fit. And then it took a while longer than that to save up enough for Thavnairian silk, which let me tell you is just great for it, if you balance the weight well enough with the chains and gems—well, you just said, the effect is interesting."

He sighs a little wistfully, "Wearable art," he shakes his head, "Jewelry's like that too," he touches one of his earrings. "I'd like to make things like that, someday. That make the wearer shine more for wearing them, you know? Enhance and underline, not cover up. It's not really the Ul'dah fashion, though."

"Hmm, depends on where in Ul'dah. Ul'dahn dancers certainly sometimes dress similarly to how I do, although the specific aesthetic styles are not the same; they go for poofier vests and veils and more angular details and fewer overt gems and chains."

"They don't let novices clothe dancers, mostly," he shrugs, "It'd be one slightly brighter spot in a sea of dullness. Anyway, I'm not a weaver anymore, at least for now. I don't have enough patience right now to work my way up. At least jewellery is always shiny," he shakes his head, "Guildmaster Thaudour lets me get away with more than Rose did, too."

He sighs airily, "Enough about my guild dramatics, though. Are you in any? I've not heard of a sex work guild, and I think I would have," just for being miqo'te. He certainly gets enough propositions from people who seem to think he might as well be one! "But there are dancing guilds in some places, I think?"

"I'm not in any, no. I'm—mostly self-taught, I got into the Thavnairian dance troupe by watching them and learning it and then showing them I'd learned it from watching them, I think I'd die of claustrophobia if I had to follow a guild's structure."

Also maybe he should not tell the story of how he effectively conned the troupe right this moment. Not a great bit for first few impressions, he thinks.

"Oh that's fair," he nods, "And impressive! If I weren't progressing so fast I might think the same, at this rate I'll be a Journeyman within a couple years, and then I'll be able to go wherever I want and build my own reputation off what I want to make, if I like. And I do like." He pans back a little, "I wonder why there isn't a sex work guild. You'd think a place to learn and get support from would be helpful for such a wide-spread profession? It's not like its 'unskilled work'," whatever that means.

Shrug. "I never really looked into it. Do you know how these guilds even get formed? If they need, I don't know, some backing from important politicians then there might be something about how anyone who starts one will be seen as at best desperate and at worst a whoremonger. We don't have the best of reputations."

"Oh, hm. I think official guilds do need backing, yeah. I could see a wealthy and well-connected person managing it? Maybe even for nice reasons, like wanting to spread their knowledge and support novices." He considers for a moment, "Guilds hit the people who can't afford to join it or get rejected pretty hard, though. All of them do that, but given sex work is the last bastion, not a career choice they made, for a lot of the people who do it..."

"Would that be any worse than it currently is, with no guilds at all? ...I guess maybe if there's some guild certification then anyone who doesn't get it will have clients refusing to hire them, hmm."

"Or paying worse, or treating them worse. It'd protect the people who joined, but I think there'd be a high chance things would get worse for people who didn't or couldn't."

"Wouldn't that be true for everyone, then, though? Not just whores."

"Yep! Guild-certified craftsmen make way more gil, because they're seen as more trustworthy and everyone knows they've had good training. People will short-change outsiders sometimes, too, or renege on deals, and in Ul'dah if you don't have a guild seal on your contracts the courts won't take them seriously. Even incredibly talented outsiders have to get really lucky in their patrons if they want to be as successful as a guildmember, and the guild will pester you about joining if you get famous outside their aegis."

"...wow. Don't think I love that."

"You're not the only one," He shrugs, "Profit and control. Even when the guildmaster doesn't necessarily see it that way, the city as a whole is committed to keeping the status quo. All for the prosperity of Ul'dah, and all of that. It's not as bad in Gridania but the basic system and the... elitism? That's still there."

"I've never been to Gridania, what is it like?"

"...Green," he says, looking out over the scraggly bush and sandy earth around them. He shakes off the mild homesickness, and adds, "Very... one with nature? In its architecture, and its ethos. The city isn't meant to stand out like Ul'dah does - you can't miss it, not at the size it is, but it's very much meant to look like it and the Shroud are one, with buildings made to fit where nature allows rather than nature broken to allow buildings to be built. The guilds there are more likely to accept anyone who applies, particularly if they're a native to the area, but they're kind of suspicious of outsiders.

"They're very concerned with the balance of nature there, and some of them look down on anyone who isn't Gridanian out of belief they don't care about that. They're not usually wrong," he adds with a little laugh, "Most people don't care about the balance of nature like they do. The spirits of the forest making life hard for people if they don't take care not to upset them is a real danger. Some Gridanians really don't like miqo'te, because Keepers used to be pretty bad about that, under their standards, and you know people can't seem to tell who's an actual Keeper and who isn't."

T'shhim's ears twitch, at that. "Good old racism," he says, with perhaps more levity than he actually feels about it. "I suppose I am profiting something from it, here, since every other Ul'dahn just assumes I'm DTF. ...the silks probably don't help, admittedly."