Eight hundred. Luc pursed his lips slightly as he turned the price over and over again in his mind. It was actually less than what he'd been willing to spend on the piece - but it was more than he'd been expecting Joaquin to ask for. It was actually nice to have Joaquin come at him with something he hadn't anticipated - Luc loved surprises, and this was no different.
When he brought the forefinger of his hand not holding the scotch up to his lips, it was actually to suppress a smirk that threatened to overtake his game face just then - because he liked a quick study. Oh, the strange things that Luc Haust enjoyed in life - games being one of the big ones. And to have thought he was MVP and be surpassed by Rookie of the Year, at least for the moment - well. It made things very interesting indeed.
"Eight hundred, huh?" he repeated the price back, and from the sound of his voice it was almost like it was too much - but that, of course, was intentional. He paused for effect, taking a moment to turn back and review the picture as if he hadn't already looked carefully enough. Like there was something more that he missed. But basically just killing a few seconds. "It's a beautiful painting. Not sure if it's eight hundred dollars beautiful, though." He realized that the statement probably stung (and for a fleeting moment he regretted saying it), but people would say worse things to him one day in the future - at least if tonight didn't put a bad taste in his mouth about gallery shows. It was really a gentle breaking-in, considering.
"Tell you what," he said, arching an eyebrow as that sly little smirk played across his lips - because he couldn't fight it anymore. "Show me one more that I could be interested in, give me a price on that one, and we'll take it from there. I'm not entirely sure $800 is in my artistic budget tonight." Of course, he left out that his artistic budget was really at his discretion - so it wasn't exactly a lie. Just an underestimation of the truth.. ish.
He sipped at the scotch, and was quick to finish it off - again. He was half-tempted to stop by the bar for a refill on the way to wherever Joaquin took him next, but that would depend on which side of his conscience won out on that warfront. Plus, right now? He was pretty curious to see what Joaquin's next move was going to be.