Don't Say I Told You So

[Cassandra Paige]

It wasn't really a conversation Cass wanted to have. But there they were anyway. He had offered to provide security once before, and while she had agreed to times when it seemed appropriate (like the trip into Sith territory), it had just seemed mostly silly for day to day needs.

Then the raptor had walked into her office.

Oh, everything had turned out just fine. It had been a surprisingly civil (if strange) conversation and business agreement.

But that didn't change that a raptor had walked into her office.

So here she was, finishing checking certain accounts receivable files and waiting for [member="Itash Mecetti"]. It was, she had stressed, a business meeting. Dressed in a fairly no-nonsense grey suit, Cass drummed her fingers idly on the desk.

He was ten minutes late.

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

She often stressed things.

More often than not it ended up being only half a stress, rather than a full commitment to the thing pronounced.

Ten minutes.

Itash could have come earlier, yes, but... he hadn't. Exactly ten minutes passed and then the door slid open, allowing entry to the Lord Itash of House Mecetti. Behind him it shut and he leaned against the adjacent wall for a bit, watching her a moment. Eyes going up and down, up and down, up and down. "Even while trying to look completely unenticing you still manage to look beautiful, Cassandra." The words rolled smoothly with that confident smile, dashing and bright shining, before he settled himself down in the seat before her.

"You wanted to discuss business this time?" The stress was there, his eyes ghosting down once more, before settling firmly on her eyes.

Holding there.

For the time being anyway.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Ten minutes wasn't unreasonable. It annoyed her certainly, but even she wasn't going to get visibly irritated by ten minutes.

She looked up as he entered then looked back down at the things on her desk. He'd made her wait, so he could wait while she finished the one form. It wasn't petty, simply quid pro quo. Of the things Cass expected, parity was chief amount them. But when he spoke she looked back up, lips pursing slightly. In truth she had picked out something less appealing on purpose. In part to see what his reaction would be (since she usually dressed with his eye in mind), but also to reinforce the idea that this was business. Being called on it in such a fashion however was gauche. She wasn't fooled by the compliment tacked onto the end.

"'Trying to look unappealing' implies I dressed with you in mind at all," she said a little archedly. She lied as easily and readily as he did. "I happen to like this suit, thank you."

In truth it usually lived at the back of the closet.

"And yes, I did." She didn't get up from behind her desk, instead motioning for him to sit.

"You offered to provide security. I turned you down at the time but I would like to revisit that."

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

He did sit.

Almost gliding through the room, all grace and lazy ease, before settling himself down on the seat. One leg over the other, leaning back in the seat, fingers curled together and resting on his lap. Practiced ease, even when Itash was summoned he somehow made it seem as if he was the one on the other side of the table. Rather than the other way around, but that was what it meant... being raised Noble.

Always his superiority in mind.

"And what made you change your mind?" Head tilting in curiosity, but for the moment she was spared the indignity of having him smile his smile that always said: Oh, but I told you so, didn't I?

Something told him that she wouldn't be completely honest with him here either, but that was okay. It would be much more sweeter to find out once his security would start upgrading everything around her. Then it would be rather difficult to hide or push out of the limelight as far as Itash was concerned. He didn't shift as he waited for her response.

Instead he watched and waited.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

Cass was in no mood for games. She watched him glide across the room and couldn't help but tilt her head appreciatively for a moment before focusing on his face again.

If he'd been wearing that particular smile she might have tossed him right out of her office and called it quits on the whole thing.

Instead she just started at him for a moment before responding.

"A raptor walked into my office."

Deadpan. Serious. Absolutely the truth.

Then she shrugged, leaning back in her chair slightly.

"It had an appointment- but I had no idea what it was until it waltzed in and started talking to me. I'd rather not be taken by surprised by something like that again. I'd like to hire you and your firm to provide security. Do you upgrade systems as well? Surveillance, for instance. I can't seem to track down just who made that appointment without making a notation of what they were making the appointment for. No one will own up to it. But next time I expect to be aware of what will be walking into my office in advance."

She had considered firing the entire administrative staff over that one.

She was still considering it, truth be told.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Brow lofted.

"A Raptor?" Cassandra seemed to be completely straightforward about it and nothing from her mind implied lies. "I see." It was as much of an acceptance as Cass would get from that type of disclosure. Sometimes Itash missed the Core Worlds or even the Free Colonies, the humanoid population matched the aliens 10 to 1 and there simply wasn't that much... weirdness there.

It certainly was easier when you didn't need to guess what limb you needed to shake and what limb you needed to keep as far away from you as possible.

"Of course. We provide full-suite security on a case-by-case basis." Tash informed soon after that, while pondering about her needs. This worked out rather well as far as Itash was concerned. If they were to be together - a concept Mecetti was slowly warming up to - then it would not do to keep having Raptors wandering into her office every time.

What if one of those days one would be hungry?

"I'd recommend a full sweep of your staff as well, background checks, the works." The thought came a moment later. "I can secure your facilities, your computers, but if I stick to that I will not be able to account for the human factor."

Odd how that seemed to fit perfectly with her current musing as well.

But it wouldn't be so far from the left field that it could make her suspicious, at least Itash didn't consider that risk to be very high.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

She nodded, pinching the bridge of her nose slightly between two fingers.

"I regret the decision to keep on so much of the original staff of Genu-Tech," she said, tone clearly irritated.

In truth, she'd fired almost two-thirds of the original administrative staff, though only a quarter of the science staff. The staff had seemed overly bloated, and she had been correct to do so. But what she should have done, clearly, was fire them all and start from scratch. That's what she got for being generous apparently.

"So yes, background checks on existing staff, and of course on any new incoming," her face was expressionless. "I believe I will be needing a number of them, once that is completed."

She was talking, without remorse, about firing any number of people.

"The computers hardly seem necessary however," she said with a frown. "The administrative files are protected adequately, and the science lab systems are on their own, private servers. No way to access that data without being on site, and there are of course things to prevent non-personnel from getting into those systems."

She didn't particularly want him poking around in those files.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

This was reasonably perfect, really.

It gave Itash the perfect opportunity to weed out people and insert the ones that were far more... agreeable to him. It was groundwork, an exercise, he wasn't even sure if... whatever this was would grow further or would choke out, before it could get anywhere. But being prepared was a good thing in his experience. Having people inside of her company would make certain things far easier.

"Cass, I don't tell you or your science nerds how to handle genetics." Tash pointed out calmly, switching legs and re-positioning his body lazily. Stretching, showing, pushing her in other ways.

"When I do a job, I do it right. Leaving one part out of the equation automatically makes it the weak spot in the whole cycle."

He also simply wanted access to her digital systems, of course. But that was hardly something that Cassandra needed to know. What she didn't know, couldn't hurt her and all that. "I have experts in computers and digital systems, we will handle it all with care."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

She wanted to argue. She really, really did. But he also had a point. It annoyed her that he did, but it didn't really change anything.

"Fine," she said, making a dismissive motion in the air. "Keep it as un-invasive as possible, please."

She already disliked having to change her stance on this at all. That didn't change the need, however. Cass was stubborn, but she wasn't stupid. It was abundantly clear that the existing set up was insufficient.

"There are encryptions on some of our more sensitive special order files. I expect those to be left alone," she said primly.

She eyed him for a moment, frowning slightly but not entirely certain why.

"What will you need from me then, to get this rolling?" She asked, folding her hands on the top of her desk.

Business Cass was in Business mode.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"Of course." Tash declared with his own dismissive hand gesture. It was obvious to both of them that he wasn't just going to admit to bugging all her systems for his own interest and intelligence, that was... gauche.

But Mecetti would keep it dignified and clean.

Nothing that would slow down her systems or anything, besides that he would ensure that her more sensitive files (the ones that didn't interest him) wouldn't be touch whatsoever. He didn't particularly care about her official GenPals business or rather, it was a lower priority for him. "Full access to all your systems and facilities, both here and off-site." The Tapani Lord slowly rose from the seat, just as graceful and smooth as he had settled himself down. Slowly strolling around the table, his eyes on hers and daring.

"About it, really."

Finding himself behind her seat, his hands already on her shoulders, pressing tight.

"Business concluded then."