Private Tales Money of Clandestine Means

[Inara Irren]

"It's behind us now, I'm over it. I've fucked my frustrations out on you. I'm simply educating you on the frail thread that is mortality. There's nothing else you could have done with the level of skill you have, you were lucky. Don't rely on luck next time."

Inara just gave him that look. He was so crass sometimes but she did not really hate it.

"Are you ready for seconds?"

"Yes, please," she said and handed Max her bowl.

She was only a little smug about the fact that he loved her stew enough to get seconds. Okay...more than a little. She loved it and she was very smug about it.

"I met with my father after you left..."

 

[Max Kouser]

Inara just gave him that look. He was so crass sometimes but she did not really hate it.

"Yes, please," she said and handed Max her bowl. She was only a little smug about the fact that he loved her stew enough to get seconds. Okay...more than a little. She loved it and she was very smug about it.

He took her bowl and went into the kitchen to serve them both seconds.

"I met with my father after you left..."

Max didn't stop ladling soup, but he was on guard again.
He played it off casually.
"Oh? What'd he have to say?"

 

[Inara Irren]

"Oh? What'd he have to say?"

Inara had a feeling Max would be upset with her but they had a mutual way of working out their issues.

“I told him the truth,” she paused to let him think about what truth for a moment. To mess with him.

“I told him that I am utterly useless and out of my element. I told him that you have been more than a bodyguard to me and you are invaluable to running his branch of the Syndicate. He cannot make us both Underboss and he isn’t going to take the position from me due to appearances but he said you will be compensated for your duel rules going forward as long as you continue your excellent work.”

She finished the last of the sentence in a tone that was similar to your fathers.

 

[Max Kouser]

Inara had a feeling Max would be upset with her but they had a mutual way of working out their issues.

“I told him the truth,” she paused to let him think about what truth for a moment. To mess with him.

He raised an eyebrow at that. He has his back to her so it was to himself.
Told him the truth about what? That she'd almost died on his watch? That she might be knocked up? Context was important here and she'd given none yet.

“I told him that I am utterly useless and out of my element. I told him that you have been more than a bodyguard to me and you are invaluable to running his branch of the Syndicate. He cannot make us both Underboss and he isn’t going to take the position from me due to appearances, but he said you will be compensated for your duel roles going forward as long as you continue your excellent work.”

She finished the last of the sentence in a tone that was similar to her fathers.

He let out a sigh of relief and finished filling their bowls.
That was incredible news! It meant that Marcus actually did recognize his value to the Syndicate! It also meant that he wasn't as replaceable as he was led to believe!

He returned to the table, set her bowl in front of her and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
"Thank you, Inara. That means a lot to me, more than you know."
He went to his seat and sat down with his bowl of soup.

His mind was still racing at the possibilities as he took another bite of soup. It was still delicious, maybe even a little moreso now.

 

[Inara Irren]

"Thank you, Inara. That means a lot to me, more than you know."

Inara smiled at Max’s kiss to her cheek and his thank you. She was glad he wasn’t upset that she talked to her father about him. Some men got uppity about that type of stuff.

“You’re welcome. It was all true and I didn’t want him thinking he could take you from me or anything,” she said as she dipped a new piece of bread in the refilled soup.

“Basically, you do all the work and I get all the praise now,” she blew him a kiss accompanied by a wink. She knew she was a brat sometimes.

 

[Max Kouser]

Inara smiled at Max’s kiss to her cheek and his thank you. She was glad he wasn’t upset that she talked to her father about him. Some men got uppity about that type of stuff.

“You’re welcome. It was all true and I didn’t want him thinking he could take you from me or anything,” she said as she dipped a new piece of bread in the refilled soup.

“Basically, you do all the work and I get all the praise now,” she blew him a kiss accompanied by a wink. She knew she was a brat sometimes.

He smirked.
"Nothing's changed then."
Chuckling he dipped his bread in the soup and took a bite.
"So, where do we go from here?"
He asked.
"Tomorrow your going to visit your mage. Then what?"

 

[Inara Irren]

"Nothing's changed then."

Inara stuck her tongue out at Max in response to his sass.

"So, where do we go from here?"
He asked.
"Tomorrow your going to visit your mage. Then what?"

"We kill a noble?"

Inara asked as she dipped her bread again and took another bite.

 

[Max Kouser]

"We kill a noble?"

Inara asked as she dipped her bread again and took another bite.

He grinned evilly, "Yeah, we kill a gods damned disrespectful noble. We may not hear from my guys for a few days, but we can still get our part ready."
He took another bite of bread.
"Do you have any really tall... Really sharp high heals? I wonder how many octaves his voice can go up if you unmanned him..."

 

[Inara Irren]

"Do you have any really tall... Really sharp high heals? I wonder how many octaves his voice can go up if you unmanned him..."

One of Inara's perfect brows rose at his question.

"Max...my dear...I have a very serious question for you. Do I look like someone who wears heels?"

She had in the past but it had been against her will and better judgement. She was clumsy so she did not do well with walking in anything that was not flat.

 

[Max Kouser]

One of Inara's perfect brows rose at his question.

"Max...my dear...I have a very serious question for you. Do I look like someone who wears heels?"

She had in the past but it had been against her will and better judgement. She was clumsy so she did not do well with walking in anything that was not flat.

He shrugged.
"Yeah, kinda. And that's not a very serious question. But if you don't that's fine, we can always unman him the traditional way if we want to make him suffer. Or we can make it quick and get on with our day, quick and painful to get him out of our lives with a nice send-off."

 

[Inara Irren]

"Yeah, kinda. And that's not a very serious question. But if you don't that's fine, we can always unman him the traditional way if we want to make him suffer. Or we can make it quick and get on with our day, quick and painful to get him out of our lives with a nice send-off."

"I think it will depend on how much he irritates us when we get there," Inara said with an evil grin.

---

Max was right about the timing. It took two days for them to get the go on visiting Lord Clydus. Max said he would swing by and get her so she just waited now for him to show up.

They had spent the last two days working, getting ready, having some fun, and doing some self defense training. She was no expert (obviously) but she was better than she had been. She was pretty proud of herself for being a quick learner.

 

[Max Kouser]

"I think it will depend on how much he irritates us when we get there," Inara said with an evil grin.

Max was right about the timing. It took two days for them to get the go on visiting Lord Clydus. Max said he would swing by and get her so she just waited now for him to show up.

They had spent the last two days working, getting ready, having some fun, and doing some self defense training. She was no expert (obviously) but she was better than she had been. She was pretty proud of herself for being a quick learner.

The carriage pulled up in front of her Townhouse and a man dressed in his characteristic white colored suit and immaculately groomed blond hair hopped out and knocked on her door.

As soon as Inara was at the door he gave her a brief smile.
"Everything is set, today's the day and we've been given the go-ahead. Nobody will lift a finger to us when we waltz right through the front doors of the Clydus townhouse."
He offered her his arm to escort her and help her into the carriage.

There were two men on horseback accompanying them. Even though Clydus's security has been neutralized and he was supposedly non-the-wiser, it was better to be safe than sorry.
The fat noble was a cunning man.
And even though Inara had been training with Max and knew a bit more than she did before on how to gut a man, this wasn't a situation where they had to get their hands unnecessarily dirty. If Clydus tried anything this extra muscle would make sure he's ready for them to do as they pleased with him.

 

[Inara Irren]

"Everything is set, today's the day and we've been given the go-ahead. Nobody will lift a finger to us when we waltz right through the front doors of the Clydus townhouse."

Inara linked her hand through his offered arm and headed towards the carriage. Once they both were in the carriage, it started to move down the street.

"Excellent, I am hoping that we may be able to bring some of that security into our organization. His super loyal ones will need to meet the same fate as him but the hired help could be nice to have on the payroll."

She was well aware of the fact that the men could easily be bought by someone else and turned against the Syndicate but she liked to think they paid well enough to keep that from happening.

"I, of course, will follow your lead, Max," she said with a smile. She was fine with him always talking the lead really.