Oh My, My, Kiss The Sky

[Cassandra Paige]

She didn't get smug. Not outwardly at least. Instead she just inclined her head graciously. She didn't even make a fuss about him canceling the order. Honestly she would have been surprised if he hadn't. There were still so many..... if not outright lies..... secrets. Untruths.... between them.

But that was half the game, wasn't it?

Slowly unraveling those. If it was all laid bare suddenly, she suspected they would both get very bored, very quickly.

Oh, she might stay. After all, when she'd first started this game, the goal had been 'snag a noble.' The fact that she actually enjoyed his company?

A bonus, certainly.

But not the entire point.

"Hmm, yes, let's," she said, perfectly content to not lord that moment over him in any fashion. Finding a chink in that armor was exactly enough for now. Sure, he would fill it, fix that over sight, but the fact that she had caught it was what mattered.

"Thank you OSI, this was quite enlightening."

"You are welcome Miss Paige."​

They headed back out, Cass's arm in his. She was perfectly content to head back up, out of the chill. The corner of her mouth twitched, ever so slightly.

Okay so, she was a little smug.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Not every encounter could be a win.

More often than not things went his way, even if it didn't seem that way. But this one... this one was entirely hers and Itash was graceful in his defeat. He almost wanted to whisper well played in her ear- yet there was the game to consider. Acknowledging these sort of things outloud broke the magic and forced them to acknowledge other things at the same time.

Which was boring as far as Itash was concerned.

No, it was best to dance.

A few moments later they were back in the second elevator again. He leaned against the railing, his eyes brushing and exploring freely now. "What did you think of OSI, Cassandra?" As if there was nothing else happening here.

He wondered just how far he could push her.

 

[Cassandra Paige]

She pretended not to notice the way his eyes passed over her, instead inspecting her nails casually. She also leaned against the railing, hip jutted ever so slightly and head tilted to the side, exposing the line of her neck. Casual, but certainly on display. Now it was her turn to seem indifferent to the hunger there.

Back and forth it went.

"A very interesting tidbit of code," she answered. "I understand now why it's under such security. It would be foolish to have something like that available to anyone who walked in."

Of course, she knew that not just anyone could walk in. That was the point. Almost the entire point, in fact.

"Everything else aside, there is information I could find useful. There aren't many businesses that focus on genetics in the Corporate Sector, but I know of a few. They are not.... not really competition per se. But I would be very interested in seeing some of their records that aren't available to the public."

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

Oh, Itash noticed the way she showed without explicitly offering.

It was good.

"Mmyes, I figured you might understand once you saw what we had there." The boys in the boiler room back at G.E.A.R. had outdone themselves with OSI. They were a secretive bunch all things considered. Used to be they just produced some general stuff- armor, tech, droids, the usual. But Tash had been made to understand that as long as money was involved... they were quite willing to start secretive projects.

Where their backing came from was anyone's guess.

A nod followed, more serious now, less focused on that seductive line. "That could be arranged, yes, but I am very cautious about this, you understand." It wasn't a question, she would understand.

This thing changed the balance of power in the Corporate Sector in a very substantial way.

Itash was not going to use it in a very direct way... yet, anyway. "After all, this would have been much harder without your assistance."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

"Mmm, it's kind of you to say so," she said, glancing up at him from beneath her eyelashes.

"But I suspect you would have done just fine without me."

Fishing, perhaps a little. But the faint smile on her lips told him she was- and that more importantly, she knew she was.

"Well, I'll consider it and pass on the information I would like, and you can decide if it is safe to share, yes?" She stood up straighter, brushing an imaginary bit of lint off of the neckline of her dress.

The lift dinged and she exited first this time, hips swaying as she headed down the hallway before him, leading the way back to the labs. She paused in the opening, settling her hip against the doorjam. Grey eyes cast around the space with approval.

"This will do nicely, yes," she murmured, more to herself than anything else.

[member="Itash Mecetti"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Cassandra Paige"]

"Fine? Perhaps, but when have you ever seen me satisfied with just fine." Tash retorted smoothly, because yes, he was aware she was fishing and he'd happily oblige the fishing with his own type of bait.

But it would be done on his own terms.

The swaying was noted and followed. He shook his head slightly, this woman does things. It should have annoyed him... and yet Itash found that it was enjoyable to say the least. "That certainly works fine. I am sure we will be able to negotiate something mutually... agreeable." That last word hit just as he brushed against her and pushed her further into the room.

The door sliding shut behind them.

"To business then."

 

[Cassandra Paige]

She chuckled, low and soft. "Never. I can't imagine you being content with fine."

Cass let him push her into the room, turning around to face him as her hands slid up around his neck.

It had been nothing but business. From the beginning, the inception of this idea- at least in how it had been introduced to her, when she had been drawn in- it had been all business. The creation of the little infiltrators, taking the facility. For Tash it had been about claiming it, owning it. Cass, as always, worked on subtler levels. The expansion of GenPals into a new market, becoming even more indefensible to him (and he to her, if she were being honest). Pushing the boundaries of the very realities they existed within.

It had all been business.

"No," she said quietly, her voice firm. "No more business, Lord Mecetti."

She smiled, and now it was smug, a slowly curling smirk.

"We're done," she whispered, tipping up to brush her lips against his, "with business for now."

[member="Itash Mecetti"]