Negotiations With Teeth
Jul. 18th, 2014 12:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ticktockgrinDwayne hates this part of the act. He's pulled just about every con in the game at some time or another, some of them enough times to do them blind without a moment's warning, but this one? It never gets easier, even with the amount of trust involved.
Art items, money, contraband luxuries of all sorts, even drugs and weapons? Sure. Humans? That's one thing he can't stomach.
Next to him, Mira is just as calm as he is, probably calmer because she knows the lock on her silver collar has a quick-release that will let her get it off in half a second.
She's the quickest shifter he knows, maybe because she was turned so young. She's still too damn young... But that's what makes this work so well. The fact that she can do this without losing her shit. After all she's been through she can do the job, control her wolf, and still be rational, reliable, able to have a life outside the perversion and submission that defined her teen years? It's kind of amazing.
She can hold her own, both physically and emotionally, and he can control her if things go bad. Combined with his middle-aged, refined demeanor? They make a good team, and the pack has a lot of faith in them for taking down yet another slave dealer.
He still hates it. But he smiles anyway, genial, professional, and harmless in spite of the huge boxer's build filling out his tailored suit, copper-penny hair and beard trimmed close and neat and not showing even a hint of gray in spite of his forty-five years. A middle-aged businessman, not even a bit out of place in an upscale hotel where a little money buys a lot of discretion.
And the slender young brunette with him? Well, everyone has their indulgences, and all it takes is the right price.
Art items, money, contraband luxuries of all sorts, even drugs and weapons? Sure. Humans? That's one thing he can't stomach.
Next to him, Mira is just as calm as he is, probably calmer because she knows the lock on her silver collar has a quick-release that will let her get it off in half a second.
She's the quickest shifter he knows, maybe because she was turned so young. She's still too damn young... But that's what makes this work so well. The fact that she can do this without losing her shit. After all she's been through she can do the job, control her wolf, and still be rational, reliable, able to have a life outside the perversion and submission that defined her teen years? It's kind of amazing.
She can hold her own, both physically and emotionally, and he can control her if things go bad. Combined with his middle-aged, refined demeanor? They make a good team, and the pack has a lot of faith in them for taking down yet another slave dealer.
He still hates it. But he smiles anyway, genial, professional, and harmless in spite of the huge boxer's build filling out his tailored suit, copper-penny hair and beard trimmed close and neat and not showing even a hint of gray in spite of his forty-five years. A middle-aged businessman, not even a bit out of place in an upscale hotel where a little money buys a lot of discretion.
And the slender young brunette with him? Well, everyone has their indulgences, and all it takes is the right price.
no subject
Date: 2015-08-22 01:49 am (UTC)He won't deny there's mercenaries out there that will take the check no matter where it comes from, but skimming from the bad guys means people get relocated safely, medical bills get paid, things they need like safehouses get bought without having to deal with a day job.
Less lies to juggle and fewer people at risk, for the handful of them at the core of the organization, and for the people just passing through, like Josh, it's a little bit of a hand up while they figure out just how serious they want to be about this.
Dwayne shrugs, and rubs the back of his neck, just a little wearily. It's amazing how big the whole thing has gotten, at times, and how he somehow managed to get in the middle of it. It still feels surreal to be the one in charge, especially on days like this when he lays it all out. It's not something he regrets, though...just has a hard time figuring out how it happened. He gives Josh a tired smile. "We don't count on it every time, but it happens often enough to be worth mentioning. But, the other side of it is, no freelancing, no helping yourself to the cookie jar, no side trips. You follow the rules, you get a share, but if you go cowboy, it puts everyone else at risk and we can't allow that."
He says it easily, though. Because he doesn't really expect Josh to be that type, not from what he's seen and said, but he has to say it anyway. All the rules up front.
no subject
Date: 2015-08-27 05:58 am (UTC)"Yeah, well." Josh ducks his head a little, his own smile wry. "I'm not really the cowboy type, so we should be good there. "Now if you need a mechanic, that I can do." Which doesn't seem likely, all things considered, but it's one of the few things he can bring to the table other than his size and ability (and reluctant willingness) to bash heads as needed. "But, yeah-" He gives the pasta a last stir and then turns to lean against the counter with a shrug, the active part of the cooking mostly handled for now. "Just... tell me what you want me to do and I'll do my best." Including staying quiet and out of the way as needed. "Might not be the military type, but I can take orders just fine when it's needed."