A Talk

Who: Arienne and Max
Where: Max's House
When: Morning

Max was feeling a little aimless that day. Being stuck inside because of the monsoon going on outside was making him a little stir crazy so he had taken to running the steps up all three floors. It may have been a little early for it -- around seven in the morning -- but it was a satisfying way to burn off the energy that was building up inside of him.

Yesterday’s reconnaissance had produced interesting results and he was trying to reconcile still the image of Lucas and Feo on a date with one another. He knew that the other woman was not adverse to flirting and bedfellows, but it was still weird to see her with Lucas. He was sure she had better taste than that and what on earth did she see in him. Unless she was toying with him. Still, it was very, very odd.

Thunder woke Ari. It was really awful outside, she noted from her window. Getting a robe on, she decided today was a day not to bother with things like getting dressed and going anywhere. It was a day to curl up with a book and light some candles. She paused at the top of the stairs, seeing her brother running up and down them. Leaning on the banister she watched him on the way down, then he turned back around to head up. "What is this, then?" she asked, arching a brow at her brother as she smiled.

Max glanced up at her as he turned and he hopped up onto the railing and carefully made his way up, like some kind of giant spider. “It’s raining outside. I don’t feel like going out in it and getting all wet. I’ve been stuck in the rain before. Don’t like it.” Like getting kicked out of the car he’d stolen by one former prostitute... “Rain wake you up?” he asked as another boom of thunder shook the house.

"Thunder." she said, smiling as she watched him pulling himself up the railing. "You seem to be full of energy." she noted. "What's got you so amped up?" she inquired. "Is today a day we need to find something to occupy ourselves with?" She could go for that. Even if it seemed like the weather outside was inhospitable at best.

He smiled back at her. That had been the point of climbing up. Making her smile. That and he just liked to do things like that. “It’s terrible outside and I don’t like getting wet. I wanted to go wander. But we can do things.” He ran a hand through his hair before resting his chin on the top of the railing. “I talked to Lucas the other day. He was very cross with me. He also admitted that he may have been somewhat unkind with you but he seemed to brush off your bad mood. I made sure he knew how annoyed I was that he didn’t seem to care enough.”

Ari hummed at that information, nodding slightly. "How disinterested was he in your annoyance?" she asked. "And why was it he was cross with you?" She was mildly surprised he admitted to being rude to her, but it was something to keep in mind.

“Well, I did bother him at work,” Max said, not really seeing why that should’ve been so upsetting. “He also said he had somewhere important to be. At first he seemed kind of surprised that you were really upset. Anyway, I ended up following him to his ‘important’ meeting.” Max pulled a bit of a face there. He was still completely befuddled as to why her. “He took Rasmussen to that charity event last night. I don’t know what she sees in him.” He’d forgotten for the moment that Arienne didn’t know who Feo was.

"...Rasmussen?" Ari asked, because the name was utterly unfamiliar to her. Though the surname didn't sound like someone who fit into their particular social circles. "Do you have some woman on the side I'm unaware of?" she asked. Because if he was wondering what some girl saw in their cousin, then he had to have at least a passing acquaintance with said woman. But she never heard him talk about girls. It was one of those parts of his life he didn't generally engage in so far as she knew. Much like she hadn't bothered with any boys until Nathaniel.

“Hm? Feo?” Max made a bit of a face and shook his head before rolling off the banister to sit on the steps. “No, she’s a freelancer I tend to employ from time to time. Good kid, gets the job done. She’s a bit like me, I suppose you could say. We currently have a running tally of how many hits we have.” He beamed then. “I’m winning, naturally. But apparently she’s fallen in with our cousin and I haven’t the slightest clue as to why.”

Arienne frowned at that, walking down the steps to sit next to him. "Freelancer. As in she's an assassin? Who does she contract with?" she asked. "Beyond yourself. And fallen in with Lucas...?" she prompted, wanting more information on that tidbit. Though it was clear she wasn't considering this good news.

Max nodded. “She usually works just for me, but I know she does her own things. Usually scorned wives and the like. And it appears that her and Lucas have some sort of ‘thing’ going on. I saw them arrive together at the charity ball and our cousin was in quite a hurry that day. It appears it was to meet with her.” He looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. “Not pleased with this news either?” Although his was for the reason that she had fallen beneath herself with Lucas of all people.

"Scorned wives." Ari repeated. "...you're trying to tell me that house wives have the cash just lying around to pay a hired killer." She shook her head. "How do you know she mostly just works for you?" she asked. "And if she did, wouldn't she be on our payroll permanently? This all sounds fishy, brother." she said, genuinely concerned by what seemed like a fairly ridiculous picture being painted. "And of course I'm not pleased, why would I ever be pleased with the idea of our cousin--who we've just discussed is childish and impulsive to a gross degree--sleeping with someone who kills people?" she posed, shaking her head as she drew her fingers through her hair. "This isn't just mildly bad news, this is a rather stupid situation that could get potentially exponentially worse at the drop of a hat."

“You’d be surprised what some people can come up with when they want someone dead,” Max said. “And I know because it’s my job to know these things. I know how she works. I know her tricks. How she hunts. She knows that I would find her were she ever approached to take one of us out.” Max may be psychotic and carefree at times, but he would not have his job as long as he did if he were blind or foolish. “I pay her a stipend. It’s not an official payroll but she’s on call as needed. It works. She’s young, after all. Not much older than yourself. She works in her uncle’s butcher shop.” He was more curious than anything and he scratched the stubble on his chin. “I’m not entirely certain that Feo would cater to Lucas’ whims were he to want to kill someone. Which is why I think some reconnaissance is called for. That is...” he tilted his head back to look at the ceiling as thunder shook his home. “Lucas commands no loyalty. He may have a way with words but were he charismatic -- truly charismatic -- he would have had more of a job within the family.” He nudged her and looked at her through the hair that flopped in his eyes. “I know it could be bad. Believe me. Look at who you’re talking to. I just don’t have enough information on what’s going on with them to tell you whether or not this is truly a threat.

"Max, have you considered maybe she's not been entirely honest with you? Or that she has a life you don't know about?" she asked, watching his profile. "No one knows everything. And people like us, we make a career out of making sure no one knows the truth. They only know the version of it we want them to know." she added gently. "People can be charismatic with people they want to be with. Lucas has bitter tendencies towards us. It's not at all a situation like he would be with a significant other." she added. "And you seemed unconcerned. Like this wasn't something to be worried about." she explained, since he had given off an air of nonchalance on the whole matter.

He was quiet for a little while, staring blankly down the steps before he turned his head to look at her. “Are you doubting my knowledge? My information network? That I don’t do research and keep an eye on the people whom I employ?” So he hadn’t caught onto Lucas and Feo sooner. It couldn’t possibly have been going on for too long. “Lucas is a bratty child and there’s no hiding that, regardless if he’s the perfect boyfriend. But as impulsive as I may be? When it comes to my job within this family, I take it seriously.” Even if Arienne hadn’t meant it as some criticism, the tone of voice, the ‘logic’ that she brought forward reminded him too much of how he’d been spoken too when he was younger, doubted at first when he was brought into the fold. Max hated that. His voice was calm, not entirely gentle but not accusatory either.

"I'm saying it isn't as if you spend every waking moment with this woman, you contract out to her sometimes, and no one knows everything there is to know about someone they really only have a passing sort of relationship with." she said. "It's not a shortcoming, it's just a reality. Research on people isn't perfect either. It's more unreasonable to assume you know everything." She reached out to put her hand over his arm. "I know you work hard to keep yourself up to date with everything and everyone, but you're a busy man. And on top of that, you've had a ton more to do with the family lately, after mother's demise. If I were to ask you who you might know everything about, it would be me, not some random killer woman. Don't let your desire to know everything and be on top of it all fool you into assuming you are. For myself, I always assume there's something I don't see, something I haven't considered yet. Even if I know people well. I said nothing about your being impulsive. I said nothing about you not taking things seriously. Don't put words into my mouth, it's unfair." she said, keeping her voice gentle. His ego was blinding him to certain realities, and she needed him to see past that without it triggering some pissy response. "You need to not deal with her like you would anyone else, you need to deal with her like you would deal with you.” she advised. “And people can hide anything for a while. But either way, it doesn't matter. My point is that Lucas needs to not have ready, easy access to someone who might be inclined to take out targets for him. He isn't allowed to have that power."

His eyes were narrowed but he wasn’t scowling. Max regarded his sister. “You think that if Lucas gets angry enough, he’ll try do something, or that she might do something on his behalf,” he said, catching onto the last part she said. It was a difficult thing to believe that Lucas would go so far as to kill someone. “I’ve got to wonder if he knows who she is or if it isn’t ignorance on his part either...” His head ached and he looked away as lightning flashed through the windows.

"I think I don't want to give him the opportunity, just in case." Arienne corrected. Because really, that was it. In fact, she didn't really think Lucas would randomly opt to start having people killed, but people did silly things when pushed, and there was going to be a whole lot of pushing going on later for everyone. "I don't want him to have the option so easily and readily in place. If he wants someone taken out? I want him talking to you. I don't want him able to execute his own agenda that we have no say in and are not privy to, should he happen to adopt one." She sighed, resting her cheek against his shoulder lightly. "I don't want pieces on the board we aren't in control of, and this 'relationship' whatever it may be is definitely one we don't dictate. As for whether or not he knows...either you can dig to find out or I can. It’s up to you."

Max didn't want Lucas talking period but what Arienne wanted… and then that had him thinking that he'd gone from being his father's lapdog to Arienne's chained animal and he'd never really thought about it that way before. "I can do it," he said and turned his head a little to look at her resting on his shoulder. "I'll take care of it."

She smiled at him. "Thank you." she said, and she did have faith that he would do it. Hopefully now he saw the potential badness that could ensue, so he'd see to it in some fashion. It didn't occur to her to ask how he might go about things, trusting he'd work something out. "Honestly I would prefer not to deal with it myself, I don't know that I'd be able to not raise some sort of suspicion if I went prodding into things." she added, making a light face.

He raised an eyebrow at the face she made. "That would probably be best," he agreed. "Are you hungry? I don't want to talk about Lucas any more. He makes me lose my appetite." He didn’t want to talk about Lucas anymore, or the kind of ‘threat’ he posed.

She smiled at that. "Yes." she said, happy to let the topic of their cousin drop. She would assume things would be taken care of and go from there, when Max got back to her on things. "Shall I cook for you?" she asked. "I could come up with something I used to eat overseas, if we have the ingredients." she offered, thinking something French might be nice. And she didn't think he'd ever been out of the country, so if she could give him little tastes of what she'd had and he hadn't, she would.

"I like to make sure my pantry is well stocked so you can have your run of things. It's your job as the lady of the house after all," he teased her. It was true though. The smell of cooking food in itself could be adequate torture.

She laughed. "Of course." she told him, standing up. "Then I'd best get to that, shouldn't I." she added, starting down the steps. "I'll call you when it's ready." she added, not sure when that would be, but she'd try to throw things together in an efficient time frame. Then they could have a nice meal together, and she could work out what the rest of her day might entail.

Max watched her head down the steps and he stayed where he was with his folded hands hanging between his knees. He was angry. He could feel it itching and crawling under his skin. He wasn’t angry at her, not per say. But he could feel it. He’d have to go out later. It was screaming at him. For now though, he could push it down and he headed after Arienne, hoping that it would be enough of a distraction.