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xp_logsKevin and Darcy opt to stay at the X-Ranch while the Burning Man crew finishes up, and Darcy ends up taking on her first network, with details of the particulars TBD.
Spending a few days at the X-Ranch while Kevin recovered and they both enjoyed a little R&R until the Burning Man crew wrapped up... well, eye-opening wasn't quite the right word for it, but definitely interesting, at least for Darcy. She'd gotten to meet some of the more sociable talent and behind the scenes personnel while staying, and she'd finally got to say hello to Henry in person, followed by a long discussion about the books they'd each been reading.
Kevin had disappeared at some point during that discussion, but she saw him now at dinner, talking intently with Stacy about something. She gave him a grin and wiggle of fingers as she caught his eye, settling at a table with a few of the other book club members, and was soon drawn into a lively conversation with everyone.
Kevin gave her a short wave, but she seemed to be largely drawn into talking with the staff, which was alright. After a couple of days of rest and food, he felt like his old self, and that right back to work. And back to work in this case meant Stacy.
"I'm not asking you to drop your business model. But... things are getting bad. This shop has gotten major upgrades over the last year, but I still need every advantage I can find."
"That you can find? I swear, Syd, you are the least charming most charming person I know. How you made it work at the CIA I'll never know." She smirked at him.
"Yeah, you do."
"Fine, I do. But... this is my business. These are my people. You, of all people, understand what that loyalty involves."
"I do. I'm not asking for any exposure... just... a little extra help."
"Goddammit, it's my own place and I'm still not allowed to smoke inside." Stacy huffed. "A cigarette would help right now."
As people finished dinner and dispersed, Darcy slipped over to the table Kevin and Stacy were at, fingers tapping a silent hello on her mentor's shoulder as she came to a stop quietly behind him and waited for a lull in the conversation. "You have your work face on, Boss. Everything okay?"
"Just taking advantage of an old friend for more intel sources. The usual." Kevin said, so flatly that Stacy barked a laugh.
"At least you're up front about it, you son of a bitch." Stacy shook her head. "I will think about it. My people need to be insulated... not just your word. I need to see real processes in place to make sure anything we pass along doesn't splash back on them. Or my place."
Darcy grinned at Stacy's laugh. "I do love it when people call you on your shit," she remarked lightly, looking down at Kevin. "Is there anything I can do to help facilitate safer exchange? You know my roommate would have my hide if we endangered underground stops where it could be avoided, but I know we've got issues with compromised locations."
"Maybe. Apparently Darcy is already acquainted with some of your talent. How do you feel about taking on your first dedicated network?" Kevin said to her. Darcy had worked the analyst side of the shop mostly, so this was a big change for her. As well as a massive responsibility.
"What would that entail, ideally?" Darcy wasn't opposed, but she wasn't going to commit without an idea of what she was getting herself into. "Other than networking and exchanging information in the course of that. Would there be anything specific you'd want me to do, something that would make me more approachable here beyond the few people I follow via streaming already?"
"That, I don't know." Kevin said, passing the ball to Stacy.
"I want a way that my people can't be blamed if your people need to act on information we pass along. I'm serious about this." Stacy's look was chilling. "People like to talk to sex workers and far too many of them regret it later and take it out on them. I need a safe way to provide intel that has deniability for my people. That's my condition for doing this. You tell me how you do that."
Darcy thought about it for several minutes, the play of "yes - no, definitely not - hm - nope" clearly visible across her face as she thought of and quickly discarded several ideas. "Obviously I can't do anything full face that would keep me from going undercover later. Wigs, makeup, other disguises only work so well, best to keep it minimal." Her fingers tapped Kevin's shoulder idly until she realized what she was doing, and then she slid into the seat next to him instead. "I do some light scene work, locally, and I do have a Communications degree, even if I haven't used it much. Maybe we could build something off of that."
"Wait no. No one said you had to be talent," Kevin said, but Stacy's look silenced him.
"Are you willing to go into their world? Risk what they risk?" she asked. "This is not a requirement for me if you have another way, but if this is what you want, I can make it work."
Darcy shrugged. "I'm already on the fringes of it sometimes, so why not go a little deeper into Wonderland? We'll have to figure out what that looks like in order to keep my ability to do my job safe and also keep what we do removed from your people, but I'm sure there's a happy medium we can find. I'll need to run it past my partners too. They don't own me, obviously, but it's just good manners." She elbowed Kevin lightly. "I already do shows at Helga's, this wouldn't be that different."
Stacy leaned back in her chair considering it. "Most of my talent works through remote camming. A few times a year they come to the studio rooms here for special shows. Some also meet clients here, assuming they clear our vetting process. I have a few who just work with clients at the ranch. That roster turns over regularly but I'm going to guess Syd or your Marie-Ange isn't going to wait to lose you for month-long stretches." She tapped her finger against her bottom lip. "I have a few people who are essentially part-time - only doing cam shows occasionally because of their other professional lives. Most of them use some kind of disguise to exercise their kink without it impacting the other parts of their lives. As long as you could meet that requirement, there's no reason anyone would suspect you to be anything else."
"Probably not frequently, but undercover's a whole thing." Darcy agreed. "Remote and part-time would be doable, I think, with some sort of interaction with other talent. Maybe a podcast or some videos? Talk about their lives before, how they got into the work, what they enjoy about it. Maybe some of the behind the scenes people could talk about what goes into a shoot, the editing process for videos vs live streams, that sort of thing."
She turned her head to Kevin. "You know more about what would be safe and doable, Boss. If you don't think it's workable we can figure out something else."
"This is your call, Lewis. It may need a few tweaks but we can make it work. And the intel would increase our resources in several areas that we're thin." Kevin said. "But this would be your network. So your responsibility and everything that involves. You need to decide whether or not you want all the risks and responsibilities that come with it."
Darcy took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she tipped her head back and thought about it. She'd need to talk to her boys about the particulars, but remote camming would probably be fine, with the safeties they'd discussed. But equally as importantly... "Do you think I'm ready to step up for that?" she asked Kevin, eyes locked on his as she voiced the question. She thought she was, but she held her mentor's opinion in high regard. "If you think I'm ready, I'm willing to take on the risks and responsibilities."
She turned her head to Stacy. "And if being talent doesn't work out - if I freeze up or just really dislike doing it, I'll figure something else out. I am a contract lawyer. I can work on passing the bar in Nevada and being legit legal recourse for you and the people out here. I like what you do here. I wouldn't support you with my money if I didn't. And my roommate - actually, that's a good question. Can I tell my roommate I met the person behind SUNSET? Give her a card or something? She does a fair bit of fundraising for things like Underground transports. She'd probably be pleased to be able to pick your brain sometimes."
"If I didn't think you were ready, I would have already made the decision for you. But there's a difference between what I think you're ready for and what you think you're ready for." Kevin said. "It has to be your decision alone. But I wouldn't back you if I didn't think you could do it."
"As for SUNSET, feel free. Although I'd appreciate not spreading the details too far." Stacy said. "We could actually pick up a bit more volume at the hotel."
Darcy nodded. That decided it then. "I'll do it. And I'll let Ter know that the details are for her only, unless she's discussed it with you first." She gave Stacy a small, genuine smile. "I'm looking forward to working with you and the Ranch."
Spending a few days at the X-Ranch while Kevin recovered and they both enjoyed a little R&R until the Burning Man crew wrapped up... well, eye-opening wasn't quite the right word for it, but definitely interesting, at least for Darcy. She'd gotten to meet some of the more sociable talent and behind the scenes personnel while staying, and she'd finally got to say hello to Henry in person, followed by a long discussion about the books they'd each been reading.
Kevin had disappeared at some point during that discussion, but she saw him now at dinner, talking intently with Stacy about something. She gave him a grin and wiggle of fingers as she caught his eye, settling at a table with a few of the other book club members, and was soon drawn into a lively conversation with everyone.
Kevin gave her a short wave, but she seemed to be largely drawn into talking with the staff, which was alright. After a couple of days of rest and food, he felt like his old self, and that right back to work. And back to work in this case meant Stacy.
"I'm not asking you to drop your business model. But... things are getting bad. This shop has gotten major upgrades over the last year, but I still need every advantage I can find."
"That you can find? I swear, Syd, you are the least charming most charming person I know. How you made it work at the CIA I'll never know." She smirked at him.
"Yeah, you do."
"Fine, I do. But... this is my business. These are my people. You, of all people, understand what that loyalty involves."
"I do. I'm not asking for any exposure... just... a little extra help."
"Goddammit, it's my own place and I'm still not allowed to smoke inside." Stacy huffed. "A cigarette would help right now."
As people finished dinner and dispersed, Darcy slipped over to the table Kevin and Stacy were at, fingers tapping a silent hello on her mentor's shoulder as she came to a stop quietly behind him and waited for a lull in the conversation. "You have your work face on, Boss. Everything okay?"
"Just taking advantage of an old friend for more intel sources. The usual." Kevin said, so flatly that Stacy barked a laugh.
"At least you're up front about it, you son of a bitch." Stacy shook her head. "I will think about it. My people need to be insulated... not just your word. I need to see real processes in place to make sure anything we pass along doesn't splash back on them. Or my place."
Darcy grinned at Stacy's laugh. "I do love it when people call you on your shit," she remarked lightly, looking down at Kevin. "Is there anything I can do to help facilitate safer exchange? You know my roommate would have my hide if we endangered underground stops where it could be avoided, but I know we've got issues with compromised locations."
"Maybe. Apparently Darcy is already acquainted with some of your talent. How do you feel about taking on your first dedicated network?" Kevin said to her. Darcy had worked the analyst side of the shop mostly, so this was a big change for her. As well as a massive responsibility.
"What would that entail, ideally?" Darcy wasn't opposed, but she wasn't going to commit without an idea of what she was getting herself into. "Other than networking and exchanging information in the course of that. Would there be anything specific you'd want me to do, something that would make me more approachable here beyond the few people I follow via streaming already?"
"That, I don't know." Kevin said, passing the ball to Stacy.
"I want a way that my people can't be blamed if your people need to act on information we pass along. I'm serious about this." Stacy's look was chilling. "People like to talk to sex workers and far too many of them regret it later and take it out on them. I need a safe way to provide intel that has deniability for my people. That's my condition for doing this. You tell me how you do that."
Darcy thought about it for several minutes, the play of "yes - no, definitely not - hm - nope" clearly visible across her face as she thought of and quickly discarded several ideas. "Obviously I can't do anything full face that would keep me from going undercover later. Wigs, makeup, other disguises only work so well, best to keep it minimal." Her fingers tapped Kevin's shoulder idly until she realized what she was doing, and then she slid into the seat next to him instead. "I do some light scene work, locally, and I do have a Communications degree, even if I haven't used it much. Maybe we could build something off of that."
"Wait no. No one said you had to be talent," Kevin said, but Stacy's look silenced him.
"Are you willing to go into their world? Risk what they risk?" she asked. "This is not a requirement for me if you have another way, but if this is what you want, I can make it work."
Darcy shrugged. "I'm already on the fringes of it sometimes, so why not go a little deeper into Wonderland? We'll have to figure out what that looks like in order to keep my ability to do my job safe and also keep what we do removed from your people, but I'm sure there's a happy medium we can find. I'll need to run it past my partners too. They don't own me, obviously, but it's just good manners." She elbowed Kevin lightly. "I already do shows at Helga's, this wouldn't be that different."
Stacy leaned back in her chair considering it. "Most of my talent works through remote camming. A few times a year they come to the studio rooms here for special shows. Some also meet clients here, assuming they clear our vetting process. I have a few who just work with clients at the ranch. That roster turns over regularly but I'm going to guess Syd or your Marie-Ange isn't going to wait to lose you for month-long stretches." She tapped her finger against her bottom lip. "I have a few people who are essentially part-time - only doing cam shows occasionally because of their other professional lives. Most of them use some kind of disguise to exercise their kink without it impacting the other parts of their lives. As long as you could meet that requirement, there's no reason anyone would suspect you to be anything else."
"Probably not frequently, but undercover's a whole thing." Darcy agreed. "Remote and part-time would be doable, I think, with some sort of interaction with other talent. Maybe a podcast or some videos? Talk about their lives before, how they got into the work, what they enjoy about it. Maybe some of the behind the scenes people could talk about what goes into a shoot, the editing process for videos vs live streams, that sort of thing."
She turned her head to Kevin. "You know more about what would be safe and doable, Boss. If you don't think it's workable we can figure out something else."
"This is your call, Lewis. It may need a few tweaks but we can make it work. And the intel would increase our resources in several areas that we're thin." Kevin said. "But this would be your network. So your responsibility and everything that involves. You need to decide whether or not you want all the risks and responsibilities that come with it."
Darcy took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she tipped her head back and thought about it. She'd need to talk to her boys about the particulars, but remote camming would probably be fine, with the safeties they'd discussed. But equally as importantly... "Do you think I'm ready to step up for that?" she asked Kevin, eyes locked on his as she voiced the question. She thought she was, but she held her mentor's opinion in high regard. "If you think I'm ready, I'm willing to take on the risks and responsibilities."
She turned her head to Stacy. "And if being talent doesn't work out - if I freeze up or just really dislike doing it, I'll figure something else out. I am a contract lawyer. I can work on passing the bar in Nevada and being legit legal recourse for you and the people out here. I like what you do here. I wouldn't support you with my money if I didn't. And my roommate - actually, that's a good question. Can I tell my roommate I met the person behind SUNSET? Give her a card or something? She does a fair bit of fundraising for things like Underground transports. She'd probably be pleased to be able to pick your brain sometimes."
"If I didn't think you were ready, I would have already made the decision for you. But there's a difference between what I think you're ready for and what you think you're ready for." Kevin said. "It has to be your decision alone. But I wouldn't back you if I didn't think you could do it."
"As for SUNSET, feel free. Although I'd appreciate not spreading the details too far." Stacy said. "We could actually pick up a bit more volume at the hotel."
Darcy nodded. That decided it then. "I'll do it. And I'll let Ter know that the details are for her only, unless she's discussed it with you first." She gave Stacy a small, genuine smile. "I'm looking forward to working with you and the Ranch."
