And I'll make a man out of yooooou

[Anonymous]

It hadn't been easy getting Yarra into the city, the boy hated them. Ra'rin did try to avoid them out of respect for her little brother, but some where just too tempting. She had heard a lot about Ketra and had always wanted to visit the city.

Plus, Ra'rin glanced over at Yarra as she led them down the crowded streets, her little brother still hadn't been with a woman yet. He was old enough he should have made that step into manhood years ago. But he just wasn't very good with people, let alone trying to court a girl.

So Ra'rin had made some plans for him. The girl was sweet and had seemed to understand Yarra's...problem. And if Yarra really didn't want too, she wasn't going to make him, but she could at least give him the opportunity.

"Here we are." Ra'rin gestured Yarra inside the brothel. Hopefully this would go well and her brother would learn a little more about the world tonight.

[Rhindeer]

Yarra was a mess of nerves as they headed down the street.

He hated cities. Hated the smell, the sight, the people--and there were so many people, pressing by him on the street, looking at him, bumping into his tail...it was chaos. He hissed at several in warning when they got too close and stepped closer to Ra'rin without realizing he was doing it. Hate, hate, hate. There were too many bodies blocking the road and not enough exits, and his eyes scanned the crowd as they walked for good escape routes in case anything bad went down.

Humans made him nervous, and getting attacked by that hunter bitch a year or so ago didn't make him feel any better about that. As far as Drygans went, with his single small streak of white hair, he was at the bottom of the food chain.

He didn't know why Ra'rin insisted they came to the city, or why she liked it so much.

Finally they came to a building where a sign hanging above the doorway was painted with a peach symbol. A food place? Yarra hesitated at the doorway and gave Ra'rin a glowering look. She knew how he felt about going inside places, but he also didn't want to seem a coward. He was a fighter! So, with a loud sigh, he turned and stalked inside. "They better have some good food he--"

His words cut off and he froze in the doorway.

Before him was a lounge of sorts and inside were not only people, but practically naked people, people showing lots of skin and cleavage. While Yarra generally had no issues with even full nudity, there was something about this place that was distinctly not platonic, the scent of arousal mixing with the far stronger scent of musky incense. It was both suffocating and alluring.

Mostly suffocating. Too-small room. Too-thick air. Too many people.

"What...what is...?" Yarra stiffened and whipped back around to leave, a jolt of panic racing through him. "I ain't goin' in there."

[Anonymous]

Ra'rin made soothing noises at Yarra, her hand lightly touching his back, "Come on. It's okay. It isn't a bad place and you'll get used to the smell." She gave him an encouraging smile, "I just want you to meet one person and we can leave anytime."

Ra'rin glanced around her and quickly pointed out several ways to get out from the building. The brothel wasn't really built to keep people in, "It's easy to get out. And I'm with you."

[Rhindeer]

Yarra's body was stiff with tension and he jumped when Ra'rin touched his back. While all he wanted to do was just put as much distance between here and himself as possible and high-tail it for the wilds, he trusted Ra'rin. That didn't stop him from shooting her a glowering look, though, toes tapping their claws on the ground in agitation.

"Just one person?" he repeated, then heaved a loud sigh and crossed his arms over his bare chest, the vest he wore open as usual. His shoulders slouched forward like a petulant child. "Fine. Then we can leave?"

[Anonymous]

"Just one. She's very nice." Ra'rin smiled and lead Yarra inside. Heading up the stairs, they were met by a slender, dark skinned woman in a dark red dress, hugging her slim figure and showing off her neck and collarbone.

When Ra'rin had come the day before to arrange the meeting, she hadn't mentioned what her client was going to look like. Seeing the red skinned boy was a little bit of a surprise, but she didn't let it show on her face. She had been with a lot worse and while the nervous hostility was new, she was the resident expert on virgins.

"Hello. You must be Yarra? I'm Nadia." She shifted and gestured to the open door of her room, "Would you mind if we moved into my room?"

[Rhindeer]

Once upstairs, Yarra had to resist the urge to turn around and head right back down. Okay, they were there, he'd seen upstairs! Now they could leave! He wished. Except they still had to meet this mysterious person for some reason or another, so he gritted his teeth and waited it out. Without even realizing he was doing it, he moved closer to Ra'rin. He'd never admit it, but her presence comforted him.

Then a new woman appeared. That must be the one. For a few seconds, Yarra just stood there, not answering and not really looking at her. Then he remembered the manners Ra'rin had smacked into his head and, not wanting to get whacked, he gave an awkward wave.

"Hi. Yeah. That's me," he grumbled, dragging a foot across the floor and throwing Ra'rin a look. Great! They'd met! Now they could leave? But then the woman--Nadia--continued and he looked from her and Ra'rin and back, expression startled and a little panicked. "What? Why?"

[Anonymous]

"It's okay Yarra. She isn't going to hurt you." It always made Ra'rin so sad how paranoid Yarra was. That had to be trained into him, things had to have gone so very bad for him to make him that suspicious of others.

Nadia smiled, still holding one arm out to gesture to her room, "You look like quite the capable warrior. I'm sure that you could easily break me if I tried anything. I just want to get to know you a little. Ra'rin has told me so much about you."

[Rhindeer]

"She has?" Genuine curiosity filtered through the paranoia and Yarra looked at Ra'rin again. What had she told her? And why? And what did that mean, want to get to know him?

Still, she was right. He could break her if she tried anything. And he did trust Ra'rin. She wouldn't have lead him into a situation that would endanger him, right?

"Um..." He shot Ra'rin another helpless look, then gave a hiss of frustration and turned to Nadia. He didn't want to seem a coward, especially if it was over nothing, especially if it was just this human girl facing him. He also didn't want to go into that tiny room, but if it wouldn't take long...

"Fine," he finally grumbled, stalking past Nadia and into her room.

[Anonymous]

"I'll come pick you up in a few hours Yarra. Enjoy!" Ra'rin gave him a wave and a smile before turning and heading back down the stairs. She could go enjoy some of the sights of the city while Yarra spent some time with a pretty girl.

Nadia followed Yarra into the room, leaving the door open. She would worry about closing it later. Right now, she wanted to just get the...dragon kid to relax some. She gave him another smile and took a seat, "Would you like to sit with me? Ra'rin told me you are a powerful warrior. You look like you could take on a bear."

He also smelled a little like he had recently taken on that bear.

[Rhindeer]

"Wait, what? Ra'rin!" Yarra whirled around in alarm, but already she was gone.

Leaving him with the girl.

He stood, frozen, in the middle of the room staring out the open door, tempted to run after her. But that would be cowardly. So, instead, he spotted a chair across the room from Nadia and pulled it over a bit so it was closer to the door. Only then did he take a seat, tail twitching with obvious agitation. He couldn't believe Ra'rin had just ditched him like that!

However, what Nadia said did get his interest. Blinking in surprise, he looked over at her. "She said that?" Ack, he hadn't meant that to sound so uncertain. Of course he was a powerful warrior! He shifted in his seat a little and nodded stiffly. "Er, yeah. I am. And I could. Why?"

[Anonymous]

Nadia gave a small laugh, amused by the dragon's paranoia. It was refreshingly cute honestly. It would take some maneuvering to get around, but she felt confident that she could. "Oh, no reason. I just have always found warriors to be fascinating. All that skill and strength. I bet you have some amazing stories to share. Do you think I could convince you to share one with me?"

[Rhindeer]

Yarra narrowed his eyes skeptically at Nadia, but his expression softened as she continued. She thought warriors were fascinating? But she looked so soft herself. Could a human like her really appreciate that sort of thing? It did explain why she was asking so many questions.

He glanced down at the floor and flicked his tail. "You have? Um...well, I do have some stories..." he mumbled, fidgeting with his hands. "Warrior stories. Like, uh...like the time I got stuck upside-down in a trap and a warrior woman tried to kill me with her hammer."

Pausing, Yarra looked back up at Nadia expectantly.

[Anonymous]

Oh dear lord. It was worse than she had expected. The boy wasn't even able to tell an interesting story. But she kept her expression interested and she leaned forward just a little, letting her dress open just a little at the neckline, "Oh! Really? What did you do? That sounds terrifying."

[Rhindeer]

Yarra's eyes briefly flicked down to Nadia's chest, but then he jerked them back to her face and perked up, encouraged by her reaction. She was interested! Well, it was a pretty amazing tale, and since she hadn't been there, he got to leave out the part where he'd been kind of afraid.

"I had to use my fire to cut myself down, first off," he said, tail swishing more excitedly now. He didn't often get to tell these stories and while he had been shy at first, the fact that he had her captivated made him forget that. "Then, once I was free, I beat the shit out of her and made her regret ever messing with me!"

[Anonymous]

That was the story? Well, that wasn't so bad. She had heard a lot worse. At least Yarra was rather cute while he told it. Nadia looked enthralled the entire time, leaning in to hear better. The fact he had noticed her chest was making her feel a little better. He wasn't totally dead.

"Oh how thrilling! You must be a most magnificent fighter! I wish I could have seen you in action. You must be so brave to fight like that.'

[Rhindeer]

Genuine pride flowed through Yarra, and he felt his back straighten and his chest puff out, fangs flashing in a grin. Maybe this one wasn't so bad. She knew a genuine warrior when she saw one, and if this was what Ra'rin had brought him here for, to tell this one of his feats...he supposed he could live with that.

"Oh, yeah. She was a tough one, but no match for me. Humans got nothin' on us Drygans." He gave a nod of self-agreement, then paused. "There's lots of blood, though. Ra'rin told me humans don't like blood."

[Anonymous]

Ew. Nadia could only imagine the carnage this one caused. He was so simple, it made it all too easy to picture him tearing some girl apart. Gods but she hoped he didn't eat them.

Voice still breathy, Nadia shook her head, "I don't mind. Not when it's part of such an amazing story." The boy was still so far away, she needed a way to get him closer. Or...even better...an idea came to Nadia and she decided to test the waters a little and hope for the best.

"Ra'rin told me you have been traveling a lot. Would you care for a bath? I can help you bathe and we can bring some food up. I'm sure you could use some refreshment."

[Rhindeer]

"What?" That made Yarra stiffen, a scowl replacing the grin as his yellow eyes narrowed to slits. His tail lashed, but this time it was more like the jerky, irritated movements of an annoyed cat. "No. I don't like water. Why?"

[Anonymous]

"Ah, well..." Nadia gave a small, tight smile, trying to not let her real feelings show, "You just...ah, seemed like you might want to relax. Have you ever had a hot herbal bath before? It is very good for warriors. It helps relax muscles and heal scars. There is nothing to be scared of."

[Rhindeer]

Yarra shifted uncomfortably, still glaring suspiciously at Nadia. "I like my scars, though," he said, folding his arms over his chest. "Only babies are smooth, not warriors."