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Lost in Translation. [M] [Open/PM to join!]

Started by Rhindeer, September 18, 2014, 03:01:03 PM

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Rhindeer

Scrolls clutched to her chest and pack slung over her shoulder, Mei ran with her head down against the rain and body bent to try to protect those precious items! Luckily, the rain had only just begun, so she wasn't yet drenched, but it was a sudden and heavy enough downpour that she would be soon!

She needed to find an inn and fast! She didn't care about her own clothes, but her precious supplies--all that knowledge--needed protection!

And so when she spotted a brightly lit establishment, merry music and laughter and squealing pouring out every time the doors opened to admit rain-wet men, she made a beeline for it. The Randy Peach? Odd name for a tavern, but she'd seen weirder! And so, without a moment's hesitation, she raced up the steps, threw open the door, and slipped inside.

It was the smell the hit her first, thick and heady but not unpleasant.

It was everything else that hit her next.

Half naked women were everywhere, many plopped in men's laps or hanging off their arms. Huh. Mei blinked several times, and took her sandals off at the door out of politeness, because that's what one did in Thanatos. Picking them up in her free hand, she walked further inside, looking around curiously.

This was rather unusual! It wasn't the state of undress that made her double-take--Thanati were known for showing a lot of skin, and she was no exception! It was that it was here. Adelans had seemed, to her, a lot more stuffy about that sort of thing, and the weather was so much cooler. No Adelan inn she'd ever stayed in thus far had looked like this!

How very curious...

Well, it was kind of stuffy in here, so after a moment's thought, Mei shrugged out of her wet outer robe, so she was just in her colorful cropped shirt and cut-off breeches. She draped it over her arm, and was looking around for the innkeep when a rather gruff-sounding man grabbed her shoulder.

"You the new girl?" he barked.

What an odd question! Mei cocked her head. "Er...yes? I'm looking for a room. How much is it?"

"How much?" The man lifted an eyebrow. "The current rate's thirty percent. You charge what you think you're worth, and you keep thirty percent. If you do well enough, you get to stay. Now go on. Your room's the fifth to the left, second floor."

Mei's eyebrows climbed. "Wait. Back up. What do you...you're paying me to stay here?"

"Not if you stand around flapping your jaw. Now get busy." He motioned to the men and women mingling in the common room. "Make some 'friends'."

Mei stared at him, feeling like she'd entered some parallel universe, where you were apparently paid to stay in inns and paid to...to eat, drink, and make friends? She scratched her head, wondering what bizarre Adelan custom she'd stumbled upon, and trudged into the common room. A few heads turned when she walked in, still looking and feeling utterly perplexed, and a man whistled at her.

"Ooh, look, it's a little tropical flower!" He motioned her over. "C'mere, you."

Wow. People were really friendly here! Grabbing the end of her white ponytail and wringing some of the water out, Mei shrugged and headed over, then yelped in surprise when he tugged her into his lap.

Really, REALLY friendly!

Caressing her chin, he grinned at her while she stared back awkwardly. "And what's a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?"

Oh. That was easy!

With a wide grin, Mei reached down and pulled her huge book of notes from her pack.

"Research!" she said proudly. "Actually, you could be a big help for me here! You see, I'm documenting my travels and discoveries, and this right here is a cultural phenomena I haven't yet encountered!" She pulled a piece of charcoal from another section of her pack. "Would you comment on this, please? The idea of paying customers is new to me, but I suppose I can see the draw--perhaps they'll spend more on booze if they feel they've saved money on the costs of staying? After all, alcohol can be expensive, especially for a heavy drinker who will only buy more when inebriated! And furthermore--!"

"Kinda blabbery, but I can dig a smart girl," the man cut in, giving her an odd look. "Ya got anything sexy in that book of yours?"

"Of course! Knowledge is...ah...sexy, I suppose!" Mei said, and flipped the book open. "For example, just the other day I came across this species of rare bird, and--!"

"...Damn. You're really in-character," the man said, gawking at the book, which was the complete opposite of sexy. "Uh...how about we take this upstairs."

"Good idea!" Mei said, slapping the book shut. "I can interview you there! It'll be quieter!"
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

kleineklementine

“You can’t bite people if they don’t want it, Minksy!”

“Fisher.”

Minksky. Fisher sounds like a man’s name, I told you - ugh! That’s not the point now! Your job is to do what the customer wants. Do you understand that? It’s not that hard, Minsky.”

Fisher was getting another Talking To from the boss. Fisher was always getting Talking To’s from the boss. But this time it wasn’t even fair! Just because she got a little tiny itsy bitsy bit carried away! It wasn’t like last time, when Fisher got in trouble because she refused to pretend to be someone’s ‘mommy’ or something gross like that. This time she’d just… gotten a bit too into it. It had just been a nip, she said. But the Boss said you couldn’t call something a “nip” when you drew blood.

“Are you listening to me, Minksy?”

In fact, Fisher was looking deliberately away, arms crossed, pointedly ignoring him. She hated being called Minksy. It wasn’t her name! She was Fisher. The Boss gave an exasperated sigh. If Fisher didn’t bring in so much coin with her exotic, non-human fey looks, her semi-wild mannerisms, and the funny ability of hers to change her appearance, he probably would have sold her off again by now. She was such a handful!

“Just don’t physically injure anyone if he’s not askin’ for it, got it?”

Then he gave her a not-too-gentle pat on the behind, pushing her towards the lounge where men drank before choosing their night’s pleasures. Fisher was in no mood to flirt, though. She was always getting in trouble. But the rules here were all so arbitrary! Or they seemed like it to her. In the forest, everything had been simple. But humans were so fickle. One man wants to be bit, the next one doesn’t… How was Fisher supposed to know the difference? It was in this frame of mind that she caught sight of Mei. Fisher didn’t recognize her and she was hardly dressed the part. Who was she? Was she really meant to be here? It seemed off... Fisher positioned herself a bit closer to them so she could listen to the conversation. The woman also didn’t sound the part. What did she mean, ‘interview?’

Now Fisher’s curiosity was piqued. Something instinctually told Fisher that something was not quite right here. Plus she knew this man. He had a reputation for being a bit rough and Fisher wondered if this new girl knew what she was doing at all, much less what she was getting into with this guy. So, acting on a whim, Fisher bounced over to them, falling into her ‘work mode’ as she did.

“Tch! I thought you were here for Fisher!” she chided the man flirtatiously, skipping over to the pair and draping her arm around the man. The word ‘I’ always came out a bit awkwardly: Fisher had only recently learned the first person. And sometimes she lapsed out of it. “He doesn’t want Fisher anymore?”

The man grinned happily, snaking his free arm around Fisher’s waist. His eyes took her in up and down: that night Fisher’s complexion was light olive, her hair, eyes, and freckles all an identical shade of dark copper red. Fisher wore only a small, simple dress. She didn’t dress up or make herself up like many of the other girls. After all, it wouldn’t jive with the ‘wild’ aspect of her that her customers liked so much.

“Well,” he said grinning, his hand wandering to squeeze Fisher’s ass, “no reason ya can’t join us!”

While the man grinned to himself, Fisher gave Mei a curious, questioning look. It might have said something like, What are you doing here?

Rhindeer

...Oops.

As another lady flounced over, Mei looked from her to the man, and for a moment felt a little awkward. Had she intruded? (Never mind that the man had pulled her over!) Goodness, if this man had a prior engagement with the other lady, she didn't want to make her feel excluded! That was just rude.

Especially since, from the butt grabbing, those two were overly familiar with each other. Lovers, maybe?

...And she was in  the guy's lap. A fact that had slipped her mind as soon as she'd gotten to talking. Maybe they weren't lovers. Maybe he was just grabby. Then again, judging by a lot of the goings on around her, a lot of people here were a bit too friendly. A woman squealed somewhere to Mei's left, and Mei looked over in time to see her being carted upstairs by some lumbering man, both of them laughing.

Adelans...

Mei turned back to the new girl with a smile. There was something strange yet fascinating about her, and it wasn't just in the odd way she spoke. She had an interesting look about her, and her phrasing pointed to her being from elsewhere--not quite Adelan. But she filed that away for later, and hoped she would stick around! She would love to pick her brain, too!

"He's right, you're welcome to join!" she said quickly. "I was just about to ask this gentleman here a few questions about Adelan society. Specifically, I was going to see if he'd like to comment on the nature of this place! I'm writing a book, see?" She motioned proudly to her tome with the charcoal she still held.

"I just find this so intriguing! Honestly, I'd love to catch the innkeeper when he doesn't look so busy--I'm dying to know how such an operation stays in business! Obviously, it generates a lot of business, but how can it afford the expense? Does money even matter? Or am I just missing the point? The latter is entirely possible, me being an outsider looking in. It's understandable I won't grasp every cultural nuance."

Mei tucked the charcoal stick behind her ear, dusted off her hands, and slid off the man's lap. "We were just about to head upstairs, away from all this noise, where I might question him in private! Would you like to come? Oh! Goodness!" She slapped her forehead, leaving behind a smudge of charcoal. "Here I go, blithering away and I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Mei. Mei Yi."

"Jonah," said the man, who was starting to look like he wanted to stuff a gag in Mei's mouth.
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

kleineklementine

Fisher cocked her head to the side. The new girl was using a lot of words that Fisher didn't understand. Adelan society. Expense. Money. Cultural nuance. Fisher did know what business was, sort of, but only because Boss was always talking about how they had to 'do good business.' Business, obviously, meant sex. Fisher understood that, but she had the odd feeling that the new girl might not. It was hard for Fisher to tell. She'd learned how interactions worked in the Peach, but the broader range of human mannerisms were still foreign and confusing to her. Frustrated with her own ability to understand just what was going on here and what this new woman was talking about, Fisher glanced around quickly for one of the other girls she trusted. But everyone was busy or not in the lounge now.

Fisher'd have to figure it out herself. And she knew that she should stay in Happy, Flirty Work Mode, but Fisher wasn't very great at keeping her thoughts off her face, which furrowed now in concentration and confusion at Mei.

"Look, ya gone and confused her with all your knowledge," Jonah said, barely keeping the annoyance out of his voice. "You won't learn anything like that from Minksy here," he sniggered, giving Fisher another hard squeeze, "she's a right animal, aren't ya, Minksy?"

Fisher gave a little jump at the sudden, hard squeeze that reminded her that she was not acting appropriately. So she grinned fiercely at Jonah, baring her teeth like the wild animal he wanted to think her. "Yes, but Boss say Fisher gotta Behave Now. He say-so. But what man gonna tame her?" That last line was something that, more or less, the Boss had fed her. Fisher gave a playful nip at the air in front of Jonah's ear (no biting people, Fisher!), then looked back at Mei and said, "Boss always busy."

Jonah shifted, growing impatient. And before Fisher or Mei could say anything else, he said loudly, "Look, ladies, all this chatter's going on a bit long. Why don't we all go on upstairs, huh? I'm happy to pay for both of you,"he said, grinning broadly again and grabbing at both women, then winked, "if you girls are game."

Fisher glanced over at Boss. Saying "no" when you've been flirting with someone was Bad Business, Boss said, and she didn't want another Talking To today. And anyway she didn't want to leave this new girl alone. Fisher still wasn't sure that she should be here at all. "Fisher always game."

Rhindeer

Tame her? Boss? Behave? Soon it was Mei's turn to scrunch her face up in confusion. Obviously, there was something going on between this Minksy--Fisher?--and Jonah, and she was starting to get the feeling that her previous hypothesis about this establishment may have been off the mark.

Now this patron wanted to pay them?

For her interview?

And this Fisher worked here? Mei assumed as a serving girl, which fit, because she seemed rather simple, and did indeed have some feral mannerisms. Perhaps given a job out of sympathy to--

"Whoa!" Jonah grabbed at her ass, and Mei jumped and swatted at his hand reflexively. "You are very friendly, sir! Is that some sort of cultural thing? A greeting? Where I come from, we bow." Some places, they rubbed noses or kissed cheeks, after all, so maybe it was an Adelan thing? She did try to be culturally sensitive where she could, so it was always good to ask! Though she hadn't encountered that in Adela before, but there was a lot of that going on here, among what she assumed to be complete strangers!

"Oh, I'll have you bowing soon enough," Jonah snickered, as he held out an arm to Fisher and Mei in turn, clearly believing this was some sort of act. After all, the whores all had their schticks, so maybe hers was the clueless foreigner. She was doing a convincing job. "Are you coming or what?"

Mei pursed her lips, but took his arm. She was getting the feeling that something was off about this situation, but though fluent in Common, she still hadn't quite grasped all the nuances or colloquialisms of the language--and brothels were a thing that were completely foreign to her. Oh, sure, she had technical knowledge of them and their existence, but they weren't common in Thanatos--and certainly not to someone who had spent much of her time cloistered away, studying other things.

"Well, yes, but I'm curious what you're paying me for," she said. "The innkeeper I can somewhat understand--I suppose! Sort of!--but a patron? And for this? I don't normally get paid for this!"
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

kleineklementine

“Betcha normally do it for free!” Jonah guffawed. His mood was improving again now that he had the two women heading out of the lounge and off to somewhere private. He couldn’t wait to put this new girl’s mouth to better use than all her blathering! “You do this ‘innocent foreigner’ character pretty well, doll,” he told her as he steered Mei and Fisher upstairs. “I can get into that, provided you do more than talk...” He pinched her ass again, then gave her a wink, “I’m very happy to teach you more about, ah, Adelan culture and the ‘nature of this inn!’”

Fisher, for her part, just watched Mei curiously as they made their way through the rather noisy hallways. She wondered if the sounds coming from behind all the shut doors would clue Mei into what business this ‘inn’ was doing. It certainly left little to the imagination!

Jonah led them to Fisher’s room, since he didn’t know where this new girl’s room was. It was small, painted in shades of dark greens, and stark. In fact, the only real furniture in the room was a bed. Jonah plopped himself confidently down on the edge of it. Grinning smugly, he pulled Mei roughly to him. And, without asking, began pulling at the fastening of her clothing. “Now, let me show you what yer being paid for, sweety.”

Rhindeer

"Well, yes, why would I charge?" Mei asked, completely perplexed. Knowledge should be free! And why would she charge someone for them to tell her things? If anyone was going to charge, shouldn't it be the other way around? And what was that about "innocent foreigner character"?

The wheels in Mei's head were turning, grinding toward the answer, and a warning was flashing that something wasn't right here, but she followed along--now out of sheer, morbid curiosity. The man was enthusiastic, at least! If grabby. She jumped again when he pinched her ass on the way up the stairs and hurried up them, and followed along as they traveled down the halls.

Which were...

Rather noisy.

Muffled sounds came from beyond the doors, and Mei furrowed her brow--and felt her cheeks heat when she realized what it was. She'd heard that plenty of times before among her peers, but it was the sort of thing you just politely ignored, turned over in your bed, put a pillow over your head, and tried to go to sleep as quickly as possible.

Did everyone just simultaneously get randy here or...?

Waitaminute. Randy.

Was this...?

Inside a room now, which was not her room (this was not the fifth from the left!), Mei had just had her revelation and felt the mortification blooming within her--stupid, stupid!--when Jonah pulled her to him--and began yanking at her clothes. She startled, instantly snapped back to reality.

"Wait!" Grabbing Jonah's hands, Mei pulled back from him, her cheeks darkening with a blush. "Oh. Oh dear. This is...this is terribly embarrassing, but--ahaha. Boy. I'm not sure what happened here, if I misunderstood something or you misunderstood me--completely possible! I'm still learning the local colloquialisms! But if I'm reading the situation right, you think I was offering sex? Or Inima help me, maybe you offered sex and I agreed! Either way, you believe sex is happening. And if my ears are anything to go by, this is...is this a brothel?"

Mei smacked her forehead and laughed, shoulders shaking. "Goodness gracious, this is...really embarrassing. I'm so, so sorry, sir! I'm not sure how this happened, what phrase I misused, but--"

More laughter, and she shook her head and waved a hand. "Sorry! I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at the situation! I'm sure you're quite lovely! Truly! But I'm not here for sex! I really am just here for research! So if you'll excuse me, I'll give you and...Minksy, was it? I'll give you two your privacy!"

Hefting her bag, Mei turned to leave, but Jonah grabbed her by her ponytail before she could even take a step. She yelped as he tugged her back over and smiled wickedly. "I'm pretty sure this counts as research," he said, and whether he believed she was acting, or just didn't care that she wasn't, was unclear.

"I'd sure like to research what's beneath these clothes, and find out where else you're tattooed."

"Just my arms--ow!"

Jonah threw her onto the bed, and Mei landed with a bounce, and it was only then that she realized she might be in danger.
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

kleineklementine

Fisher didn’t like where this was going. Whatever Jonah might think by now, Fisher was pretty sure that this was Not An Act. But what was she doing here? They were all Upstairs now and who would care if Mei had made a mistake? Not Jonah, that was sure. And Boss? Boss, Fisher thought, would care more about Customer Satisfaction. Maybe say something nice-ish about how it was too bad Mei made such a silly mistake. Hmm.

So it was up to Fisher, it seemed! But Jonah was bigger and stronger than her, and Fisher had already gotten In Trouble once today.

Fisher was going over this in her head when Jonah yanked Mei back by the poney tail and threw her forcibly onto the bed. The suddenness of it made her wince, and her appearance changed - as it sometimes did beyond her control when her emotions were strong or she was confused. Her hair changed to citrusy orange, and her eyes flashed indigo.

Jonah, meanwhile, was standing lordingly over Mei at the end of the bed. He grabbed her feet, pulling her legs just a little apart. He was a large, strong man, and his grip was firm. “Are y’sure you haven’t got any tattoos hidin’ anywhere else? I better check. I know you foreigners can be awful liars. And I-”

Jonah was cut off, though, because Fisher at that moment flung herself in between the two. But she didn’t strike out at Jonah. Instead, she flounced onto the bed, facing Jonah, but stradling Mei. She gave a big, pouting huff. “Heyhey, you havin’ all the fun with no Fisher!” she protested. “You gonna make me sadsad.”

Before Jonah had a chance to act, Fisher swatted at his hands, then turned over so she was properly stradling Mei now. She hoped the image, at least, would keep the man distracted. Plus, she needed to get in close! Keeping in mind the large, potentially angry man behind them, Fisher made a show of slowly moving to kiss Mei on the collar bone, then neck, then ear.

At least, that’s what it was meant to look like. Once her mouth was at Mei’s ear, she breathed. “He’s notnice man. You just make him want more fighting. We gotta think clever.”

Not, of course, that Fisher had any clever idea yet.

But Jonah, at least, was thoroughly distracted. “I don’t suppose you ladies want to do that without your dresses. After all, that’s proper Adelan cultural practices!”

Rhindeer

Mei froze up, but her mind was going in a million different directions. She'd dropped her book when Jonah had flung her to the bed, and cringed at the thought of any bent pages, but that worry was brief and chased away by a more immediate one--like Jonah, who still didn't believe her!

"I-I'm absolutely positive!" she said, voice shaking as she tried to press her knees together. Oh Inima, this was bad. He was bigger than her, much bigger, and she was no warrior. She might have been able to smack him with her book, but it was on the floor out of reach, and--

And that was when Fisher flung herself on top of her.

As if things couldn't get worse, now this was apparently a threesome.

Fisher kissed her, and Mei grabbed onto her shoulders, her words locking up in her throat. Now what?! Why couldn't anyone understand the words that were coming out of her mouth! Was her Common really that bad and she just never knew it?! She squirmed, ticklish, as she tried to calm her mind and go over her options in a rational, logical way, tried and failed to disconnect herself from what was happening and solve it like a puzzle that needed figuring out--and then Fisher spoke.

And she realized then that she had a friend in this. That someone, at least, understood her, and it was the one person she'd severely underestimated.

Her mind raced. Think clever? Mei thought of herself as very clever, after all, she'd studied much, done extensive research, was well traveled and well read, and she knew she was smart! Humble, too. This was rather out of her element, though! She thought that being clear about her disinterest, and about her stupid mistake, would be enough, but he didn't seem to care. Was that another Adelan thing, or was that a Jonah thing?

"Clever, clever..." she whispered, squirming because Fisher's weight was a bit uncomfortable, but then it clicked. Oh, she didn't like the idea, because the spread of misinformation was anathema to her, especially when it misrepresented an entire culture, but...

"I've got it. Maybe. Play along."

Turning her head and twisting a little to get a look at Jonah, she smiled what she hoped was a convincing smile. She really wasn't good at this. "Ah, but you already know all about Adelan practices! What if I were to teach you about Thanati customs, and let you in on a little secret? Like, for example..." She reached up to stroke Fisher's cheek. "What happens on our wedding nights? A ritual so intimate, so sacred, so salacious that it's not even whispered of outside the bedroom."

Lifting up onto her elbows, she reached down between she and Fisher to untie the sash around her breeches. "All Thanati women are taught how to do it," she continued, pulling the sash free and shaking it out with a sharp snap, "to better please our many, many husbands..."

She extended the hand that held the sash out, and crooked her finger at him. "You game?" she asked, imitating his earlier question.
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

kleineklementine

[[Sorry for the lame short post! D:]]

Oh, Jonah's interest was definitely aroused. There was no question there. Anything that involved two women in bed was something he was game for! Plus the way she described it... what kind of man would he be if he said no?

"What's this you say, eh?" he asked with a dirty smugness. "Alright, I'm always game for a lesson from a pretty little thing like you. But," he said with a dirty grin, "you gotta agree to get a real schooling from me afterwards."

Fisher perked up, following Mei's lead. The strange woman looked at Mei with a tilted head. "Oh, Fisher always want to learn new tricks. Boss say she should."

Rhindeer

[Pfffff, you're apologizing to someone who writes one-liners, silly! <3]

Mei couldn't believe he was actually falling for this! He actually believed her? This was actually what people thought of Thanati? It was kind of depressingly painful.

"Fantastic! Yes! Of course! I will submit to the schooling of a lifetime," she said with a smile and a wink at Fisher. Wriggling about, she slid out from under Fisher and waved Jonah closer, doing a little flourish with the sash that she'd seen a Maoin do once. Of course, it looked a lot better and fancier when he'd done it.

Once he was within range, she looped the sash around his neck and pulled him in closer. Taking that as an invitation, he leaned in to kiss her, but Mei pressed her fingers to his mouth instead. "Ah ah! Patience!" she said, and yanked the sash up, then wrapped it around his eyes. She tied it off in front, effectively blindfolding him, and slapped Jonah's hand when he went to lift the edges.

"Ooh, bossy. Heh, I like where this is going."

"Then you'll love where this ends up! Now, no peeking. This takes time to do properly, and I want you to be good and surprised...mm, Fisher dear, why don't you assist me..."

She threw a look Fisher's way and shook her head, trying to signal that she didn't actually want her to do anything! She just wanted Jonah to think they were, and let his imagination distract him! Then she threw a desperate look at the door and motioned emphatically at it while she slowly, slowly slid out of the bed, hoping the floor wouldn't creak!
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

kleineklementine

Oh no. Oh no no no. Fisher understood Mei's intention immediately, but her face showed plain and clear that Fisher Did Not Like It. Fisher was getting in trouble all the time for breaking rules that she didn't understand. That no one had even told her were rules! Don't do this! Do that! What were you thinking? How come you never think! Boss was always saying these things to her.

But bringing a customer up and then leaving him? That was definitely agaisnt the rules. And Fisher knew it. And Boss knew Fisher knew it! If she broke a rule that she knew, that Boss knew she knew, Fisher would be in Biggest Trouble! Then Fisher would be Very, Very Bad. Then Fisher's family would never come back for her. Not if she were Bad. Boss said so.

Staring wide-eyed at Mei, Fisher hadn't noticed her appearance change again to a much more demure brown-hair-brown-eyes. She gave a short, quick shake of her heard. She couldn't go. But gave a little shrug to say Mei should go. But Fisher couldn't. Oh, Fisher would be in Such Big Trouble.

Jonah, meanwhile, was getting impatient. "What's takin' so long, eh? I'm ready to learn!"

Rhindeer

Mei stared at Fisher for a moment, expression torn. She wanted to leave! Badly! This man was clearly terrible, dangerous news: a man that was not only rough and aggressive, but who ignored everything he didn't want to hear, including her "no", in favor of his own fantasy, a man that was bad news enough that Fisher called him "notnice". Mei could have told her as much, but Fisher said it as though she had personal experience.

She felt bad to leave her there with him. Could she really handle him alone?

What if he hurt her? What if he took it out on the girl when he found out Mei had slipped away?

She hedged for a moment, because Fisher looked troubled--wait, had she always had brown hair? But there was no time for hemming and hawing, and after a moment's deliberation, hands worrying at the hem of her shirt, she turned quickly and tip-toed to the door.

She had just managed to get the door open without it squeaking (thank Inima!), and was about to step outside and disappear--when the floorboard beneath her foot creaked loudly beneath her shifting weight.

Jonah startled, then lifted the edge of his blindfold and peeked. "The fuck are ya two--HEY!"

His gaze landed on Mei. "Where the hell do you think you're going?!"
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kleineklementine

Fisher tried, with her eyes, to urge Mei to go. But it went on too long. Why wouldn't she go? Now it was Fisher's turn to think Mei was the slow one. Didn't she know what would happen if Jonah caught on? But it wasn't long before it seemed like they'd find out!

"She goes to get the special things," Fisher answered, leaping into action and hopping up on top of Jonah. She forced his blindfold back down while trying to stay as 'playful' as possible. "Need special things to teach Jonah and Fisher new tricks! You need to be nice-and-patient!"

"What the hell're you talkin' about?" Jonah grumbled, mood increasingly darkening.

"From the kitchen!" Fisher suddenly exclaimed, reaching wildly for any reason why Mei might be leaving. "Very naughty ritual!"

Of course, if Jonah were keeping up, he'd know that Fisher shouldn't know any better than he did 'where Mei was going.' She just hoped that Mei would get out of there before he had the chance to catch on!

Rhindeer

[Laaaaawl. xD]

"Very, very naughty, indeed!" Mei breathlessly agreed, eyes wide like a deer's. "Be right back with the things! Just be patient, it's worth it, and I don't want the surprise spoiled! I'll have to punish you very thoroughly indeed if you ruin it, and Thanati punishments are quite unconventional!"

Blech. In her head, Mei apologized in advance to any unfortunate Thanati that might have the displeasure of running into that horrid man, and apologized profusely to her culture, which she was grossly misrepresenting here for the sake of survival! A thousand million apologies! Was this how misinformation spread? Sigh.

And with that said, she shot Fisher a grateful--if slightly sad, because she felt bad for leaving her--look, grabbed her book and travel bag, then bolted at the door and down the hall at breakneck speed.

Which, in retrospect, was probably unwise, because she had gotten halfway down the stairs before the man that had "hired" her caught her arm. "Where are you off to so fast? Cold feet already?"

"No!" Mei said, tugging her arm free. "My feet were never hot to begin with. There was a huge misunderstanding, I'm afraid! I thought this was an inn, not a brothel! I don't want to work here and never intended to. I'm not your girl!"

"The hell you're not," the man snapped. "What a story! Now you get right back up there and finish what you started!" And he gave her a rough shove back toward the stairs.

Mei bristled. She had been too shocked before to feel angry, but now she spun back around, hands on her hips, and drew herself up to her full height of...five foot three. "I will not. That man upstairs is vile. He's mean, and even your own worker says he is, and I saw it myself! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, making women deal with brutes like that."
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kleineklementine

"'One of my workers?'" the owner repeated, eyes narrowing. Now it was his turn to get angry! "You mean you're up there with one of my other girls, and she just let you leave? When you had a client up there with you?"

He growled curses under his breath, then took Mei forcefully by the arm. He wasn't, it seemed, very intimidated by all five-foot-three of her! "Which girl?" he demanded as he marched her down the hall to the room he'd allocated to her. A room that was, of course, empty. "Now you get back in there, and we can settle this afterwards. You don't want to work, you don't bring a man up to your room. You bring a man up, you work."

Rhindeer

Marched to "her" room, Mei had no choice but to stumble along--but it seemed she wasn't intimidated of him, either. She probably should have been, but now she was just frustrated that no one seemed to understand the words she was plainly speaking, and more than a little disgusted by what she'd witnessed so far. Ah, so this man was a bully, too! Well, she had plenty of words for him!

"I don't know her name," she said with a sniff, tugging her arm free and then crossing her arms over her chest. It was a lie, and though she normally hated lying, she wasn't about to snitch. Well. Snitch more than she already accidentally had.

"And I'm not here to do that sort of work! I'm here on scholarly business conductingscientific research. That shouldn't be work, anyway, and that you make those women lay with horrible men is utterly deplorable. I'm recording all this, mind you, and I assure you, you'll get a very special mention in the footnotes of my memoir! So far, my section on Adela is turning out rather ghastly..."
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kleineklementine

The boss hadn't let go of Mei's arm, and he wasn't listening too much to her complaints. Instead, he flagged down a girl coming back up from downstairs.

"'Eh, Vanilla, you see his girl with anyone downstairs?"

Vanilla looked Mei over, then gave a shrug. "Sure, Boss. She was down talkin' with Jonah and Minksy."

That was all he needed to hear! His grip on Mei's arm tightened. "Minksy? Why I'm gonna..." he growled to himself, before finally turning his attention back to Mei, glaring daggers. "You don't think yer gonna work, huh? Well now that you've walked out onna customer, I'm gonna have to give him a free night as an apology! Have to keep loyal customers happy. You know where that money's gonna come from, sweet thing?"

He didn't wait for her to answer before snatching her bag - including her books and scrolls! - away from her and roughly letting go of her arm. The boss didn't even stay to see what would probably be her look of indignation. He just stormed down the hall, calling after him, "Now get to work! You can come get this stuff back when you've paid off yer debt!"

He'd deal with Fisher later.

Rhindeer

HER THINGS!

Mei stared after him in horror and indignation, and it took every ounce of her self control not to launch herself at him and try to snatch them back. But she knew, as soon as the image flashed into her head, that it wouldn't end well if she tried. The "boss" was a big man, and he had her things. If she tried to grab her stuff, he might damage them, and those things were priceless!

He had her by the balls, now.

Like Minksy said, she'd have to think clever.

Raking her hands through her white hair, Mei sucked in a deep breath. Fine. Fine. She would "work".

Rolling her shoulders back, Mei marched out of her room and grabbed the arm of the snitch, Vanilla. "Sorry, but I'm new here! Where is your kitchen? I promised Jonah a special treat."

With a bored look, Vanilla motioned in a vague direction, and Mei strode that way, past the common room until the smell of food caught her nose and guided her the rest of the way. She slipped inside and chewed her lip in thought, then started grabbing random items. A couple eggs, some strawberries, an apple. She really wasn't sure where she was taking this just yet, but she figured it wide to have some variety in her arsenal, as she was making this up as she went.

She carried them in the extra fabric of her shirt, and when she was done, she headed back up the steps, expression grim but determined as she wracked her mind for ideas. Maybe, there was some way they could fake Jonah's satisfaction? Hmm...

She opened the door and stepped back inside, flashing Fisher a sheepish look. "I return!"
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