The Bad Plus

[Anonymous]

This wasn't going well. She'd had this inn up and running for a year, a year, and  business had failed to pick up at all since then.  Sure, one or two odd travelers would come and go, but how could you live off of two patrons a month? An actual name, something to call it would probably help, but she’d never been that creative with titles. Maybe there were people to pay for that, scholars or someth-  
Was that the kettle?
   Bena Ayomide sighed and hopped down from the kitchen counter she had been using as a chair, heading towards the keening pot of water that threatened to wake Kayin.  Eh, the kid was probably up anyway, chatting with a squirrel or something. Cute, but weird. Bena let out a whuff of laughter as she poured a cup for tea. Fixing the mug to her liking, she trekked to the main room to see if there was any cleaning to be done.  There was none, of course. No people equal no dirt, the one plus of having little traffic. That, and the quiet. But she wasn’t overly fond of quiet either.
   A sudden, loud, and overly obnoxious giggle sounded from outside, causing Bena to jump, in the process spilling a nice portion of liquid onto the floor. After a righteous glare at the giggler's general direction, she put the mug on a nearby counter,  then spun around to the kitchen again for something to mop the mess with. When Bena returned, damp rag in tow, she dropped to a kneel and proceeded to give the floor a thorough scrubbing--peppered with muttered curses.

[Anonymous]

"I'm so tired..." Alyssyra said. Despite it being in the middle of the afternoon, she was dead-tired. She had gotten no sleep last night because she had to evade arrest for burglary for a few hours, and then she had to hunt for dinner for another few hours. She never got to sleep. "How many days have I gone without sleep now?" She said, turning to talk to to her water bottle. "3 you say? Sounds about right... I need to find an inn to stay in. Hehe that rhymed. Inn, in, inn, in, inn, in..."

Another hour or so of saying In over and over, Aly found herself in front of an unlabeled, unnamed building, standing next to some giggling girl. Why she was giggling, Aly had no idea. "Weirdo." Aly said, and without waiting for a response stumbled into the building. Alyssyra looked around the room, noticing that it had an uncanny resemblence to an inn, despite there being no sign indicating it as such. She noticed a plethora of tacky fake plants, dishes of cheap candies, and pictures fit for a motel dumpster. "What a place. Who would actually be willing to run this dump. It's even got a hoaxy looking fake manakin to pretend to be a maid...or a clerk...or something." Alyssyra sat down on one of the couch looking...things. And began to indulge herself in the cheap candies. "Not bad...hey who's in charge of this lame excuse for an establishment?!" she turned the latter part into a yell. Before she could get a reply though, Aly slowly faded into sleep...

[Anonymous]

Oh, now this was special.
Bena hadn't even heard any one enter (a bell would probably do for that), and before she could even do a proper greeting there they went insulting her building and ignoring her. She stood up to her full height, hoping to look imposing, and put on her best smile. Until she actually listened to the kid. A mannequin? A "hoaxy" mannequin?! That explained the ignoring part, at least.She huffed for the second time that day, this time in disbelief. Well, that just won't do, especially not when the kid was so....oh, indescribable!

And now she was asleep. After eating her candies, of course. Bena slapped the rag onto the counter with her mug and stalked over to the couch on which the punk was sleeping. What was she, ten? And it was a she, 'cause Bena was pretty sure boys weren't that chesty. Eh, didn't matter anyway.

Well, she wouldn't be letting people be so disrespectful without so much as a peep, would she? Bena raised her bangle-adorned wrist next to the kid's ear and shook wildly.
"'Ey, Ginger! You won't be in my business behaving like that, not unless you pay me good and well, you hear?" Hopefully, the girl wasn't as deaf as she was rough.

[Anonymous]

Alysyyra was having a wonderful dream. A very...wonderful....wonderful dream. She was lying on a couch, surrounded by beautiful, full-chested women. Then the mannequin running the store came to her with a bottle of massage oil, saying in a low sexy whisper, "Aly...baby...will you give me a massage? I'd love a happy ending. Pwease?" The mannequin stripped of her clothes leaving her in just underwear and lied on the couch opposite Aly. Aly took the bottle of oil and began to give the mannequin a massage.

"Mmm you like that don't you. Your firm supple a-" Aly was cut off from her dream, and her sleep talking by the mannequin she was about to give a happy ending to.

"'Ey, Ginger! You won't be in my business behaving like that, not unless you pay me good and well, you hear?"

Alyssyra awoke with a start. "AH!" she tossed the candies that were sitting in her cleavage everywhere. "Wait aren't you the mannequin? I guess you were the shopkeeper and I was just too tired to tell. By the way, what's with the tacky decorating. Never mind, I don't care. I haven't slept in 3 days, and I need a bed, and a nice meal. Can you do that for m-" Aly stopped mid-sentence because she was astounded. Bena was by no means hot in her eyes, nor was she particularly gifted in the chest region, but something about her caught Alyssyra's attention. Not something that she could love, but something that made her respect her. "I'm sorry ma'am. I was very rude, I'm just cranky from lack of sleep. How much would it cost to get a room here? And, are you looking for any help? I don't have a job and I'd rather not continue the life I'm leading. It'd only be part time until I hear back from the academy. What do you say?" She looked up at Bena with her big green eyes as if to say 'I can tell you aren't fully straight, so take a look at my knockers and say yes.'

[Anonymous]

If she were a less tactful person, Bena would have asked about the contents of  Alyssyra’s dream.  Anything involving firm, supple body parts, of course, was very interesting.  That dream talk very well threw an age of ten out the window. Instead, she simply watched, brow raised, as Aly jumped and started to speak. Sounded more like rambling. There was the mannequin thing again, with the calling her place tacky again. Really, did the girl have any manners?
A slow, tilted smile formed on Bena’s face as Alyssyra stopped in mid-sentence and seemed to stare at her. Maybe she really did need to be sleeping. She was nearly tempted to wave a hand in front of her face, when she started speaking again.  She was much more likeable, this time. “Ah, there are those manners, now! If you needed a good sleep so much you should a said so before running your mouth, child.â€? Bena paused as Alyssyra gave her what she supposed was equivalent to a puppy dog look. Right. A bit suggestive for a puppy dog.  Something about the kid was a bit strange, but no matter. She sat down on the couch opposite, scooting over to avoid a suspiciously red stain. “ Now, my prices right now are flexible; depends on how long you stay and what you can pay me. If it’s work you’re looking for, I might just cut the price a good bit.  Knowin your age would help, otherwise guess I could say yes. If you can behave like a proper person, that is.â€?  
“My name's Bena; no misses' or ma'ams included. Now,“ Bena said as she rose from her seat, “ I’ve got a child to tend to, if there’s no other questions.â€?  And she walked towards the back of the building, without looking to see if she was followed.
Bena told herself that she only agreed out of her good nature, and nothing else.  Really.

[Anonymous]

Alyssyra was ecstatic that she would finally have a place to sleep, and quite possibly, work. "Thank you Bena, thank you so very much!" Aly sprang from the couch, and towards the closest room. Then she remembered something. She called back to Bena. "I'm fourteen!" Alyssyra grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. But, before she could take one step into the room she noticed that it wasn't quite empty. There was a man in there. Before the man could even speak a word Aly screamed out. "LECHER! LECHEROUS LECHER! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Aly burst into tears and ran to another room. Empty this time she dove for the bed. Aly lay there, crying for another few minutes before drifting off to sleep muttering, "Diana...No, not Diana..."

(sorry for the long wait and short reply, writer's block)

[Anonymous]

(S'okay, I almost constantly have that~)

"Lai, lai, la de lai....," Bena sang softly and rocked Kayin, who was upset at having been woken. "What's wrong, Kalli-Kayin? Shhh, let's get you something to eat, now-" She was cut off by a terrified voice.

"LECHER! LECHEROUS LECHER! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"

"Oh, mercy..." Bena took the time to set her daughter up in another room, then quickly searched for the source of the screaming, stopping at the first open door. Inside was one of her more recent tenants, who now was sitting on his small bed, mouth open, and with a flabbergasted look on his face, which she met with a smile. "Sorry about that, sir, won't be happening again~"

Bena closed the door on him and headed for another room where she could hear crying and muttering. She entered to see Alyssyra  prostrate on the bed, asleep, but still disturbed and dream-talking. She walked over to the bed, stopping to sit on a rocking chair near the headstand. "What you upset yourself over, now? He's just an itty man, couldn't hurt no-body," Bena muttered, talking more to the air than anything. She rocked in the chair a little, shaking her head. What could have happened to someone so young to disturb them so, anyway? She smoothed Aly's hair a bit, unconsciously moving her hands lightly. After a while, she "hmmed" and stood up, checking once more to see if the girl was still sleeping.

Bena left the room as quietly as she could, closing the door after her. She went to pick up Kayin, then headed towards the kitchen for the third time that day. Maybe Alyl would like some tea, when she woke up.

[Anonymous]

((/sigh. Well, I finally got off my lazy ass and posted. Happy Ocean?))

"Ahhhh." Alister sighed as he sat on the bed. "It's always so pleasant to sit after a long day on my feet." He slipped off his shoes and lay down on the bed. He entertained the thought of going to sleep for a while, when the opening of his door prompted him to sit up. That's when he heard a female voice scream at him.

"LECHER! LECHEROUS LECHER! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!"

He just sat there gaping as the young lady ran crying from the room. It was a long while before he could think, he barely registered the fact that the inn owner came in and said something to him. He was still taken aback by what the girl had said. Lecher? Him? He had never had an impure thought in his life. And if he ever had, he couldn't ever remember it.

Half an hour later still found Alister sitting on his bed, lost in thought, with his mouth still hanging open. Why would somebody accuse him of being a lecher? He was always extremely polite to any lady, whether fair or foul. He pressed closed his mouth and pressed his lips into a fine line. Well, there was nothing for it except to find the young lady, ask what he had done, then apologize. He left his room and set out to find the owner of the inn, she would know where the girl was.

[Anonymous]

“ I don’t have enough money for this, do I.â€? Bena grumbled as she stared down at the pages of her notebook, simple math work tallying her funds for the month. There was just enough to go grocery shopping for the week, but not much more than that.  She sighed as she rubbed at her eyes, and glanced over at her daughter, who was sitting on the floor nearby. “Well, got any fresh ideas on getting some money?â€? Kayin glanced up from her doll and laughed.

“…Humph.� Bena glanced over to the main table, small and wooden next to the large, metal stove, where there sat two mugs of tea, still steaming. Why she had poured two she wasn’t sure, as she wasn’t in the mood for tea herself. Maybe she would give one to the poor man in the first room, as an apology for such a great disturbance. Right, that’ll do some good! Picking up the extra mug in one hand, and Kayin’s in the other, Bena left the kitchen to re-apologise.

[Anonymous]

Alyssyra was still asleep in her room, reliving the fateful night from her childhood. "No, not Diana...no...no...Diana...Mom...Dad...no...NO!" She let the last word come out as a scream as she shot awake. She walked into the hallway and ran into Bena, knocking over all the tea she was carrying and spilling it on the ground. "I'm so sorry, I'll clean this up...um...where do you keep the rags?" Bena motioned to a cabinet nearby, and Aly went to get one. Halfway there she saw the man from the room coming towards her. She looked him in the eye and said. "Get away from me, lecher." Before going back to Bena to clean the mess she had made.

[Anonymous]

ooc; OOH, OCEAN! *tackles*

(hee, I'll wait for Crono to post this turn, k?)

[Anonymous]

The owner of the inn would most likely be in the common room. So, following that train of thought, Alister walked down the stairs. Only to find the common room empty. He sighed. Life never wanted to make things easy, now did it? Well, nothing to do but to go looking.

Alister started outside because...well...why not? Having failed to find the innkeeper out front, he circled around to the back of the inn only to find some flowers. This search just wasn't going very well, so, having run out of ideas of where to look, Alister headed back into the common room. After all, somebody would have to show up eventually.

Alister walked back into the inn and took a seat. After a few minutes, a thought came to him. The kitchen! It was the only other place he had not looked, besides the other guest rooms, and he didn't want to take the chance of barging in on somebody.

Just as he was about to enter the kitchen, a loud noise, like cups falling, echoed down to him. Well, it as a good a chance as any, and besides, somebody could have been hurt. So he climbed back up the stairs. Upon reaching the top, he noticed the spot where the noise had come from. Farther down the hallway from where his room was, the innkeeper seemed to be talking to a girl. Well, he had found who he was looking for.

As he approached, he noticed a little thing...odd about the girl. Girls that size usually didn't...look that way, but, being the pure guy he was, he did no more than notice. Apparently she thought he had done more because of the remark she gave. Lecher? Him? Again? Why?!
"Excuse me Miss," He said to the...girl? "but why do you think of me as a lecher?"

[Anonymous]

Aly had just finished cleaning up the mess when she heard the man talking to her. Freaking lecher...what does he want? Oh, he was asking why she kept calling him a lecher. Is he really that clueless? He is a guy after all. She was about to yell at him and storm off like usual, because frankly she was scared of him, as she was scared of all guys. But, considering she was working here, or would soon be, she figured she might as well be civil so as to not lose her job. "You want to know why I call you a lecher? Because all men are lechers. Even those that settle down and have a family. They are always thinking lecherous thoughts. Because guys only care about 2 things: Themselves, and whether or not they're gonna get some action. Don't try yo turn it around and be "Mr. Good Guy" so you'll get some action, that won't work on me. I can prove you are not genuinely good and that all you care about is sex." She said this as she pulled off her baggy t-shirt to reveal and shorter, lower-cut, and all around tighter one beneath it. Her assets were about to pop out. Astonishingly, the man appeared uninterested.

Aly was flabbergasted. Normally she was scared of guys, but this man seemed to be...pure. She wasn't about to let her guard down so she decided to offer the man a final test of willpower. "Okay, so you can resist them while they are covered, but here is my offer. If you can stand one single solitary hour with me in your room, topless, without touching me or staring, I will reconsider how I feel about you, and take back the lecher comments. Of course I don't think you will pass, but if you do, I will be civil with you. What do you say?" Aly knew the man would accept. An hour of free tits? No man could possibly turn this down. But just to make sure. "Oh, and if you turn me down, I'll know it's because you know you will fail and I will call you a lecher forever."

[Anonymous]

Well, Bena had nearly dropped the tray when she heard Aly scream, but the job was finished when the girl ran into her. There wasn't much to do but clean it up, she couldn't yell at the girl at the moment anyway. She made a angry sound when Alyssra called Alister a lecher, but went unnoticed. Ach, what am I supposed to do about this? she thought helplessly. A (somewhat) private conversation, Bena couldn't do anything but lean against a nearby wall as they went about their business, trying not to listen.

Through Aly's speech, Bena did nothing but scowl that she'd assume such things, and she did nothing but cross her arms when the girl pulled of her shirt, but all this...? She'd have to step in, of course. Stepping between the two, Bena affected her best 'bossy voice' before he could answer, "Whatwhat WHAT? This is a respectable place, child; I won't be havin' such, such things happening where I work and live! It won't be tolerated, you hear?" She wouldn't be able to do much about it if he did say yes, but she was expecting much opposite that, wasn't she?

[Anonymous]

Alister's face ran from outrage to shock and right back to outrage before the girl was done talking. In truth, he was fairly angry that this...this girl, he would not call her a lady, would bring his honor into doubt. It took several moments for him to get a hold on himself. While he was getting his anger in check, the innkeeper stepped between him and the girl, although he didn't hear what she said.

He opened and closed his mouth several times before he trusted himself enough to go on in at least a somewhat calm tone. "I would refuse, but since you feel as though I need to...prove" His mouth twisted at the word. "my honor, I see little choice but to accept." Without waiting for a reply, whether from the child or the innkeeper, he turned on his heel and strode towards his room.

He stopped at the door and addressed the girl. "If you wish to enter here, you'll have to be civil and knock." He didn't slam the door, but he didn't close it softly either.

[Anonymous]

Aly was quite delighted. She could finally prove once and for all that he was a lecher. Or she could be proven wrong and she'd have to go through with her promise and be civil. And at this point, she didn't think that was too farfetched. Most men although they would deny being lechers would at least take a second glance or stare while denying it, but this man had done no such thing. His eyes were always firmly locked on her face. He was an enigma to Aly. A mystery to the young girl. Even with the objections from her soon-to-be boss, Aly would not back down. This had to be settled. Something about this man was different, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it. "I'm sorry Bena, but I have to do this. Please try to understand. And after this, it will not happen again, k?" Aly said this with her cutest, 'please' voice and bounded towards the "lecher"'s room. Aly was about to let herself in when she remembered the man's words. She, being civil, knocked and announced herself. "It's Alyssyra, here for our 'date'. Mind if I come in?" Seconds later, without a response the door opened. Wow, he is a gentleman. But, an hour from now she'd know if he still was. He close the door behind her and she stripped herself of her under-shirt, letting her assets fall free. "Your hour starts now."

Promptly one hour and 1 minute later, a clothed Alyssyra left the room, walked back towards hers and closed her door.

(OOC: Have fun with that hour Crono.)

[Anonymous]

Things obviously weren't going her way. They rarely ever did, but this time Bena really couldn't do anything about it, could she? With a long-suffering sigh Bena swept out of the hall into the main room, where Kayin had wandered off to in the midst of all this business. She sat on the floor next to the child, playing until her daughter's 'nanny' came to get her.  Okay, so Bena couldn't actually afford a nanny, so the guy was just a good friend of hers. He walked in some time later, her daughter running towards him, and Bena smiled and tried to start some conversation. The talk didn't last an hour, as they had to leave sometime, but it was a way to waste time, she thought.
Not enough time, Bena noticed. Flopping onto the nearest couch, she she sighed and closed her eyes to get some rest. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.