• Mature • [Glass Quarter] Home Sweet Home or Fighting Pit?

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

Ymiden 46, 717

For someone who'd insisted just the night before that she'd never cross into the Glass Quarter, without the Lightening Knights up and bodily throwing her out, the girl behaved for all the world as if she belonged there. She didn't necessarily look it. The shoes, stockings and dress she wore had been costly, the man who'd given her the coins to buy them could attest to that. But the dress itself was cut too low for early morning decency, and too high along the outer thigh.

She was a petite brunette with a heart shaped face and her hair was caught up, bound and cascaded down in ringlets. She wore too much rouge on her cheeks, and too much paint on her lips, the latter of which she used to smirk slyly at the couples she passed on the streets, or the occasional Knight who eyed her with both suspicion and speculation at once.

She was pretty and cleaned up well. But in the Glass Quarter, there was something about the way she walked with swaying hips, the way a faded bruise showed through the layers of rouge, and the too snug bodice and tightly cinched waist that made her seem like a cheap copper kettle that had been prettied up and polished to a high sheen, set down right in the middle of a banquet equipped with gold and silver goblets and platters.

Theo had looked past that surface the night before, and had seen something that made him think that this raw gem could with the right attention, be transformed into something brilliant. Of course, that would require the cooperation of the two ladies already installed in the three room bungalow on the corner.

As for the girl, Brandi had considered not coming. She could have kept the nels he'd given her and never showed. It was more coin than she'd make on the streets in a long string of trials. More than she'd ever had at just one time. But like Theo, who'd been raised in the Dust Quarter, Brandi was street smart and knew an opportunity when one crossed her path. Of course, she didn't expect that the man she'd come to visit would be out when she arrived, off running a few errands of his own. She didn't know either than in his stead, there'd be two other women in the home already.

In turn, what had Theo told Zana and Billie about her? As it turned out, not a lot. He'd told them she'd be coming and to watch for her. He'd told them her name, how he'd found her, that a rough time on the streets was a given, and that she was just a little rough round the edges. But with their help, they could polish her right up. It was better, he insisted, if they could find the right girls without needing to lure them away from Peter, or from the Harlot and Hound. The fewer adversaries they made from the start, the better.

Brandi knocked on the door when she arrived, and whoever it was that opened it, she looked back at them with surprise, suspicion and a good dash of superiority. He hadn't told her there'd be other women here. And in fact he hadn't told her exactly why he'd wanted her to come. She'd even thought that maybe he wanted a regular girl to keep.

"Who are you?" she asked. "Theo didn't say anything about you. I'm Brandi." She seemed more than a little impatient, that they should invite her in already. Still, she handed over a slip of paper she'd brought with her, which she'd folded and slipped into her bodice. A glance would reveal that it was a clean bill of health from a nearby healer. "Where is he then?"

[Zana]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=9487[/img]

"Too much, too soon."

Those had been Zana's words and her very clear opinion, which she had no bother with sharing, was that the last thing Billie needed was another person she didn't know in the house. Especially one who was 'rough around the edges'. Billie had insisted that she was fine, it would be fine, but Zana knew better. Or believed she did, most assuredly. While Theo was there, Billie had maintained that it wasn't a bother and it would be nice to meet some new people and if Theo thought it was best, then she would do her best.

Zana had maintained that Billie wasn't ready, Theo wasn't thinking with anything except his libido and that this was a stupid idea. Once the business was ready to go, that would be different. But right now, Billie needed quiet and gentle, she needed lots of attention and care from them both. Fundamentally, Zana was about as unamused with this particular decision as it was possible to be. It was summed up with pointing out that since they both lived here too, it would have been polite to speak to them first. If what they were was no more than house guests, then fine, but that wasn't how she had seen it and she had believed that they were supposed to be a partnership.

This was not how partnerships worked, she was very clear on that and so was he. Or at least, he was clear that it was what she thought ~ she'd told him in no uncertain terms.

It really didn't help that, once Theo had gone out, Billie had admitted that she was a bit nervous, a little unsure. Zana wrapped her in a hug and kissed her gently on the forehead. "It's alright, freckles. It will be alright, anyhow. If it gets too much, if it's not working, you and I will leave, alright?"

That thought horrified Billie, but Zana was in no doubt. She'd seen it before and she should have considered it as a possibility this time. There was every possibility that Theo was great, but fickle. Moving on from one girl to another, losing focus. It happened, she'd seen it happen and this was a very significant danger to her mind. Billie wasn't going to be bringing in money, woke screaming in the night and was damaged. So, he'd swooped in, he'd helped he'd done good things. Really, she knew that. But this? This was him chasing a new piece of skirt and obviously he had a taste for victims. Or a hankering to play the hero.

As the knock on the door came, Zana sighed. Billie looked around like a frightened rabbit. "It's alright, freckles. Go into the bedroom if you want." With a sigh of relief and a brief kiss, Billie scampered into the bedroom and Zana moved to answer the door.

Where she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. It wasn't this girl's fault that Theo was being an ass, Zana reminded herself and the young woman in question, Brandi, had done her best to clean herself up. She looked like what she was, Zana considered, a streetwalker trying to look like a sophisticated woman. "Good trial, Brandi," she took the piece of parchment and examined it, then looked the girl in question up and down.

"I'm Zana. You should probably come in." The air of superiority didn't bother Zana in the slightest. What did bother her was how much work this one needed and how it was very obvious that it would run contrary to what Billie needed. "Theo's out. Please, come in and have a seat. Can I offer you a cup of tea?" Zana gestured to the sofa, whilst she sat on the chair and she smiled. If she wanted tea, she'd get some. "Theo told us all about you," she smiled, sitting back with a relaxed pose, "or as much as he knows, anyhow. Tell me about yourself?"

I'm hard and restrained, and it's totally cool.
I touch and I tease as you stumble in the debris

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

She was very beautiful, had probably been the first thought that crossed Brandi's mind when Zana opened the door. The man she'd met the night before hadn't told her there'd be other women here. Still, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes a little at the sight of Zana as if sizing her up, taking it all in. Brandi might come from a place that was arguably the worst that Rharne had to offer. But in spite of it, vanity knew no economic disparity, and there remained an unspoken rivalry where other women were concerned.

Still, she smiled and stepped inside. "Thank you. Very kind," she said in a poor attempt at putting on airs. The girl looked around before taking the seat Zana offered. The house might just be a small bungalow situated among grand houses and shops. But to her, it was spacious and luxurious. "Yes please," she said when Zana offered her a cup of tea. "Theo didn't say anything about other women," she said while Zana was busy with the tea. "Is he here?" By the trill, she was becoming more comfortable, less uncertain...therefore less likely to hold fast to the polite airs she'd put on.

"Are you the only one?" she asked when Zana returned. "He asked me if I had a handler and I told him no. Is that what he is?" As for herself, she shrugged. "Not much to know about me. I was abandoned at an orphanage when I was born and they threw me out again when I was sixteen," Brandi said. "So I made myself a place in the Dust Quarter and I've been turning tricks for a arc or so now. Sometimes they get out of hand like the one he ran off last night. But I'd have done a'right on my own," she said with a firm set of her chin and plenty of confidence reflected in her eyes.

Still, she looked around the room once more, thinking that maybe she hadn't done so bad by deciding, rather than just keep the money he'd given her and walked away, to actually come and see what this all was about. But Brandi being who and what she was, she turned back to Zana and lowered her voice in a conspiratorial way. And she was smiling. "There's something I'm wondering though, maybe you'll tell me. He said I should come, but what I offered him he didn't..." Frowning and lowering her voice more for some inexplicable reason, she asked, "Maybe he doesn't fancy girls?"

And just a few trills later, the front door opened and Theo stepped in. He'd been out looking into the costs of setting up business, which required more than pricing houses and feeling out fees, but looking for suppliers of liquor, wine and tobacco. He came in with a clutch of papers tucked under his arm and stopped short when he saw Zana and Brandi sitting there. He'd already had a discussion regarding all this with Zana, and hadn't expected Brandi so soon. Therefore his expression was something of a cautious one when he smiled. "Ah, here already?" he said.

[Zana]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=9487[/img]

"Didn't he?" Zana asked when Brandi said that Theo hadn't mentioned other women. She just bet he hadn't. Probably not the kind of thing to talk about even when scoring a two copper whore like this one. Zana didn't know who she was more angry at, in truth, Theo right now or Theo last night. She settled on furious with both.

"Theo's out," she repeated, with a slight raise of an eyebrow. Listening was the first job of a good prostitute, hearing and listening and paying attention were what told you what the client wanted. Evidently, Brandi was going to need to work on her listening skills. If Zana felt irritated at having to repeat herself, the clients certainly would feel irritation and more.

As for her question, Zana gave her a slight smile and feigned ignorance, "the only what?" But her next question made Zana feel a whole new wash of irritation at Theo. He asked if she had a handler, had told her nothing more than that. For all this girl knew, Zana was Theo's wife and she had just.... no, this was too much work, too much rough edge and too much to expect. She had a lot of get up and go and she was a feisty thing, Zana did not doubt it. But it wouldn't fall to Theo to train her the way she needed training.

Maybe he thought he could, she considered, listening as Brandi spoke about being an orphan. If so, Zana knew better. As a handler he was there as a fine tuner, he worked with them. But this girl needed so much work and it would require time and someone who could teach her from the point of view of a prostitute, not a client. Sipping her tea, Zana considered that she had jumped too soon. Leaving the Lap was one thing, it was the right thing to do, but she should not have come here.

Damnit, but why was it always Biqaj men? Always, they were the ones which caused her the most trouble. Zana considered that, by now, she really should have learned.

It was Brandi's next question which caused just a slight frown to cross her forehead. Until, of course, she thought about it. "He likes girls," she replied and leaned forward to pick up the piece of parchment Brandi had brought with her. "So long as they're clean." Who knew what kind of diseases could be picked up in the Dust Quarter, after all? It made sense, more than made sense and it added to Zana's irritation. He'd told her to get this, which was why Brandi had handed it over.

The object of which walked through the door and stopped short. "Yes, all here." Zana smiled and stood, taking the piece of parchment with her, which she handed to Theo before stepping in to kiss him, her arms wrapping around his waist. Irritation appeared to serve only to increase the passion with which she did that.

"As you requested?" She motioned to the piece of parchment. "Billie's in the bedroom," where she was hiding from someone else, because she couldn't deal with it. Couldn't deal with this. "I'll get her and we'll go out. Give the two of you some privacy." Four people, three rooms? When one of those people was Brandi and another was Billie? It wasn't going to work and Zana knew it. So did Theo if he'd thought about it, actually thought about it. But, he'd been kind and she was grateful to him for all he'd done, and was still doing.

"Did you get everything done you wanted?" Having handed him the parchment she smiled at him and stepped out of his arms. "And is there anything you'd like Billie and I to pick up at the market?" At this point, she reasoned, the thing to do was get Billie out and then talk to her about getting a place on their own. Except, of course, Billie didn't feel safe and wouldn't feel safe on her own anywhere except here. Zana's mind reeled around, sure that whilst she and Theo were in work, Billie wouldn't feel safe with Brandi either. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place and Theo represented both of those things in this moment. So her words were calm and her eyes told a very different story.

I'm guilt edged, glamorous and sleek by design.
Jealous by nature, false and unkind

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

One look into Zana's eyes, and Theo knew there was going to be trouble. If the neighbor next door had seen Brandi walk up to the door and step inside, the old man would have doubled down on his claim that Theo was the luckiest man on Idalos. Him, surrounded by three beautiful women. A blonde, a redhead and a brunette. Funny, he didn't feel very lucky right now. If he hadn't been running late for a meeting already regarding a tobacco distributor, he would have stayed behind to meet Brandi when she arrived. And to explain to Zana to a greater extent than he had, why now.

He wasn't fooled by the embrace when she greeted him at the door, and he suspected that it was as much for appearance as anything. Or a message. But he didn't rebuff it, what man would, and in fact he thoroughly enjoyed it while it lasted. Which, it turned out, wasn't very long and she put the paper into his hands and declared that she'd take Billie and go. He didn't need the privacy. They didn't need anything at the market. And he didn't need to be particularly clever to read between the lines.

"Can I speak with you outside?" he said, quietly enough that Brandi wouldn't hear, though she was looking on with a great deal of interest. "Alone." Meaning, no Billie. Opening the door to step outside, he smiled at Brandi and said, "We'll just be a bit." He was tempted to add, 'Don't steal anything', when she shot back, "Suit yer'self" Instead he'd content himself with standing outside near a window where he could keep an eye on her.

There was a part of Theo, a good sized piece, that didn't like having to explain himself, or needing to compromise when he believed he was right. Even when he was wrong, didn't necessarily like it. This was different however. To make this work, he needed these women, maybe as much as they needed him. It was as much a partnership as anything. Zana was more challenging than most, and complicated. And then there was Billie. Zana would know it wasn't his style, or at least not one he was accustomed to. But he recognized the necessity and was trying. "Look," he said quietly. "I know you don't like it. And I know it's not convenient and it's not the best choice for Billie. I should have been here to meet her too, but if I hadn't shown up to meet with the distributor, I'd have lost the deal."

He had reasons for making the choice that he had, Theo told her, after glancing inside to make sure that Brandi wasn't wandering around and getting in trouble. "My goal is to get you and Billie out of Peter's grips as soon as possible, and to get something going for ourselves. Offering fine cigars and expensive wine in a luxurious environment is fine, but that's not what's going to bring the customers in. We need girls. And if I'm going to take a loan from the bank, we need to start pulling in money quickly. And a lot of it. Can you handle all the customers yourself?" To take the pressure off Billie, he reminded her, they'd need others that could work in her place until she was ready.

"I want something better than the Harlot and Hound. Better than the Lap of Luxury. So much better, that we'll be peeling off a number of their customers," he explained. "So I take their business, and they're not going to be happy." But there were a limited number of girls who were experienced enough or could be trained to their standards, he added. Should they then lure away the girls from those places and cause already unhappy rivals to become outright enemies?

Much of that was business however, and he knew that Zana had other things on her mind. The timing wasn't good, he knew that. The circumstances were worse. But he had to take the long view. Unfortunately it made the short term uncomfortable for everyone involved. Including him. "Look, if it will help with Billie in particular, I'll rent Brandi a room at the inn until we can get into a new house." Not at the Harlot and Hound. With his luck she'd end up working there in just a few trials. "It won't be for long. My next trial off I'll be visiting the bank and applying for loan. Soon as I'm approved, we can move in."

[Zana]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=9487[/img]

"Whether I like it or not isn't the issue, Theo."

Outside, she leaned against the wall and she listened. As she did, she took his hand in hers, just maintaining contact and giving a message, too. The problem was, he was talking about one thing, and she was worried and irritated about quite another.

"I appreciate what you've done for us. More than I can tell you, I'm grateful to you. So first, I'm sorry that you feel like I'm giving you a hard time and second, I appreciate that you are doing your best. I do." Zana's voice was calm, her thumb stroked against his hand. If she wasn't genuine in what she said, then she was a sight better actress than he'd seen from her thus far.

"But either this is a partnership or it's not. If it is, I expect to be consulted, not informed." Zana looked at him without batting an eyelid and absolutely meant what she said. "Or fully informed if that's the only option. She needs a lot of work." That was the simple truth of it. Come to that, there was another, "I can do that with her, but no men until I say she's ready. Not until I've worked through some of her expectations and experiences. If I'm doing that, I need to know that you're going to be there with Billie, when she wakes up screaming. Because I'll be with that scrappy little thing more breaks than I want to be when I'd rather be with Billie and I'd rather be with you."

Ice blue eyes regarded him with an unwavering gaze as her hand tightened in his. "I misjudged you and I'm sorry for that. I thought you'd got caught up in a piece of skirt and put aside concerns for Billie. And for me," the last words were more of an admission than she'd care to make, usually. Yet Zana was a strangely honest woman in many ways. "But I could think that because you didn't speak to me, just told me you'd met a whore and were bringing her to where you told us was safe." Did he even begin to understand, Zana wondered? Did it begin to make anything even close to sense to him?

Looking in his eyes, ignoring the window for the moment and lifting her hand to his chin pulling him to look at her if that was what was needed, Zana spoke. "I want to contribute, to be your partner. I can do that, you know I can. I can also be no more than a whore you employ, that's fine too. I just need to know which I am." Her hand on his chin moved, trailing to the back of neck, fingers entwining in his hair. "Neither of us has handled this entirely how we should have, but I believe someone very wise once said, it's worth taking time over. And if we had time now, I'd suggest make up sex. It's the best kind," her smile was pure mischief. "Sadly, we don't."

With a genuine sigh of regret, she motioned to the house. Once he'd answered her questions, once they'd agreed what sort of relationship it was that they had, ranging from employer to partner, they could go in. However, as a thought struck Zana, coupled with the realisation that he hadn't done this before, she explained. "Whether you're my employer and I'm one of your whore, or we're partners, that makes no difference to the fact that you're my handler. That's a given, whether I work with or for you." Apparently, so it said in the rules of Zana.

"So. How do you want to handle this then?" she asked, nodding her head towards the house where she suspected Brandi was already raiding the silver. Or, would be if they had any.

Love is a danger, of a different kind
To take you away, and leave you far behind

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

Theo wasn't accustomed to conducting arguments with hands clasped together, or entwined in passionate embraces with his adversary. Then again, he and Zana weren't adversaries and they weren't exactly arguing either. If there were passions ignited, those appeared to be of a very different sort. At least for him, and from all appearances, for her too. Of course he wouldn't be indulging any of those urges on the landing outside his door. There was a reason the neighbor next door saw most of what went in and out of the small bungalow Theo rented. The frequently shifting curtain in a side window hadn't exactly escaped his notice.

"It's a partnership," he told her, and slipped an arm round her waist so that his hand rested gently at the small of her back. "I should have consulted you. You have a right to a say, and so does Billie. I hadn't gone looking for her though," Theo added in order to explain why, in part, it had happened the way it did. "I wasn't looking for a girl at all. I went to visit an old friend. When I didn't find him at home, I found her. Still," he added, "If you come to believe she won't work out, then I'll make other arrangements for her." If that was the case, Theo figured, he might use some pull to get the girl hired on at the Harlot.

He'd be there for Billie, he vowed, and then looked through the window at Brandi who seemed to be admiring her newly manicured nails at arm's length. Red nails, too much rouge, streaks of dark blue across her eyelids. "When I was a small boy," Theo said as an impulsive aside, "my mother took me out of the Quarter and to the edge of the forest to explore. I saw a small bird there with blocks of color so bright it stuck out from it's surroundings like a sore thumb. She called it a bunting. She's not that bad under all that paint is she?" he wondered, referring to Brandi.

"We're partners. We work together," he said again, though he pulled her closer and nibbled at her ear before tracing his lips along her jaw and finally to her lips. "I'm going to hold you to that though." Making up in the most appealing of ways, he meant. But another glance through the window revealed that Brandi was growing restless and was curiously eyeing the closed door where Billie had retreated earlier. Best they went back in and when he entered the house behind Zana, Brandi looked their way. "All sorted, love?" Somehow she managed to make the most innocent seeming of questions sound suggestive in quite possibly the lewdest of ways. A lot of work, no doubt about it.

[Zana]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=9487[/img]

The twitching curtains had not passed Zana by. Far from it in fact and as she buried her hands in his hair, she whispered. "We're being watched. You know, we could make some serious coin here before we leave," she gave a grin against his lips as she kissed him. "A little display by Billie and I in front of the window in the house, this sort of thing out here, the two of us. He'd pay double for me." Zana quirked an eyebrow and admitted the simple truth with a slight shrug. "Lets face it. I'm worth it." Robust self esteem? Check.

When he said that it was a partnership and then offered for Brandi to have alternative arrangements, Zana looked at him and smiled, shaking her head slightly. His proximity, the feeling of his hand on her back and how he pulled her against him all served to distract her, but Zana kept her attention on his words, even if her hands roamed. "She's beautiful," there was no doubting that. "She's plucky, too. It seems that she can follow directions and she wants to please." As he trailed kisses on her neck and jaw Zana let out a low whimper of pleasure.

"But it will be a lot of work," she whispered, "and it isn't work I particularly enjoy. I'll be jealous of you and Billie together." She was teasing, entirely, and it showed in her expression, for all that she sounded serious, "so I'll expect you to shower attention on me. Once we've made up, of course. I'm still very, very cross at you." She had, actually, been furious but it hadn't been what she thought it was and so her fury had dissipated. "I'm so cross we might need to make up three or even four times." Her expression was impish as she said that. He could hold her to it.

"You know, Theo," Zana said, her expression changing into a much more serious one. She kept herself pulled close to him, but her words were quiet. "We really could make some money here. There's him who's watching, always watching. That young couple a few doors down, they both have the right sort of look." It seemed, as she considered those in the neighborhood that Zana had been very much paying attention. "Just because I'm not taking customers at the Lap, doesn't mean I can't be working here. That's straight profit, straight to the business. We're going to be leaving here soon. Plus, this lot are known quantities." She quirked an eyebrow at him. "And when we leave, we've already started building up our own clients. Plus, once I've left him behind the curtain unable to walk for three trials, word will spread. We'd just have to be sure that they all know deals go through you, is all. That way, there's no expectation of a freebie."

Whatever he thought of that, with a final kiss and a flounce of her skirt, Zana went back inside with him. Where Brandi was waiting. "All sorted?" Zana smiled and shook her head, "it takes a sight longer than that to do it right. So, to answer your questions." Moving over to her, Zana looked at Brandi, properly looked at her. "Yes, Theo's a handler. No, I'm not the only one here, there's Billie too. She's resting. We're opening an establishment and are looking for talent. Theo asked you to come here because he thought you might have what it takes."

Without a doubt, the girl was beautiful and sassy, brash and fearful somehow in the same complex little package. "However, I'm not so sure and training is my department. So, if you wish it then I'll train you. Not just in the arts of pleasure, although those will feature. Make up, dress up, listening and conversation. Massage, the art of anticipation." Looking like a lady and acting like a whore. It was a fine balancing act, Zana knew.

"There are rules." She looked at Brandi without dropping her gaze. "No men until I say you're ready. We stay here, we feed you, clothe you. But you understand that I've worked in establishments like we're opening and you haven't. I'll make you better than you've ever been and you will pull in more coin than you can imagine." Zana smiled, watching the young woman in front of her. "I'll teach you how to make them scream for you. Only you. But we do it my way or we do not do it. Then, when you're ready Theo becomes your handler and you and I are two of his girls."

It seemed, Zana considered, that she'd just decided that she was the assistant manager in charge of training.

She comes on like a saint but that's exactly what she ain't
Not a damsel in distress she's the devil in a dress.

[Theo Nji'Ryn]

They were being watched? Most certainly. Theo didn't need to look away or tear himself away from his current focus on Zana or his distraction with the way her breath came in feathery light wisps against his ear and neck. He didn't have to wonder either who was doing the watching. Their neighbor spent more time at his window or doing jobs in the garden that didn't need doing, than most people did eating or sleeping at night. "He likes to watch," he whispered back with a smile and let his hands trail to her waist and drift higher still. But Billie and Zana in front of a strategically placed window? The man would go mad and be willing to pay twice the going rate or more to have just a little for himself. There was no doubting the truth in her words.

He snorted a little when she referred to the girl in the house as plucky. "She's that and more," he admitted, which, while there was a certain appeal to that, it also promised to make her all the greater challenge to work with. Zana could do it though. That, Theo knew for sure. Her promises though regarding the two of them and how they'd spend the time they managed together, meant that what was in some part a display for their neighbor's benefit, Theo couldn't deny the benefits for himself.

As for what she suggested next, that they begin to build their future clientele out their immediate neighborhood? "I think you've got a knack for business management yourself," he whispered back. It was actually a brilliant suggestion. In addition to opening the Lady Libertine with a built in clientele, they could begin paying back the bank loan before he'd even applied for it. "What's not to like?" he said before they returned indoors and the focus turned on Brandi, who was beginning to fidget and was busy winding and unwinding her curls round a single polished and manicured nail.

What the girl didn't like, and it was apparent in the initial flash of her eyes and the lift of her chin, was that it was another woman who'd be immediately in charge of her. Just as quickly she adopted a pouting, questioning expression and aimed it at Theo who was observing the doorway. He wasn't about to say anything to interfere with the balance of power here, so simply looked back at her, nodded and glanced back at Zana. Brandi, having challenged this new hierarchy however briefly, seemed to accept that, though she frowned as she turned her attention back to the other woman.

"What's wrong with the way I dress? My regulars don't have any problem with it, I can tell you that for sure," she insisted. Of course Theo might argue that there was a gulf as wide as the sea between the types of customers she was accustomed to servicing, and those he hoped to attract once they got started. Rules? Clearly she didn't care much for them. But Brandi was a smart girl. A savvy one even if most of it had been developed on the streets. Street smart though, Theo knew, could also be invaluable. And it appeared then, that Brandi had her teacher, and Zana had her student.

[Zana]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=9487[/img]

As his hands roamed over her, Zana closed her eyes and whimpered. She also wrapped one leg around him, allowing her skirt to reveal more leg than the curtain twitcher had seen in a long time, she imagined. He liked to watch? There was no doubting that, they'd both seen him. For all that she was very aware of the man watching them, of giving him a show that would have him wanting her, Zana was equally focused on Theo and his hands on her, hers on him.

The idea of her and Billie, strategically placed in such a way as to be visible to the man across the street met with his approval and Zana smiled a slow and languid smile. She watched him with eyes heavy with desire, "I just hope we'd perform appropriately," she whispered. "I'm sure we'd need lots of practice." Just like her father, though she did not know it, Zana had a smile which seemed purely innocent and it was that smile which she turned on him then, "would you help us get better?"

It was with real regret, and the whispered suggestion that they could just stay out there and she'd make it an interesting time for him, that Zana made her way back into the house.

Yet there was Brandi, and she needed focus and attention. Zana smiled at her when the new girl glanced at Theo. Zana would give her that. Just once, though.

"Your regulars," Zana replied smoothly, "are not the kind of regulars we'll be looking for. Those snooty rich men who look down their noses? Them, and their wives who look at girls who do what we do like we're mud on their shoes?" Zana trailed a finger casually over Brandi's cheek. "Those are the ones who will pay for your time. For your beauty and skill." Assuming that they could ever get her to actually abide by the rules, that was.

What this girl was used to was a million miles away from what they wanted her to sell, what they wanted her to provide. Zana looked at Theo and smiled, then turned back to Brandi. "First things first, I'll need to show you the difference between what you sell and what I do." She took hold of Brandi's hand and then raised an eyebrow to Theo. "You know all those things at the market? Why don't you and Billie go get them?" With an expression which Theo knew well, Zana gave an appraising glance to Brandi. She didn't take her eyes off the young woman but her words were spoken to Theo. "Take your time."

Light them up, let them burn,
Teach them what they've got to learn