• Closed • With Happy Ending, yes?! [Nimrah]

[Dmitri]

With Happy Ending, yes?!

"Don't be such a stiff, Dmitri! We're going to have a blast, hahah." The childish metaphorical meaning behind blast made Dmitri visibly cringe, followed up by a seemingly amused smirk as he did his best to mull and doubt whether or not to go, what the consequences would be, ... In reality, Dmitri was doing exactly that, except that he wasn't mulling about that in particular, he was occupied thinking if there were any ways to weasle his way out of this unneeded hassle and lame night out with his supposed mates. Flynn & Mauro were nothing more than pebbles along the road, that you occasionally kick along with you, only to be cast aside as soon as you grow weary of them. Useful though, quite even, thanks to those two alcoholic skirtchasers he learned a lot about Etzos in a short period of time. But he was growing weary...Even so, it was not the opportune moment to cast them aside, it wouldn't be smart to throw a tantrum and pretend to be so infuriated that he never wanted to see or talk to them again; Simply over going to an inn moonlighting as a brothel.

So, he went.

Already the pair of dumb-dumbs had gulped down several bottles of ale down their throat, Dmitri could only imagine how their liver would scream if it could. He occasionally took a big gulp with some theatrics thrown in, whenever they were oh-so kind enough to share their bottle with him. Of course had paid his third of the price, for a few swigs. Mauro went on and on about this fine establishment who supposedly had a brandnew 'stock'. Dmitri wasn't exactly empathic but the way these men spoke of women, calling them pigs would be an insult to the animals. Flynn was convinced as soon as the rusted gears in his head started analyzing the drunken tonguetwisting speech and he had come to the conlusion he'd get laid. He probably didn't even hear with who, or what; Just the fact he'd get laid was enough, Mauro could be taking him to a compostheap and he'd still 'go nuts'.

As soon as they arrived at their destination, the Second-Story Inn, Dmitri played the part and told them to have a 'blast', after their sides were sewn back together from splitting, the boys were off to the second story of the inn and Dmitri had finally peace and quiet at the bar. Lost in thought, his hands folded together, tattoos intertwining, he glared around and eventually had to admit that if it hadn't been for the Lady, he would've probably end up much like Mauro & Flynn, and most other patrons at the Inn. Flynn was first to come back down, before Dmitri had even finished his first pint there. Slapping him hearthily on the shoulder and egging him on to get one for himself, until Dmitri shot him a look that shut him up after repeatedly telling him he was alright. But once Mauro was back down as well, a good 60 seconds after Flynn, shit hit the fan. Flynn was dealt with easily, but Mauro didn't know when to stop, especially when drunk. Sure, Dmitri could knock them both out, with or without the bottle near him, but he'd hate to cause a scene in public. So...He glanced around the inn, scanning 'the market'.

[Nimrah Armaros]

Ashan 72, Arc 716

She was past her three Trials of grace, and that meant that regardless of how distasteful she might personally find it, she was barmaid alone no longer. Bedwarmer they called it. As though putting a less offensive name to it changed the nature of the beast. Prostitute. Whore. That was the truth of it. At least with the understanding of why this role had been thrust upon her it became slightly more tolerable. It would not even have been an issue were it just something to be endured. Nimrah could and would endure much if it advanced her goals. It was that she had to also lie, and convince whatever beast dragged her into bed that she'd enjoyed it. That was what gave her trouble.

Still, she thought she'd put up a fairly believable front so far. It helped that most men skipped into bed expecting and wanting their chosen companion to lie to them. The nels they handed over where as much for the lie as the flesh in some cases. And she'd found a few ways to make sure she didn't have to perform too often. Without it looking like that was what she was doing of course. The other women who worked there helped, though they did not know that's what they were doing. They actually believed the opposite. They thought they had fresh-faced naive Nimrah fooled and cowed into doing what they wanted. Perhaps most of the world wanted a convenient lie to believe in.

Because the whores truly were barmaids as well, not all of them could be upstairs at once. Someone still had to clear tables and bring food and drink out. Nimrah was the newest, had the least seniority. It made sense then that she was the one stuck on floor duty when demand was high. So while of course she wanted to go upstairs with you, you could tell by that little smile and the tilt of her hips, sadly she could not. Maybe another night.

Less money for her of course, the pay was terrible, it was tips that the girls really lived on, but as long as she could feed herself, Nimrah did not much care. Gold alone wouldn't bring down the Immortals. At the moment she had little use for it, and she heard and learned more on the floor. Listening to the patrons as they spoke, belly-aching about their days. Crowing over any accomplishments. Nimrah learned more from being a little white ghost, flitting about clearing mugs and replacing them then she ever would have with a fat purse and bribery.

There were normally four of them working and one on days off at any point in time. Two had just come back from upstairs, one was still up there with a client who had paid for her company for the entire night. Experience said that while one of the two who'd just come down would be ready and willing to go back up at the first sign of flashed coin, the other would want at least a break of barmaiding. Which meant that she was on deck. Self-control alone kept a grimace from flashing across her face. It was busy tonight, it likely wouldn't be long before someone called on her.

She seemingly accidentally, but actually very calculatedly avoided a hand reaching for her nether regions by changing course slightly to clear another set of empty mugs.

It was an unfortunate necessity. This being so, how to make the experience as tolerable as possible. Perhaps she could try encouraging a man who seemed less undesirable than some of the others? Nimrah was honestly not particularly good at flirting, or any of the other seductive arts. She had spent her life learning to see what was unseen, to manipulate the flow of raw mana. When would she have had time to learn such things? But she was a quick study, and she had been watching the other women. Besides, many of these men could barely keep their pants on and couldn't keep their hands to themselves to start with, how much encouragement could they really need?

She mentally ran over the patrons present in her head. The two who'd just come down, they'd been with a third yes? If the two were so keen, likely the third would be as well. Like tended to stay with like. He'd not been particularly disagreeable looking. At the very least he wasn't in plate armour and armed six ways to Saun. The girl who was currently off had gotten to deal with that last night. It had taken both the bouncer and Toom himself to drag the man out after he'd gotten a 'little' rough. Not an experience Nimrah wanted or needed.

So, as she waited at the bar to be given the next round of drinks to go out, Nimrah glanced over to where Dmitri and his two friends sat, and when their eyes met offered him a small smile, ducking her head slightly, before taking the drinks thrust her way to the next table.

Really she'd mostly been checking to make sure he was as he looked in her minds eye. But since he had seemed to be eyeing up the girls himself and she'd caught his eye, she'd taken advantage of the opportunity. It would pay out or it would not. Hopefully so. While some of the girls here were more than brazen enough to go and seat themselves on a mans lap or the like, Nimrah was not. Or at least, not yet. Perhaps when she'd watched and learned more, was more certain of herself and this mask she was crafting. This persona.

[Dmitri]

'What a bore.' Dmitri's eyes slowly drifted from one scene to the other, most guys and gals alike here seemed to take pride in living a deadbeat and deadend life, to the fullest. What good does it do to you to accept your fate and play with the cards dealt with 'till you croak? Sure, you can tell yourself you lived as happy as you could be, that you did your best, but would it be the truth? Not in Dmitri's opinion, life's what you make of it. You can't change everything or control every event in your life, that was a given. But you can damned certain in the long run, there are always options. Does a pimp force you to be a whore at a seedy inn? Keep your family hostage or whatever leverage he has over you? Options! You can become a whore, you can run away to another city with your family, you can kill him, you can do so many things. That's not to say all, or any, options are better or even good, but they are always there!

Regardless, these people didn't seem to realize that, they were doing their utmost best to keep that realisation at bay as they drowned themselves in booze, lust and coin. Despicable jungle for Dmitri to be at, 'till he found an odd fragile looking little flower glancing at him and even shooting him a quick smile before lowering her chin all childlike and shy. It was adorable and refreshing to see, if you cut away the place she was at and the issues she had to deal with on a 'nightly basis'. She wasn't the most in-your-face beauty he had seen, but there was something about her that lured men in, was it was her seemingly shy and pure nature? He hadn't figured it out fully yet, but he knew she was his best bet to salvage the night. Without looking or giving a heads-up to Mauro & Flynn, he stood up from his stool after ordering a bottle of wine and two glasses, before walking towards the cute girl, only to a fraction of a second too late.

A short weasle of a man with snaggleteeth and sporting a moustache that hadn't fully hit puberty even, shot out and grabbed the wrist of the woman forcefully as he grinned wide and pointed towards the staircase leading up. Dmitri could swear he smelled his breath from over here as he cringed and after setting the winebottle and glasses on the barcounter, walked over to the belle & the beast. Without even thinking about whether or not the girl wanted to go up with the weasle to begin with, Dmitri took hold of the weasle's wrist like a vicegrip and ordered the vermin to let go of 'his girl'. "She's with me." Were the only words that came out of Dmitri but the way he said it felt very much like there were as a small print between those letters that couldn't be seen or heard, stating "Or do we have a problem?!" The weasle seemed to be well aware of this and quickly let go of the 'maiden' before scurrying off to an empty seat.

"I'm Dmitri, care to have a drink upstairs?" Before pointing towards the bottle of wine at the counter. Standing this close he could see her make-up and pretty little face better than before, she had a tiny little button nosey and big blue almond shaped eyes staring right back at him. She might not be a beauty that's apparent to all, but she seemed to be able to define another type of beauty, a type Dmitri couldn't place or define right off the bat, but he knew he liked it.

[Nimrah Armaros]

For a moment as a man who liked more like a rodent than anything else grabbed a hold of her wrist and made to drag her upstairs, Nimrah thought her efforts had been too little too late. This was definitely not ideal. On the plus side he probably didn't pose that much of a physical threat to her. On the other hand between the bad teeth and the smell that wafted out from between them when he opened his mouth, and the mustache that looked more like pubic hair than anything else.. He was definitely going to be a kisser. Disgusting. There was not enough toothpaste in the world. Besides, the idle hands that were constantly trying to cop a feel were one thing, being grabbed hold of by someone who seemed to think they had the right to just drag her around without even introducing themselves or considering her profession, coming up with the coins? That was something else.

Still, she wasn't in a position to alienate Tooms customers. With a slight struggle she managed to repress her disgust, trying to rearrange her face from the blank slate it defaulted to when she was hiding her thoughts to a pleasant smile and not doing a very good job of it. She was saved from this by the addition of another hand to the mix. One liberally decorated with tattoos. From the rodents reaction the grip was not gentle, particularly when paired with the faintly threatening words. The rodent did as rodents do, and released her, scurrying away as quickly as he was allowed.

Mentally, Nimrah was fist pumping in victory. Quite frankly men were a bit of a mystery to her. No. That wasn't entirely true. What most people would consider healthy social interaction was a mystery to her. At the beginning of her training much time had been spent in isolating the child recruits, in making it clear the Seekers were all they had or would have. And then in instilling a competitive drive. When group training was done, she'd been handed over to Gwydion who showed no true emotions ever, and did not indulge them in others. She watched, and she mimicked, but she did not really understand yet. To succeed then, and in particular to have that success so perfectly timed.. It was safe to say she was pleased with herself. She didn't really want to sleep with this man either, but he was the best of the options currently available to her.

At least it looked as though he took the time to look after himself. There were no unpleasant smells. Besides anyone who'd invested the amount of time necessary to decorate as much of his skin as this man had must care at least a little about such things. He was neither short nor tall, coming across as fit without being over the top as some were. Plus the fact that he'd already invested the coins necessary for the wine, and they way he asked as though it were a social interaction and not a business transaction boded well.

"I would, my name is Nimrah and.. thank you."

Men liked being the hero right? Saving the damsel in distress and so on. Even her body language was carefully calculated. He'd 'saved' her, which put her in the submissive, reactive role rather than a more forward one. So shoulders slightly rounded inwards and chin a little lower than she might be inclined otherwise, which meant she was lookign up at him from a position even lower than her height would have dictated. Leaning slightly more in towards him than back and away so he'd feel his attention was wanted and returned.

Now a slightly more active role was required, because this was her place of work. she was the one who knew precisely where they would be going, but how to manage it without it being jarring? Well she was a whore. On some level her had to be aware she wasn't utterly naive, so likely a bit of.. playfulness perhaps? That could work.

She stepped backwards away from him and towards the drink on the counter, a small mischievous smile and eye contact ensuring he knew she wasn't just trying to dodge him. she turned jest before hitting the counter, and with hands that were quickly learning how to easily carry bottles, glasses and mugs, picked up what he'd surrendered to come to her defence. Glancing back now and again to make sure he did follow, she led the way upstairs and to the room that had been assigned to her for tonight. It was small, there was room for the bed and not much else. Still, she liked knowing where she would be, she could make sure it was properly cleaned beforehand. Extra work for her, but worth it in her opinion.

She perched on the bed, one leg underneath her, and carefully poured a glass of wine, holding it out and up to him. This too was calculated. Supplicant presents offering to Lord.

[Dmitri]

Dmitri wasn't exactly 'Suavementeeee' and as such was completely oblivious to all the signs Nimrah placed out for him, maybe subconsciously he reacted to them still, as he did feel a little less annoyed to be here now that he planned on getting some peace & quiet on the 2nd floor with her. Truthfully, Dmitri could count his blessings for not getting enraptured by the carefully placed out body-language traps of this little flower, who seemed to be more of a venus flytrap than a rose amongst the thorns. As Nimrah turned on the spot with a playful little smile on her lips, he smiled back before following her upstairs while scanning his immediate surroundings for the disease-ridden vermin he had scared off earlier. Vermin it may be, a knife is a knife and a rat shanking him in the back would be a lousy way to go. His mind wandered as he thought what excuse he'd tell the gatekeeper of hell for getting killed in that manner.

"I thought I'd give myself a handicap by letting him shank me once, must've been the Year of the Rat for him to get so lucky!" With a smirk and a mental picture of himself shaking his fist angrily as he explained himself to the Gatekeeper, his mind and eyes focused back on his immediate surroundings. The latter getting caught redhanded by his own consciousness to be drifting towards Nimrah's frame and lower back, but as soon as they passed the first few doors in the seedy corridor, he was almost as disgusted with himself as he was with the lowlives who actually came here just to get a quick lay. Leaving coin and empty bottles on the nightstand and a broken-spirited woman in the bed, after. Frowning and tightening his lips, he entered the small, dark room after Nimrah.

The smell was barely manageable, as tidy as the room was, he doubted it had been thoroughly cleaned considering the turn-over these rooms see on a daily. As Nimrah poured the wine, Dmitri opened the curtains and let in some much needed moonlight through the windows, finishing off with lighting a candle near the balcony, and you have yourself the most disturbing form of a romantic scene, ever. Dmitri didn't give much thought as to what Nimrah must be thinking of this peculiar behaviour, all he wanted was to pass the time and hopefully in a fun way.

As he seated himself on the bed after accepting the offered glass, he clinged it to Nimrah's. "Here's to fun times." After which he proceeded to sniff the wine in the glass and take a slow, savouring sip. With flowery hand gestures and a dramaticly stern look on his face, he turned to her. "Exquisite! The very best sewage swill I drank this arc!" Grinning, he took another sip of the wine and placed it on the nightstand as he leaned back and rested on his elbows. Tongue-in-cheek, Dmitri was finding the hardest time to find something to talk about, he's nowhere near shy but what the hell do you even talk about with a prostitute?

"Hey, what's the crack?!....How's work?!...Y'know, besides fucking with people who showered once, back in the Days of Yore..."

Nope, he was lost, so he did what men do when they don't know what to talk about. They take a sip of their drink and talk about the weather. "Crisp night out hm?" The most comical factor must've been that his face didn't show any signs of hesitation or shame in asking that, he could play the part, any part, shame was a thing of the past to him. If you devote your life to acting your way into the lion's den for the sake of slaying the beast, you can act anywhere.

[Nimrah Armaros]

Nimrah was getting conflicting signals from his body language that she was having a hard time interpreting. While excellent at noting all the small movements and changes, the micro expressions, she wasn't good at figuring out what they meant. Which was a little bit troubling, but beyond continuing on and learning from experience there wasn't much she could do about it.

Letting in moonlight and lighting candles was more the sort of thing a suitor did for his lady love than a John did for his whore, at least if the tales and ballads the other girls swooned over was anything to go by. Maybe this fit with his behavior though? The whole savior angle? Perhaps he was one of the rare few moral men left around, and could justify sleeping with a whore if he'd saved her and then made it dramatic and romantic, distancing himself from the fact that it was a business transaction. That made sense. Well. It didn't. It was ridiculous and illogical, a waste of time and effort. Gwydion would smack him upside the head for it. But he was not a Seeker. He was just a man, and could not be counted upon to be logical or truly make sense. So. It did not make sense, but it was the sort of nonsense that the common man seemed to like.

"To fun."

She repeated with a smile as their glasses met with a faint clink. She took a small sip, endeavoring to make it look like it was larger than it was. Some of the girls might have taken every opportunity to drink on the job that they could get away with, Nimrah was not one of them. Quite frankly she found the thought of intentionally handicapping her control and judgement.. scary. Control was a key element to her personality. Without it she didn't know how to function, it felt.. unsafe.

His comment on the drink had her debating how to reply. In a way it was an insult to where she worked. On the other hand, he was the one who'd chosen what drink to buy, so if he'd gotten cheap, unenjoyable drink, that was by choice. The smile said he thought he was being funny though so.. joke?

She smiled slightly wider, glancing down and away before looking back.

"Well, if you have to drink swill, may as well have the best, no?"

At about this point he leaned back on his elbows, eyed her for a few seconds, and then seamlessly asked about the weather. Fuck. Now what? Probably if you let your clients start talking about the weather you were doing an exceptionally poor job. At the same time, just shucking off clothes also seemed inappropriate for the situation.

He'd moved to recline in a more intimate position and then commented on temperature. So.. tie those things together?

"Mm, I suppose next season we'll all be missing the chill, but compared to downstairs.."

She replied, moving as she did to tuck her body in along his, her chest and stomach along his side. There. This was seductive and it fit, because they'd commented on the chill, so she was staying warm. Good job Nimrah.

"I don't think I've seen you here before? Though I've not been here long."

There. If he did want to chat first, there was an opening, and if not, then it was just an observation.

[Dmitri]

'Sigh.' Apparently Dmitri hadn't made it clear enough that he didn't came upstairs with the intention to have sex with her, the very thought of coming to a brothel without the aforementioned intent was ludicrous to begin with. Looking at Nimrah leaning up against him, he could see her beautiful features clearly, almost as clear as the crystal, yet somehow cold gaze in her eyes. For some reason Dmitri felt as if he could bring a spark back in those eyes. Dmitri's body started to move on its own accord, his mind having gone blank. One hand on her side, the other gliding slowly over her spine upwards to the back of her neck, he could feel the tingling shivers run through her while his nose and lips brushed against her collarbone and side of neck. Taking the time to savor her touch and embrace before their lips connected and he kissed her with more force and passion than a blazing fire. His fingertips rolled over her body, searching for her hands until they locked into one another, one hand placed above her head, the other undoing her shirt and revealing her slender form, Dmitri continued to explore her body with every part of his body. His breath audible and tangible against her skin as he took his time. As he positioned himself over her small figure, chest pressing against her body tenderly yet firmly, he lost himself completely in these moments of carnal lust and pleasure.

Time felt to go by so slowly, as if every touch and kiss took much longer than normal to process, every spark and sensation drowning Dmitri further in his insatiable thirst for her. His touch getting firmer and bolder, knees spreading her legs and fingers digging in her skin and hair, every thought got drowned out by pure desire, until after what seemed like hours on end, a loud knocking on the door indicated their time together had ran out. Dmitri couldn't even think about what to say to this woman. As satisfied as his body felt, his mind and soul felt like they were being wrenched out. Displeased with himself, he put on his clothes quietly and made way for the door, not even stopping or turning to say bye. He probably came off as an even bigger asshole by doing so, didn't matter to him, he just wanted to get the fuck out of there and forget all about it.

'Not like I'm going to meet her ever again.'

[Zana]

My name is Zana - hear me roar!