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Post by Madame Tigris Dienno on Jun 12, 2011 20:30:50 GMT -5
A month had passed and still it felt odd to me to sit in her office, in her chair, behidn her desk. IT still felt odd that I was the one now seeking out new talent for the bathhouse, and managing its goingons, mentoring the girls that were there, taking care of the business. It was hard, very hard work, and I had a new respect for the woman who was shrewed, hard, like steel, but still cared enough to keep a place like this - a place for the misfits of Terre d'Ange, teh downtrodden who needed to do something or rot away - up and running. Sure, it was not the most honest work, and it was not always peaches and sunshine, hardly that, but it was something, better than nothing, better than starving on the streets, or freezing, like I had once been doing. I remembered with a mix of emotions the night that she had found me, the night she had proposed to me that I work for her, and how I had thought on it and then come the next day, starving to the pit of my stomach with no where else to go, and no one else willing to take me in. She had alid out her terms, and I accepted them, asking her the questions that any intelligent girl would - like what happened if I could no longer work in pleasuring clients, like what happened if someone tried to beat or kill me, or rape me. She took all those things seriously, and looked after her girls. Though we made her coin, and coin was not made without clients, she made sure that we knew we were important, and not just trolls or dirt to be thrown aside or have stones cast at. We were not princesses, or queens, but we were hers. And she took very good care of her possessions.
And so I sat, with a bittersweet smile on my face, as I looked over the documents that gave this place to me, that signed the deed over to me, and the folios of information on each girl, oddly enough, looking at my own, the notes she kept on me, the information she had recorded, my height, my background, or what she knew of it, and some information that I did not even give her, which perplexed, angered and amazed me all at once. How would I fill this woman's shoes? How would I be like her and make this place thrive, how would I make it better than it had ever been? I let out a heavy sigh, bringing my hand to my face, fingers massaging the bridge of my nose between my eyes as I cursed quietly in Caerdicci.
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Alayne Lombard
Citizen
Employee at the Bath House
Lost child of the Deveroix household.
Posts: 329
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Post by Alayne Lombard on Jun 12, 2011 21:02:58 GMT -5
It was a thing - my thing. I resisted patrons, and they liked it, and it was known that when they wanted a catfight, they'd send me in, because they thought if funny to have a girl who raked their back with nails and insulted them in the middle of a fuck.
I'd never accepted a punch to my face, though, and it'd always been in game, just as I resisted until I yielded happily, and always found my pleasure somewhere in there. But he'd punched me, the bastard, and I'd kicked him in the stomach before I ran out of the room and in the corridor, screaming the name of Dame Dienno, calling guards, in short, making sure he'd regret it.
Even as I ran, half dressed and my shift ripped, he was behind me, and I pushed the door to Tigris' office without knocking, screaming, "That wasn't part of the deal!"
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Post by Madame Tigris Dienno on Jun 12, 2011 22:49:49 GMT -5
I heard a commotion in the hall, but before I could raise to my feet there was a flash of red and ivory bursting into the office, nigh knocking the door off its hinges, which I noted needed a good replacing, shouting at... gods knew what. I focused, taking in the situation quickly. Alayne... and... not part of the deal? Then I saw her face, the red swell below her eye that was already starting to colour, and I frowned as I moved quickly and lithely around the table, but not before I pulled the string that hung behind my chair and rang in the guard's room. I was beside her, then, and a man came barreling in, his shirt on, but boots an breeches off, his manhood dangling half hard between his legs. He was not terribly good looking, but he wasnt bad either, as he was d'Angeline, and he came in yelling obscneities, shaking his fists in the air, his face a bright red, the colour remininding me of the plump tomatoes that used to grow in the garden of my childhood home. My brows furrowed, and I made sure I got between them, my back to Alayne.
"What is the meaning of this?!" I asked, my voice edged in steel, my eyes stern as they looked upon the bumbling man who stumbled into my office and tried to get around me to get at Alayne. "Hey!" I yelled out, "I asked what this is all about," I growled. Perhaps Madame Moreau would have dealt more... diplomatically with the man, but nobody beat her... my girls.
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Alayne Lombard
Citizen
Employee at the Bath House
Lost child of the Deveroix household.
Posts: 329
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Post by Alayne Lombard on Jun 12, 2011 23:41:14 GMT -5
I didn't tell Tigris that his purse was lighter than it should be – but he owed it to be, he'd not paid well last time. “I don't know, he's mad,” I told her angrily. “And he would have take me without my consent, done outrage like they say, and I said no, and now look, look at what he did to me!”
I spoke and accused while maintaining Tigris between myself and the fat boar, and he boasted back that I'd stolen, to which I looked appaled and insulted, and said, “Oh, so you think I need your filthy ducats! Take them, take them! And never come back!” and a few coppers were lying about, which I took and flung at him virulently.
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Post by Madame Tigris Dienno on Jun 14, 2011 9:22:12 GMT -5
Things it seemed, had gotten out of hand, accusations flying from Alayne and the john alike. I wanted to retract myself from teh situation, to massage my temples, but I knew that I had to be here and had to be strong.
"Our girls, my lord," I interjected, using both of my palms, arms straight out to stop him from coming after her yet again once she threw the coins his way, "do not steal. They may not be adepts, but they are honest girls trying to make an hoenst living. And were she to have stolen, it would not warrant hitting her, or taking the coin. You';ve been here before, you know the rules, and you know that if any stealing were to occur, you should come to me about it, not take out whats due to you in my girl's flesh!" I countered, my voice strong and my words just. He was still flustered, frustrated, his chest heaving with my palms against it. He pointed at Alayne, his whole arm shaking like a massive branch in the wind, and then made a gesture, his finger drawing an imaginary line at his neck. I swallowed hard, angered now.
"I trust you will be leaving, and you will NOT be coming back," and at that moment a guard came, standing at the doorway, tall and straong, though this man probably had him in the weight department, I had no doubt that he'd be able to get rid of him. "Guer, escort this ... gentleman," I spat, "out."
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Alayne Lombard
Citizen
Employee at the Bath House
Lost child of the Deveroix household.
Posts: 329
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Post by Alayne Lombard on Jun 14, 2011 10:50:20 GMT -5
I was still hiding behind Tigris and did nothing to hide my satisfaction – the john threatened me, and I responded by sticking my tongue out at him. If he came back and was let in, I wasn't getting within a twenty foot range of him, that was for sure. At least I knew I could outrun him. A hanging gut will do that for a lithe girl like me, ha!
After he was escorted out, cursing and flailing under Guer's big hands, I laughed and invented a new insult for his sad little dangling cock, calling it a pathetic piece of meat, but as the commotion subsided, I found I was cold and pulled the shreds of my shift around me as a dreadful shiver ran up my spine.
“Thanks, Madame Tigris,” I told my lady mackerel, smirking nonetheless, “I'll say, you showed him right well what you're 'bout, is good and done greatly, aye. Won't mess with us girls again, I don't reckon.”
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Post by Madame Tigris Dienno on Jun 16, 2011 10:15:32 GMT -5
"I can only hope," I murmured as I turned to face her, sighing softly. "So now that he is gone, will you tell me what happened with this assignation to have left that on your face?" I asked, my fingers stroking just below her eye gently. I cringed myself, shaking my head. I had remembered having some abusive clients myself, though none that had hit me in the face. It would be a few days before teh rbusing came to her cheek and started to fade, for certain, and it was always hard to get clients looking a mess like that. I shook my head slightly. "I am glad nothign worse was done i nthe time you spent together. Truly, sometimes these men are preposterous," I added, moving from before her to sit back in the seat behind the desk. I sat up straight, not wanting to show any discouragement in my demeanor, and smiled softly. "Willl you be alright?" I added, my voice back to normal now, stern, though there was a flash of caring in my features.
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Alayne Lombard
Citizen
Employee at the Bath House
Lost child of the Deveroix household.
Posts: 329
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Post by Alayne Lombard on Jun 16, 2011 10:44:36 GMT -5
I stood there and shivered, my tattered shift still around me like draped dignity. “I'll be fine, M'am,” I replied perhaps a bit too quick. “Just gotta let it pass, is all. He was just a big boor, thought it fun to tame me, and I didn't mind, but then I guess I didn't say that the face was off limits because....” I shrugged and made a face that seemed to say, it was obvious.
And I don't know, I think he wanted me somehow to... I wasn't even sure. “And we were doing the deed, you know, getting it on, and I was going down on him, and his purse fell...”
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Post by Madame Tigris Dienno on Jun 18, 2011 9:41:48 GMT -5
I raised a brow, waiting for the rest of her story.
"And his purse fell...," I repeated, urging her to continue. She looked a right mess though, shivering, her arms about her, that shift torn, strips of it hanging loosely from the garnment and baring her smooth, creamy skin. She was a beautiful girl, a lot of men liked her flaming red locks, wanting of course to see if the thicket below matched the mop above. I smiled a little at the thought, though I tried to remain stern. Even if she had stolen his coin, I couldn't say I would have been personally upset. But here, I was not meant to be a friend. I was meant to run a business, which meant walking a tightrope between benefactress and colleague. It was a difficult one to walk, but I tried my best not to fall off.
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Alayne Lombard
Citizen
Employee at the Bath House
Lost child of the Deveroix household.
Posts: 329
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Post by Alayne Lombard on Jun 18, 2011 9:58:00 GMT -5
“He didn't pay well last time,” I replied, “I couldn't help it.” I shrugged carelessly, and looked back at Tigris. “He owed it to me, and he beat me for trying to right his wrong. I never want to have him again.”
I felt angry now, and abused, and I felt as if I could kill him with my bare fists if I saw the patron again, though of course, that was a ridiculous thought: I couldn't defend myself other than by running and lying.
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Post by Madame Tigris Dienno on Jun 22, 2011 10:47:01 GMT -5
"Don't be defensive, take that as a rule," I said, "and don't steal. I understand if he did not pay well last time, but you should have come to me. If we had every girl stealing from our clients what they thought they were truly due, we would have no business left," I explained as I took a seat behind my desk. "I am glad you told me the truth though, thank you for that. But you will be confined to lavatory duty for a month. Next time, please just come to me, and I will speak to the client, and I will find a way to make it right," I smiled then, looking up into Alayne's eyes. I had been lokoing at her as I spoke, but moreso looking through her as I tried to concentrate on the words to say.
"I had done a fair bit of stealing before I was in teh position you see me in now, and Mdame Moreau, when she found out about it, would punish me, and on the last occassion, threatened to either throw me out or make me a fulltime scullery maid," I recounted, smiling wider. "And I stopped, because I knew I had no where else to go, and when a client stiffed me, well, I found that coming to her the moment it happened seemed to solve things, and even end up with me having more coin in my pocket at times," I said, hoping it would inspire her, though doubting it would. I did not command presence like Madame Moreau had, but I tried.
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Alayne Lombard
Citizen
Employee at the Bath House
Lost child of the Deveroix household.
Posts: 329
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Post by Alayne Lombard on Jun 23, 2011 2:12:11 GMT -5
I listened and listened and said nothing, and truth be I didn't feel ashamed of myself in the least. I'd done what I had to do.
“I will come to you, Tigris.” I said quietly before I looked away, and I was displeased and unhappy, and angry besides, because I'd been the one hurt and sporting a black eye, I'd been the one floundered, and I was being punished further for it. I crossed my arms and bit off a response that would be read as defensive. “Well, I guess if the house can do without all that revenue...” I said meekly, taking a gamble.
I wasn't allowed to speak for myself, I was being punished for defending the whore's due, and I had a black eye. Great. Just great. Maybe speaking for the bathhouse instead would work.
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Post by Madame Tigris Dienno on Jun 23, 2011 10:06:25 GMT -5
She had a point, and I mumbled low under my breath. I could sense a bit of disdain in her words, and I rolled my eyes as I sat back in my chair.
"Well you most certainly won't be able to service the bathhouse until that black eyes dissipates, now can you? or are you looking to find more men of that ilk?" I queried, my voice strong asd stern, unwavering though the nicer side of me, what remined of it, hated that I had to be this way. I would rather have embraced her and told her "job well done" but such was not in the cards for me, not anymore.
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Alayne Lombard
Citizen
Employee at the Bath House
Lost child of the Deveroix household.
Posts: 329
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Post by Alayne Lombard on Jun 23, 2011 10:24:35 GMT -5
I looked up slowly, I wasn't smiling because I didn't feel like it – my face was throbbing and my eyes were watering a little. It was a wonder I didn't have a split lip, but it hurt, nonetheless, and I felt tired. All I wanted to do was get rid of my torn shift that hid almost nothing, go wash, put a cold cloth over my eye, and rest.
“It won't happen again,” I said numbly. It wouldn't take a month for the black eye to subside, would it? It was my first, but – I got bruises often, and – I didn't keep them so long.
I resented the situation, and I felt lonely and helpless. I hated that feeling with every fibre of my person (was I a person? Maybe it was a delusion). I took a breath, trying not to cry.
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Post by Madame Tigris Dienno on Jun 23, 2011 10:55:07 GMT -5
She sounded.. defeated, sad, pathetic, and I shook my head, slamming my fist down on the desk before me.
"No, no no! Really? 'It won't happen again'? Since when did th ebath house girls lose their... their fire, their passion! The desire to live, to thrive, to become better than their situations? Learn to stand up for yourself, to fight for yourself, girl, you';ve been here longer than I have and you should know that that is what's needed in a place like this, in a City like this, or else you'll be trampled and no one will be able to help you up!" I was breathing heavily now, my voice having risen with the passion of teh moment. I ran my fingers through my locks, not caring whitehr they snagged on knots, letting out an exascerbated sigh. "One week, one week of confinement. If the swelling is not gone, and the colour dissipated by then, then you will be confined one more weel. IS that understood?" I asked, raising my brows as if challenging her to challenge me.
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Alayne Lombard
Citizen
Employee at the Bath House
Lost child of the Deveroix household.
Posts: 329
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Post by Alayne Lombard on Jun 23, 2011 17:06:18 GMT -5
“Understanding was never the issue, Tigris,” I replied quietly. She was angering me, and I didn't understand her take on it – what did she want me to do? Had she forgotten who she was, and who I was? “Disagreeing is the issue. You claim to protect your girls, but you are punishing me for being honest and for having been beat. Lavatory duty is fair, johns wouldn't want me looking like this anyway, it's no good to anyone if I serve like this. But if I tell you that it won't happen again, if I tell you that I will come to you, then punishing me tells me that you don't trust me.”
I raised my head a little and shook my hair like a wild horse does her mane. “You want fire, and you tell me not to be defensive, you want to protect me, but you want to lock me up. You're not coherent, Tigris. Put your money where your mouth is.”
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Post by Madame Tigris Dienno on Jun 29, 2011 9:16:19 GMT -5
My eyes narrowed at her.
"Punishment is so that you, and others, know that you cannot get away with it just because you think it is bringing about your own justice. Your word is good, I know this, but what sort of disceplinarian would I be to just nod my head and smile and let you walk away. I am sad for what had happened to you, but at the same time, you do not see that dishonesty breeds contempt, and your actions brought this on yourself," I said, stroking under my own eye where her bruise had started. "What he did was wrong, both stiffing you in what you were owed as well as laying his hands on you without your consent, but what you did was wrong as well. Two wrongs do not make a right, and though you might think that the bruise under yoru eye is punishment enough, it is not. We are a group of women who have been dealt hard hands in life, but that doesnt mean we need any less discipline than anyone else, Alayne. You might not see it as coherent, and you might be upset that I am punishing you, even as I understand, and even as you promise nothing like this will happen again, but it is what needs to be done. Examples need to be made that show that I am fair, but I am stern adn do not tolerate anything that brings dishonour upon our profession," I explaioned. "Madame Mopreau who ran this place before me was harsh, yes, but she made sure that everything ran properly, that there wa sfood and water, that there was care when needed. She is gone now, and I remain in her place. If I appear to be wishy washy, then who's respect will I gain?" I asked her, shaking my head. "I only hope that, if you do not understand now, you will understand in time. One week, lavatory duties. Do you need me to call the physician to look at your eye, or will you take care of it."
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Alayne Lombard
Citizen
Employee at the Bath House
Lost child of the Deveroix household.
Posts: 329
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Post by Alayne Lombard on Jun 29, 2011 9:34:47 GMT -5
Tigris went on and on and after the fourth sentence, truth be, my eyes glazed over, and I just nodded, letting her go on and on about responsibilities and discipline and respect. I just wanted to put something cold on my eye, wash up, and go to sleep, so I just nodded.
“I'll take care of it,” I replied when the long diatribe was done. Clearly, she hadn't really been listening to me, just as I had stopped listening during her discourse.
“Will that be all, Madame?”
I didn't think I could ever call her Tigris again. She'd somehow managed to go into that category of people you let speak, nod to and tune out. I'd stay as long as I wanted to. Then perhaps one day I'd leave. I missed Erika – the bathhouse wasn't the same without her, and I didn't like where this was going. Having no say in it, perhaps it was time to look for greener pastures. I'd thought of it during the plague. It was coming back to me once more.
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