To the festival. (Nel, Murdoch, Samael)

[Nel Sayo]

Nel regarded Merris with a sunny smile, but no more interest than she would a normal woman who showed up to maybe bring her food. Her sharp eyes caught the exchange between the whore and Murdoch, more accustomed to looking for those sorts of things than for what she may or may not have preferred in the sack.

She spared a glance as the whore settled herself beside Sam; it was going to be one of those nights, she presumed. Well, best get her tummy full while she still had the chance.

A sharp kick of her heel to Murdoch's legs.

"Order me something I'll like," she told him, before slouching back again. Although her shoulders tilted towards him once more when she added, "And I mean food."

[Murdoch]

"Oh! He's so adorable, Murdoch, why didn't you bring him here sooner?" Merris laughed, snuggling up to Sam's side and batting long black eyelashes up at him.

"Because I just met him, sweetling," he chuckled, grunting a little as Nel kicked him, but he just slung an arm over the corner of his chair and slouched down more comfortably. "But we will be needing dinner, of course. Whatever the chef decides, I trust his judgment."

Merris gave a huge pout at this, bottom lip poking out cutely as she settled a warm hand on Sam's thigh. "You're a cruel man, Murdoch, keeping me from this fellow. I'll be back, though, don't you worry," she murmured, pressing a kiss to Sam's cheek before she climbed to her feet and sauntered off.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

Sam immediately turned red again, watched her go with his mouth hanging open a little, and then immediately looked down at the table top intently, trying to will certain reactions to stop. Dead puppies. Sports. Cold water.

[Nel Sayo]

Nel watched Sam intently, trying to figure out what he was thinking about. Sy thought of sea hags. And slugs. And Lohpot naked. Nel made a game of guessing which he was thinking of by looking at the expression on his face. She didn't know Sam well enough, though, to have even begun to play that game with him.

So she just laughed at him, bright and not at all mocking, which bubbled into a whirl of giggles, the process by which she ended up completely curled up in her seat, a pile of snickerings.

"Like you've never seen a whore before," she teased. And then she started to unravel languidly. "After food, I'll just leave you two to it. I don't mind, really."

[Murdoch]

"Oh, we can give our boy here a bit of time," Murdoch chuckled, watching Sam turn three shades of red. "He can always catch up with us at the gambling house. Besides, he'll be of no use betting when his body's wound up so tightly. And there's the fact that once Merris gets it in her head, she's hard to get away from. Not that anyone would want to," he said with a smirk.

Another girl appeared to bring them their wine, a dusky blond who bowed and offered shy smiles to all three of them, though she simply left the glasses and a fresh bottle and retreated.

"Besides, you wanted a good time, yes? This is Syliras - it can be managed for all of us without problem. Sam can stay for his alotted hour, and I'll give you a tour of the city. We can swing back and pick him up on our way to the Spinning Coin. How's that sound?" he asked with a friendly smile to Samael.

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"Uh... we'll see." Flustered, he gave Murdoch a quick look, trying to smile everything back to normal. When he looked to Nel, though, he had to look away so as not to compare her charms to Merris's or the quiet blonde. "I've never been up close with a friendly one like that," he admitted.

[Nel Sayo]

"But they're all friendly," Nel laughed. "Like...as a rule."

Nel had gotten to know her fair share of whores; she'd played cards with them, sat around yammering at them, listening to them yammer, while the boys did their deals with other working girls. She had a certain understanding, anyway; she knew what it was like, just not what it was like to get paid.

A crinkle of her nose and she unslouched and leaned forward and snatched up the bottle of wine, uncorking it so that she could dole some into each glass.

"I knew this one -- on this island, I forget it's name now, but she had six toes on one foot. And the boys used to carry on about her all the time. Six toes. Six Toe Selma. She was everyone's favorite. I guess she did something special with that extra toe."

She nodded, totally true, and absolutely awesome. Plucked up a glass and sat back, grinning.

[Murdoch]

Murdoch laughed and gulped down his wine, giving a sharp wink to Samael. "Never been up close and friendly-like? Hell, boy, tonight's the night then! Merris'll give you your gold's worth, that's a guarantee."

Nel's story got another dark chuckle out of him. "I've been waiting for them to find an Eypharian who's willing to try this line of work. Can you imagine? It'd be like having an extra girl there to tickle your fancy."

[Sama'el Sunsinger]

"What'd she do with her sixth toe?" he asked innocently before he could think to layer on some faux badassery. Then, when he remembered to play it more worldly, it went out the window again as he stared, open-mouthed at Murdoch. "Six hands!"

Part of him wondered if he couldn't find a way to make that happen. After all, such a woman, if good with her hands, could sate six johns at once -- only with her hands! He saw the golden mizas tumbling in the air before him. Imaginary ones, of course, or he would've reached out to grab them. Which would have been embarrassing because his daydream suddenly materialized into a woman garbed in bits of silk with dangling, jangling golden coins. She was just walking past them, but the rocking of her hips was as inviting as he imagined the sea might be. At least, he'd heard some minstrels sing about it like it was.

He quickly shut his mouth and looked at his two companions to make sure he hadn't lost track of the conversation or started to drool on himself.

[Nel Sayo]

"Selma wouldn't ever tell me," Nel sighed. "And she swore all the boys to secrecy. Even my brother never told me. But I guess it was something incredible."

The wee lady pirate curled up in her seat again, legs folded beneath her, and gulped down half the glass of her wine, which inspired another pale blush into her cheeks, though this one just served to warm that white skin a bit.

She watched Sam a moment longer, swallowed back another sigh, and then sent Murdoch a truly scathing glare, though it was just as subtle as his fingertapping had been to Merris, the shift of her eyes like a lance through the gauzy room, for just a second.

He'd done this on purpose, and she knew it, and now her first new friend, like, ever, cared more about getting his dong diddled than getting to know her.

"Where's the food?" she wondered aloud, letting her head tilt back. The clack of shells and beads between the curls as she slumped.