[Vol]Backward Blockades

[Lixue]

Fall 50, 512 AV Lixue did not like her new job. From a lack of money and resources, plus her social status, Lixue had been forced to seek employment at The Lost Sense, a brothel of sorts in Wind Reach. They had been reluctant to hire her, given she did not want to be a whore. But they had agreed to hire her because she looked exotic and exotic was a high fantasy for many. Even better if they could look but not touch. The taunting and teasing, if accidental, would drive customers wild. As part of her job as a maid, Lixue had to wear one of the most ridiculous outfits that showed too much and hid too little. Lixue had protested, but knew the job depended on the outfit. Besides, it was cute and it did flatter her form, making the impossible possible and the small large. The outfit started at the ground, with heels that brought Lixue to the surprising height of five foot three. The heels were black, pair with thigh high stockings that molded to her skin and emphasized every curve. The actual outfit was a dress that skirted stopped higher than mid thigh and was not something to bend over in. It had a polka dot lace trim before the actual black dress started. The bottom half was large and poofy, a mixture of black and white. Lixue had a lace hanky situated at the front of her dress, more for show than anything else. A backward corset created an hourglass figure, something Lixue had not had before. It caused her chest to be lush and her waist to be tinier. Underneath the corset was a white lace trim that barely hid Lixue's over exaggerated bosom. Lace bracelets lay at her wrists, leaving the more adventurous customers giving lewd remarks about how the bracelets could be used. Or how the two lace strings tied around her neck and holding her hair could be used as well. Lixue ignored them. "I need you to clear the sheets in the private rooms." The request was not a request, but a command and an order. Lixue nodded, turning away from her boss. "And wiggle your ass a little!" Lixue rolled her eyes in response. The private rooms were five in total and, in this world, the rooms were interconnected. Customers could bring their own partners or find themselves with one, or many. There was the Bath, the Bedroom, the Black Room, the Torture Chamber, and the Chaos Room. The Black Room is pitch black, decorated with cushions. The Torture Chamber was not a place Lixue liked to go. Besides looking just strange, the scariest of people went there and, occasionally, came out bleeding. The Chaos Room was the place where screams echoed, lonely screams. Anyone going into the chaos room needed to first take the chaos drink, something Lixue would never do. The Bath was the most popular and there were always people founded here. The Bedroom was a romantic place, lit with candles and smelling of the sweetest things. Even though she had been ordered to clear the sheets, Lixue knew this meant something else. This meant make sure no one was bleeding out somewhere, that no one was being forced into something unwillingly, and to make sure all the useful tools were clean. Lixue started with the Black Room. She gave a soft knock on the door before opening it. A sliver of light emptied into the room, flickering upon the walls and the cushions sitting on the floor. Lixue popped her head in and glanced around. Even if the room was occupied, Lixue still had to do her job. Thankfully, this one was empty. That meant she did not have to worry about awkwardly bending over to get the cushions but could waste no time trying to hold the back of the outfit down. The task at hand was simple: Make sure the cushions were in working condition. This meant no blood on them, puke was not covering them, and that the seams were not ripped. Traveling into the room, Lixue wasted no time in setting to work. Her hands were quick and thorough with their job and her eyes scrutinizing in the dim light. Lixue had just finished with the last cushion when the door shut. Although Lixue knew this happened, and had happened to her before, from the heaviness of the door, she jumped. "Well, petch." Just like the name, the room was pitch black and Lixue could not see. She let the cushion fall to the floor before slowly shuffling in the direction of the door. Even if the thought was erotic, the last Lixue needed was to be caught in the room with someone mistaking her as anything other than a maid.

[Volinir Orchid]

The first thing Volinir was aware of was the sound of a door slamming shut. The second thing he was aware of as his pupils flared and the pitch dark room simply became murky, was that he wasn't along. The Symenestra had, for whatever reason, fallen asleep in the Black Room. He'd simply been lying there with a cushion and his hands under his head, and his ankles crossed when Lixue had walked in, and had slept through her cleaning. He was wide awake now, however. With a shake of his head, he sat up, trying to remember why he was in a Wind Reach brothel. Was he dancing for them? That had to be it. And... Who was in the room with him? It looked like... "Lixue?! What are you doing here?"

[Lixue]

Where in Mizahar was that door? Lixue could have sworn she was walking right toward it, but she definitely should have reached it by now. But no, the door just never hit her outstretched fingers. And neither did any of the walls. Lixue shook her head in exasperation. How could she manage to get out of here? Or would she be stuck here until the next half intertwined couple fell into the room? Letting her arms drop, Lixue paused a moment to regain her bearings. The room was wonderfully designed; not a hint of light slipped through the walls. "Lixue?! What are you doing here?" Stifling a scream, Lixue whirled to face the direction the voice had come from. Her short outfit whirled with her, caught by the moving air. Her hands flew upwards, as if to fend off anybody who would attack her. The last thing that she needed was to be raped! Even though she had nothing to fend off an attacker with, Lixue would use whatever she could; even her nails. It did not occur to Lixue that she was tiny enough to where her fighting back would be almost nothing to overtake. Realizing no one was attacking her, Lixue let her arms fall. Her heart beat wildly in her ears and she was breathing hard from the momentary panic. Her eyebrows came together as she wrung her hands in her short skirt. She recognized that voice. Where, though? Where had she heard it before? Lixue tried to think back. Tried to remember. Failed. Although she knew for certain she had heard that disjointed accent before, Lixue could not remember where. Obviously not somewhere important, if she could not bring the memory to mind. With a small, scared voice, Lixue informed the man, "I am sorry... I do not know who you are. Or where you are." There was a pause before Lixue whispered quietly a name that her mind assumed, "Are you Vol-ee-ner?"

[Volinir Orchid]

The scream Lixue caught in her throat was still enough to get the Symenestra's attention. Volinir jumped to his feet, reaching out to Lixue before deciding that, given her current state, it was probably better not to touch her. Once she had seemed to calm down a little though, Volinir took a step towards her... Before stopping again when she expressed her confusion about his identity. For a moment, his upper lip curled into an angry sneer- How dare she forget him!- before he remembered that she couldn't see his face. After all, humans didn't share his eyesight, and even he was having trouble seeing in this room. "Do you remember hanging by a thread?" he asked, hurt tinging his voice. Whether she did or not, at least she recalled his name. "Yes, it's me." Volinir said in what he hoped was a soothing voice as he closed the distance between them and took her hands from her skirt. "What are you doing here? And why are you wearing that outfit?" That confused him to no end. While Lixue could certainly be coquettish, what she was wearing at the moment was a little more than coquettish. Indeed, it was already causing Volinir to flush.

[Lixue]

Lixue nodded in the darkness before forgetting Volinir would not be able to see her. Yes, she remembered hanging by a thread. The heart stopping drops from thread to thread, learning how to hang on for dear life and succeed... and fail. Lixue remembered bouncing along on gigantic mushrooms, of landing in a tangle of appendages and wrestling with Volinir. She definitely remembered what he asked, if the light blush on her cheeks was any guess. Lixue jumped, startled, when Volinir touched her. She had not seen him move in the darkness, had not heard his footsteps over her still beating heart. But she let him pull her hands from wringing her skirt and interweaved their fingers, tightly gripping his hand. This was a good estimate of how frightened Lixue had been. And knowing it was only Volinir, Lixue's stiff posture relaxed. Her shoulders fell and her chin lowered just a tad. A soft, breathy sigh, escaped her lips and disappeared into the quiet of the room. Lixue blushed bright red at his simple questions, questions that would and should have been asked. Despite the situation and the fact that Lixue only saw Volinir in dreams, she had not realized this itself was a dream and thus not real. So, Lixue answered as was expected given her situation. "I work here, as a maid. I needed the money." And she had. Lixue would never have stepped into a brothel if not for force, but money-problems had driven her to such great lengths. Volinir's second question caused Lixue to unweave their fingers and take a bouncy step back. Her heels clicked loudly on the floor in the room and her movements were surprisingly fluid. "This is my work outfit," she murmured. Spinning in a circle, her skirt flaring out beside her and baring her thighs, Lixue questioned innocently, fairly certain Volinir would not be able to answer given the darkness of the room, "How do I look?"

[Volinir Orchid]

Money problems were something Volinir could relate to. Recently, he had been forced to thieve and pick pockets just to make ends meet. Getting a job in Ravok was a logical impossibility: The Nitrozians would find him if he did. As such, Lixue got a sympathetic hum in response. When she decided to twirl for Volinir, however, the reaction she got was certainly different from what she might have intended. She had forgotten that the room Lixue found pitch dark, Volinir just found dim, and as such, he could give her a very accurate answer indeed. He intercepted the Vantha mid-twirl, dipping her backwards and catching her lips with a kiss. When, at last, they broke apart, Volinir flashed Lixue a (tragically unseen) sultry smile and whispered, "Irresistible." Somewhere in the hallways, a saxophone had begun to play. Volinir had not seen Lixue in weeks, and her outfit reminded him that they had some unfinished business in the Spires to attend to. OOCVolinir Orchid: Lover. Rebel. Tango instructor.

[Lixue]

Lixue had not expected the dip and kiss, to say the least. One moment she was making fun of herself and of him and the next... the world shifted and his lips covered hers. At first, Lixue's hands flailed awkwardly. One ended up resting on his shoulder and the other on his chest. Lixue meant to push him away, she had not sought a kiss nor expected one. But the man had a way with his no longer chapped lips. Perhaps it was the dream. Her fingers tightened and loosened on his shoulder unconsciously and Lixue's heart beat hard for a different reason this time. The hands that meant to shove him away pulled Volinir closer. Lixue's eyelashes fluttered shut, dancing and caressing against soft cheekbones. With a single hint of her movement, Lixue readjusted their position so they were standing when they separated. She was distinctly aware of Volinir's hand resting on her lower back and how close they were standing, along with how her skirt had to be readjusted to lay flat again. Their harsh breaths filled the silence of the room and Lixue was certain he could hear, or feel, the fast rhythm of her breathing and of her heart. Lixue was also distinctly aware of how she had reacted to the kiss, even if it had been a surprise. The beginning coil of heat in her stomach was a good clue as well. One hand slid down his chest, slowing over any bump or ripple and taking her leisurely time. The hand slid around his waist to rest casually on his hip. This served to pull him closer, subtly. The other hand made quick work of trailing a fingernail across his skin to cup the back of his neck. "Funny, I find me pretty irresistible as well," Lixue whispered back, pulling his head back down to meet her lips.

[Volinir Orchid]

As Lixue's hand drifted down, Volinir's traced itself up, over her stocking-wrapped leg, lingering at the border of her skirt until their mouth met again. Nimble fingers wormed their way under lace and cloth to stroke and stir. Nimble fingers that, regrettably, had to hastily jerk back towards the man they belonged to after a dozen ticks when the door swung open with a bang, flooding the room with blinding light. "Oi!" a reedy male voice cracked, "I don't care if she's a maid, you've still got to pay first!" Apparently, the manager had gone poking around. In response to the truly bowel-melting death glare Volinir threw at him, the man swallowed and added nervously, "They're um... Waiting for you, Volinir. I'll erm... Tell them to wait ten minutes? S-sorry... And uh... Forget what I said about paying. I wouldn't want to insult Lixue, now would I?" he said with a terrified chuckle. A slow nod from Volinir signaled that the manager was not ten ticks away from evisceration, and that was good enough for him. The door slammed back shut behind him, and the pair were alone in the dark again... For now.

[Lixue]

Lixue half sighed, half moaned, into the kiss at Volinir's touch. She fell away from his lips, head coming to rest in the crook of his neck. Light butterfly kisses were feathered against his neck and her nose nuzzled against his salty skin. Lixue arched against him, skin and cloth brushing against him and teasing sensitive nerves. The coil of heat in her stomach churned, tightening with each stroke of his fingers. Even though the room was dark, Lixue was highly aware of Volinir. She was aware of the bead of sweat that traced down his skin, of the leg she had unconsciously wrapped her own around, of the way their quick breaths mingled and of how joyously she lapped up being selfish. Lixue was aware of how the hand wrapped around his neck had tightened in response to his actions, nails scraping against his skin, and of how the hand tracing across his hip played with a soft strip of cloth, trailing under the edge and pulling teasingly. Light filled the room, causing Lixue to blink at the sharp pain that erupted. Her mind was distracted by the person standing in the doorway and disappointment filled her when Volinir pulled away. The manager's voice bounced around the room and Lixue turned bright red, burying her face in Volinir's neck for a different reason this time. The leg that had clutched his lowered slowly, as if to not attract attention. How embarrassing! Lixue was silent until the man left, then she giggled softly, both in relief and embarrassment. Leaning up, Lixue whispered in Volinir's ear, "Ten minutes? I think that that is enough time." Even though she was mainly kidding, Lixue tauntingly nibbled on his earlobe. "But I do have to put this outfit to work and clean." A pause."And then you will have to leave me and go to... who?" Lixue exhaled the word, blowing gently on his skin.

[Volinir Orchid]

The Vantha's teasing was quick to take Volinir's mind off the momentary distraction, and he and his hands were soon back to their previous occupation. "Oh, I'm giving some Inartans a performance." he said dismissively, tugging on the skin below her jaw with his lips, "But petch them. I'd much rather give something much more private..." Volinir started to step away, his toying fingers and lips that would only brush hers tempting her to follow. He could see where he was going, and he had no desire of getting interrupted by the manager again. And Lixue did have to work. So while he liked the Black Room quite a bit, it was time for a change of scenery. So he led Lixue to a door leading into one of the other rooms.