Solo [Red Lantern]New Worker, Old Client

[Halin'a]

21 Spring, 516AV It was Halin'a's first night working at the Red Lantern; Madame Belladonna had finally agree to bring him on as a worker; Halin'a had to admit, he was a bit relieved. He had few other skills, certainly nothing that would really help him with a job, and he had long since accepted the fact that he rather liked working in a brothel; more specifically, he liked ensuring that whoever his client - or clients - of the night was was left with a night to remember; those were the clients who came back regularly when they had the coin to spend. Most times in Zeltiva the clientele had rotated out regularly, thanks to the frequent docking and leaving of merchant ships; sailors generally didn't care who they got to service them, so long as they got at least one good release out of it that they didn't have to bring about themselves. The Ethaefal had gotten used to the roughness about the sailors eventually, and he had always tried to protect the younger workers in Loveless as much as he had been able to; just because they were whores did not mean that they had to just take being disrespected the way that some sailors did most of the workers. The night had barely just begun, and already the Red Lantern was fairly busy; almost every worker had a client already, and Halin'a was one of the ones who was helping to distribute drinks among the clientele, keeping them happy. Or at least, he was until Madame Belladonna waved him over; she had a woman standing next to her who was watching Halin'a with an unmistakable look in her eyes. Halin'a finished delivering the drink in his hand before he made his way over, rolling his shoulders slightly to loosen them and relax his posture, his walk changing into something more loose-limbed, closer to a saunter than a walk as he fixed a pleasant, just shy of sultry smile to his face. "Yes, Madame?" he asked once he was close enough, giving the woman next to Madame Belladonna a dip of the head in acknowledgement. "This is one of my best and most faithful clients," Madame Belladonna says, gesturing to the woman beside her; she's older, Halin'a can tell - most likely in her forties. She's roughly the same height as Madame Belladonna, which means several inches below Halin'a's own height of six-foot-plus. She could be Madame's aunt. "Sasha," the woman introduces herself, holding out a hand; Halin'a takes it, turning it in his so that he can brush his lips over the back of her knuckles. "Halin'a," he says, giving her a winning smile. Sasha's own smile turns into more of a smirk. "Aren't you a gentleman?" she croons, making no move to take her hand back. "Do you have a room open, Bella?" "Of course I do," Madame said with a laugh. "Halin'a, you know which rooms are open; be a dear and escort Sasha to one of them, would you? And make sure that she receives everything she asks for." Halin'a smiled widely, offering his arm to Sasha. "Right this way, ma'am."

[Halin'a]

The Ethaefal takes his first client to the empty room on the corner; he and Sasha had gotten several knowing looks, including a few smirks, from the other workers at the brothel-slash-massage-parlor on their way, and honestly Halin’a was a bit relieved that his first client wasn’t some bashful or resentful resident of Lhavit, but rather someone who apparently made frequent use of the Red Lantern’s facilities. Halin’a had been doing this for years, but he still occasionally found himself falling victim to bouts of nervousness and uncertainty, although thankfully not as frequently as he had the first night he’d worked at Loveless; then he’d been a nervous wreck, since he had never actually had sex before since falling from Leth’s domain. He had been grateful to Madame Zana for pushing one of the more regular clients his way. Now, however, Halin’a was an experienced prostitute, who had seen… Well, seen and done a lot in his years on Mizahar. There was little, he would say, that would be capable of surprising him. Tonight, however, appeared to be destined to do exactly that. Halin’a and Sasha had gotten settled on the bed, and when Halin’a asked, “So, what are you paying for tonight?” Sasha had answered: “Information.” Halin’a was briefly worried that perhaps Sasha was some sort of spy, and that once she had the information she wanted from him, Sasha would kill him; his concern must have shown on his face, because his partner burst out laughing. “Not like that,” she clarified once she had calmed herself down a bit. “I just meant that I would like to get to know you; few Ethaefal choose this career, and besides, I like to know the people who are going to get to see me undressed, not to mention do things with me that most others don’t.” Oh, well, Halin’a could understand that; this was not the oddest request that Halin’a had ever received(nothing, quite frankly, could beat the sailor who had gotten hold of a rope made out of Symenestra silk, and had wanted to use it in… incredibly creative ways), but it was up there in the top ten, maybe. Then again, Sasha was just paying for time with him, and it was up to her how they spent it. If all she wanted to do was talk, then that was fine with Halin’a; he got paid either way, and he could think of worse ways to spend a bell or two than just talking with an interesting woman. “Well,” he said with a grin, “there are certainly a lot of ways that we could spend your time tonight; I get paid either way, and my job is to please the customer in whatever way they ask for. If your pleasure tonight will come from learning more about me, then I will be happy to comply.” Sasha’s answering smile was bright, and she shifted on the bed that was provided in all of the rooms in the Red Lantern, patting the sheets beside her in an invitation that Halin’a took, settling next to her as she spoke. “Well then, son of Leth – tell me about yourself.” With a smile, Halin’a complied.