Legend of Ransera

1 Frost 120

Nnerka blinked, one eye leading an echo of the rest doing the same. She was tired. It had been....a day. The cold didn't help any of that, and venturing outside did less so. Her last client had thought to take their little adventure out into the snow, and had proven to only irritate her enough that she did consider actually biting him. She smiled with the intent and he hadn't noticed, because it had already been what he'd asked for. At least, a small measure of his request.

She could use a drink, though. Which was why her legs carried her over to the bar. Stepping over and around both colleagues and patrons alike. She might have opted for the wall, but the last time she'd done that, she'd been scolded. It wasn't her fault that the light fixture hadn't been able to hold her weight. How was she supposed to know that it wouldn't? Nnerka slid her fingers over the countertop of the bar, tapping one long digit as she settled in on one side to gain the bartender's attention.

"What'll it be?" Tony should know her drink by now; she'd been here for, what, two years? But she liked the option to try something else that he seemed ready to provide. Even if she would never actually make use of it. A beat, and then, "The usual?"

"The usual." A faint trill of delight followed as the bartender nodded, moving away to make her fruity concoction. She let her eyes wander while she waited. They alight on a face familiar even in the low light, though they hadn't talked much before. She strode closer, keeping what should be the appropriate amount of distance (meaning that it probably wasn't).

"Don't they call you Ricky?"

She knew little about the man beside her. She knew just a little more when he confirmed that he was, in fact, called Ricky. A pleasant hum left her as she glanced back at Tony for her drink. A mixture that looked suspiciously like the hue of her hair and smelled like a garden with a dash of rum. Nnerka leaned forward onto the counter, just barely draped her full torso over it. He took his time remembering her, and that was alright, because he probably didn't know much about her either.

She was, though, curious about his eyes. The eyes that wouldn't look at her. Her own eyes watched him, some widened and some narrowed. Black orbs trained on him as he spoke. She was careful with her smile. She took what she saw for fear because much of what she saw in regards to her was fear. From a few deviants, lust - but that was beside the point. She mustn't slip into her usual conduct of business. She mustn't - but it was fun.

"She, I would be." Maybe she smiled a little wider, the peek of her mandibles pushing against the edges of her mouth. He was a small man, to her. Large enough that wrapping him up would be a challenge, but possible if she put her mind to it. She cocked her head to the side, took a sip of her drink. Another hum, the click of her nails against the counter. Superb mixing.

"I suppose I've settled well." A shrug, another sip. "About as well as I can with the cold. So much cold." She set her drink down with perhaps a little more force than she needed, a curl to her lip. "Who even likes snow?" All of her eyes narrowed at ones, brows furrowing. "It's cold and wet when it melts." The shift of her countenance was fast; from irritation to delight as she took another sip of her drink. She rested her chin in the palm of one hand, and cradled that elbow with another of her hands. "But the city is pretty and the food is good so I think I've settled well."

Her claws clicked on the counter again, hair swung over her shoulder. Nnerka studied him with each eye careful, a new angle. A new perspective. "Do I scare you, or do you usually look like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs?" She inhaled, shoulders lifted as if in a shrug. "I don't mind if you are. That's why I'm here, after all."

Nnerka was not one to shy away from anything offered. Not typically. But where things involved fire and snow, she had to draw some sort of line. As Rickter offered her the joint, she lifted a hand in rejection, smile still there. Fire and she were not good friends. Acquaintances, at best. She rubbed a one leg against the other, the sound produced akin to scratching. Too much hair to let something with the potential to be lit aflame near her.

"Oh, it does." She could agree that Kalsazi offered much. It had offered her a home when she had lost it, and work when she'd needed it. Just that pesky, cold snow. She took another sip to chase the bitterness of displeasure from her mouth. It would be gone soon and she'd have to ask Tony to mix her another.

But then Tony spoke. Her brows furrowed. "I don't know what you mean by balls, but I do have silk sacs if that's what you're..." She paused, not sure of the word. She cocked her head to the side, shrugged before continuing. "I don't have balls." That would work well enough. "And I really didn't mean to insult you, Ricky."

Rickter didn't appear to be upset. What would she know; she was good at reading fear and disgust and simmering hatred and maybe lust, but she couldn't be bothered to read anything else beyond that. She wouldn't really need to. That wasn't entirely crucial to her survival at this point. But - there was something in his voice. She wasn't sure if it was meant to sound upset or if it were meant to be something else. It just - deepened. Her brows rose and she took a long sip of her drink, intrigued.

Only to be confused again. How does fear scare someone? Wasn't fear what happened when someone was afraid? People, the kind that called themselves civilized, were odd. Spoke strangely. She had half a mind to tell him to speak plainly. All four of her arms crossed themselves, one shoulder popped up as she regarded the other from two of her eyes.

Predator. That was the word. The smile that had been small enough to hide her mandibles expanded until slitted skin pulled back fully and teeth were exposed. "Predator? I should hope a fellow...comrade - is that the word? - wouldn't be afraid of me. To be able to look me in the eye means we stand on equal ground." She giggled, tilted her head to the side. "I should correct myself.: 'look me in the eyes." She gestured with her left hands, sweeping out over the crowd in the auditorium. "We exist in a food chain, Ricky. The only thing I should be upset by is if I find myself far below you on it." Another delighted trill left her, legs carrying her closer still to Rickter. "So where do you stand, hm? Tony's given me the impression you're quite high up. Is that so? Do you have a preference to your prey?"

12 Frost 120

Nnerka nodded as Tony gave her another drink, another hum of delight accompanying it. While Rickter might think her living in a fantasy bubble of predatory inclinations, she wouldn't hesitate to offer the escapades of only a few years prior. Of her great conquests of protecting her clan lands. She flipped her hair over her shoulder again, upper set of hands twining through it while one hand of the lower set twirled the ends.

"Eight years?" A long time, a very long time, to have been roped into something. Nnerka wondered if she would still be here in eight years. It had only been around two since her arrival, since she'd been acquired by the Madame. It wasn't like the cabaret was a bad place to be; she merely wondered how one couldn't care about their place in the food chain and be here for so long.

The food chain was everything. You got favors, you got luxury - but you had to be high up. The dredges of the chain had to scrape and struggle. Which, again, she had no qualms with. That was the way of the world. That was what she once had to do. Before her reputation had brought her to what she guessed was somewhere in the middle of the food chain within the cabaret. Not at the bottom, but certainly not at the top. She blinked, passed her drink up from the lower hand to an upper and took a sip.

"You were also recruited?" She cocked her head to the side, eyed him over the lip of her glass. "What had she seen in you? I would offer to answer the question myself, but I think it might be obvious in my case." Another musical giggle and sip of her drink.

It had been an interesting thing to consider. Before, of course, she'd known that there were those who fancied her for her "monstrosity". Monstrosity being a loose term. Because she was no more a monster than the man before her. Just...shaped differently. More legs, more eyes.

"That's understandable. You'd only want it to be permanent if you were...high up. But you say you're not." She tapped a finger against her chin. He was looking at her funny, sort of. Like how a client might upon first seeing her. Which shouldn't be the case because he'd been looking at her for some time already and there hadn't been that look. "See something fascinating, Ricky?"

Another reason? Her brows rose as she leaned in, eyes widening slightly “What other reason did you come to the Madame for?” What other reason was there? Perhaps Nnerka had not been around civilization long enough to understand the odd ways in which they worked, but there were only a few things you could do at the cabaret. At least, a few that she knew of and, obviously, there might have been something missing. She gave Rickter a sweeping glance, a once over before her eyes narrowed.

He was built well enough that he could have a bouncer or one of the fellows that walked around to make sure the courtesans were safe. His fingers...she hadn’t focused on them, but maybe he was a musician first, bedwarmer second. Maybe he cooked. One could make use of those muscles hauling slabs of meat around. Hm, meat. Her stomach liked the thought of a meal, though the slosh of liquor was steadily filling it. She pushed her glass toward Tony with a glance his way.

Yes, this line of work paid well. Better, if you were among the top tier. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand again, sighing. She could do better, if she tried. She should try. That was that. The spider blinked as he stated his wonderings, and a grin slid over her lips. Not wide enough for the peek of mandibles, but wide enough that the slits on either side of her lips made her seem menacing.

“They’re interesting.” Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I didn’t know some people like feeling like prey until I came here, but I think it has something to do with stuffy it is. Or boring? They talk, sometimes, tell me things about themselves I don’t ask because they have to keep their mouths moving to keep from screaming. One lady came to me because she said she had a fear of spiders and it was suggested to be around one.”

That had been… fun. The woman in question had taken one look at her and wailed. Positively babbled like a baby trying out their first words while hot tears streamed down her cheek. Her chaperone had to hold her steady while Nnerka simply stared. A vast difference from the man that had gone red in the face at the sight of her, keeling off and letting out pained noises. She hadn’t been sure what that was about, but she certainly didn’t ask when he returned the following evening to repeat the performance.

“Sometimes it feels like I get a new client for a new reason every day.”