A Tricky Business: Chapter 5
Jun. 3rd, 2007 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sickle_storiesAuthor's Note: Disclaimers and other info on Chapter 1. This is a work in progress. Many thanks to my beta wildannuette. (Wave your mouse over the Chinese for translations.) Some name definitions found on CuteBabyName, though why they can’t just say person rather than baby, is beyond me.
Brothel Covnersations
He heard chatter coming down the corridor and turned to face the door, somewhat curious to see what kind of girls the new pimp had brought in. One hand fiddled with his shirt collar as he took a sip of what had turned out to be quite decent sake.
A blonde opened the door, her red dress swishing around it, talking to the tall brunette behind her.
“—he’s hen da, then ain’t it awkward?”
“Nah, you just gotta practice a bit, say with—” The brunette broke off seeing Jayne. She blushed and moved to sit beside the blond on the sofa.
Three more girls, two of them flushed, came into the room in a tight huddle as they tied each other’s dress laces and mussed with their hair. The sixth and last girl came in, a fragile-looking slip of a thing who smiled at Jayne before joining the others on the sofa.
Since none of the whores made a move towards Jayne, he figured they must be waiting for Floyd to come back and earn his keep. Probably all part of the new system the man had going. Jayne eyed the girls over a bit until one who was putting up her hair nodded for him to sit. She seemed to be the eldest of the six and sported a few lines about her lips, though the way she held herself reminded Jayne of the chancellor Inara had bedded.
The chattering continued in low voices:
“No, but, Cece, you said it was a sort of ‘scratch-nip-pull’ combo, and when I tried it he near ripped my hair out,” said the blonde to the one in the green dress.
“My first time,” said Cece, giving her dress’ bow a final tug, “man I did it to must’ve mistaken my hair for twine too.” She gave the girls a grin. “Second time I did it?” Cece rolled her eyes back and gasped out: ‘Mother and all the spirits blowing on gas giants!’.” The girls laughed at her imitation of the man. “Now that, Rita, was one happy man.”
“I say it’s the perfume that gets ‘em,” added the brunette sitting beside Rita. “I just wish they did the same.”
“Oh, don’t even get me started on the chou ba guai one I just done,” said one in a blue dress. “Deirdre dear, you’ve got no idea the number of incense sticks I had to burn. He must’ve come straight out of a chicken coop or something.” She finished putting on her earrings. “Ge zhen de hundan .”
“You think that’s tough, Ping?” said one through the hair pins in her mouth. “Couple months back, swear to “Fozu…” She chewed on her lip as she put the hair pins in place, patting at the sides of her head.
“Ya want to finish, Natsu?” said Ping, reaching out to tuck a stray strand behind Natsu’s ear.
“I saw my dà ge come in. He got the room right next to mine. Kinda hard to please a man when your brother’s moaning next door, ain’t it?” finished Natsu.
“Just be glad he didn’t ask to pay for you,” mumbled Rita.
Deirdre shushed her and smiled at Natsu. “You’ve got Natascha to thank for that.”
“Aw hell,” said the slim one, “that’s just nasty, knowing I did Natsu’s brother.”
This easy talking reminded Jayne of Kaylee, especially when her and Inara got to talking late after dinner. He’d spent quite a number of evenings cleaning his guns by weak lamplight, straining his eyes and ears and enjoying every word he could catch. ‘Course, they didn’t often talk about sex, and especially not about sex-tricks. Damn Inara, with her kissing-and-no-tellin’ habits. Still, it was sorta nice the way women-folk had a habit of gossiping. A man could learn quite a bit if he took the trouble.
Jayne swirled the last of his sake, thinking over what the girls had said. Hadn’t that pimp said something about Companion skills? That “nip and pull thing” sounded mighty strange… Although Jayne was game for most things when it came to sexin’. He’d done a hell of a lot of stuff in bed (and in a lot of other places that weren’t kosherized) and wasn’t adverse to trying any skills these girls might have heard about. That Cece had seemed to please her man enough.
One thing he might never get to do though, (and not through lack of trying) was to sex up a Companion. Even if he ever had enough money to pay one, he knew he’d never be taken on as a client. He didn’t even know how one went about being a client. He just knew that there was a list of some sort and then all them pretty faces showed up on Inara’s scene so she could sweetly tell all but one of ‘em “no”. But nicely, ‘cause she was a Companion and probably trained to cast a metaphorical bucket of cold water onto a man just as much as she was trained to heat him up.
He wondered what Nandy must’ve been like, back when she was a full-on Companion. If what Floyd had said was true, he’d have to find a Companion drop-out sometime. It’d be the closest to the real thing he’d ever get.
Looking at the girls again, he could see a sort of resemblance with Nandy’s girls. Both girls had seemed a touch less whorish than what he was used to, a bit more prone to at least try to look classy. Their dresses, for one thing, looked to be expensive, shining and swishing about as they were. Most of the other brothels he visited, and even the Red Barrel till not too long ago, had a handful of girls in summer dresses probably bought at the market, dresses that never fit them right except to make them look more naked than they already were. Not that they ever really finished getting dressed neither.
Jayne sort of wished Kaylee was here with him. Not that little Kaylee was the type to go whoring or have any trouble making men go weak in the knees if she wanted to. ‘Cept maybe the doctor, who appeared to be going weak in the head, if anything. He wanted Kaylee to see the dresses the girls had on. In the short glimpse he’d caught of her, in that mess of frills before she and Mal’d gone to the party, he’d seen how happy she was to wear that frippery.
The whistled chorus of “The Royal Hat of Londinium” echoed down the hall as Floyd made his way back.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said to Jayne as he closed the door. “Just doing the rounds, checking on my girls.” He straightened out his vest and went to stand beside the sofa, saying as he did so: “Alright, girls, pipe down. It’s not with conversation you get your pay. Straighten yourselves out a bit.
“Well, sir,” he said, gesturing to the whores, catching Jayne off-guard with the title, “these are the ones available. I’ve got a couple others, but they’re booked and seeing as you want a nighter…”
Jayne stood up with a nod, leaving the shot glass on the cabinet.
“Rita, baŏbèi , stand up and give us a twirl.”
The blonde in the red dress stood up with a smile and turned around waggling her hips. Her smile faltered when she turned back and saw Jayne’s face remain serious, pensive even. She sat back down on the couch, squeezing in beside the brunette, who hissed and pulled her dress out from under her.
“Deirdre,” said the pimp as the tall brunette stood up, smoothing her dress out with one hand. “Deidre here is our sort of expert with tall men such as yourself.” The other girls giggled as Deidre blushed and sat back down. Rita gave her hand a squeeze.
Jayne glanced at the right-most of the girls, the one who’d done the motherly one’s brother. She wasn’t a buxom girl, nothing at all like the ones in his bunk, but looking quite a bit like the ones that had been in his head of late.
“Now there’s Cece,” continued Floyd, “who learnt more than a trick or two back on Bellerophon when she—”
“That one’s small,” he said, ignoring Cece and pointing to the small girl.
“Natascha?” The pimp waved at the girl to stand then turned to Jayne. “Overly?”
Jayne didn’t say anything for a while and just looked at the girl steadily. Sure she was small, somewhat bony even. But she’d had a shiny smile, until Jayne’d called her small, and long black hair. Jayne watched her getting a bit self-conscious, standing there in her slinky navy-blue dress. She clasped her hands together in front of her and glanced down at her chest to check the results. He grinned at that and one of the other girls giggled.
“No,” he said, “she’s good.”
“Alright then,” said Floyd, turning to Natascha. “Room twelve, xiao huā . An all-nighter.”
hen da – very big
chou be guai – ugly as hell
ge zhen de hundan – a real bastard
Fozu – Buddha
dà ge – older brother (formal)
baŏbèi - sweetheart
xiăo huā – little flower
Names:
Cece – blind (Irish)
Deirdre – sorrow (Irish)
Ping – duckweed (Chinese)
Natsu – born in summer (Japanese)
Rita (Margarita) – child of light (Greek)
Natascha (Natalie) – birthday (Russian)
He heard chatter coming down the corridor and turned to face the door, somewhat curious to see what kind of girls the new pimp had brought in. One hand fiddled with his shirt collar as he took a sip of what had turned out to be quite decent sake.
A blonde opened the door, her red dress swishing around it, talking to the tall brunette behind her.
“—he’s hen da, then ain’t it awkward?”
“Nah, you just gotta practice a bit, say with—” The brunette broke off seeing Jayne. She blushed and moved to sit beside the blond on the sofa.
Three more girls, two of them flushed, came into the room in a tight huddle as they tied each other’s dress laces and mussed with their hair. The sixth and last girl came in, a fragile-looking slip of a thing who smiled at Jayne before joining the others on the sofa.
Since none of the whores made a move towards Jayne, he figured they must be waiting for Floyd to come back and earn his keep. Probably all part of the new system the man had going. Jayne eyed the girls over a bit until one who was putting up her hair nodded for him to sit. She seemed to be the eldest of the six and sported a few lines about her lips, though the way she held herself reminded Jayne of the chancellor Inara had bedded.
The chattering continued in low voices:
“No, but, Cece, you said it was a sort of ‘scratch-nip-pull’ combo, and when I tried it he near ripped my hair out,” said the blonde to the one in the green dress.
“My first time,” said Cece, giving her dress’ bow a final tug, “man I did it to must’ve mistaken my hair for twine too.” She gave the girls a grin. “Second time I did it?” Cece rolled her eyes back and gasped out: ‘Mother and all the spirits blowing on gas giants!’.” The girls laughed at her imitation of the man. “Now that, Rita, was one happy man.”
“I say it’s the perfume that gets ‘em,” added the brunette sitting beside Rita. “I just wish they did the same.”
“Oh, don’t even get me started on the chou ba guai one I just done,” said one in a blue dress. “Deirdre dear, you’ve got no idea the number of incense sticks I had to burn. He must’ve come straight out of a chicken coop or something.” She finished putting on her earrings. “Ge zhen de hundan .”
“You think that’s tough, Ping?” said one through the hair pins in her mouth. “Couple months back, swear to “Fozu…” She chewed on her lip as she put the hair pins in place, patting at the sides of her head.
“Ya want to finish, Natsu?” said Ping, reaching out to tuck a stray strand behind Natsu’s ear.
“I saw my dà ge come in. He got the room right next to mine. Kinda hard to please a man when your brother’s moaning next door, ain’t it?” finished Natsu.
“Just be glad he didn’t ask to pay for you,” mumbled Rita.
Deirdre shushed her and smiled at Natsu. “You’ve got Natascha to thank for that.”
“Aw hell,” said the slim one, “that’s just nasty, knowing I did Natsu’s brother.”
This easy talking reminded Jayne of Kaylee, especially when her and Inara got to talking late after dinner. He’d spent quite a number of evenings cleaning his guns by weak lamplight, straining his eyes and ears and enjoying every word he could catch. ‘Course, they didn’t often talk about sex, and especially not about sex-tricks. Damn Inara, with her kissing-and-no-tellin’ habits. Still, it was sorta nice the way women-folk had a habit of gossiping. A man could learn quite a bit if he took the trouble.
Jayne swirled the last of his sake, thinking over what the girls had said. Hadn’t that pimp said something about Companion skills? That “nip and pull thing” sounded mighty strange… Although Jayne was game for most things when it came to sexin’. He’d done a hell of a lot of stuff in bed (and in a lot of other places that weren’t kosherized) and wasn’t adverse to trying any skills these girls might have heard about. That Cece had seemed to please her man enough.
One thing he might never get to do though, (and not through lack of trying) was to sex up a Companion. Even if he ever had enough money to pay one, he knew he’d never be taken on as a client. He didn’t even know how one went about being a client. He just knew that there was a list of some sort and then all them pretty faces showed up on Inara’s scene so she could sweetly tell all but one of ‘em “no”. But nicely, ‘cause she was a Companion and probably trained to cast a metaphorical bucket of cold water onto a man just as much as she was trained to heat him up.
He wondered what Nandy must’ve been like, back when she was a full-on Companion. If what Floyd had said was true, he’d have to find a Companion drop-out sometime. It’d be the closest to the real thing he’d ever get.
Looking at the girls again, he could see a sort of resemblance with Nandy’s girls. Both girls had seemed a touch less whorish than what he was used to, a bit more prone to at least try to look classy. Their dresses, for one thing, looked to be expensive, shining and swishing about as they were. Most of the other brothels he visited, and even the Red Barrel till not too long ago, had a handful of girls in summer dresses probably bought at the market, dresses that never fit them right except to make them look more naked than they already were. Not that they ever really finished getting dressed neither.
Jayne sort of wished Kaylee was here with him. Not that little Kaylee was the type to go whoring or have any trouble making men go weak in the knees if she wanted to. ‘Cept maybe the doctor, who appeared to be going weak in the head, if anything. He wanted Kaylee to see the dresses the girls had on. In the short glimpse he’d caught of her, in that mess of frills before she and Mal’d gone to the party, he’d seen how happy she was to wear that frippery.
The whistled chorus of “The Royal Hat of Londinium” echoed down the hall as Floyd made his way back.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said to Jayne as he closed the door. “Just doing the rounds, checking on my girls.” He straightened out his vest and went to stand beside the sofa, saying as he did so: “Alright, girls, pipe down. It’s not with conversation you get your pay. Straighten yourselves out a bit.
“Well, sir,” he said, gesturing to the whores, catching Jayne off-guard with the title, “these are the ones available. I’ve got a couple others, but they’re booked and seeing as you want a nighter…”
Jayne stood up with a nod, leaving the shot glass on the cabinet.
“Rita, baŏbèi , stand up and give us a twirl.”
The blonde in the red dress stood up with a smile and turned around waggling her hips. Her smile faltered when she turned back and saw Jayne’s face remain serious, pensive even. She sat back down on the couch, squeezing in beside the brunette, who hissed and pulled her dress out from under her.
“Deirdre,” said the pimp as the tall brunette stood up, smoothing her dress out with one hand. “Deidre here is our sort of expert with tall men such as yourself.” The other girls giggled as Deidre blushed and sat back down. Rita gave her hand a squeeze.
Jayne glanced at the right-most of the girls, the one who’d done the motherly one’s brother. She wasn’t a buxom girl, nothing at all like the ones in his bunk, but looking quite a bit like the ones that had been in his head of late.
“Now there’s Cece,” continued Floyd, “who learnt more than a trick or two back on Bellerophon when she—”
“That one’s small,” he said, ignoring Cece and pointing to the small girl.
“Natascha?” The pimp waved at the girl to stand then turned to Jayne. “Overly?”
Jayne didn’t say anything for a while and just looked at the girl steadily. Sure she was small, somewhat bony even. But she’d had a shiny smile, until Jayne’d called her small, and long black hair. Jayne watched her getting a bit self-conscious, standing there in her slinky navy-blue dress. She clasped her hands together in front of her and glanced down at her chest to check the results. He grinned at that and one of the other girls giggled.
“No,” he said, “she’s good.”
“Alright then,” said Floyd, turning to Natascha. “Room twelve, xiao huā . An all-nighter.”
hen da – very big
chou be guai – ugly as hell
ge zhen de hundan – a real bastard
Fozu – Buddha
dà ge – older brother (formal)
baŏbèi - sweetheart
xiăo huā – little flower
Names:
Cece – blind (Irish)
Deirdre – sorrow (Irish)
Ping – duckweed (Chinese)
Natsu – born in summer (Japanese)
Rita (Margarita) – child of light (Greek)
Natascha (Natalie) – birthday (Russian)
