** Trigger Warning: Female on female sexual scenarios, forced prostitution, mentions of sexual assault, childhood sexual trauma, mentions of torture, etc.**
This Chapter begins while Katniss and Finnick perform "Gorgeous" together as seen in the last chapter
(Johanna POV)
I watch as they dance together on the stage. Pictures in contrast.
Him tall, her short. Him light skinned, her golden brown.
He's toned and solidly muscular, while she's lithe and delicately boned.
Bronze hair versus midnight tresses.
His eyes sparkle, while hers smolder.
Finnick's been out of the sun for long enough that his tan has faded. We don't really get a lot of sunshine down in the cells. But even so, Katniss has a coloring that probably lasts all year round, sun or no. I used to think she was as skinny as a rail when I first met her, but in the revealing clothing they've been putting her in, it's apparent that she actually does have a shape. She's petite, but good looking.
His eye color is exactly like the ocean where he was from, opposite those famous grey eyes of hers that matched the sooty coal dust of her grimy little district.
But even I had to admit those grey eyes looked hauntingly beautiful on her stubborn face while she sang.
His movements are practiced and seductive, while hers are an attempt at seduction that would have fallen flat if hadn't gotten stuck somewhere in between youthful naivete and instinctual gracefulness. She could sing and dance, even if it was painfully apparent she was new to the dirty dancing stuff.
Thankfully, the drunk Capitolite who'd been trying to stick his hand down the front of my dress seemed to get distracted at the sight of them up on stage. Fin and her perform marginally well, pretending to flirt like a couple of grade schoolers. The man's grip on me slackened while he watched them and I started to ease away from him.
His face is glued to the performance, and he doesn't even notice me retreating.
I almost roll my eyes at Finnick and Katniss' infantile attempts at risque entertainment, but when I see the reaction from the crowd I remain silent. All eyes are on them. People look like they're actually holding their breath.
Oh for shit's sake. Only in a place as messed up and twisted as the Capital can something as simple and juvenile as this seem like a novel idea.
She was just so goddamn earnest. With her understated glances and her pretty voice. It made me nauseous. She was unintentionally coy.
The innocence of it, of her, even while she sang the song and moved her body as seductively as she dared in front of this rowdy crowd. You could see it on her face, in her movements. Her inexperience. It almost made me laugh. An innocent victor, it was almost an oxymoron. How could anyone remain that guileless, after killing other children?
It didn't make any sense but there was a lot about Katniss Everdeen that didn't make sense. Maybe that was the other part. The mystery. The thing they couldn't understand or predict, or control. They hated her for it and loved her at the same time. It was why Snow wanted to cut her open and pick her apart. Innocence and mystery, two things they couldn't own, so they wanted to destroy them. It was like they could smell it on her tonight, and they were circling like sharks looking for a wounded and bleeding animal before they dove in for the kill.
I shook my head.
Poor Brainless. She had no idea how sick these fuckers really were. I'd heard horror stories over the years, whispered around the bar at the tribute center. Disgusting things about what the young desirable victors had to do while they were in the Capitol, to please their Capital 'patrons'.
They'd wanted me to do those things at 17 years old, fresh off my Games.
But I'd paid in blood when I killed 9 of my fellow tributes to ensure my victory in the Games. I thought that was enough payment and I scoffed at the idea of having to give up more. I wasn't expecting the backlash when I'd refused Snow's command to spread my legs for wealthy Capitalites. I wasn't expecting to pay in more innocent blood. My family's.
I blinked quickly. It's been years but sometimes it still hits me all at once. Fighting the tears while slamming my eyelids open and closed repeatedly to stop the unwanted flow, I looked around quickly. My family was gone. They had been for some time, and crying wouldn't bring them back. It never did. It would only serve to weaken me in front of these assholes. And that was the last thing I needed.
Appearing any weaker would be a big mistake. The outfit they put me in was horrendous. It was payback from Snow that was for sure. Not just for taking part in the resistance, but also for refusing to play his game all those years ago. I could almost feel him smiling somewhere, in his big cold mansion, thinking of how I still ended up whoring myself out for the Capitol afterall.
And now that we had all been labeled traitors, our status as victors no longer held any value or influence. Snow was free to have us tortured and pimped out to the whole country and no one would bat an eyelash.
Uggghhh. I reached over and grabbed the drink of the man who had been trying to pinch my nipples clean off a few minutes ago. I threw it back with a grimmance, as I felt the liquor and the chemical enhancements work their way into my bloodstream. At least the drinks were prime, and I could probably score some drugs if I could find some more 'friendly' patrons. The numbness of morphling was so much better than the memories and the reality of our situation.
I slid off the bench and quietly slipped away from the cordoned off little alcove. The guy, the patron whose name I couldn't remember, was far more interested in watching Katniss and Finnick on stage than he was trying to get into my pants. Which was great for me. But it also made me want to laugh at the same time.
Joke's on me. I'm not even wearing pants tonight. Just some panties and sheer purple colored stockings with garters and a matching lace bra. Ass and tits prominently on display for anyone with enough money to pay. It would be humiliating if I hadn't spent the last few weeks getting beaten, shocked, tortured, and yes, even sexually assaulted a few times.
It hadn't been full out rape...yet.
But I'd been groped, and licked, bitten, had my clothes taken away while they hosed me down before they shocked me. They had even attached the contact points of the shock machine to my nipples once. That had not been fun. They'd forced me to walk back to my cell completely naked and shivering on more than one occasion. They had pinched me and stroked me and one guard had all out stuck his filthy fingers in me after I passed out from a particularly bad beating. I regained consciousness only to find him violating me with his hand while the other guards snickered and watched. Then when I tried to fight back they took me down for a waterboarding session that lasted almost all night. It was getting harder and harder to take a regular shower without freaking out.
Compared to the torture rooms beneath the tribute center, this place was almost like a fucking holiday. No one had tried to cut me, or burn me, or drown me, or beat me unconscious so far. But they were still bastards, the whole lot of them. And I hated myself for finding relief in the lack of physical pain. I hated being grateful that someone just wanted to squeeze my ass instead of tying me up and slowly choking the shit out of me over and over again for hours. I felt like it was something a real whore would be happy about. Sitting in men's laps and getting drunk to numb everything. Even though I told myself I was just trying to survive. But on some level I couldn't shake the dirty feeling.
It shouldn't matter but it bothered me. Even though there wasn't much any of us could do. It was as inevitable as the other torture. As predictable. Something I was almost used to.
Growing up with an alcoholic father, who would rather drink his earnings away rather than feed his children had prepared me in some ways for these new experiences. I'd been 13 the first time I'd been forced to sell myself to feed my younger brothers and sisters. By the time I got reaped, it wasn't a big deal anymore. Just an uncomfortable part of my monthly routine. I'd made peace with it in a strange sort of way. It was strictly business.
But being sold like this felt different. It was far more degrading. A lot harder to come to terms with. And probably hell of a lot harder to wash off afterwards in the cold stinging water of the cell block shower.
Still. I had known the fucking risks when I'd signed on with Finnick and Haymitch and the goddamn rebellion. I had known what getting caught meant. And I would have been ok. Would have been able to accept it. If it meant the others got out, and got somewhere safe. But they caught six of us victors almost right off the bat. And the day they dragged in Brainless, well that was almost my last fucking straw.
I mean the girl was supposed to be the whole fucking point of all of this, and here she got herself caught. I thought we were screwed, until she told Finnick that Loverboy had gotten away. Now all any of us can hope is that he can hold it together long enough to start a real rebellion. But that seems slow in materializing so far.
And yet….I'd heard a few things tonight. People talking about the shortage of seafood for the buffet. The upmark in prices for things champagne, and silk. This seemed like promising news. It was a little heartening, to imagine that there was enough unrest in the districts to cause a disruption in the flow of the Capitol's parties. Maybe not everyone in the country was pleased to see the famous Mockingjay drugged and forced to perform for the cameras after doing nothing more than trying to escape into the wilderness with her family.
Maybe Loverboy was stirring up trouble after all.
I just hoped he could use his silver tongue to do something other than talk up his fake wife. But people ate it up. In and out of the Capitol. There was just something about them that seemed genuine underneath all the fake Capitol crap.
I thought about this as I slipped out of the booth and made my way quietly towards the back. No one was watching me, not even the guards assigned to me. They were all entranced by the song. Maybe I could get lucky and find a weapon or someone from the underground. Maybe I could get a message to 13?
We couldn't go on like forever. They either needed to kill us or rescue us. I just hoped it was soon. There were only so many times I could stand to watch them tie Finnick up and beat him in the crotch with those clubs of theirs before I wanted to rip my own eyes out. Just once I'd like to get a hold of one of those batons and go to town on their tiny peacekeeper junk. That would be immensely satisfying. I tried to picture it for a moment and smiled in spite of myself.
"Hey Mason, not trying to run away are you?" A smarmy voice asks and I whip my head in the direction I picked it up from.
Speaking of people whose crotches needed to be beaten into minute particles and then set on fire. It's the blond haired guy who stands in for Loverboy. The guy Katniss always refers to as NotPeeta. I preferred to call him Evil Blondie, even though I was pretty sure his hair was a dye job.
He was a sadistic fuck. You could tell by looking in his eyes.
He gave me the damn creeps. Almost as bad as that soulless husk of a suck up Romulus Thread. That dipshit had his head metaphorically shoved so far up Snow's ass the only thing left visible of him was his shiny white peacekeeper boots sticking out of good old Coriolanus' anus.
Evil Blondie was more despicable though. Thread wanted influence and he was violent and ruthless enough to get the job done for Snow when it came to keeping prisoners in line. But this guy, this weirdo with his shit eater grin and his sleazy impersonation of the real golden boy….he was something else. Something worse.
"Just wanted to get a better view of the show. They're actually pretty good." I say breezily, hoping he doesn't notice how I've slipped past my guard's attention and the patron's too. I don't want to get punished if I can help it.
I hadn't really thought I could run away, but I had thought about trying to find a weapon I could stash on me for later, or to try and find someone I recognized. But now that the fake Loverboy was blocking my path I wanted nothing more than to get out of his sights. The look in his eyes reminded me of the look my father used to get when he was drunk and angry. It was always a precursor for a beating. Except Evil Blondie's eyes looked like that all the time, and I was pretty sure he was stone cold sober right now.
"They're not good together. She's incredible but he's a hack. What's he even doing besides sitting around? Odair is a talentless cocksucking little queen, he has no business up there on stage with her." Evil Blondie replies with a sneer and I almost laugh at how ridiculous he sounds. But I don't. This guy was mad, really fucking pissed off about Finnick taking his spotlight and he was proabably looking for an excuse to hit someone. Probably me.
That wasn't on my list of things to do tonight. I was laying low tonight. I needed a damn break from all the punching and shit. So I shrug and go back to watching the show, even though I do tuck his comments away later to analyze and discuss with Fin and Katniss.
"Did you complete your business with your client?" He says looking over at me sideways and narrowing his eyes. I bite down on the urge to tell him to go fuck the guy himself, and clear my throat instead.
"He wanted to watch the show, so he told me to take a break for a bit." I lied. But I do it with my eyes on Brainless and Finnick, who are now waving and bowing having finished the song.
"Well, I suggest you get back to it. Capitol cock doesn't suck itself Mason." He says with an evil twist of his lips that is probably supposed to resemble a smile but it just makes him look demented in the dim lights. He takes off in the direction of the stage, no doubt to try and reclaim his place by Brainless' side. I actually felt bad for her, having to deal with a nut job like him. I flip him the bird while his back is turned and then pivot around to resume my search, but my guards are back and right behind me.
"71st, you've got another client. Let's go." One of them tells me and I bristle. If I had my axe I could have shown him exactly what I thought of him and this whole shit show. But I know I have to bide my time for now.
When I enter the new alcove I immediately recognize the two people in there. The weird twins that Katniss had dedicated her song to. The man looks me up and down with a bored stare. But the woman licks her lips in anticipation. I shiver in my skimpy clothes but move to take a seat next to the woman.
She leans over and begins playing with the red highlights in my hair and I force myself to smile at her. She wasn't bad looking, and I never had much of a preference between men and women. But The fact that they were brother and sister grossed me out a bit. I'd have to get over it though, so I reached out and grabbed one of the drinks off the table to gulp it down quickly. Sobriety would only be a hindrance from here on out.
"What should we do with her Citron?" The woman asked while she looked over her shoulder at her brother.
His eyes flicked back to me for a moment, but it was clear he was preoccupied with trying to get a view of Katniss from the stage. She was in the middle of another song and was unfortunately singing with Evil Blondie this time.
"You said Finnick wasn't available?" The man asked my guards and they shook their heads at him.
"Oh well," He replies wearily and I'm not really offended, maybe he just preferred guys. Besides, it's not like I'm interested in him. I'm just trying to survive the night. I shrug and look back at the woman wondering if she will want to continue since her brother doesn't seem too into it. I'm hoping they just drop the matter and I can escape. I really don't want to do anything sexual with a brother and sister. But ever since Gloss and Cashmere had won their games a few years back, incest was all the rage in the Capitol.
"Citrine, do whatever you like. I'm going to see about getting a partial refund. The song and dance was nice but I didn't even get off. And you know I was looking for something more exotic tonight." The man says as he contemplates me. I narrow my eyes for a second, but then decide to let it go, and school my features into an emotionless expression.
If these people had paid for time with Finnick or Katniss and she had tried to dupe them out of it then there could be problems. I really didn't want Thread to drag one of us off somewhere to get parts of our bodies cut off tonight.
Thanks a lot Brainless. I thought as I squirmed in my seat. I had to think of a way to smooth this over.
"Oh, I'm sure they meant to come back and finish the session. She just needed time to get through her set." I say with an off hand smile. What could she have been thinking? My nickname for her had never been more apt.
The man studies me and cocks his head to the side like he's scrutinizing my answer.
"Maybe...guard get a message to the Mockingjay, tell her to meet us back at our table when the song ends. And let me see the list of her available services again." He says with a snap of his fingers and one of the guards heads out while the other hands him a holo screen with a run down of services with prices attached at the ends.
Soon enough Katniss is dragged back to the table and looks a little surprised to see me there on the other side of the woman named Citrine. Her grey eyes go a little wide and I shoot her a 'don't screw this up look'. She barely manages to keep the scowl off her face.
But then me and Katniss had never really hit it off.
"Were you not pleased with the song?" She asks the male Brightfall twin politely, and he tilts his head back and forth as if wavering in his answer.
"It was a beautiful performance dear, so fresh and invigorating. Made me feel like a boy again. But then of course that brought up other youthful urges. As you can imagine." He tells her with a sly smirk and she literally blanches. I slam my drink down on the table a little harder than necessary to get her attention and her gaze flits over to me. When she sees my glare she gulps a little and nods.
"Well, I'm not really allowed to have any inappropriate contact with the guests since my bidding is still open...so…" She says quietly, warily as she looks back at him. If I didn't know better I'd say there was a little steel in her voice. I'd have admired her for it if I didn't think her resistance would get the rest of us in a shit load of trouble.
"Oh, I know dear. But there is a loophole I found. See here on your service list it says you can't have contact with the guests yet, but it doesn't say anything about your fellow victors." He says in a way that sounds like he's awfully proud of himself.
Great. So they wanted me and Brainless to get hot and heavy with each other. Well that was bound to be a disaster. The girl had only been with one person, and I was pretty sure she wasn't into women at all.
I can see by the look on Katniss' face that she's either gonna puke or her knees are gonna give out, so I get up quickly and get an arm around her for support.
"Play along, you ninny." I whisper in her ear as I half carry her over to the table. I had seen the list of her services and it was extremely short compared to what was on offer for me and Finnick. I wouldn't be as bad as I had initially thought.
"Sit here in the middle," Citron orders and I wrangle Katniss into the seat between him and Citrine with a little bit of effort. She's shaking like a leaf, but after one more sern look from me she seems to get a hold of herself and just grips the tablecloth tightly in her hands to keep from trembling. I slide in next to her and look over at Citron Brightfall, waiting to see what he wanted us to do."
"Have you ever been with a woman before dear?" He asks Katniss casually, but his eyes are fixed on her every uncomfortable movement.
She looks down and shakes her head.
In that moment I really hate the fucking Capitol and all the selfish pricks who live there, and most of all I hate Snow and Thread and every motherfucker in this dump.
And I also hate myself for being forced to do this.
"But you have, right Miss Axe Murderer?" His lavender eyes gleam eerily in the dark booth and I nod quietly. After my family died, I'd done a lot of shit to try and block out the pain and guilt. Sleeping with women was just one of them.
"Good, then you'll have the privilege of tutoring our blossoming little Girl on Fire tonight. I want you to get her nice and hot. You'll take your cues from me, but I don't mind a little improvisation." He says with a lazy grin and I wince slightly, but nod. I don't know how far he plans on taking this. But I hope it's not too far. Katniss and I were kind of like fire and blasting power. An explosion waiting to happen, but probably not the kind this guy was hoping for.
Knowing this, I nudged the glass of alcohol towards her.
"Here Brainless, take the edge off." I tell her in a low voice and she narrows her eyes at me, already pissed. I start to fume a little, because hell, I'm trying to help here but she's always so goddamn stubborn.
But then she just exhales slowly and reaches out to take the glass in hand. She looks over at me with a glare and throws back the drink in one swig, without taking her eyes off me the whole time.
Like a dare.
I chuckle under my breath. Oh, she didn't like girls but she never could resist a challenge. I didn't even look over at Citron before I leaned in and placed one hand on the empty space on the cushioned bench between her arm and her thigh. Not quite touching her, but definitely a little close for comfort.
She pulls back a little, trying to retreat into the cushions but I just lean in and whisper in her ear.
"Oh, come on Brainless, don't tell me you're scared of me?" I say with a sarcastic smirk and her glassy grey eyes take on a renewed sharpness as she leans forward and squares her shoulders.
"You don't scare me Johanna. And you never have." She says loud enough for our audience to hear and I chuckle again. She's pretty good at playing to the crowd. I'd give her that. At least she'd learned something in all the time she's spent in front of the cameras with Loverboy.
"Night's young princess. And you don't know just how terrifying I can be." I tell her in a low voice, playing up the antagonistic angle. This was for the prying eyes of those watching us, but I still needed to work off our natural energy. And for her and me, that was always more on the rival side than the friend side.
I can already hear the female twin panting in pleasure at hearing Katniss and I's exchange. And her brother has a little tent going on in his pants. He eyes me with a mischievous gleam and mouths the words 'kiss her'. My eyes flick down to Katniss' mouth. It's hard to tell because she's usually scowling, but she actually has a nice mouth, with full shapely lips.
She gulps a little when she sees me staring at her lips and I give her a knowing grin. She's nervous and she knows that I know it. This makes her scowl but then she juts out her chin and gives me a defiant look.
"I can handle whatever you dish out, Axe girl." Her voice is hard, her words pointed. They make me smile, and I lean in.
She's stiff as a board when my lips make contact with hers, and I think, yep, she's definitely only kissed guys before. And probably not that many. But I fight through the awkwardness and move my hands up along her shoulders, my fingertips grazing her neck and my hands slipping into her hair. I try to ease her into it. But she's almost resisting. God, why can't she just get with the program?
I can tell she wants to pull back and it makes me bite down on her lip in frustration. Does she want Thread to take us into the back and let other customers get out their blades for a little knife play? Because I certainly don't. Besides, it was just a freaking kiss.
When I bite down on her lip she growls into my mouth and pushes back against me roughly, but I put my arms on her shoulders to pin her back down. She bites me back in response and I don't know whether I want to slap her or kiss her harder.
I settle on the latter, and tangle my right hand in her hair to bring her mouth more roughly against mine. She crashes her lips against me, not kissing but more like wrestling. And our bodies shift and press against each other as we both fight for dominance. I hear the familiar sound of a zipper opening and don't have to look up to know that the male twin is probably stroking his cock while he watches us fight/makeout.
She hears it too, and it startles her, but I just grab the sides of her face and kiss her harder, not letting her turn her head to look. She responds by threading her fingers in my hair and yanking my hair hard. She was such a bitch sometimes. But I kind of liked it and it was actually a little gratifying that she still had so much fight left in her. It reminded me of my own drive, and rebelliousness before all this torture crap had beaten me down. I felt a little alive for the first time in weeks.
I let my mouth slip from hers and angled my lips against her check and jaw. Kissing her and nipping along her skin. She was still tense and angry as I pressed her against me, our chests and middles touching now.
"We're almost done. Just keep it up a little bit longer." I whisper to her when my mouth reaches her ear. I can judge by the sound of our patron's panting that he's probably more than halfway done. And his sister just gets up and moves over to his side, probably to help him get off.
Uhhh gross.
But I tell myself to forget about them. And because she suddenly looks a little green around the gills, I whisper to Katniss to ignore them too. Her eyes are wide and a little frightened. So I just sneer at her. The only way to get her through this shit show was to keep baiting her, and to keep her angry.
"Thought you said you could tough it out princess?" I admonish her and she glares at me, absolutely seething. I raise my eyebrows at her and am just about to tell her to grow a backbone when she flings herself forward and practically attacks me with her mouth. She's not trying to be nice, or even trying to be sexy. It's more like a personal vendetta she's trying to settle against my lips. More than anything I appreciate the underlying truth to her actions. She's not motivated by any kind of attraction, and so there's a genuineness in her ferocity that shakes me down to my bones.
She's actually kind of hot when she's pissed off and maybe now I can understand a little of what Loverboy sees in her. Even when she doesn't like you, she's pretty much impossible not to respond to. Even if it's just a knee jerk response of mutual dislike. She'd probably be really good at hate-fucking. I have to stifle my smile against her lips as she continues to attack me.
Our makeout session is getting the desired response, I notice. The sister had literally taken over jacking off her own brother and he's staring at us with half slitted eyes that look practically mad with lust. I send him a wink and he lets out a heavy groan.
I return my attention to Katniss, who has decided to start biting my earlobe with some gusto. Too bad for her, a little bit of pain turns me on. I just let one of my hands trail down to legs, where her perfectly fitted red dress ends in a high slit. I slip my hand inside and squeeze her bare thigh. She lets out a muffled screech. But I just swallow her indignation and press her on with my lips on her neck.
"Get your fucking hand off my leg Jo." She hisses at me quietly and I look up to roll my eyes at her.
"Relax, I'm not gonna finger you or anything. I just want it to look like I am. So we can get this shit over with." I whisper back at her angrily, too low for anyone else to hear. She grits her teeth and gives me a deathly stare that I'm sure would've had the boys back home running for cover, especially her little blond push over. I laugh at her attempt at intimidation. She really does remind me of me when I was younger. I shake my head and kiss her cheek affectionately while I move my hand around under her dress, not really touching her but making it look like I am.
"Does Loverboy fall for that look? Too bad. Because it doesn't fucking work on me." I tell her with one of my eyebrows raised. She responds by reaching up between us and fucking twisting my nipple, hard.
I cry out in surprise and pain and apparently the image and sound are all it takes for the creepy twins to finish getting each other off. I hear their moans of completion and Katniss and I both move away from each other quickly.
She looks a little red faced and still plenty angry. But at least we'd been able to appease the patrons without them going to Thread.
"My god, that was incredible!" The male twin exclaims after he zips his pants back up and his sister readjusts her panties under her dress. She looks over at us with a covetous smile.
I just plaster a fake smile and tell them thanks for their patronage.
"I underestimated you, Axe girl. You're quite special." The male twin comments before he throws down some bills on the table and stands up while smoothing back his hair.
I shrug, not really wanting any more of his attention. Doing a decent job was one thing. I didn't want him to keep requesting us though. At least not if I could help it.
Katniss ignores everyone and the twins just chuckle, amused by her return to her trademark prickly attitude. They leave with a little wave and Katniss stands up and stalks away. I huff in annoyance and leave to go after her, but not before knocking back another drink.
"Hey, wait up." I call and she doesn't slow down. I have to chase her all the way backstage before I can finally catch up with her.
"Where the hell have you BEEN?!" The tall ,dark, and handsome man that she calls NotGale shouts as he storms over to her quickly. His face is puffy and his nose looks swollen. The skin around it is just starting to bruise.
"What the hell happened to your face?" I asked intrigued, wondering who had the pleasure of punching him. I hoped it was Finnick.
"None of your fucking busniss! Why the hell are you here instead of with the patrons?" He demands angrily.
"Me and Kat just finished up with some patrons. If you check your holoscreen you'll probably see the payment now." I tell him with an impertinent tone.
He growls but looks down to check his hand held electronic device. Sure enough the screen lights up with a new deposit.
"Fine, but you're on again in 3 minutes. I suggest you get ready." He bites off the words in Katniss' direction and frowns at us before walking away.
I sigh. Kagniss ignores me, and picks up her guitar, fiddling with the frets and strings.
"Hey look, I just wanted to say I hope you understand why I had to do all that." I tell her loudly, loud enough that she can't ignore me. I know she didn't like it, and heck I hadn't even really liked it at first. And I was pretty sure as things progressed I mostly just liked it because I was drunk and really fucking loney after all these weeks of having people only touch me to bring me pain or humiliation.
She looks up at me finally, recognizing the tone in my voice. I think maybe she even sees a little of the desperation in my eyes for her not to be mad at me. Damn everything to hell, but she and Fin were the only people left on my side in this hellish nightmare, and we couldn't afford to stay mad at each other. Her hard gaze softens, just a fraction.
"Yeah, I do. Doesn't mean I have to like it." She responds, tapping her hand absentmindedly against her guitar.
I snort in amusement.
"Oh, Brainless, let's not pretend that you didn't like it at all." I tell her with a playful wink as I turn around and start to make my exit.
The cloth she uses to wipe the dust from her guitar hits me squarely in the back of the head and I turn back to look at her and smile.
"You're lucky I didn't have my bow with me." She threatens.
"And you're lucky I didn't have my axe. But at least you survived your first client of the night." I tell her part humorous, part serious.
She nods back at me, all serious.
"Yeah, I know we need to help each other. So...I'll try to be more understanding in the future." She replies with a sigh. I'm a little taken aback by her words, her offer. But then I think that she gets it. She really does understand. There's no way we'll survive this without all of us relying on each other.
I just nod to her, before I walk away.