500 Miles Hellfire 2
By Princess Alexandria
Maricopa Arizona was a day and a half trip from New Orleans. She wasn't going to be getting there until after ten at night the next day and she didn't even have anything to read to prep for her new life. Not knowing how much money she'd need to get set up she'd passed on paying for a bedroom for the night, opting to not sleep. She couldn't sleep with people around her.
With nothing else to do she pulled out her sketch pad and started to work.
A few hours later someone moved to sit beside her, even though there were other seats. Raven managed to not sigh at the intrusion and moved subtly to stare at her work and ignore them.
"You're good. Is that your sister?" A woman's voice interrupted her.
"Yeah." That answer was close enough. She was still struggling with making a convincing Christy. Maybe Christy needed a background to really stand out as different than Raven. Raven started to consider a proper background for her double and ignored the shuffling of her seat mate settling in.
"Do you do commissions?" Raven looked over at the woman finally and was surprised to see yellow eyes and a teasing smile on a pale skinned blonde. The voice changed a little, became deeper. "I see you forgot the wig."
"Didn't seem a point to it anymore."
"Hair grew a little, that's good." Mystique seemed to be studying her. "I got us a room. Let's go."
"What are you doing here?" Raven moved to put her sketchbook back in the carry on bag.
"Got on at Lafayette, I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by." Raven followed Mystique out of the train car and into the next. They moved through a few without really talking and then Mystique moved to open a door.
"Deluxe on a train is still crap." Mystique sighed and moved to sit on one of the beds. It was a bunk bed set up. "So I was thinking you'd make a gorgeous redhead. Deep red, but we could go dark brunette, mahogany. Either will work in your hair."
"We're gonna dye it?" Raven set her bag down on the bed. Mystique didn't even think that question deserved an answer, so Raven just sighed. "Red sticks out too much."
"You aren't trying to hide from everyone, just the Xmen. You don't need to be mousy." Mystique's eyes took in Raven's clothes pointedly. "You are pretty, why hide under baggy clothes?"
Her outfit was the only new clothes she'd been able to bring with her, but most of her clothes were like this. "I like them. They're comfortable." And fewer people leered at her.
"Fine." A bag that had already been in the room sat on the floor and Mystique picked it up. "So Brunette or Red, I bought both." Two boxes were set on the bed and Raven moved to pick them up and compare. "With your hair length and skin color I think Red would look sexy."
"Brunette." That was all she needed to hear. She held out the dark brown hair color and moved to sit.
"I see. Okay." Mystique spoke softly and took the box. Mystique reached into the bag again and pulled out a tshirt. "Put this on and we'll get started."
Raven just sighed and stared out the window while Mystique put the hair coloring on her hair, a dark brunette would cover up her light brown hair easily. This was strange. She had an international terrorist playing hairdresser on the train Raven was using to run from her friends. "Alright, that needs to sit on there a while. You hungry? I could use some dinner."
"Sure."
"Okay, be right back." Mystique shifted out of her blue skin and into the woman she'd been when she sat down beside Raven to start with.
The chemical smell seemed to fill the room, making dinner taste even worse than it probably was. Raven just ate in silence and occasionally glanced at the spy, who was staring out the window now. The thoughtful look on Mystique's face made her look more serious than Raven had seen her in a while.
Mystique sighed and turned to face her. Mystique inspected a few of Raven's hairs before sitting back in her seat again. "Go shower that stuff out of your hair and we'll see what we ended up with."
……………
"Somehow I think bartending would have been better." Raven said as she looked at the books Mystique dumped on her bed before climbing up to the top bunk. "Bookkeeping? I wasn't all that great at math."
"That's what calculators are for." Raven could hear Mystique settling down on the upper bunk. "Look, I need a nap. I was awake all night on a mission and then had to rush out the door to give you a make over. How about you study and let me sleep?"
"Okay." Raven wasn't near tired, it wasn't even dark out yet. She moved to open the first book and laid back on her bed to read.
"Oh, wake me up in time to get off at Houston at nine."
"No problem." Raven set the book down and pulled the envelope closer. She pulled out the fake birth certificate that had her born in Oregon a year and a half later than she'd actually been born. Raven Johnson was born in April. She'd had classes in book keeping at the local community college but hadn't completed her degree.
Raven shuffled through her new identity, picking up the important notes. Her new Nevada driver's license had her new look on it, Mystique had managed to make it herself, but she claimed it was a valid one. Raven's deep brown hair made her look a little more pale and it needed mousse to make it lay right, but it was less spiky and more wavy now. An inch or two made a big difference. Mystique said it looked more business-like, but that she could have had a Mohawk and still got the job they'd arranged for her.
The Kitten Ranch wasn't overly picky on appearance for the office staff apparently. Raven could understand that, breeding cats couldn't be too formal. Hopefully the fact that she wasn't really familiar with cats wouldn't mess this up; she was just supposed to do the books after all. She shuffled through the papers looking for information about her new job, but there wasn't anything more than an address and the name of her new boss, Lois.
She picked the book back up and started to read, trying to absorb enough to fake it in the beginning at least. She could continue to study after she got the job, but she didn't want to seem incompetent in her first week.
The bookkeeping books were causing her a headache, so Raven decided to take a break. She moved quietly to pull out her sketch pad and pencil. Turning to a blank page she stared at it a moment trying to decide what to draw. As she turned towards the beds she could see Mystique facing her with her eyes closed. She looked so relaxed. Raven smiled and moved to sketch the sleeping shapeshifter.
Mystique's eyes opened. "Don't move." Raven spoke quietly as she continued to try and get Mystique's pose. "There aren't a lot of women like you. Do you mind if I draw you?"
"I'm not in the mood to play model." Mystique sat up, ruining the pose.
Raven sighed and closed her sketchbook. "Okay." It was a shame. She hadn't had a decent model since before… well, before she'd been captured. "It's only a little after eight, if you want to sleep longer you can. I didn't mean to wake you. I just can't resist drawing beautiful women." While that was true, she said it because Mystique was still seeming grumpy.
"Yeah, well, you should. I had my hand on my gun when I felt someone watching me. You didn't notice that did you? If I didn't hear you scratching at that paper you might be sporting a new hole in your head."
Raven glanced at Mystique's hand and didn't see a gun there now. She hadn't even noticed a gun on the shape shifter at all. "Sorry." Raven stepped back from the bed and moved to pack her sketchpad back up. The urge to draw had left her. She picked up the book to start studying again.
"You have this room until you get to Maricopa. The bus doesn't leave until the next afternoon, so once you get there get a motel room and get some rest. We left you a car at your apartment and you have the keys in that envelope, nothing special, but your job is too far out of the city so you needed something." Mystique smiled just a little as she stepped out of the tiny bathroom smelling like shampoo. "You don't make that job work and you won't be able to contact us to get another one. This Las Vegas identity has to last you a bit longer, so don't get caught up in any more police investigations." She paused. "Make sure you don't stop by too early at your work, they don't tend to get started until after noon and they work late."
Work late? How large of an operation could this be? Hopefully she'd get enough hours to buy groceries. "Okay. Thanks." Irene wouldn't have sent her out there if it didn't pay enough.
Mystique's smile grew. "No problem." The shape shifter moved to the bag she'd brought with her, which had a lot less in it now that Raven had the books and they'd dyed her hair. "Hope you like this new life. Give it a chance." Mystique picked up her bag and turned to the door. "I've got to go. See you around. Good luck."
Raven stayed quiet as Mystique shifted and almost let her walk out of the door in silence. "I'd tell you that too, but I'm pretty sure whatever you're doing is something I shouldn't know about. Just don't die."
"No worries there." Mystique smiled. "And you're right, even ex heroes wouldn't like knowing how I'm about to make some serious money killing a corrupt politician." Raven winced and looked away. The door opened and closed and Raven sighed heavily.
………………….
The bus ride made the small room on the train seem very deluxe and roomy. Raven was glad to step out at Las Vegas. Seeing hours of nothing but desert wasn't interesting, there hadn't been room to draw and studying wasn't easy with the mother of two loud kids not doing much to control them. Las Vegas. It was like any other city. They didn't drop everyone off on the strip.
She gave the cabbie her new address and tried to imagine what it would be like. She wasn't liking the possibilities as they drove past dump after dump. If she made a friend it would be nice to have a place she wasn't ashamed of. God, a place she wasn't afraid of would be even nicer, one that didn't look like she needed bars on the windows perhaps.
She was a little surprised to find the city fading away as he continued to drive. Raven resisted the urge to ask if they were almost there and just watched the streets go by. He finally pulled up to a nice looking apartment building. It wasn't very large and it looked clean and welcoming. A small smile of hope came to her lips.
Apartment 2C wasn't hard to find. Raven slipped the key in and opened the door. It smelled clean, and the place didn't look like it had been furnished with rejects found on the side of the street. It still wasn't very large. Raven set her bags down and closed the door. She moved around to find it had a small bathroom, but it was in good shape. The bedroom had a full size bed and some clothes in the closet. A quick check of the sizes told her they'd fit. They really were setting her up here, she took in the semi casual office clothes and bet someone had already checked to make sure she could dress like that.
She moved towards the small kitchen and noticed the note on the counter. It held driving directions to her job and it looked like she was living halfway between the city and the Ranch. That worked.
Rather than unpacking Raven pulled out her wallet and the car keys so she could take a drive. She needed some groceries before she tried to go to bed, and she thought she remembered the cabbie driving them past a grocery store. "This could work." She smiled as she took in the apartment again. This felt good. Hopefully the job felt like this too.
……………..
"I may forget what the day feels like." Raven muttered as she woke up. She wasn't really grumbling, because these hours really worked for her. She had trouble sleeping at night, so waking at six am would definitely not work well. Turning off the alarm she had to set to wake up at noon, Raven tossed the sheets off of her body and trudged to the shower. She didn't have to take anything off because she hadn't had anything to sleep in. Mystique conveniently forgot to get her something, if it was Mystique that set up this apartment, and it was too warm to wear a sweat shirt.
By one she was sitting on the couch staring at the map she'd bought the night before. A red pen mark circled her destination. It was nerve racking to just walk into a place she was supposed to work. Part of her still felt like the places might say no. She didn't feel she knew enough about bookkeeping to earn this one, and getting the job wasn't the same as keeping it. Irene might be able to pull strings for her, but if Raven sucked at what she did no place would keep her, especially if she screwed up their money. Carefully folding the map she set it next to her purse and moved to take one last look at herself before trying to find this place. Her black slacks were light weight but very professional and her blue shirt was short sleeved, because really it was the middle of the desert and the beginning of summer. It seemed appropriate. She stared at her face and the dark hair surrounding it, feeling like she wasn't really looking at herself. She'd gotten used to the long blonde hair and this looked wrong. Well, Raven sighed, it wasn't like she hadn't needed time to adjust to the other look. She would eventually feel like this was her reflection.
The keys to her really non-descript sedan in her hand she moved to the door, grabbing her things on her way. Better to just get this over with than sit here worrying about not being hired when this was the only lead Irene gave her to a job.
With the air conditioner humming Raven pulled out onto the street. The map sat on the passenger side folded to show where she was and where her destination was on the front. It didn't seem too hard to find even if it seem out of the way. There weren't even a lot of streets out towards the Kitten Ranch.
As Raven drove along the long road and barely saw two cars pass her she started to worry about being lost in the desert. She could just imagine her car breaking down and stranding her on the side of the street. She continued to drive but was looking for a sign that let her know she was still on the right road. What she found was a different sign telling her the Kitten Ranch was five more miles away.
Raven's drive slowed as she contemplated the sign she saw. It replayed in her memory. The white background and red letters were innocent enough but the drawing of a woman's silhouette didn't belong on a… "Oh my god." Raven felt her face pale. It had only taken a second to remember Mystique's grin and the way there wasn't all that much information about this place in her papers. Dust was kicked up into the air as Raven pulled her car onto the shoulder and turned around. That had to be it. She'd heard that was legal here, but hadn't really thought about it. "Kitten Ranch." She shook her head and drove faster. There was a diner a few miles back and she needed a phone.
Her car jerked a little as she slammed on the brakes to park. Raven only had eyes for the pay phone she saw just outside the diner doors. Irene's number was one she'd memorize carefully, knowing it was one she might need in an emergency.
"What is the Kitten Ranch?" Her voice was cold as she started talking as soon as she heard someone pick up.
"Well dear, I believe they call it a cathouse." Irene spoke after a moment. "Or a Brothel."
Raven took a deep breath and tried to not yell. "A Brothel? You got me a job at a Brothel."
"I grew up with Lois and she's a dear friend." Irene was talking faster. "She assures me that you will be perfectly fine there. They don't ask the cashier to do tricks you know. You need a special license for that." Irene barely paused in the flow of talking. "You're staying in her granddaughter's apartment and borrowing her car while Theresa tours Europe for the summer."
"Irene," Raven's voice took on a whine even she found annoying. "A Brothel." The place sold sex. Her heart hammered nervously at the thought of it.
"I don't have anywhere else to place you right now." Irene's voice softened. "I really think you need to be there. You can do this Raven. It's just women walking around scantily clad and men taking them to their rooms. You don't even have to see the rest, you won't see what goes on in the rooms."
"I don't want this job."
"Well," Irene's voice lost the soft touch. "That is too bad, because you have it. I didn't want to have to put it this way, but you came to me for help and I'm giving it to you. You need to work at that Brothel, so you will. It isn't forever and you'll never be one of the prostitutes." Raven's eyes narrowed at the order. "You came to me Raven, and if I have to show a little tough love I will. I did raise Rogue after all, and she's a hell of a lot more stubborn than you."
"This isn't what I had in mind when I came to you."
"No, you wanted a series of jobs that let you hide from the world as well as your friends, but I promised to help you Raven, not let you hide from life."
Raven's voice rose. "How the Hell is this helping me?" A cashier in the diner glared at her and Raven turned away from the door and spoke more quietly. "How is this helping?" Her voice was a soft growl. "I can't…"
"You can." Irene's voice was softer, tender. "You can Raven. If you give this place a chance you'll see that you can." Irene sighed. "Honey, just give this a month and if you can't stand another day I'll think of something. You just give me the word and I'll do something, I don't know what, but something. Part of the reason I could talk Lois into taking you on is that her regular cashier needs a vacation to go see his son get married. If you back out now I'll lose my credibility, something a precog really can't afford to do."
"A month." Raven swallowed hard and wiped the sweat from her forehead. It really was a hot day. "A month." Irene rarely asked her for anything. "They'll leave me alone?" She could envision some customer coming in and seeing her, deciding that they wanted to use her, her thoughts trailed off. God, she'd just barely gotten out of becoming a sex slave forever and the idea that someone might think they could use her made her sick.
If it weren't Irene asking she'd just walk away, but she relied on Irene, needed her. If Mystique had told her this Raven wouldn't have even come to Nevada.
"You might be hit on, but nothing serious. There are so many willing women there, ones that are legal."
"That didn't stop anyone from wanting me last time." Raven bowed her head. "The other slaves wanted it, but everyone wanted me."
There was silence over the line for a moment. "You aren't a slave." The silence was tense, Raven didn't know what to say. She knew she wasn't, but sometimes it was hard to remember it. She wasn't really free, being in hiding so that people didn't catch you, that wasn't free. "You aren't. And if you don't want people to touch you, they don't get to. If any customer tries to bother you Lois will toss them out so fast they won't even realize they left before they hit the ground."
"Okay." Raven took a deep breath. "I'll do it." She didn't like how scared she felt and she didn't want to cater to it. To hide. Christy was right, they wanted her broken and she just needed to refuse to break if she wanted to beat this. Irene wasn't really asking too much in exchange for her help, Raven should pay it.
"Thank you child. I won't be around, you caught me on my way out. I'll have to call you in a month, because I won't be back." Irene paused. "Keep an opened mind. It isn't like you imagine it." Raven couldn't promise even that much. She stared out at her car. "You better get going. Lois is expecting you today."
"Talk to you later." Raven said distractedly and then hung up. Her hand stayed on the phone as she stood there for a moment. With a shake of her head Raven turned to her car and pulled her keys back out of her pocket. A whorehouse. This was just great, she thought with heavy sarcasm.
During the rest of the drive there Raven took deep breaths. She didn't want to seem like she didn't want to be there, so she'd have to hide that.
……………
Raven pulled into the parking lot slowly, feeling painfully self conscious as she parked. She could see a man, most likely a customer, glance at her with a bit of surprise on his face before he continued his trek to the front door.
Raven just sat and stared at the one story structure. She'd almost expected a beautiful Victorian home, since on tv they never looked like a strip mall. The parking lot ran along the front of the building, which didn't look at all romantic. The sign on the building made it very clear this was a brothel. At least she wouldn't have walked in still thinking it was a cat breeder's if she'd not figured it out beforehand. Maybe she would have figured it out sooner if she'd remembered that this sort of thing was legal around here.
With a heavy sigh Raven picked up her papers and got out of the car. It didn't look very busy yet, so at least she wouldn't run into a bunch of customers. The door was closed and the small sign made it clear you didn't just walk right in. Raven pushed the doorbell and heard the buzz inside as she did it.
To her credit the woman opening the door didn't show any surprise to see a woman standing there. "Hello." The middle aged slightly overweight woman in business casual clothes smiled at her. "Come right in." The door opened. "You're in luck, some of our more… versatile women are working today."
"Ah," In spite of her wish to remain calm Raven's blush was quickly overtaking her face. "I'm here to see Lois, about a job… a bookkeeping type of job." She added when the woman at the door started too look at her a little too closely. "Are you Lois?"
"No, I'm Lexi. I cover the early shift." Lexi's voice rose. "Nevermind girls." And Raven heard some shuffling in the hall. "Lois isn't here yet. It's doctor day and she took a few ladies into town. She should be back," Lexi checked her watch, "in maybe forty five minutes or an hour. At least before my shift ends in an hour and a half." Lexi gave her a small smile. "Ever work in a brothel before?"
Well, lying about it wouldn't work. Raven just shook her head no. This job was apparently locked in, so she wasn't too worried about admitting that, and hey if they decided they couldn't use her Raven could check out the bars on the strip or something. A small spark of hope filled her heart after that thought, but she ruthlessly crushed it. She knew she wasn't going to find a way out of this month.
"Well, if you'd like to wait you could…" Lexi looked thoughtful. "I can't really send you into the bar, not when we have some customers there." Lexi muttered quietly. "I'll take you to the kitchen."
Raven almost opened her mouth and said she could come back later, but Lexi was already in motion. Raven followed the woman through a maze of halls and did her best to pretend seeing women walking around barely dressed didn't remind her of the Hellfire club. At least the softer looking pinks and blues and the lacy teddy's and see through robes were different than the more powerful appearance of the Hellfire clubs mistresses' attire.
One young looking girl gave her a friendly smile as she passed her and Raven gave her a tentative smile back. No these women weren't at all like the others. It was just Raven's imagination. Her fists unclenched and she returned another friendly smile as they reached the door to the kitchen. Glancing down at her own full pants and shirt Raven felt a bit out of place. It really did set her as different from the others. Good. The customers would have to know she wasn't a prostitute, because it was pretty obvious around here which women were and weren't.
The woman cooking was fully dressed as well. "Martha." Lexi spoke and the grandmotherly looking woman turned to look at them. "This is…" Lexi looked at Raven curiously. "I'm sorry dear, I didn't ask your name."
"I'm Raven." Raven addressed both women and noticed a few other working women glancing her way from a table, where they were clearly getting a very late lunch.
Lexi smiled at her gently before turning back to Martha. "Raven here is waiting to talk to Lois and I thought she could wait in here."
"Sounds fine." Martha nodded and turned at the sound of a buzzer. "Sorry ladies, I need to take care of that." The cook went back to work in the kitchen part of the large room. Along other walls were diner type booths and a few curious eyes.
"Well, I need to get back to the office." Alexi looked a little apologetic at leaving Raven here. "But I'm sure Lois will be back in about an hour. You could go ahead and have lunch if you're hungry. It'll be on the house." Yes, back in an hour. Funny how the precog thought Raven should hurry up to get here if Lois wasn't even here, Raven thought a little bitterly.
"How come she warrants a free meal?" A deep teasing voice came from the tables. "Granted she sure is a pretty one, a little overdressed, but pretty."
"Ah." Raven turned to look at the woman with long black hair and a slight smile. This woman was wearing a black halter top and very short shorts. A little conservative for a prostitute from what Raven had seen, but clearly a prostitute. She didn't want to insult the group of five prostitutes by rushing to explain she wasn't planning to do their type of work, but she didn't want anyone to think for a second that she was. The other women at the two filled tables were staring at her.
"Raven here is applying to be our substitute cashier." Alexi spoke up. "Aren't you dear? I thought I heard Lois saying something about that."
"Yes. Bookkeeping." A few of the prostitutes looked a bit friendlier at that. The intense scrutiny in their eyes faded.
"So I'll just leave you here and I'll let Lois know you're here as soon as she gets back." Lexi moved a little faster when a buzzer sounded.
"I hope this one doesn't stink." Someone muttered and Raven's jaw clenched, "The last customer I had almost made me throw up with the stench. Is it really too much to ask that these guys shower? It had to have been months since he… ugh.."
"She's not talking about you." The dark-haired one grinned at her and moved further into the booth. "You can sit down." Another buzzer sounded and the girl that had been complaining about stench got up with a sigh.
"I'll keep your meal for you." Martha called out as the woman left, her black silk robe flowing behind her.
"Thanks Martha."
"She's one of the women on shift right now." The woman that had offered her a seat spoke and Raven moved to take the seat across from her now that they'd be the only ones at that particular table. "I'm Drahke."
"Raven." Raven's eyes trailed to the other table, with more women at it. It looked like she was being ignored, but she'd bet money anything she said here would be heard and repeated. The slight tilt to a few heads made it clear to someone used to looking for it that they were trying to listen in.
"So," Drahke smiled at her a little predatorily, "ever work in a brothel before?"
…………….
With another sigh Raven shifted a little and looked up at her subject. The cook was slowly taking form on the small sketch pad that Raven always had with her, not that the busy cook realized it. Drahke's short interrogation had ended with little really being said before the prostitutes friend came back and wanted to drag Drahke away to do something. Raven at least was happy with being able to deflect the questions thrown at her, it was a skill Raven was fast developing and one that the Professor had always wanted her to have. Tessa use to be able…
Raven sighed and pushed the thoughts of their joint training away and concentrated on the shape of Martha's jawline, lightly sketching it onto the page.
The door to the kitchen opened and Raven looked up to see a thin, grey haired woman in a smart grey business suit come in and watched the way intelligent and blue eyes caught Raven and seemed to soften. This woman was powerful and the smile was comforting. "Raven?" Raven nodded. "Irene told me you'd be here today. I'm sorry I wasn't expecting you until later. I'm Lois."
The stray thought about Lois' being a powerful woman grabbed Raven's attention. Did she need that now? Why did she look for that? She didn't like what it said about her that she felt some of her tension fade when the woman Irene said was her protector here looked like she could do the job, that she'd looked for that indication immediately. She never was as aware of anyone's personal power before she was captured. She never used to measure herself against the people she met to determine her pecking order.
"Raven?" It was clear from the look on Lois' face that it wasn't the first time she'd called Raven's name.
"I'm sorry." Raven smile politely. "I get so caught up in my art sometimes it takes me a minute to really pull out of it." It was an excuse that she'd tried once before with Ororo, when Raven had been suddenly struck dumb by the realization that the weather goddess was willing to pose naked if Raven just asked, and Raven found herself wanting to ask. At least this time it wasn't accompanied with an embarrassed blush and a knowing look aimed at her.
Lois walked closer and glanced down at the pad on the table. "That's Martha." Lois smiled and looked back up at Raven. "Can I?" A hand reached out toward the sketch pad. Raven blushed a little and handed her partly done sketch over. She rarely let people see half done work, but it seemed rude to tell her future boss and Irene's friend no. "That's amazing. Martha." Lois' voice raised. "You've got to see what Raven's been working on."
A brief memory of her mother came to her, back when her mother was proud of her and Raven clenched her fist under the table as the older woman gushed over a mere sketch.
"Irene didn't tell me you were an artist." Lois slide into the seat across from Raven with a smile and set the pad down as Martha went back to work with a smile and a nod. "You'll be very popular if the girls find out." The smile faded a little and Raven sat up straighter, knowing this was business now.
"Thank you for taking me in." Regardless of how she felt about it, this was a favor.
"Don't worry about it." Lois waved it away as if it were nothing. "The learning curve is going to be rough. The girls are their own challenge and you'll have to figure out how to deal with that yourself. What I need are accurate records of what is being brought in, accuracy is the key." That sounded like a warning.
"I can do that." Raven nodded.
"Do you have a lot of work experience? Other than running around in spandex?" Lois asked softly and Raven jerked back in shock. The older woman's eyes were staring right at her. Irene told her?
"Ah… I was a bartender. When I was younger I worked in fast food." Her real resume was truly pathetic for this job. "I've studied a lot of different things, but…" it would have been nearly impossible to hold a job and get pulled away for a week here or there for missions. The Professor talked like they should all have a career to fall back on, encouraged them to get degrees, but really Raven came out of that school with little in the way of marketable skills.
"I see." Lois sighed and didn't look thrilled. "Well, Irene seems to think you're very bright and she doesn't say that about many people, so we'll make the best of it. Things tend to get hectic around here and you need to be able to do at least five things at once when its like that." And with that slight resignation in Lois' voice Raven felt a wave of embarrassment and inadequacy. She pushed it aside and sat straighter, looking into Lois' eyes.
"I can do this." She hated it when people didn't expect much of her. Lois probably didn't intend her words to be a challenge, but Raven grasped onto it fiercely. She would do this. It wasn't like math was that hard. Fast food had been hectic, running for your life in a battle was hectic. She could handle this.
After a measuring glance and a slight smirk the older woman nodded. "Well, let me show you the office before it gets too busy. Jonathan will be in later and he can show you how we track everyone's money." Raven followed Lois out of the kitchen while putting her sketch pad back in her purse. It was time to start working at a brothel. She just sighed quietly and remembered to nod politely at the few women that gave her a curious look as Lois led her to the office.
………….
"Shh." Raven heard the loud shushing just outside the office door, which remained open, but she didn't see anyone there. "The square is in her cage and you don't want to wake her." The sultry teasing voice was familiar. "The square is a creature of habit, shy and beautiful, but elusive as hell."
"Is it dangerous?" A second voice fake whispered and Raven just shook her head at the teasing as she pretended to be paying more attention to the ledger.
"It may be, few have seen it so there is no record on its no doubt extremely weird feeding and mating habits."
Raven finally sat up and turned to face the doorway again, where two women were staring at her. "What is a square?" She finally had to ask. She'd been called that too often; of course this was the strangest way she'd been called that in the week she'd worked in the office.
"You are." Drahke moved in front of her friend Jewel and slid into Lois' empty chair so gracefully. "The much talked about and rarely seen square of the Kitten Ranch."
"It means you aren't in the industry." Jewel was so young looking, but then she seemed to play that up. What was more upsetting is that a twenty two year old dressing and looking like a sixteen year old got so much business here. It disturbed Raven to look at such a youthful face and know what she did with those pink lips and she did know. Irene failed to mention the intercom system that Raven had to listen in on during negotiations, where the customers told the girls exactly what they wanted to do to them and got quotes for the services. She was still getting used to that. "You know, you don't sell sex, and never have."
"Or have you?" Drahke smirked at her. "Any little secrets you want to share? Everyone is dying to know."
"No, no ones ever paid me for it." Raven did her best to not flinch as she remembered men paying someone else to use her. She found herself often thinking of that here. How could these women do this job? Did it haunt them, or did they just count their money and smile? She'd seen them smiling after a good negotiation.
"Giving it away for free, for shame." Drahke leaned forward a little and the halter top really highlighted her cleavage. "Anyone you're giving it away to now? Some boyfriend?"
"No." Raven cleared her throat and glanced down at the sketch she'd been working on. It was a painfully slow night and if the prostitutes weren't working she didn't have a lot to do. The books were still Jonathan's alone and she was just supposed to track transactions. It sounded so very normal, if you didn't think about what the transactions were.
Drahke obviously looked at the sketch of Christy that Raven was working on, taking in the form because the details weren't there yet. "girlfriend?"
"Not anymore." Strangely she thought of Christy when she said that too, not just Tessa.
"Oh." Jewel gave her a sympathetic look. "broke up?"
"Yeah."
"So you're gay?" Jewel still pressed and Raven felt like she'd said enough. Still these two were the nicest people she worked with, other than the madams.
"Yeah."
"not to mention so talkative." Drahke sighed. "You know this would go a lot better if you said more than a word at a time. Why don't you come out of this hole and have cake with us. It's Chanel's going away party and you need to show the others you don't have a stick up your ass."
"What if someone comes?"
"Someone is always coming around here." Drahke smirked. "Oh you mean to the door? Don't worry about it, if we have to line up you'll know."
There was no polite way to get out of going now so Raven stood up, feeling like the stranger at a family get together and moved to leave.
"Oh, we have to bring this." Drahke grabbed her sketch pad. "The others will drool when they see we have an artist. Maybe you can trade art for sexual favors." Jewel laughed as Raven blushed.
"So what do you think I should charge? A portrait for head?" Raven finally gave in and went there with them. "Or maybe a full nude portrait in oil paints for an orgy? How would I ever report that transaction in the ledger?"
Drahke chuckled. "Kid, maybe you'll be okay here after all. Come on, they think you're afraid we bite, and really if you don't pay extra we don't. That's part of our kinky services rate." Hands gently pressed on Raven's shoulder blades as if she really needed to be pushed out of the office and into the party. "Oh and I'd bite you for an oil painting."
"She's robbing you," Jewel teased. "That's worth at least an hour fantasy session with two girls."
"I haven't seen your paintings yet, it might even be worth…" The teasing continued all the way into the kitchen, getting more and more graphic as they went. Raven found herself finally relaxing into it and wondered how this blatant sexual teasing managed to do that when she was still so uncomfortable with what they sold here.
Drahke was right about the sketch book. Raven had never felt so welcome as when the others found out she was an artist. It was almost a little intimidating how quickly the attitudes changed when they wanted something from her. Drahke just winked at her and smiled, like she'd just performed some cute trick.
……………
The parlor was full of women between work, because the men hadn't started to appear yet. Raven sat back in the chair and tried to be as subtle as possible about the fact that she was drawing Drahke playing poker with Jewel. It was still rather new for her to be out among everyone and she hated when people tried to stand behind her and watch her work.
Drahke always wore black and more than most of the women working here. Her long black hair fell to the middle of her back and her smile seemed confident and strong as she won another hand. Raven moved to try and capture that confidence as quickly as she could on the page.
The buzz made her grimace as she quickly got up and moved to leave the parlor before the customer was let in. Other women were quickly cleaning up poker games or other small distractions.
With barely a glance toward the door Raven quickly made it to the office not wanting to see a customer in person. It was bad enough she had to listen to their negotiations, she didn't need to see them too.
"I really want to see…" The deep voice of the customer came over the intercom he most likely didn't realize was there in the room. "two girls, ya know." He was telling Lace this and Raven just sighed, knowing now that Lace was going to have to go pull another woman into this and Raven would be stuck listening to more negotiations before a price was reached and she could stop listening.
"Lemme see if Ebony is available."
"Is she really named Ebony?" The man asked and Raven rolled her eyes. No she was not, Ebony was Hayley, but it wasn't like it was a smart idea to tell customers real names. Most of the prostitutes didn't know each others real names, but since Raven did the bookkeeping she had to see it in print at least. She never made the mistake of using those names.
"Hey Raven," A voice at the office door drew her attention and Raven glanced at Drahke for just a moment, before she heard over the intercom that Lace was back with her customer.
"I'm working." Raven held up a hand, hoping to catch a quick price on this. She didn't care for the haggling, and found herself feeling insulted at times for the women if a man quoted something way too low. Drahke moved to sit in the vacant chair quietly and Raven just sighed and nibbled on the end of her pen as she waited for a deal to put in the ledger. Ebony proved to be even better at negotiations than Lace, which earned both women a decent price for pretending to actually want each others touch.
Emma had really wanted Tessa's touch. It had been beautiful watching both women… Raven slammed the ledger closed, hating the thought and the memory. Fine, it was beautiful, two women that attractive would be beautiful doing almost anything, but did Christy have to like it so much, was it just Christy that had liked it? Was it just a job for Tessa or did Raven's love actually want to touch the White Queen? Raven felt like her heart couldn't handle the thought of Tessa performing like Ebony and Lace were about to. Better if Tessa wanted Emma, even if it hurt Raven, better if Tessa wanted her. Emma had seemed protective of Tessa. Raven's heart ached at the thought that perhaps Tessa had a lover and had had one for a while. All that time apart Raven had been carefully faithful, saving herself, and for what? To be raped and cast aside? Finally being with Tessa lacked so much of what Raven had wanted from the experience, and even through Christy's controlling nearly the entire thing Raven still never got to touch the woman that had held her heart for so very long. Raven doubted that Emma had been denied that, that she could be denied anything, yet Emma hadn't seemed interested in touching Raven, so perhaps Emma never had reciprocated with Tessa.
"You okay?" Drahke's voice interrupted Raven and Raven snapped out of her thoughts and started to pull out Lace and Ebony's files to record their latest income, as well as the time.
"Fine. What do you need?" Raven could hear her own anger just under the surface and took a deep breath to try and push it away again as she watched Drahke pick up the sketch Raven had been working on earlier and studied it.
"I was wondering if you do commissions and how much that might cost?" Drahke studied the half done drawing again. "You paint?"
"Yeah, but that takes a lot a while and I'd need to you sit still far longer than we ever get here."
Lace carefully moved around Drahke in the small office to hand over the payment while Drahke waited for Raven to record it patiently. "So I'm about to get some pussy. How long has it been for you?" Lace teased, but it wasn't funny. Raven just stared at her until the blonde clearly felt uncomfortable. "Well, I better get going."
"Yeah." Raven's voice was a little deeper with her irritation.
Drahke's eyes followed Lace out the door and then turned to Raven again. "If looks could kill I'd need to send a replacement up to her room for her john. You wounded that one."
Raven just sighed and glanced at the sketchpad in Drahke's hand again. "I don't even have my paints or supplies anymore. It's been months since I painted anything." The thought of pulling out paints helped to improve her mood a bit. "What kind of pose are you thinking?"
"Something classy."
Raven stared harder at Drahke, taking in the woman's curves and angles of her face, the draping of her hair, and could see classy there. A wardrobe change, Raven found herself imagining a few different ideas and was excited by the challenge. Maybe she could get a drop clothe and some supplies and set up in her apartment. She'd need lights…
"Raven are you staring at me because you'll do it or are you thinking of shopping where you work, because your eyes are really getting to me, staring at me like that."
"If you pay for supplies and dinner you could come over to my apartment when your shift ends."
"Giving it away for practically free." Drahke shook her head. "Do you learn nothing when you listen in to us negotiate? While I'd love to take advantage of you, you do realize you're being stupid." Drahke gave Raven a slight smirk. "How about this, I'll bring dinner and pay for your supplies. I'll also have you show off your work here for a few days and I'll negotiate your prices for the other girls when they come begging for you to paint them. I'll take a thirty percent cut of the selling price I get for you." Drahke was one of the best paid prostitutes around the Kitten Ranch, and while she was attractive and had a loyal clientele, Raven knew some of it was her good business sense.
This was a shift from her normally just being grateful to find a model willing to stay still long enough for a sitting. Actually paid for it. Raven nibbled on her lower lip as she considered how it would be nice to develop a little bit of savings, just in case things got ugly later or her next identity came with an even lower paying job. "Deal."
"I've got three more days left of my shift, then I want to sleep for at least a day or two to get rid of the bags under my eyes." Raven didn't see any bags there. "You don't live in town do you?"
"No, I'm staying about forty minutes out."
"Good, then we don't have to worry about the no prostitutes allowed in town rules." The buzzer sounded, letting them know that another customer was calling. Raven glanced at the clock and figured the slow time was about over, it was normally busier after dinnertime. "You have plans for Wednesday night?"
"No."
"You do now." Drahke slipped out the door to line up. Raven felt more than a little awkward listening to Drahke negotiate with her client a few minutes later, but she carefully wrote the transaction in the ledger and charged the credit card Drahke brought her from the client regardless. Master the possibilities indeed, Raven thought with a little sarcasm as she handed the Mastercard back to Drahke. He was paying money for Drahke to treat him like a slave. He was actually paying money for that, a lot. Who would want that? Raven did her best to not flinch away from Drahke's hands when the dark haired woman went to take the card back. After Drahke left Raven leaned back in the chair and closed the door for some privacy. It wasn't like Drahke wanted to be a mistress, she was being paid. It wasn't like she'd want a slave of her own. Raven felt more than a little shaky thinking about the fact that Drahke was coming to her apartment now, that they'd be alone.
……………..