duplicitymemes

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«tdm

TDM #8

« « « TEST DRIVE MEME » » »

« « « AND IT GOES ON AND ON

It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit. Yet, solace is found in the lies we tell each other, comforted by the peace of knowing that we're not alone in our depravity, and once on this path, sin itself becomes the lesser of two evils masked in a cloud of normalcy.

This is how Duplicity has functioned since the beginning. The divide of power and social standing is overt in that Dominants influence the decisions made both publicly and privately while Submissives cater to the rules presented to them. It is the way of Duplicity to assign random designations at birth with no leeway in altering what has been given. Climate in the Up is far stricter than that of the Down; violating outlined personas for a Dominant or Submissive while in full view of others is punished by degree of infraction. In the Down, many tend to turn a blind eye to these sorts of offenses.

To counteract the discovery of the Deceit Gene – a natural "negative" response to all stimuli – the L.I.E.S. program was founded. The program had been designed to introduce new subjects to the current environment and test for the Deceit Gene through immersion in Duplicity's standing society. Sexual impulses and encounters increase the chances of detecting the gene within these individuals. Participants are typically released from L.I.E.S. after a year; however, results have remained unsatisfactory and testing still continues.

... and you’re here! Finally! Welcome to Duplicity.

After choosing a door and stepping through to the other side, the first thing that greets you are the enthusiastic faces of people in medical scrubs and pristine lab coats. Their enthusiasm translates to eagerness as they strip you of your clothes to perform a thorough examination—you will be healed, bathed, and given a paper gown to wear until your items can be processed and delivered to your residence later in the evening. You are also given a device that accesses the network as well as the time and location of orientation.

If you enter Duplicity into the Up, congratulations! You’re a Dominant, which means you are immediately picked up by a limo after processing and taken to your highrise. Here, it is two Dominants per floor with separate apartments. If you enter Duplicity into the Down, congratulations! You’re a Submissive, which means you are directed towards public transportation with the address of the motel you’ll be living in. Here, it is two Submissives per room with a shared common space for all rooms.

Enjoy your free time until orientation! Participation is mandatory by all new and old arrivals.

The hellish summer heat is finally starting to subside, and the cool breeze suggests autumn is approaching.

» » » TAKE A RIDE

After stepping through the door and participating in orientation, LIERS are assembled together in the Up for a tour of Duplicity in its entirety. Seats are in pairs and randomly assigned to Dominants and Submissives alike. Traveling from Fiddler's Square, the train journeys through various parts of the Up, showcasing society and examples of lifestyle. Along the way, frequent stops are made; a variety of passengers can be seen exiting and entering the doors. A Dominant with a kneeling Submissive takes a seat near the front of the train at one stop. A small group of Submissives board and sit closer to the LIERS at another, all seemingly content in their roles. As the tour continues through the Up, the train passes close to the Market and White Wall Bridge and zips by North Park before heading into the Down and bypassing Red Wall Bridge and South Park.

The train makes a "final" stop at Riddler's Square, where inhabitants of the Down are instructed to return to their temporary housing. Those who live in the Up are permitted to stay on the train and revisit the same locations while returning.

« « « A POCKET OF PENNIES

The weather’s getting cooler, and people have begun transitioning from summer clothing to the sweaters and jackets of early fall. With jackets come pockets, and with pockets come a bizarre uptick in robberies.

Then again, perhaps the correlation is flawed. In the Down, getting robbed is a constant threat. Gangs of street toughs look for lone or inattentive people who look like they’ve got valuables on hand. Uncontracted Submissives are particularly easy to rob, since authorities have little time to bother with a lowly Submissive without a Dominant to advocate for them. One particularly nasty gang of young adult men, the Bulldogs, hangs out near the train, looking to ambush unwary Submissives fresh out of Orientation. They are prone to violent muggings and will simply beat up their target and leave them in a gutter when they’re finished robbing them.

In the Up, the streets are nominally safer, but there have been reports of a group of college-aged Submissive women taking advantage of their designation to attack travelers. They, too, stand near the train and the orientation center, looking to seduce passersby into an alley where a group of them can beat and mug their victims, usually Dominants looking to capitalize on their pretty appearances.

But you’re truthfully at risk anywhere in the city. The new arrivals are easy targets, and any brazen thief might get the idea to make some quick cash. The authorities are spread too thin to help, but perhaps LIErs can look out for one another?

Or they might just get in on the thievery. Everyone’s out for themselves, after all.

« « « NEW FLESH LIKE A GLOVE

( CW: potential dubcon, drugs, BDSM/sexual torture, prostitution, public use )

Surrounding a large building near the orientation center in the Up, banners and fliers announcing the beginning of the inaugural Duplicity High Tech Sexpo, a trade show for businesses and manufacturers of adult novelties. Since this is the expo’s first year, admission is free and many excited volunteers are handing out vouchers all over the city. These vouchers can be exchanged for goods and services within the expo, but have no monetary value outside of it. Even if you refuse them, you’ll likely find two or three of them tucked into your bag or pocket.

Inside the expo hall, there are dozens of booths pitching a variety of entertainments. Many offer interactive demonstrations, showing off their tech for the crowds of interested onlookers. Competition is fierce, and booths try to attract attention and customers through any means necessary. There are private rooms all around the expo for potential customers to try out the products. Booths will also happily accept volunteers for demos, or try to recruit them by bribing them with cash or free samples. There’s a nasty rumor going around that some are recruiting volunteers via more illicit means, like drugging and dressing them up, but surely that’s an exaggeration…

Some of the smaller booths sell more traditional toys and accessories: leashes and collars, specialty lubes and massage oils, fetish gear, strap-ons, dildos and vibrators in myriad shapes and sizes, and other basic items. Others advertise apps for the devices, the most notable of which is HUGGR (which LIErs may recognize as a poorly rebuilt sex-themed version of a certain other app.) The closer you get to the big-ticket sponsor booths, the more elaborate and fantastic the products become.

One of the most eye-catching demos is for the Climax VR Headset. You and a partner both wear a VR headset, which displays a collaborative virtual scenario. Both partners can alter the setting and surroundings however they like, and any sexual activity conducted in VR transmits real sensations to their bodies. You can come together without ever physically touching.

Symphony Hydraulics have a large, loud booth where crowds gather to watch perhaps the most outrageous demo: a variety of fucking machines. Volunteers get stripped, strapped in, and turned on, brought to screaming orgasms in front of the whole crowd. There is a fifteen minute break between demos on each machine, as some poor intern hurriedly washes and sanitizes them between uses. In the interim, they offer smaller, portable versions for sale or rent at the expo. (Some may note that a few of the Symphony Hydraulics staff members look a bit familiar.)

Does all this high-tech equipment have you overwhelmed? Wish you could go back to a simpler time? Sir Robert’f Bedroome Provifionf (sic) is helmed by historical reenactor Robert Plum, who has also created his own line of medieval torture device-themed sex toys. Need a chastity belt to keep your Submissive all to yourself? A rack with an attached spreader-bar? An iron maiden with soft vibrating silicone ticklers inside? All the stocks and whips and chains you could ever need? Sir Robert has you covered. Of course, everything on display is harmlessly altered for sexual novelty purposes, but one might also ask to see Sir Robert’s “special” merchandise in the back.

Perhaps the most unassuming booth at the expo belongs to Grandma Hattie’s Snacks and Sweets. Grandma Hattie, a kindly old Submissive, has partnered with a tech company to produce what appear to be completely normal vending machines, stocked full of her tasty homemade bread, snack cakes, and other baked goods. Vouchers are good for a free sample of any treat from a vending machine. They taste amazing and have no apparent odd effects-- until 10 minutes after consumption, when you suddenly gain an insatiable craving for a random kink. Your craving will dominate your thoughts for three hours, or until it is appeased.

« « « PERFECTION OF THE DIGITAL

(CW: potential dubcon, objectification)

By far the largest and shiniest booth comes from expo sponsors Sexy Metal Incorporated, who have set up a display of their incredible high-tech sexbots. These life-sized dolls are made of extremely realistic material that feels like warm human skin, and come with state-of-the-art mechanics that give them lifelike movement. Engineers show off how the bots can be plugged into a computer and programmed to act any way the buyer likes.

They come in a wide variety of customizable appearances and eerily, some of the bots on display look exactly like people you may know. Booth staff encourage customers to buy these dolls, or to rent them and give them a try onstage in front of the fascinated crowds. If that’s not kinky enough, one of the engineers has purchased a VR headset from another booth, and programmed it to interface with the bot’s controls. Care to slip inside the silicone skin of another person?

« « « MOD & OOC NOTES

Please read carefully.

On each Test Drive Meme, there will be a section noting character roles; these will vary each TDM. On an IC level, characters will still have gone through the doors but assignments OOCly are still randomized. When applying, there is a section of the application that denotes whether the character chooses "left" or "right". When participating on the TDM, there will be a third option. Players may link either a top level or a thread (five or more comments from their character) from the TDM and title the link as "Door Pass". This means that the player is choosing to take the designation that they were randomly assigned on the TDM, rather than taking the designation of a door. If the player decides to select a door rather than use the pass, then they are trying their luck; they may get the same designation they had on the TDM or the opposite. Once the application is submitted, players can't change their choice.

To assign roles to characters for this TDM, use the following guide: In celebration of our one year, pick whichever role you want for your character!

» A Pocket Full of Pennies: Feel free to come up with any free-roving gangs or petty criminals you like for your characters to tangle with.

» New Flesh Like A Glove: Characters can spend money on items at the expo, or may exchange vouchers for what they want. Each voucher has a value of about $5 within the expo and they may be acquired by finding them, having them handed to characters/stuffed in their pockets or bags by expo volunteers, or paid them in exchange for “volunteering” at booths.

Characters may indeed try before they buy, either out in the open or using one of the provided private rooms with a partner. The expo has a staff of unpaid student interns tasked with cleaning and sanitizing products if they are used but not purchased.

Grandma Hattie’s snacks can inspire characters to have any kink you may desire.

» Perfection of the Digital: Sexbots can resemble any player characters, including brand new arrivals/test drive characters. They can also resemble characters that yours knows from home. The engineers have no explanation for this, and the one who identifies himself as the designer will shrug and say he gets inspiration from many places.

The sexbots are hot-ticket expensive merchandise, so security is tight around the booth. Characters who attempt to steal or destroy a sexbot (for instance, one who looks like themselves) will be quickly set upon by guards, who are meant to eject them from the expo. However, many of the guards will take bribes from other booths to provide them model “volunteers,” drugged into complacency.

If characters want to acquire a sexbot permanently, they will have to buy it or exchange a hefty 50 vouchers for it.

Please remember to mark any necessary content, and have fun!!

» » » MAIN NAVIGATION « « «

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Ash had given Vrenille the conditions at the beginning: touch him without permission and his hand gets broken. He isn't prone to breaking bones without reason so even though he accepts the hand, it's a firm shake but very short of painful. ]

You free at the stop?

[ Vrenille may be a stranger, but everyone here is. Ash's familiarity with New York had been one of his greatest strengths. He needs to know this city, too. ]

I'm open for a tour.

[Call it progress. Vrenille smiles with an acquiescing dip of his head at the request. He's happy to show Ash around, especially if it gives the guy some assurance that he won't be harassed or troubled in the sunshine of the Up. They can start here, he reckons, and make their way to the Down later.]

My pleasure. [It's casual and congenial the way he says it, just the way he seems to be with everything, and he stands as the train pulls into the next station, making an 'after you' sort of gesture when the doors open. He's got no expectation that Ash walk a step behind him or anything so contrived, and if anybody looks askance at them for it, he seems simply not to care.]

Don't ever let anyone tell you that you shouldn't walk around up here or some crap. [That's the advice he begins with once they're stood on the platform together and the train is pulling away.]

You can come 'n go as you please, Up or Down. Anyone asks you any questions, you tell 'em you're courting with a Dominant. They shouldn't though. You can't buy anything without permission, and that'll rankle. And you can't live up here 'less you're contracted. But otherwise?

Their goal isn't to keep us separate; it's to make all of you dependent on all of us.

[ Vrenile can't know how experienced Ash is on the concept. The reoccurring theme in his life isn't even ironic anymore. It's old and tired. Back when he was younger, smaller, and weaker, he had to play that game. He's older now and capable of fighting back. He'll play this system only as much as required to beat it, but he's already pissed it's starting over. It's like starting over with Dino again.

Vrenile can't know because Ash isn't about to tell him. Perhaps there's a small clue in how unmoved he is, but that could just be a cocky nature as well. ]

Good to know.

[ He doesn't plan on following those rules, but it would be good to have a name should there be actual problems. If he's actually captured in the up, he'll give Vrenile's name. ]

If I get arrested, I'll be sure to tell them I was on my way to a hot date and they've ruined it all. Don't complain when you get the call for bail.

[Look, Vrenille wasn't going to suggest it. He has this sense that it would've been too "forward," somehow, had he suggested it, so it needed to be Ash's idea. But now that it is--]

Eh, be my guest. I've been called for worse. Better the People Zoo than the SLUT center, but best'd be if you don't gotta tough it out anywhere.

[A sideways nod of his head as he indicates which way they ought to head.]

So what's life like where you're from? What's your gig back in your world?

[Ash is clearly a pretty tough nut to crack, so Vrenille is just taking the direct approach and asking, even while he expects that any answer is only going to be the slightest tip of the truth. He doesn't have a good sense of what lies beneath this guy's surface yet, but he's sure there's something.]

[ Ash is fine with being forward. They've established the lines which gives him more freedom to tease around them. That aside, knowing he has a name to use helps. He's wondering if there's going to be a price tag connected in the future, but if there is, he won't feel guilty refusing to pay. ]

I don't plan on actually being caught.

[ Though, he'd done enough stints in juvie or jail now.

Light jade eyes slide to his companion. ]

Professional hoodlum. [ He grins, embracing the title. He'd played with the idea of being allowed to do more after reading Eiji's letter, but the result was the universe mocking him. He can't outrun that life. Even here, that's going to follow. So, he'll be good at that. ]

As you expertly guessed, I'm from Earth. New York. I'm a gang boss.

[Vrenille only pauses half a moment before reacting, momentarily looking at Ash sidelong. It could be a bluff, a lie, an exaggeration, but he already knows it's not. He does not react with surprise.]

Heh. And here I thought you were a good guy. [The humor is dry, sardonic. Of course he has no basis for thinking Ash is a good or a bad guy. And "gang boss," even "professional hoodlum"...well, Vrenille's street smart enough to know that those could mean a lot of different things about a person. He would like to know which way they go with Ash though.]

Well, you'll find plenty of opportunity for that kinda shit here if you want it. The Down's like a spider's web of street level gangs, one for every day of the week 'n each square of turf. [And there's no insinuation that Ash might not be good enough to run a gang here. Vrenille might not be from Earth, but he's heard of New York all the same, even seen a version of it in shared dreams. He knows it's no backwater.]

Just pick your poison--[and he watches Ash's face carefully as he says his next words, looking for any kind of tell,] guns, drugs, muscle, human trafficking, prostitution.

[Some of those are a lot worse in Vrenille's book than others--a lot more based on exploiting people who are weak and vulnerable as opposed to ones who are strong. To him, the distinction matters quite a lot.]

Maybe you're not as good at reading people are you thought.

[ Ash would never call himself a good guy. He knows what he is, what he's done. There's blood on his hands, friend and foe alike. He's not as bad as some, but those who saw him as the hero of a story were mistaken. ]

You're fishing. [ Ash can tell more by the look than the words. ] Now you're wondering how bad of a guy I am.

[ But he has to decide what kind of boss he'd be without Dino hanging over his head. Obviously not human trafficking. Prostitution would be impossible as well. There's a right way and a wrong way to handle it, but there's too much of it wrapped in Ash's past. ]

I don't sell people.

[ He's sold guns and hurt people under Dino's command before getting more power in his gang. He's hurt people in self-defense and to achieve his objective. But he's not going to sink that low. ]

That'd be one answer. [Obviously not one he's convinced by. His skill in reading people is not something he doubts, and if anything the implication that he might have misjudged Ash makes him suspect that precisely the opposite is true--that he's not nearly so sinister a figure as he might want to project himself as being.

A gang boss needs a reputation, after all, and it can't be for being a soft touch or having a good heart, regardless of what's really there. So he gets the play, and for that reason, yeah, he'll grant him that point about fishing.] But you're right, I am wondering.

[For his part, he doesn't need all his guard up and his defenses raised. He can risk more honesty, more openness, and he does. It's in the directness of the look he gives Ash. There's no judgement in it.]

Not selling people's a good start. Not being a glorified bully's better.

[Gangs can have all sorts of agendas, after all. They can put their weight behind all kinds of political stratagems.] You live long enough 'n everyone's hands are a bit dirty. I wouldn't say there bad just in that--be a helluva hypocrite if I did.

If I am, are you going to stop me?

[ Ash can be a bit of bully through his words, but he's not the type of person that plans to beat people up in alleys In truth, he'd often worked as a buffer between Dino and the kids, dampening whatever orders they had. He'd earned his gang, but it had been Dino's territory. Now, while he doesn't feel the freedom to go in another direction, maybe he can make a different kind of gang.

This is still too new. He needs more time to work out the details. ]

I got blood on my hands. [ The joking front is gone. Ash's 'I'm horrible' is a complicated mixture of fronts. He really does see himself as a monster, but he also feels like to portray himself as anything less is glossing over his crimes. Beyond that, if he can project a scary front, it would leave him slightly less open to attack. ] I've killed a lot of people. Rethinking that phone call?

Me personally? [It's a tactical non-answer. He's not inclined to be confrontational about it. He's certainly not going to endorse it though.

And yet when Ash admits to having done bloody deeds, having killed people, Vrenille just shoves his hands in his pockets and says mildly,] You should meet my best friend.

[Not like it's a contest. That's not the point. What he's saying is it's not a limit for him, not a line in the sand that cannot be crossed, or a point beyond which he refuses to hear anything more.

And as far as thinking twice about that hypothetical future phone call...]

You thirsty? [There's a sidewalk vendor with a coffee stand just a little way ahead, probably set up mostly to cater to commuters catching the train.] C'mon, I'll buy you a drink.

[Well he certainly doesn't seem to be rethinking his association with Ash at least. If the guy expected to be treated like a pariah for that admission, he's got another think coming.]

I know a lot of murderers. I don't really need to meet more.

[ Friends and foes alike, actually. Technically, even good guy Max has killed, though he had his reasons. Somehow, he's quicker to accept Max's reasons than his own. ]

Besides, I don't need to meet him. I'm already talking to someone used to this. You're taking it too easily.

[ Ash turns in his direction and smirks. ]

You're playing the nice guy, but there's more than that.

[This time when Vrenille huffs, it's just a little bit sharper.] Uh-huh. And they're all here, yeah?

[Look, he's not quite accusing Ash of slipping towards foolishness with his "I've got this all in hand" front, but he's maybe coming close. And he isn't suggesting any sort of "business" arrangement or even cordial foundation for Ash and Hakkyuu either (not least because Hakkyuu tends to get under a lot of people's skin, usually on purpose).]

So how'd you like me to take it then? You've clearly got an idea.

If I was some bastard trying to trick you into bed or lure you off someplace 'n take advantage, would that be more "comfortable" for ya? Meet more with your expectations? Give you a good enemy right off the bat. Would that set everything on a good, familiar axis?

[He's just guessing, but some guys go through life just looking for their next fight. Don't know what to do without it. That sort of thing. And Vrenille's familiar with the type. Intimately familiar.

He pauses, turning to face Ash.] There's always more 'n that. But there's also that old saying 'bout not seeing the forest for the trees.

Finished? You seem to be having fun so I don't want to interrupt you.

[ His voice is lighter now. If he sounds too serious, it might show that Vrenille isn't so far off the mark in some places. ]

If I wanted a fight, I wouldn't wait for you to give me a reason. I'd give one to you. Who the hell would feel more comfortable being dragged into an alley? I don't really like it too rough.

You're too easy-going with the murder talk. [ He's been referring to that more than the city. The guy likely isn't new, and people can adjust to many things. ] You're either in bed with them, or you're desperate enough you'll go with anything.

[ Ash allows a beat. Vrenille is a good-looking guy. It doesn't mean he doesn't want Ash -- doesn't mean he does; it's how it feels sometimes, but Ash knows it doesn't hold true for everone. ]

I'm betting it's the former. You know a friend who's a murderer. You're inviting a murderer to coffee. What's that saying about you?

I dunno. Maybe it's saying that I'm not a guy who's quick to judge people when I haven't walked 'round in their shoes. Or else that I grew up in a war zone, and I got used to the idea that life's complicated a long time 'fore I got here.

[At the booth, he orders a coffee with milk, no sugar, and gestures for Ash to order whatever he likes. The vendor's eyes go to each of their necks just as naturally and seamlessly as saying good morning, but all is as it should be--she's a Dominant herself and doesn't so much as bat an eye.

While she makes the drinks, he turns his focus back to Ash. They're playing a game of poker with their words here, each keeping his composure as well as the other, but at some point they're going to need to lay down their cards.]

So what if you're wrong--what if I'm not desperate and I'm not in bed with them? What then?

[ It's the latter -- or the equivalent -- that Ash had wondered about. It wasn't even necessarily as accusatory as he makes it sound so much as something that seemed to form in his mind: this guy was used to blood. Experienced. Maybe not a murderer, but someone who has seen death. Few understand without having a reason to, without having some kind of event which makes them see that the world is full of shades, not blacks and whites.

Ash sees the line of her stare and looks unimpressed as he orders his coffee black. Too bad they don't add alcohol to it. He'd be willing to try after this day. ]

Did I say you were bad in bed? How rude of me.

[ His voice is light and flippant again. He won't lay down his cards. The walls aren't meant to hide the fact he's a murderer - no, he confesses to that far too easily. It's to hide a deeper shame, a shame of a kid who couldn't defend himself who became an adult but nothing changed. He allowed the prison to happen for his own reasons but then Dino and Foxx reminded him how powerless he could be. That's not something he can be so open about. ]

Then how lucky for your Submissives. [ Ash hates the word so much that it leaves a sour taste on his tongue. ] Having a Dominant bad in bed would be like being forced to a eat food that isn't even cooked well.

[He laughs, light and free. Turning the tables right back the way they'd been turned on him.] Oh, now who's fishing?

[That might not be it exactly, but he reckons it comes close enough to the mark to make his point, hidden behind teasing and joking as it might be.

He pays for their coffees, gesturing for the barista to keep the change, but what he says next he doesn't say until they're stepping away, as though to make sure she's not overhearing them. One of the things he's learned during his time in Duplicity: there are certain transgressions against the local system that can pass, just so long as you don't go around flaunting them too loudly.]

I'll let you in on a secret: my Submissives don't fuck me 'cause I'm their Dominant.

I am [he won't even mince words about this] plenty good though. Y'know how I know that? [A casual gesture with his coffee cup as he speaks. It might sound at first like a brag, but he's not bragging.] 'Cause for a lotta years I had to be. I wouldn't 've managed to eat--probably wouldn't be standing here talking to you now--if I wasn't.

[ Despite no real problem talking about sex, Ash was about to tell him he was offering more than Ash was asking when the point comes across and the words die on his tongue. A whore, huh? That alone is fine. It's a bit ridiculous to think manual labor is fine but selling sex is somehow worse. Ash has nothing against the profession, per se, so much as what it means to him.

Carefully, he hides it. What followup would he have should something show? Nothing that he wants to leak. Perhaps they have more in common than he originally thought. Maybe he survived through sex not by selling but by bargaining. Of course, the most obvious answer, in normal conversation, is usually the right one. ]

Yeah? Prostitute?

[ At least, despite his earlier jabs, there's no judgement there. Ash is far, far from someone to judge. ]

Whores can be bad at their jobs too, you know. Some people'll just pay for them to lay there if the face is pretty enough.

I always preferred "hustler," but call it what y'like. [Regional slang varies, of course. In the right places on Earth, "rent boy" would probably fit, but it wasn't a phrase people used where Vrenille grew up.

"Whore," however, is a nasty word--the sort it's hard to say without sounding a bit judgemental, whether or not one is. Not that it wounds him per se, but this city's made him more aware of its sharpness now than he'd have felt a year ago. He keeps it off his face almost perfectly when Ash says it, but inside of him something bristles a little. But then he isn't presuming Ash has any personal history with it; that's the sort of detail that changes things.

He focuses on the just lying there comment instead.] Not if they want much repeat business.

Oh, unless that's you telling me y'think my face is that good. In which case, kinda a back-handed compliment. [He's just teasing.] I'd tell you to work on your cruising skills, but I'm guessing that your face is so pretty you don't get turned down much.

[ Ash had heard a variety of names. The better cops called it hustling, the official name was prostitution. 'Whore' was the most common by and far. It was how many justified it, even when they took instead of paid. Now, it's impossible to think of it as anything but whoring. ]

Maybe I'm going with the option where you went hungry every night.

[ Honestly? He was probably successful. His face was handsome, his body seemed solid, and his personality was charming if you were the kind to get charmed. Ash can recognize a silver tongue when he hears it. Probably, people were eating out of the palm of his hand. Sex can be used as a weapon by you or against you. In the more consensual realm, maybe he had more control. Maybe he was also desperate and did what it took. Ash can't say, and he's not going to ask.

It does raise a question. ]

Still in the profession? Seems harder in a city where sex is easier to get.

Whatever y'like to think, man. [Because Ash picturing him going hungry doesn't change what really happened (which certainly wasn't anything like Vrenille getting rich or doing well, but it was him keeping himself clothed and fed, and some nights even warm.

His home town was nothing like New York though. Things would have been very different in a place like that. The regional geopolitics were as much a factor in how Vrenille's life panned out as any part of his own skill or charm.

Then Ash asks if he's still doing it, and he has to laugh.]

Sorta. When I got here I had to find something more suited to a Dominant, so I re-branded. I'm a "sex therapist" now. [He doesn't actually mime those air quotes, but he probably doesn't need to. He doesn't mention that he'd stopped doing sex work for a while be for he arrived here too. Details. Maybe it'll come up sometime.]

[ No such picture ever actually comes. This teasing, the mock insults, is just much easier for Ash, especially when it comes to such easy-going personalities. Those who get close to Ash prove they can handle it. Those who can't hate him. He doesn't change for either group. ]

Selling sex isn't something a Dominant should do, huh?

[ So many submissives could have been saved, too. ]

Sex therapist.

[ Taking another sip of coffee, Ash lowers the cup and looks inside. What now for him? He'd always wanted to be free of Dino, but a part of him had never thought it would actually happen. Now that it has, he's been left alone. No gang. No Eiji. No Max. Hell, not even a Charlie or Ibe. He's outside of his home turf and stuck in a world where magic might really exist, which made him significantly weaker.

Another sip. ]

Let's get something stronger.

It's not exactly that. [That Dominants shouldn't sell sex.] It's more a problem of clientele.

See Dominants aren't really meant to have sex with other Dominants. It's not quite a taboo, 'n people still do it--y'know in secret 'n all--but it's not the sorta thing you'd wanna go 'round making formal by exchanging money for it. And Submissives aren't technically able to spend their money at all without some Dominant's ok.

So trying to sell sex, you'd have a problem on both sides. But sex therapy--that makes things a little different. Sometimes there's really no sex in it at all, just talk. And with my Submissive clients, I find loopholes, ways for 'em to pay me in services or trade. ...Not [he's quick to clarify] sexual services.

[He watches Ash for a moment. Something subtle has shifted, even if just fleetingly, even if the mask of biting sarcasm and hard-edged jokes come back a second later. It's subtle, and someone who's less good at reading people might miss it, but Vrenille sees the shadows of worry and doubt gathering in the background, the way Ash looks into his cup as though he'll find something there beyond what it contains.

He pats him on the shoulder with a wry smile, the sort that's designed to save face and disguise for them both that there's been anything for him to see at all.]

C'mon, I know just the place. [The Thirteenth Step isn't far.]

[ Ridiculous, but it's a fair explanation, and Ash can see where the problem would lie. There'd be no job if your clients weren't allowed to pay you, and he can't imagine Doms would often pay for their subs to get a whore.

He jerks away, instant and sharp. Ash has failed at casual touch for a long time, especially from strangers. He can usually fake it well enough when not immediately fresh from an attack, but he'd been too deep in his head. ]

Keep your hands to yourself!

[ His words are sharp and as cutting as his gaze could have been. They're not as explosive as usual, but they slip out before he can catch himself. Then, it's too late. You can't undo words already spoken.

Jade eyes turn cold, moving from the slightly worried look they'd just held, as if trying to match a mood he hadn't meant to create. ]

You're getting too familiar.

[It's amazing how, just like that, a single moment can reveal so much. Vrenille knows at once that Ash didn't intend it, that it's something that got away from him. It's like opening the wrong door in someone's home: he hadn't meant for the transgression, but now he's seen what's inside anyway.

In the surprise and the recoil, Vrenille's half-drunk coffee goes flying, drops onto the ground with a splatter a couple of feet away. Not that he's paying it much mind--couldn't even say precisely why he dropped it, whether because Ash hit his arm when he jerked away or just because he lost his grip in the shock of the moment.

He hadn't been expecting this, not at all, which is some small clue just how good Ash's poker face really is, even when the mask does appear to slip a little. Or maybe it's just that the first mask disguises a second beneath.

But the moment of movement is followed by a moment of stillness, because Vrenille doesn't react except to freeze, hands splayed on empty air. In a sense, he just accepts the rebuke; at least he accepts that he doesn't know what there is to know behind it. And when he speaks, there's no coldness or outrage in his voice, not because he's cowed, just...patient.]

...All right. No touching. I got it.

[They're drawing some looks from people passing by--Dominants mostly. Vrenille feels their eyes as much as he ignores them.] Familiar tends to be my thing, but we can do formal if y'like.

[Formal...but somehow still casual, he hopes. Or at least he's hoping that he's managing casual, because the reality is concerned, only he's pretty damn sure that Ash wouldn't appreciate him being concerned right now. So the best he can manage is to try and smooth the ripples, try and keep matters to a rattle rather than a break.]

[ Ash can feel the stares, and he can read the thoughts behind it. It's contempt, astonishment that a Sub would dare yell and nearly assault a Dominant. It doesn't help calm his racing heart or the spiraling thoughts. Luckily, he's practiced. The slip was temporary, but he's not idiot. He knows he's shown a private side of himself to this man.

People underestimate prostitutes, at least the skilled ones. They were actors and salesman and dreams all rolled into one. If you could read a client, you could give be their fantasy brought to the flesh. If this man has the talent he claims, that means he's been reading Ash, conscious or not. With such a big give, he feels exposed, vulnerable.

He can leave. Ash can even be nasty enough that he could make this stranger decide that even his pretty face isn't worth it. Sometimes, he found himself dropping such lines even to those close to him, unsure if he's pushing them away or testing them. He regrets it immediately every time.

A mistake has been made, but now Ash has to decide if he'll keep digging or fight the shame that brings that instinct. His mind moves quickly. Despite all of the choices that have to be made, there's barely a pause at all. ]

You said you know a place?

[ He just has to remember that even if there are hints that there's something in his past, and even if people can connect it to the right trauma, they can't know the degree. It's not as blindingly obvious as it feels. ]

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