Imprints in Stone [AU]

[GamesMaster]

Don winces, putting down the tea. "What did he do?" he asks, sounding resigned. 

[Bethany]

"Well, yesterday was our birthday and I mentioned- no, more like reminded them that I hadn't forgotten about the Shiny Cat and planned to go back. Merri- you've met Merri, right? Carver's new girlfriend slash Dad's new foster?"

[GamesMaster]

"Ye-es?" he says, slowly. "Maybe? Doesn't talk much?" 

[Bethany]

Beth snorts. "That doesn't last- once she decides you're a friend, she can babble non-stop. No, seriously, she's got some kind of shaman power that means her lungs are always full of air so she doesn't have to breath in. Anyway, Merri's a total sweetheart, eager to please. So she chimes in, offering to come with me and help. Not even sure she knows what a whore is, her common has some gaps in it. Raised rural in an elven enclave as a fosterling, wasn't great. You can imagine my idiot brother's reaction to that."

[GamesMaster]

Don blinks. "Are you two fighting about your whoring again?" he asks, with a knowing nod.

[Bethany]

"No, not really. I mean, yes, but silently. No, yesterday's fight was that he thinks that I'd throw Merri into whoring without any kind of warning, training or care for the negatives. I mean, I get that I walked into the life without understanding it- how could I? How could anyone until they live it?" Bethany huffs as she looks over another basket of soiled linens. "But I do get it now, at least the basics, the surface, and I wouldn't... how could he think I'd do that to someone? Put them in danger without any kind of caution? It's bravery when you do it to yourself, but there's other, far less flattering words for doing it to others."

[GamesMaster]

"I think he's just worried about you," says Don, shrugging. "And Merri. Carver's not very subtle -- if he thought you were careless, he'd say so."

[Bethany]

"Didn't say anything against it when I brought it up," Bethany mutters darkly. "It just... it hurts. That he might be thinking that of me. I..."

[GamesMaster]

"Do you... like working here?" asks Don slowly. 

[Bethany]

"Yes. More than I dislike it at least. I... the sex part is... okay. I'm hopeful that the parts I dislike will be... lesser, than that we can screen better and have legal protections. I love being able to help people, make a difference in how whores are treated. I want this model of brothel to succeed, to thrive, so others will be made." Bethany shrugs. "So.... yeah, I guess I do. Why?"

[GamesMaster]

"It's just, I've been talking to that Zevran guy. I don't want you to feel coerced into working here. I don't think you should have to work here to help. It's wrong, to make someone do something like that with their body. And you always seemed... unhappy with your clients. And today, you don't seem glad to be back, at all, just mad at Carver, like you're trying to get revenge on him. If you're happy, that's great, I won't pry, but..."

[Bethany]

"...what do you mean? What are you talking about with Zevran?" Bethany asks slowly, brow furrowed.

[GamesMaster]

"Before he left, Zevran was giving lessons. Fighting, you know, and, whore stuff. It turns out, there's this thing called consent that Cirenites are real big on. It makes all this stuff okay: if you have consent, you can do anything you want with your body, but if you don't, that's rape and slavery and so on. So the reason whoring is sometimes so awful is because there isn't consent involved. He explained it a lot better, but I've been trying to drill it into Miki's head ever since: it's okay to ask for sex, but not okay to pressure someone into sex."

[Bethany]

Bethany stares at Don, mouth gaping open a bit.

[GamesMaster]

He smiles, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, should I start over from the top?"