A menu?

  Blinking, Natalie accepted the small chalkboard. It hadn't been ed well sihe st use; the bck surface was smudged white, with the new menu writteop the smears.

  Vaa's service list was brief, with prices listed after each item. Her handwriting surprised Natalie; it was cutesy a, with loopy letters, the opposite of Natalie's own near-illegible scrawl that had earned her so many reprimands in school. The bubbly script was so femihat heart-dotted i's wouldn't have looked out of pce—but of course there weren't any.

  "That's it?" Natalie asked, amused, when she'd read the ey of her s.

  Vaa's gre appeared in full effect, arms crossing in a way that Natalie rather appreciated—propping her already nicely framed chest up.

  "What do you mean, that's it?"

  "A hahe best I buy?"

  "What did you expect?"

  Holy? She hadn't thought about it. The ck of options did make sense. Even if the girl had only intended on having one er from the start.

  "Is there a friends dist? A loyalty rewards program? A menu I order from?"

  "You aren't funny, you know that, right?"

  "Not even a bit?"

  "No."

  Natalie met the gre evenly, then, to Vaa's clear e, ughed. She brought her attention back to the chalkboard and made a show of sidering her options, takiime to mull her decision over.

  Vaa huffed, loudly, part-way through.

  "Sit," she ordered. "And do you—do you want anything?"

  "Want anything?" Natalie echoed.

  "To drink. Or eat. There's stuff in this room. I'm supposed to be your hostess," she grumbled. "That's where half the tokens e from, it's not just about the—other stuff."

  "Oh?" Natalie's grin slowly widened. "You're telling me you're tractually obligated to put me in a good mood? To be a sweet, polite hostess?"

  She glowered. "It's part of the assig. Don't get any ideas."

  "I'm definitely getting ideas," Natalie said. "There's food?"

  "Sliced fruit, for one. Snacks. And liquor, as I'm sure you saw." She gestured at the nightstand, where the bottle of amber liquid and crystal gsses were id out.

  "Sliced fruit?" Natalie repeated. "Ooh. you feed them to me? Is that part of the experience?"

  "Feed you?"

  "It's every girl's dream to have a stily an sit on her p and feed her, don't you know?"

  "Speak for yourself, pervert."

  "You've been using that word a lot."

  "I wonder why."

  "You're lucky I like girls with attitude, otherwise I'd say you're not being a very good hostess."

  Vaa gred, but it shifted a moment ter into vague amusement. Sn, she turned and walked over to the nightstand and crouched down. Inside was a tray with an assortment of fruit, as promised, and she pulled it out and walked over to her.

  "Sit, then." Vaa poi the chaise lounge chair. "But I'm not getting on your p."

  "Aw. That's the whole point. What if I pay you?"

  Vaa almost bit off a sed denial, but she hesitated. Probably realizing she was much more than sitting on a girl's p through her menu, and that this was the whole point of the Bordello.

  Her cheeks colored, and to Natalie's delight, she growled out, "Fifty tokens, and I'll think about it."

  "Deal."

  "What?"

  "Fifty tokens, to fulfill a life-long dream? Sounds worth it to me."

  "Don't be ridiculous." She hesitated. "… Five is fine."

  "Pretty sure you're supposed to barter up, not down," Natalie said, amused.

  "You're not paying me fifty tokens just to sit on your p." She grumbled, "The whole paying part of this is weird, anyway."

  "I'll take it for free, too, if you want."

  "You wish." She shen, with some reluce, settled onto Natalie's p, who had lounged out on the fy chair. She sat sideways, across her thighs, legs dangling off.

  Vaa blinked as she settled in.

  "Wait, I feel your armor."

  "Not actually naked. I've told you that like three times now."

  "I know, but—" She settled the weight of the food tray in one hand, aively poked at Natalie's waist, surprising herself when she found the leather string that held her lower armor on. Shifting her eyes higher up, she poked at Natalie's chest . In amazement, she cupped the metal of her bra. "Weird."

  "Pretty sure I'm the one supposed to be groping you," Natalie said, lips quirking as she watched Vaa massage her metal bra.

  Vaa didn't seem to realize what she'd been doing, because her hand jerked back.

  "I was just—it's iing. I wasn't toug you like that."

  "You were literally squeezing my tit."

  "Your armor. Because it's invisible, and I was curious. Shut up! Eat." She picked up a bundle of grapes from the tray—iingly, they were cold, there must have been a cooling preservation effed thrust them at Natalie's face.

  "Hey. You're supposed to do it sexily."

  "Sexily isn't a word. And I'm not sexy anyways, so get used to it."

  "That's a damn lie. Are you kidding me?"

  Bizarrely, Vaa seemed almost disoriented by Natalie's tone, whi turn made Natalie pause. Surely this girl knew—?

  "Eat your stupid fruit," Vaa mumbled. She dahe edge of the grape bu Natalie's lips, putting in at least half an effort to fulfilling the sario, and, Natalie's griurning, she delicately plucked one from the buh her teeth. She held the irl's gray eyes—as geous as always—as she suggestively chewed, then swallowed.

  "Delicious," she murmured.

  Vaa's face went impressively red, sidering all she'd done was eat a grape. Natalie dared to venture her hand lower from where it'd beeing on Vaa's hip down to her thigh. Not dangerously low, but Vaa jumped anyway.

  It tinued for a bit. Vaa's face stayed flushed, and Natalie delighted in teasing her simply by being hand-fed a variety of fruit. It was all fresh, too, which she appreciated.

  And juicy. Messily so. Though maybe Natalie ying that part up.

  She wiped her , and said, "So. How's the Bordello work, anyway? Assuming you did your research."

  "Which part of it?"

  "The private rooms. All this," she waved around. "You pick your ts, that much is obvious, else you'd have left."

  "We have right of refusal, yes," Vaa said. "But only so many. We're expected to work. It's good you came quickly. I think I would've been kicked out soon."

  Natalie's eyebrows went up. "You've had … people propositioning you?" That was what was implied.

  "Two men and two women, so far."

  A weird feelihrough her at that, which she tried to ignore.

  "What's that for?" Vaa asked, poking at the er of her mouth. Natalie realized she was frowning.

  "Nothing."

  "Don't like the idea that I might've had someone else as a t?" Oddly, Vaa seemed—amused? Maybe even satisfied.

  "Of course not. We're hardly—" She trailed off.

  "A couple," Vaa finished for her. "Yes, we aren't. Like I said, don't get any ideas about—all of this."

  Natalie frowned for a sed lohen shook it off.

  "I am the only one you let in, though," she grinned. "Aren't I?"

  Vaa narrowed her eyes. Natalie wasn't sure why she had poihe obvious out; she hurried to move the topic to safer waters.

  She did know they weren't a couple, and if Vaa wao involve herself with other people, that was her choice. They weren't anything, much less exclusive. They'd only met yesterday, for heaven's sake. Yet the idea of Vaa having other ts did bother her slightly. Maybe not full-blown jealousy, but there'd been a stirring in her chest.

  Maybe she liked this girl more thahought. She was seriously cute. Though saying so to her face might get her killed.

  "Anyway," Natalie said. "About this 'menu' of yours."