III: [ location: Whorehouse ] The meaning of expensive taste

[freezecharm]

Piper awoke with a start. She didn't know exactly what alerted her, but when she opened her eyes she found herself in an unfamiliar room. For a few seconds Piper stayed absolutely still, even shut her eyes - after all, she just might be dreaming, or hallucinating, or both

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[herquietude]

From nearby- another room, the door ajar- there's the sound of someone else rousing in some considerable discomfort. As it stands in Gatas, the Countess is still meant to be on bedrest, and her injuries aren't exactly being kindly treated by waking up on the floor of a strange place; she pushes herself up with her free and uninjured arm, the other still immobilized in a sling to protect her shoulder while it heals.

The fact that if she weren't being so cosseted then she wouldn't be sleeping so modestly (the white silk robe, while thin and loose, covers more of her than what her husband is accustomed to seeing in their chamber) isn't quite a trade off for the aggravation of her splitting headache. Petra examines her surroundings with a certain resigned irritation and, as she frees herself from the sleeping bag, contemplates the wisdom of getting up.

[freezecharm]

Deciding to investigate the house further, Piper walks with her hands held in front of her - ready to freeze anyone's ass off. She passes by a slightly opened door, and sees someone moving from within it. She pauses and thinks if she should investigate or not.

Deciding on the former, she pushes the door open with her foot - and spots an obviously injured woman. Piper frowns. "Uh - hello?"

[herquietude]

When Piper comes through to see what's going on in here- well, what's going on is that Petra is considering what a room like this might mean and trying to decide if sitting on the edge of that bed on the other side of it is actually going to be better or worse.

"-good morning," she says, slightly dry. "Lost, too?"

[freezecharm]

She lowers her slightly defensive pose and steps forward. "I-I think so," Piper says. "I'm sorry, but..." The woman said too. "Is this not your house, then?"

[knightflying]

It's odd enough waking up in a sleeping bag when he remembers falling asleep in a large, comfortable bed, but Tim definitely doesn't remember any room in the Manor that looks... like this. Red and black and cushions and fringe everywhere. It's the kind of bedroom that might generously be described more as a boudoir, and alright, he's not normally the one who gets to handle the majority of cases in the hospitality business, but he knows enough to recognise a brothel when he wakes up in one.

In his underwear.

He hears other voices filtering through the slightly open door, female voices, which he'd expect. He wonders if he can actually avoid the owners for long enough to find some clothes to cover himself (and his incongruous scars) before finding out what's going on here. He moves quietly towards the door and peeks out cautiously.

[freezecharm]

Piper turns just in time, intent on finding a way out of this place. She tries to avoid looking at anything in the house because they are just so... well. What activities they're used for are so obvious and how come Taxon has a house like this anyway?

She pushes the door open and gapes for about two seconds before covering her face with her hands and shrieking, "Oh god! I'm sorry! I didn't--"

...what else does someone say to a stranger who's wearing nothing but his underwear?

[knightflying]

Tim does not squeak, because that would be unmanly, but he does make an embarrassingly high-pitched noise and jump a little. He scrabbles quickly for one of the bed sheets nearby - don't think about who else has been using this bed for what - and uses it something like a cape, only it's really long and made of swishy red satin. At least he's fully covered, even if he does look ridiculous.

"It's okay! I - sorry, I'm covered up now."

[freezecharm]

Her face is probably as red as the swishy material he used to cover himself up. Still, Piper steps and turns away from him, not ready to see the man even if he did say that he was covered up.

"Listen, you," she says in her sternest voice. "If you... if you brought us here and you think you can... do things, well you've... you better think again!"

[ofviolence]

Teddy is getting a little tired of this waking-up-somewhere-other-than-where-he-fell-asleep business. With an active dream life like his, returning to consciousness is disorienting enough without actually being in a new place every time he does it. When he sees where he is, well, you can imagine what that does for his mood.

"Christ," he mutters to himself. "Do I have to sleep with my gun strapped to my hand?" Because under the pillow was apparently not good enough.

Taking what looks like some froofy Victorian gentleman's cane in hand instead (look, it was that or the lace umbrella), he takes to stalking through the halls, checking the place out in true cop style. It might not be a great idea to sneak up on him.

[freezecharm]

It's probably a good thing that Piper has spotted him from a good distance away before she spoke.

"Um... excuse me?" she calls out. After her encounter with that young man earlier, she's inclined to give the next person she sees the benefit of the doubt this time. "Hello?"