“You're late for breakfast,” said Vera from the head of the table, cutting into a heavily seasoned egg delicately with a knife and fork.

“Sorry auntie. Took a walk and got lost. Been a while since I’ve walked around the city.”

She raised an eyebrow, “You got lost?”

“Fine, I’ll be honest with you…I was starting a lovely little garden.”

There were some snickers at the table, but Vera just frowned. She could usually tell when he was lying. He’d grown out of most of the tells he’d had as a child, but she could usually feel it out by instinct. This time she felt like he was telling the truth, but knew he was lying.

Dantes sat at the empty spot where Decker had been the previous day, next to Sera, who was wearing an appropriately shit eating grin for a girl her age at the mild scolding he’d received.

The bar was empty, and Dantes intended to simply sit and chat with the girls, but was surprised when Zilly emerged from the kitchen with a small plate of still warm food that she placed in front of him. She leaned close as she put it down, she smelled lightly of something floral he couldn’t recognize.

“Take good care of our girls today,” she said firmly, before returning to her place behind the bar.

Dantes nodded, and tucked into his plate, drawing reprimanding looks from Vera and Sera at his table manners. They’d definitely suffered from his time in the Pit, but at least he was using utensils. Though, he’d had to remind himself to use them before he dug in with his hands. That may have been Jacapo’s appetite bleeding into him. He was still hungry in spite of eating half of the food Zilly had given them.

When he was done, he excused himself and went up to his room. He hid a shiv in his sleeve, positioned his dagger to make it more visible, and tied back his unruly hair. He looked in the mirror. There was a roughness to him, and he was more muscular than he had been in the past, but he still was less intimidating than the average bouncer. If he was capable of growing a beard that may have made a difference, but unfortunately his elven ancestry meant that didn’t happen much. Though he could at least grow sideburns, likely thanks to that bit of dwarf he got from his mother.

He let Jacopo out of his pocket, and opened the window so that he could go on a walkabout. He broadcast some information about midtown, specifically asking for him to scout around his old haunts while he was out and about.

“If that’s where my whims take me,” responded Jacopo.

Dantes smiled, and pulled out a hunk of meat he’d saved from his plate, handing it to him.

Jacopo nodded. “Looks like my whims take me to midtown.” He crawled out of the window, and started back up the alley and into the slowly awakening city.

He went back downstairs, and helped Zilly move the breakfast table, rearrange the curtains, and adjust the low pink flames on the enchanted lanterns to turn the Vixen vivacious. Once that was done, the girls all sat in various near-compromising positions, even having a small argument over who got to be on a particular lounging couch until Vera forced them into a compromise. Vera made a lot of stops, speaking at least a few moments to each girl. He heard snippets of advice as she walked and talked.

“Don’t reveal too much dear, the clients still need to feel like they have to pay for something.”

“The pouty lips worked for you a few years ago, but you may want to switch to a sultry smile instead.”

“Don’t wear the expensive leggings next time. Save those for yourself, a client is sure to rip them.”

“Tieara would it kill you to comb your hair? At this rate we’ll need to shave you bald.”

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Dantes watched her as she worked. She’d always been a mother hen, even when she was just another girl on the street. That was one of the reasons she and his actual mother had gotten along so well. It was clear that her care for the girls and attention to detail was what had so upgraded the Vixen. He wondered how she’d managed to take it over…and who she was paying up to for protection. This area of the docks was nice, but all of the docks were controlled. It was possible she just tossed a bit of extra coin to the guard, but last time Dantes had been in the area it was under the thumb of the dock sharks. That was five years ago, and it was hard to predict how the lay of the land may have shifted. He needed to gather information on where everything had gone since he’d been under. If he just focused on midtown he could miss something important. At least his job would allow him eavesdrop here and there, and as he rebuilt favor he could begin to use rats and roaches to help him gather info when things were slow.

“Ed!” said Vera, snapping him from his reverie.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Do you know the drill?”

He nodded, he’d seen quite a bit of this kind of work in his lifetime. “Stand around, look intimidating, watch for a signal from the girls if they need help.” He looked around. “I’m guessing you have clientele restrictions?”

Vera nodded. “We serve Officers and their attendants. Regular sailors can come in if they look clean and seem like they have money. Same rule for other men off the street.”

Dantes nodded. He had always had an eye for who did and didn’t have coin on them. Learned it from his mother, and he’d be able to recognize officers from boats thanks to his father.

“Two extra rules for you.”

“Oh?” asked Dantes.

“Don’t kill anyone, and don’t spend all your time flirting with the girls. You can be a customer after Decker returns.”

He considered objecting, more because doing so was simply his dynamic with Vera than because he wasn’t prone to doing either of those things, but she seemed focused on work so all he said was, “Yes’m.”

She nodded and pointed at a gnome woman with big brown doe eyes and hips that, had she been human sized, wouldn’t have let her through a door. “Priss, you’re at the door first. Your take last night was abysmal.”

She nodded with a bright smile and little indication she had taken offense at the comment, or that she had much going on in her head at all, then moved for the door.

Dantes fell in behind her and headed for the door.

“Ed, go ahead and throw open the doors.”

He nodded, and undid the massive latch before pushing it open. He hadn’t expected a crowd so early, but to his surprise there were four men already there, waiting to enter. He gave them a quick up and down. All of them were third or fourth mates in the Rendhold Merchant Navy, from what he could tell. Clean, two of them older, two of them younger. He motioned them in.

Priss gave them a bubbly greeting, and almost immediately had a customer in one of the older men who ordered a drink for himself and her.

Vera greeted all of them herself by name, clearly regulars, and then went up to her office to work on the books.

Alessa moved to Priss’ place giving Dantes a small smile as she leaned against the doorframe and adjusted her clothing..

“Hope you have better luck today.”

“Me too, I don’t want you to make a habit of taking pity on me.”

Dantes smiled. “I’ve had far worse habits.”

There was a tap on his shoulder, and he looked to see Vera there with a blank expression on her face.

He sighed. “I know, no flirting.”

She nodded, and went back up the stairs where he’d thought she was when he made the comment.

“How’s your cough?” he asked.

“I’m having a good day with it so far.”

“Good.”

They stood there in comfortable silence for a while, until a few more customers trickled in and Alessa was lucky enough to get more work and swap places with Tieara.

Tieara sat with her eyes half open watching the door and twirling her hair with no sign of boredom while they waited for another customer to walk in. Dantes could smell a faint scent of weed under her perfume and noted to himself that he should ask who her dealer was. If he was lucky, the weed that she bought was terrible and would be full of seeds and stems and he could work on a special addition to his garden. Based on her expression and laid back demeanor though, he felt it was likely too good quality for that.

When the door opened again, a man stepped inside. He was wearing a kind of fur vest and cuffs, long brown pants, and no shoes. His hair and beard were roughly tied back, and he had a distinctly thick and earthy odor to him. Peeking out from his vest was just a flash of a tattoos, and his expression was one of disgust as he looked inside the Vixen.

Dantes immediately clocked him as someone with no money who was about to track dirt into the brothel, so he placed his hand in front of the man’s chest.

“I think you’re in the wrong place,” he said, projecting confidence in spite of the man being easily a foot taller than him.

The man smacked his hand away, and Dantes stepped forward, his hands clenched into fists.

The man looked at him with a face contorted into a scowl. He stepped forward and lifted Dantes by the shirt, raising a hand to strike him.