It's been a relaxing few days for Pierce. For once, everyone else is busy with things: Mave is preparing potions for something called a Surrogacy ritual, and Tulani is investigating undercity slave auctions and doing who knows what with Cricket, the Yodhbarada.
Gossip has that Councilman Khanti is recovering from his extremely embarrassing injury, and has the nickname Ezredara, the feminine version of Ezred. Not within his hearing of course. Whatever covens remain in the Streets Below have been quiet, but Tulani suspects this is more due to reorganization than an end to preying on the destitute: figuring that they can't survive separated the smaller ones are finally joining up with the big Abbasian Coven, and the Sphynx has managed to confirm that they are the ones behind the kidnapping and insanity-processing of people, but their main temple's location is still unknown.
Sephia checks in on the cheetah every so often, and seems to have taken an odd interest in him beyond the sexual plaything that is his usual role. Things have at least been less hectic, with Pierce sometimes spending the night at the salon when Tulani is doing her spying at night. Tonight is one of those nights, it seems, and instead of sleeping in a pile with the Nagas, Helse has brought the Savanite into her bedroom.
And figuring it is because she wishes her room cleaned or other such things, Pierce actually busies himself with cleaning the room! He's become far better with these sorts of tasks than he ever thought possible. Also, it's nice to not feel cold all the time; the current 'natural' body is always cold now.
"Don't bother with straightening up," Helse says, as she goes to a side table with a pitcher and basin. She pours some water into the basin, and gets a rag.. then pauses. She's currently painted like a drunken rainbow, with sworls of color branching off all over her body. "Normally this is scrubbed off at the end of the day, but since the paint is just food coloring and you have an abrasive tongue, you should be able to lick it out of my fur."
This causes the feline's brow to arch slightly at that. Definitely an interesting request from the Eeee, and rather uncommon. "Taste the rainbow, eh?" Pierce thinks as he goes over to the Eeee. He debates for a moment if he should get her to lie down, but then figures she might get a kick out of ... well, he kneels down and starts at the tops of her feet. Upward movement is slow ... and he's certain he'll have a hairball before this is over...
Helse seems uncertain of what to do with her hands, but now that Pierce has started she can't reach her smoking supplies, so she just.. crosses her arms for the moment. "Your owner has been poking around the Undercity slave pits," she notes. "She hasn't told me this, but I have my sources."
"I know. She isn't planning to sell me if that is what you're worried about," Pierce signs with a free hand, right before he play-bites her knee. "She has been upset since the doe and has been trying to track down all the sources that do that to people."
"You can tell me the truth," Helse says, looking down at Pierce. "Are you part of the Savanite Underground?"
"Me? No," Pierce signs. "Are you?"
"I have.. ties," Helse admits. "What is it Tulani is really looking for, specifically?"
"The crazed cults. They're funded by several powerful people, and she's trying to find who specifically ... so that certain allies can deal with them," Pierce signs, relenting and letting the Eeee know they're somewhat involved in the current 'events'. "Fairly certain one is based in Abbasian quarter."
The Eeee really looks like she wants her pipe, the way her fingers fidget. "I see. And then what? What happens in the Streets Below stays there. Or is this something similar to the Velkarno incident?"
"She knows people who can make sure it doesn't happen again. There are some trying to help this city; they just have to do it from the shadows," Pierce signs. He resumes licking, and by this point, he's at her thigh.
"Herod bar Abbas is very powerful," Helse notes. "On a level far above Hastur Velkarno. There are certain proclivities of his clan that require untraceable slaves."
"Firsthand experience?" Pierce signs to Helse.
"I wasn't always a salon keeper," Helse notes. "But when the opportunity to came along when the Plaza was built, I had no qualms of leaving my old life behind. For the most part."
"You worked for him, then?" Pierce questions in sign. Amazingly, the licking continues on.
"No," Helse says, and shudders. "I was.. independent. I provided specialty slaves, training and so on. It was very lucrative. I have regrets though, after.. learning more."
"So, you would have sold someone like me to them," Pierce signs. The movement isn't accusatory or rough; more just matter of fact.
"You're a bit overqualified for what they wanted," Helse notes. "But they did go through studs rather quickly. That's what made me suspicious."
"Overqualified? Maybe. I'm not worth much," Pierce signs, then shrugs. "What did they do with them?"
"Well, from the stories coming out of the Velkarno incident.. I can guess," Helse notes. "Forced breeding followed by sacrifice. I prefer to think the children were sacrificed as well, over the alternative."
Pierce pauses at that, then frowns. Licking resumes soon enough, though. 'Becoming a lunatic? Probably. But it is still wrong. Those who have not lived should not have to die for others sins and desires," he signs. "Something a friend of my Master has said."
"Your mistress is risking much," Helse claims. "If she simply needs a contact, I can give her one - but they are not likely to speak with her. They don't deal with strangers."
"My mistress has a powerful ally. She is protected," Pierce claims in sign. "But if you wish to help her, then you may wish to speak with her on the subject. She won't want to endanger you, and I don't want you in danger, either."
"I would hope that you both trust my discretion by now," Helse notes, relaxing a bit more into the tongue-bath. "Also, Sephia is planning something for you."
"Whenever she plans something, it's usually scary," Pierce signs. He's currently licking rather sensitive areas. "And I trust you, but you said she risks a lot. And she does. So does her friend. I'm thankfully just property."
"Let me.. sit down for this.." Helse notes, and sits at the edge of her bed. "If anything were to happen to your mistress, would you like to stay here with us?" she asks, oddly.
Pierce actually lets Helse sit down before he resumes. His ears even wiggle slightly. "As in, become your property?" he signs the question.
"Well, I don't know that it would so official," Helse notes, and rests her hands on Pierce's head. "It's only a matter of time before the Coalition begins to phase out slavery. They won't do it until they've gotten the nobles happy about trade of course."
"I don't mind being a slave. There is something comforting in it," Pierce signs, "So if I did need a place; this one would not be so bad. I just fear what Sephia would do if she knew I was house property." His ears wiggle a bit at that. He's also being extremely thorough with bathing where ie his right now.
Helse seems lost in thought - or lack of thought - for a moment. "Oh, Sephia.. she's very willful. She was my first, before I acquired her sisters."
"I like her, and she me. It's an odd thrill when she .. forces things on me," Pierce admits in amused sign just before moving away from sensitive areas to work on other colors, as well as to give her a break. "Also, I think Tulani is meeting with a Yodhbarada today; more information. Are you going to help her find a contact?"
Tulani -> my Mistress
"That depends on how honest she is with me about her goals," Helse notes, running her fingers over Pierce's scalp. "I wouldn't let her use one of my old contacts - I'd have to be the middle-man."
"You know her goal, to stop what they've been doing to people," Pierce points out. The savanite ... is now nursing on the Eeee.
Helse leans back, pulling the Savanite down with her out of necessity. "That's her intent, but what is her plan? Keep anyone from doing business with the bar Abbas family? Kill anyone who tries?"
"She doesn't want to kill people who have not earned that fate. I'm pretty sure her hope is to stop what has been happening with as little killing as possible. Locate the worst, prune them out, and let better take their place," Pierce signs, then shrugs a bit.
"I don't suppose you'd tell me where you have been the past several days?" the Eeee asks, and tickles the backs of Pierce's legs with her dextrous toes.
"Cleaning the place we live, and other boring duties," Pierce claims in sign. HE shifts a bit and Helse is reminded of how much studding work has been done to him as the savanite takes some 'liberty' and joins his body to hers.
The Eeee stops asking questions at that point, and doesn't even seem to mind that Pierce hasn't cleaned her off completely yet. Helse also doesn't seem to mind not being the one in charge this time, letting the cheetah do whatever he likes.
Pierce is slow, gentle, and very thorough. He seems determined to make her make all sorts of fun and interesting sounds. It's not so much he's forceful as just gently insisting. And ... he doesn't stop until she's quite spent. It's only then that the bathing resumes. He does have some final color to remove on her chest and face ... and then areas to clean up that have ended up damp and mussed up from the 'activities'. Towards the end, he even has her roll over where he makes sure her back and wings are taken care of ... and she even gets one heck of a back massage. "If you could, would you buy me?" he signs to her once he seems to be done (for the moment).
Helse laughs, and says, "Probably, yes. I'm not sure it would be fair to inflict this stressful life upon you though."
"Your life isn't that stressful, is it? At least the times I have been here have not been bad. I have enjoyed them," Pierce signs and grins. "I've even enjoyed being a canvas for some of your salon work."
"Oh, so you don't mind having to mate with crazy Eeee and serpents when we're bored?" Helse asks with a big grin.
Pierce hooks a claw in the ring in his nose and wiggles it. "I kept this, didn't I? I wasn't forced to keep it in. I've grown fond of it because it reminds me of this place," he claims in sign. The savanite then lean down to clean her ears of any color.
"Do you want to sleep in bed with me tonight?" Helse asks next, in a rather inviting tone.
"This lowly and unworthy slave would be honored," Pierce signs, smiling.
"You'll still have to wash the sheets in the morning," Helse warns, before snuggling the cheetah.
"I know. I accept I am still the lowest rank slave," Pierce signs, his expression one of amusement. For a slave, he's being rather forward as he cuddles in with the Eeee. She may not get a lot of sleep over the night; but she will be very relaxed by morning; and be tended to even more by a savanite in only some jewelry and collar. She'll enjoy being a slave owner this night and the next day ... or else.
Sometime after breakfast, Tulani returns - looking and smelling like she came straight from the Streets Below. She enters the nest room, sees that Pierce isn't with any clients, and beckons him to follow her.
"Forgive me, Mistress, but you really need a bath," Pierce signs as he comes over. Even his nose wrinkles.
"That's the idea," Tulani replies, heading into the bathroom and starting to fill the tub. "At least I wore leather, so.. not likely to have any passengers hiding underneath," she notes with a tired grin. She is wearing her tightest leather it seems.
And Pierce has to help peel the leathers off Tulani. It's rather like peeling a fruit, and amazingly all the training that has gone on as Nicora has made it even easier for Pierce to deal with unpleasant smells and sweat. "Good outing?" he signs. "Helse asked a lot of questions about what you were really after. She admitted she used to be a slave trader and had some dealings with Abbas."
"Does she still have her contacts?" Tulani asks after settling into the water. "I've been getting the impression that whoever sells to them doesn't deal with anyone else. I found two different 'slave pits' down there, but they were very much pay-and-leave, no questions asked sort of places. Unlikely to be directly attended by the bar Abbas clan or their agents."
"If you're honest with her, she told me she would be honest with you and help; and that she could act as the middle-man for things we may need," Pierce signs as he carries the leathers to the side to ... clean and rub down with tanning oils so that they stay soft. "I don't like risking her, truth be told, but I don't see much choice."
The wet Sphynx sinks deeper into the waters and hisses slightly. "How much do you think she already knows?" Tulani asks, still sounding tired.
"In terms of what? She knows you're up to something. She offered to be my Mistress if anything bad happened to you," Pierce signs, then goes back to leather-cleaning.
"How generous," Tulani notes. "How did she know what I was doing? I figured she'd be suspicious after the Butterscotch thing.."
"/She has her own sources of information. She didn't elaborate,/" Pierce signs. "/And is that jealousy of her that she offered?"
Tulani narrows her eyes at Pierce briefly. "So, she's connected in other words. Think we should bring her in on the whole scheme and see what she thinks?"
"I trust her. But the question is, do you?" Pierce signs.
"Well.. there haven't been any rumors about Butterscotch being here," Tulani notes. "Not a peep. So she may already be protecting us. Think she likes you that much that she'd risk her girls and salon over us?"
"Now, I don't want her knowing that I'm a shifter. I want to be just thought of as a slave. Things would change if she knew," Pierce points out. "And it seems like she will. I don't know why, but she does. I could always try to feel her out as, well, the real me sometime."
"I assume you don't mean in person, exactly?" Tulani asks, eyebrows raised. "Do you need to spend the night again?"
"I think she would like me to stay longer this time. Sephia wanted something from me as well," Pierce signs. "And right, a dream chat. Safe."
"The big snake?" Tulani asks. "Should I give her permission for whatever it is if she asks me?"
"I guess? You have enjoyed everything else she has done, right?" Pierce asks in sign.
The Sphynx just grins in her feline way. "You've enjoyed them too, haven't you?" she asks instead of answering.
"Well, yes," Pierce admits in sign. The savanite then finishes up with the leathers and heads back to the bath to lather Tulani up. The fact that it occasionally tickles is purely an accident. Really.
"Ahaha! Is this revenge for something?" the Sphynx asks between giggles and splashes.
"Pre-emptive revenge," Pierce claims. "Also, I hope you're not mad at me in that I'm sort of a weird tentacle dragon thing now."
"I can't be mad about that," Tulani notes. "I'll get used to it. I'm sure it wouldn't bother me in my dragon form, of course. Mave seemed to.. really like it.."
"You don't want to know what she had me do later. I didn't know certain things were possible," Pierce admits in sign. "She is a scary woman. It's good she is on our side."
"That tail.. it makes me think of Hortense and her whips," Tulani admits, once the tickling part is over with and she stands lathered and drippy in the tub.
"Trust me, it feels weird to have it. Very weird," Pierce signs. He goes and fetches a pail of warm water and uses that to rinse Tulani off so that she can step out.
"I hope nobody minds if I take a nap," Tulani says. "Are you expecting any clients today?"
"I don't know of any," Pierce signs, "Why?" He goes and fetches some towels.
"So I could just nap in the nest," Tulani says.
"I believe so," Pierce agrees as he starts toweling the Sphynx down!
"And you won't take advantage of me?" the winged-cat purrs teasingly.
"Depends on if the staff here allow me. Sephia has kept me by her side when Helse hasn't wished for me," Pierce notes, "That naga has a real ... interest in me."
"Hmm, Nagas are prone to the more ethereal Spheres of magic," Tulani points out. "You don't think she's got any latent Mind Mage sensitivity or anything, do you?"
"I doubt it. I think she likes bossing me around," Pierce signs, ears wiggling. He kneels down and dries off Tulani's legs, then swats her butt.
"Cheeky for a slave, aren't you?" Tulani notes, then strides out of the bathroom and into the nest, leaving her clothes behind for Pierce.
Pierce checks on the clothes, and finds he needs to leave them to dry a bit longer. So, he heads out to the main shop to see if he is needed for any work.
Out front, things are quiet. The Nagas are spending their time making up one another, and Helse smokes and reads a book, which if fitting since she's decorated with paintings of books and loose pages today. Sephia smiles to Pierce. "Need help with your misssTresss?" she hisses to the cheetah.
"She wishes to take a nap; tired. Was seeing if I was needed out here for anything," Pierce signs. If he's not needed, he can always go cuddle Tulani and help her sleep.
Sephia puts her hand around Pierce's upper arm and tugs him off to the side a bit, towards her personal salon station-chair. "I want to sShow you sssomething," she whispers into his ear, which she also tastes with her forked tongue.
Pierce glances at the serpent with worried eyes. the way she said that makes him very nervous. But ... he goes along anyway; it would hurt her feelings. Plus, having a large naga mad at you is not a good position to be in. "What is it?" he signs.
The Naga produces a piece of paper from under the seat cushion, and shows it to Pierce. It diagrams how to.. spit the end of someone's tongue to make it forked like a Naga's. The serpent's eyes glisten as she watches Pierce's reaction.
Poor Pierce's eyes go huge! He then covers his mouth as if in pain just thinking about it. "That looks scary and painful," the savanite signs once he gathers his wits.
"It would make you the ultimate lover," Sephia promises. "You will learn to move each sSside independently, and do thingSsss otherwiSe impossssSible.."
"And you're going to do it no matter what I think?" Pierce signs as he now watches the Naga's reaction.
"I am very good," the Naga promises. "You will feel no pain. Jussst like before.." she says, and brushes her fingers against Pierce's loincloth to remind him of the other sensitive surgeries she's done.
Pierce rubs his forehead worriedly. He also ends up on his toes even more when he's touched; and his body betrays him by reacting. "When?" he inquires in sign.
"I can do it now if you like?" Sephia asks, showing her wet fangs and pushing her substantial bulk against Pierce. "Jussst have a ssSeat, and I will give you.. a kissss!"
Pierce whimpers. Yet, the whimpering savanite finds himself sitting in the chair in a few seconds. Maybe willingly, or maybe because the serpentine weight is substantial!
Soon, the cheetah is expertly restrained, and the other girls have taken notice. Sephia then delivers the promised kiss - literally using her own tongue to grab and hold Pierces in place so her fang can anesthetize it. It doesn't help that she's writhing a bit in the cat's lap either.
"/Why am I so attractive t mean women?!" poor Pierce thinks as his body is tormented by scaley movement, and his jaws and tongue are held quite snugly by the naga's own! At least the fang feels similar, not unlike when Mordecai placed the stud.
The stud seems to be the anchor point, as Sephia applies a pasty substance in a line from the stud to the tip of Pierce's tongue, and then again on the underside. She also removes his loincloth and.. anchors herself, keeping a firm grip on the cheetah before gesturing to one of the watchers to bring around the tray of sterilized surgical instruments.
Pierce snorts loudly when he finds himself rather rightly held. Nothing is quite as gripping as a naga, he's learned. "You don't have to do this," his secured hand signs; in case she can see it.
"But you are Ssssso pretty," Sephia says, as she grabs Pierce's tongue with the fingertips of one hand, wielding the glittering scalpel in the other. "I want to make you perfect. Try not to wiggle, and do not worry about the blood.."
"Oh God. Why do I always end up like this? I let them. I thank Gorphat!" Pierce thinks as his stomach sinks. He could swear it's in his toes now. Hands clench around the arm rests as he tries to steady himself.
The thing is, Sephia really is good. Between the venom, firm grip and presumably antiseptic paste and very sharp blade, Pierce doesn't feel anything. But he does smell it. And Sephia isn't making the cut all at once, either. She pauses to kiss Pierce often - to drink up the blood, before he can swallow it himself or it runs down his chin.
"I know the smell of blood well," Pierce thinks as he feels all tingly-faint. It's not the blood that worries him, it's how slow and now much enjoyment Sephia is taking as she slowly, very slowly, cuts into his tongue. He's glad he can't see this right now! Even if it can't be worse than Nicora looks now.
The other attending Nagas seem less stoic about it, making faces or averting their eyes at times. But eventually the cutting is finished, and Sephia is bandaging the split tongue. "SsSeee? Not sSo bad," she says, and wiggles in Pierce's lap. "Only liquids until it heals," she prescribes. Of course, Tulani and her saber are in the other room..
Pierce can't feel any of it, but expects it's going to feel really strange when feeling returns! Or hurt a whole lot. He doesn't look forward to either; but he can't dwell on it too much because each time the Naga moves, his body decides it likes it, and well it shows!
And so.. well, Pierce is still restrained, but Sephia isn't, and takes full advantage. She also shows him what she can do with her tongue.. which just causes the others to all want a lick too. Pierce can't even see what's happening but.. that's a lot of very strong, prehensile tongues at work.
And the quiet salon becomes the lair of tormented savanite! Or so it sounds with the chirps, burbles, and squeaks that he makes as he's tormented! Why he would never let on he might be enjoying it! Never! Well, the time his body rebels and he feels Inala's blessings roll through him might give it away a little..
Sephia wins out, pushing the others away to mount Pierce for the final part of the 'torture' - it's almost like she's trying to condition him to like letting her do things to him.
It's hard to tell, but just maybe the burbling hiss that comes from Pierce when Sephia 'makes her claim', just might be an attempt at thanks. Or maybe it's a plea. The way his body reacts to her touch and its movements; her conditioning might be working.
Shortly afterwards, Pierce is released and cleaned up a bit by Sephia. "Am I your favorite?" she whisper-licks his ear.
Pierce's response; he nuzzles his cheek against her snout.
The Naga strikes a dominant pose, and the other girls shrink back a bit in response. Sephia extends her tongue fully and draws it back slowly to show her pleasure at the situation.
Pierce nuzzles Sephia again; and his body language towards her in particular is a fair bit more ... submissive, perhaps. Chin down slightly, tail down.
And so the big Naga scoops Pierce up in her arms, and carries him past the others towards the back room - probably expecting some special attention from him.
"It has to be the venom. It makes me confused!" Pierce thinks as he's carried off to almost certain scaley doom. Or at the very least, a fate of smelling like a reptile for some time after!
The only sign of Tulani in the nest room is her tail poking out from a pile of blankets. Pierce is set down, and Sephia produces a fancy wooden case covered in Imperial designs which she presents to the cheetah.
Pierce's brow rises. He has no idea what this is! But, curiosity killed the cat, so he accepts the odd case and carefully opens it.
There a pumice stone and some very exotic looking cleaning tools. For the teeth, maybe? Even Zolk cloths of varying coarseness. Sephia is stretching herself out on the floor now. "Groom me," she hisses.
"I don't know how," Pierce ends up signing, but he seems determined to try and learn anyway. Some he is certain are for cleaning the scale lines, and proceeds with those first; careful to never pull up a scale that far to clean around it. This is ... slow work, to be sure; and it is soon followed up with the cloths. They start coarse and move to finer and finger feeling material as this he is sure is for polishing scales.
The cloths also have varying effects on Sephia, as her scales move as if she can feel the textures. Smoother clothes make the ends rise up a bit for easier cleaning, and are very good around the smaller scales in her sensitive areas. It's a wonder that Nagas can feel anything at all through their armor - so maybe it's some friction of static effect that the cloth induces.
Pierce continues work, paying close attention to the way the naga reacts. His behavior is ... rather doting; not dissimilar to the way Scourge reacts to Gorphat; its mother. Cleaning under each and every scale is a chore, but the savanite does it. He also has to resist the urge to lick, but he manages since he can taste blood still now and then. A bit into it all, he purrs at her, too.
"You are very good," Sephia says. "I will teach you more, too."
"To be a perfect naga servant?" Pierce ends up signing before returning to his work ... and purring. It also gives him a good chance to really learn naga anatomy in even more detail. His conclusion ... it is very alien!
"To be the best personal sSservant to anyone," Sephia notes. "That isss how you advance as a slave - you trade up your ownerss. The besSt slaves go to the besst masters."
"And you believe that is Naga?" Pierce inquires in sign. Onward he works, now working around her neck and terrifying jaws. He's gotten to know naga fangs more than he ever thought he would.
"There are Naga mastersss here in Babel," Sephia rumbles, pleased with the work around her head. "The slavesSs in the Empire were freed. Only here can Naga have Savanites as slavesSs."
"I suppose I would be a popular catch for them, then," Pierce signs as he gently grooms the scute-scales under the naga's chin and down her chest. He's not quite following any pattern; more he moves around as he learns each tool to experiment further.
"For a wealthy woman, Ssssertainly," Sephia claims. "Or a man, who has a harem to sService."
"Maybe my Mistress could lease me to these Naga for more income," Pierce suggests jokingly in sign. He;'s now very gently working over her face; and those terrifying unblinking eyes!
"I am happy with MissTress Helssse," Sephia notes, just in case she was giving Pierce the impression that she was looking to trade up. "I have many Ssskills. I wasss a personal ssurgeon to a Noble house."
"I am happy as well. I just want to be useful. Helse offered to take me if I ever needed a place," Pierce signs. He shifts a bit and is now working on, then down, the back of her head. Rubs of a cloth to lift scales, a gentle cleaning under, then a rub of another to get the scales to lay flat again.
"Sshe resscued me," Sephia admits. "My Masster wasSs wounded, and I could not Ssave him. Hiss wife wanted to have me Ssskinned alive, but Helse bought me away from the family, uSing some trick or owed favor."
"You trust Helse greatly, then. She has seemed to be very kind, though she rarely shows it outwardly," Pierce signs over the Naga's shoulder. "Where was your previous Master?" He works dlowly down her back now. Naga are sure made of a lot of muscle.
"Here in Babel," the Naga hisses, sounding more hissy as she relaxes. "The House is gone with the Boomer."
"Not of the Abbas family, then," Pierce thinks. He signs, "Well, I would have bought you if I could. But then I can't even buy myself." The savanite then playfully taps down her spine before continuing his work. At some point he finds his waist encircled bu her coils, but he doesn't try to push her away; he just continues.
"We would all have extended familiesss of slavess if we could," Sephia waxes philosophical. "Who would not wissh to choose their family?"
"Except I chose Gorphat. I must be insane," Pierce thinks and chuffles. No more singing now, because it's time to work on her teeth with those odd picks and cylindrical scrapers. The venom milker tube is also ... quite disturbing.
So the conversation lulls, as Sephia's mouth is occupied by Pierce's fingers for a time. Still, there's something relaxing about dentistry, despite the chance of loosing a digit. At least, until the back pain starts to build: even the long spine of a Savanite doesn't like being hunched over for a long time without moving much.
Pierce has to finally stop and sit back. "I've wondered, to Naga lay eggs?" he signs to the fellow slave. His own recentish experience with being an egg-host coming up briefly.
After working her jaw (which is itself somewhat disturbing on a Naga), Sephia says, "Some do, some do not. Lower.. that is, smaller.. Naga lay eggs, and do not raise the children. Larger types may carry their eggs inside, hatching them internally to give live birth."
"That has to feel weird; carrying eggs or laying them," Pierce signs. He takes a break from the grooming and just relaxes against the serpent for now; which also helps ease the tension in his back.
At least she's plenty warm now, above room temperature. "I have not done it, so cannot say," Sephia notes. "But it cannot be as strange as remaining connected to the child until it is ridiculously large to birth."
"Not something I ever have to worry about, being male," Pierce admits, grins, and wiggles his ears. "And ... what do you think of Babel as a city? It seems like such a mess. Is it worth for people to try and save?"
"I will tell you: it depends on the people," Sephira says. "There are many who want to save it, and will stake their futures on it, such as the Cenestas and the merchants. The nobles are more entrenched, and for Babel to prosper they must give up their own power. The Coalition wants them to do this voluntarily. The people under the Nobles may or may not even know the extent of Babel's damage."
"To truly save it, the people - all of the people - must be willing to fight to do so," the Naga concludes.
"Being a slave, I've heard rumors about things happening in the city. Unnamed people actually attacking long known, but rarely spoken of, evils. I have to wonder why. They are not doing it in search of glory, otherwise the whole city would be talking. Instead, it's all just rumor, but there is evidence of it all. Strange," Pierce signs, then shrugs.
"Such rumors aid the Coalition," Sephia suggests. "The idea that corrupt nobles are not untouchable, or that there are greater forces at work. It weakens the nobles, gives hope to the common and below-common folk. Or at least entertains them."
"Do you believe that one person who cares could make the difference?" Pierce asks.
"I everyone heard and believed them, yes," Sephia concludes. "There would need to be a very good reason though. Do you think this.. clearing of the weeds that choke hope.. is a prelude to such a thing?"
Pierce can only shrug a bit at that. "I really don't know. I've seen a lot of bad. It's hard for me to imagine much good any more," he admits in sign. "Maybe this just requires faith of some sort now."
"Faith is.. tricky," the Naga claims. "After all, the previous ruler, the High Princess, used our faith to try and make herself a goddess to rule over the Sisters."
"One of the rumors is the Barsunala is back. Would you trust someone with that title?" Pierce asks in sign.
"Sunala is the most respected Sister," Sephia says after thinking on it. "She always has been. And the Barsunala is said to be the force that calls forth the spirits of the dead to the Srinalas. It may mean.. that Babel is dying, or that its past is going to be resurrected or.. I don't know. My knowledge of the Heroes and Demigods is lacking. But right now, Mount Sunala is where everyone looks for peace in death or in life."
"If nothing else, Sunala is the most godlike of the Sisters, and certainly the most powerful now."
"Would you trust him though? What if you found out he was a lot like everyone else? What would you do? Would you talk to him? Be afraid?" Pierce asks.
"Talk.." Sephia says, and pauses. Apparently the thought never occurred to her. "Sunala Incarnate sits upon a throne in Her Temple. The Prime Minister - architect of our past, present and future - resides in a tower just across the Plaza. I could not imagine talking to either of them. What would I say? What would a slave that makes other slaves pretty have to say that could interest such a person, divine or mortal?"
"Trust. I have to trust them, because I cannot comprehend the decisions they make," the Naga concludes. "It is the same as asking if I trust the sun to rise in the morning."
"What do you dream of?" Pierce offers in sign. "A question that could be asked, that is. Another is What do you want?"
"Those are rather familiar questions to be asking such people," Sephia says. "Dreams are intimate things, not easily shared. I would be afraid of their answer. Do they even have personal wants? That seems so.. base.."
Pierce shrugs and spreads his hands. "I have no idea. I'm just some slave full of metal and chitin," he signs.
"What do you dream about?" Sephia asks, grinning a bit (which is about all a Naga can really do without gaping). "Am I close enough now that you could tell me?"
"Living a life that had meaning," Pierce answers. "Not just someone who is soon forgotten. Bt, seeing as how I'm a slave, the latter is likely my future."
"How is it different, in the dream?" Sephia asks.
"Hard to answer that, sorry. Words do not do it justice," Pierce claims, shrugs, then yawns slightly. "I just don't want to come to the end of my life and feel like I acocmplished nothing at all."
"You let me mold you into someone who can bring great pleasure," Sephia says, and curls up around the feline. "That is an accomplishment from my perspective. You should rest, and dream."
"I let you talk me into something crazy. I let women do that, it seems," Pierce thinks as he yawns again, his eyes closing. Right now sleep does sound good, and he could use it. The city will become a living Nightmare soon enough.