Tea Parties

Tea Parties

Postby catch » Mon Aug 05, 2013 10:03 am

For years, he has lingered in the alley across the way from the tea-house. Glenn had promised to take him, one time. Lifetimes ago. He could have always stood in this spot, between bouts of wood-cutting, his shy eyes taking in with longing the pretty frills and lovely dresses and painted faces. Sluts, he had heard the men say, and they would swat a woman on the rear-padding of their dresses so that they might squeal and playfully slap, or caress a breast pushed up by tight corsets. Perfumes and colors and gentle music.

And now he knew a little better, for sluts were to be had for free, and whores were paid for.

For weeks, Catch has worked his childish way in, what he believed, secret. And Tennant's presence was a constant demand on his mind, a roiling anger in the pit of his belly. Tennant was a friend. Tennant wooed Gloria, and made her laugh and blush, and gave her birthday-dances. He told Catch of spinning cups. And he had been Rhaena-swain, meant to take his horn - his horn!

Constables have asked their questions, and utter silence met his ears. And, like a child, Catch felt a thrill of boldness. Tennant had come to get his horn, and Catch, Catch! had thwarted it. He had tried to seduce Miss Gloria, and Catch would tell her about it, could warn her.

Sluts were free. Whores were paid.

The addled man straightens from where he crouched in the alley, passing his hand nervously over his best, clean clothes. It was one thing to be so recklessly bold, but another to actually go into the place that he had lingered in front of for so long. Pale-brown linen overshirt, with white Gloria-stitched embroidery, was buttoned over an undershirt, and his checkered, grey-and-black town pants were clean of all but the slightest of dust. He ever wore boots, and his feet itched within them, the bindings tight on his ankles.

He took deep, shuddering, frightened breaths, and then, he stepped into the street. He kept his strides as confident as he had seen other men's, and soon - too soon - he was shouldering his way into the tea-house, crowding the door like a brute, blinking to adjust his eyes to the inside.

"I would like tea and whores," he says, too-loud.
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby Dulcie » Thu Aug 08, 2013 4:37 am

A refined ear heard a young man's request for whores and he chuckled to himself quietly, his green eyes sweeping over to the addled man's presence in the doorway, assessing the situation. He himself already had a cup of tea in front of him, and the tending of a woman on his arm, cooing away about how finely he was dressed tonight. As if he would come in anything but his best.

The Councilman smiled to himself and leaned forward to whisper in his companion's ear. She looked disappointed initially, however a second whisper drew a smile to her painted lips and she wandered off to go find another customer. Councilor Berdini however rose to his feet and began to make his way over to the man at the door.

A hand would reach to try to clasp gently on the other man's shoulder, offering him a friendly smile as he spoke in a softened voice, meant only for the pair of them. "So do most men here, but we generally don't announce it as we walk in. Come, join me for a cup of tea and I'll explain how this works. Surely you want to be in good favour of the ladies don't you?"
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby channe » Thu Aug 08, 2013 4:42 am

Behind the back counter, where the dozens of tea-sets are displayed before they go out, Petronela Kaczmarek is filling tea for the girls to take out to the customers. And it's obvious this isn't just a whorehouse; there are people of all shapes, sizes and sexes enjoying the tea and company. But this man, this -- oh, is this the madman her sister told her about? Well, then. She pauses and whispers to one of the ladies. She'll handle this herself. Quickly, she picks up the tray and walks over to where Berdini and Catch are sitting, adding pastries as she goes.

"Good afternoon, Councilor, good sir," she says, politely and smoothly. "Can I get you anything while you are here?"

And please don't say tea and whores, she thinks. It's just not proper. What would my Lady say?
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby catch » Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:24 am

Catch's eyes are greedy, drinking in the opulence, the costumes, the paints and smells, the sounds of gentle laughter and silken skirts, a lute a single-stringed backdrop. No matter his pronouncement, his boldness, the insolence, the dozen-parties full of cakes and silks, he still is very close to turning and fleeing. These were not for him. That has been made clear, in the fear-eyes of ladies and uncomfortable silence of men. Anonymous parties were one thing. But this was the Teahouse, a Fixture that was firm in his mind.

It is Berdini that steadies him, for before he could make that decision, the decision was made for him with a friendly clasp and quiet, private words. Most men. Berdini is a man Catch hasn't met. He is well-dressed, perfumed. He smells of this place. He belongs.

"I was t-t-told th-that's wh-what - what you are, when you are paid for," he says, drunk on the atmosphere and his own daring. Yes, he would go with Berdini. He would sit at the table, an awkward, mountainous man in a polished seat, his head constantly moving, constantly drinking in the teahouse as if it, itself, was a fine tea.

"I'd like the - the ladies t-t-to like me," he does admit. There is Nela, with her tray, and Catch's attention snaps to her, his ruined brow furrowing. If she bent close, to put down her tray, he would lean closer.

"Your worm-sister is g-g-going to burn all the brains to the ground."

His voice was gloating, clear enough. It is unwise, here in front of this Councilor, and Catch now looks at him askance.

"I would like more cakes," he ventures, already reaching for the plate of pastries. He makes an attempt, this time, to nibble with the right amount of daintiness on his, gazing at Berdini with a mingling of trust and wariness. "So. How d-d-do I - I get whores, th-then, if money isn't enough."
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby Dulcie » Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:42 am

"Technically that's true." Berdini said to Catch's recitation of vocabulary as he lead the way to the table. "And perhaps in somewhere crass like a brothel or a whore house it might be appropriate to call a woman such, but I assure you this is no such place."

He waited until Catch was seated, he watched a moment to see if Nela would approach further, trying to give her a look that he had matters under control.

"Ah Lady Petronela, yes, thank you so much for coming over so quickly. I believe we'd like two settings of your pastries and sandwiches and tea of course. And perhaps if you could tell the ladies that my friend and I would like a bit of privacy for the moment that would be wonderful."

Berdini listened carefully to Catch, with all the reverance that one might give a man far above his station, as if he was a little lordling just learning the ways of women and seeking the council of a trusted advisor. Oh Berdini was far too happy to fulfill that role.


"Well my friend, it's a rather complex matter." His tone once again would be low, private so that only Catch could hear. To some the pair might even appear as if they were in the middle of a little affair themselves, one man leaned close to hear the other. "To begin with it's best not to call them whores. The women here are ladies. They serve tea certainly, but any other matters that they attend to with the patrons is their own business, whether coins are exchanged or not. This is no whorehouse I'm afraid, it's a place of class and wealth."

He took a moment to pick up his tea cup for a sip.

"That being said however, even the ugliest of men might find themselves a companion here, if they have enough coin and charm to win them the grace of one of the good ladies." He looked meaningfully at the girl he had been sitting with earlier and she winked and him and offered Catch a little wave of her hand. "Annabelle there certainly seems to like you. That is as long as she doesn't hear you mentioning worms and worm sisters again." He winked and then leaned back a little then.

"But we've truly forgotten ourselves. My name is Stefan. I'm a regular patron here, and I like you was once new to this sort of thing myself. I'm only happy to serve as your guide in this matter. Might I have the pleasure of your name Sir, and perhaps exactly what you're hoping to get from your time here, beyond cakes of course? While I wouldn't recommend exuding your intentions to others, you'll find that I'm a safe place to share your hopes and desires. I won't pass a word of what you share with me to any others. My interest is in helping of course, and keeping the good ladies safe. Annabelle is one of my favorites. Should she favor you tonight I'd want to know that she would be being treated well."
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby catch » Thu Aug 08, 2013 6:15 am

Ser Stefan had many words. They crouched together, conspirators on the going-ons of some grand estate, or the master rewarding a faithful servant, for Stefan looked every inch the Master, and Catch could not help, with his hunched shoulders and plain clothes, looking the servant. Sr Stefan had many words, and though Catch did his best to hold onto them, the sheer excitement of the Teahouse, finally the Teahouse, caused him to jig in his seat like an impatient boy, fingers gripping and smoothing the knees of his town-trousers. Catch licks his lips - a place of class and wealth! - and he swells, a little, in his pride. Yes. He was worth class and wealth. There were a few stares, but they all moved like a well-oiled piece. They did not try to ignore him, or flinch away from his touch or his grasp. They looked at him, and Miss Annabelle even waved at him, and Catch would lift a hesitant hand to wave back.

"She likes me?" he asks, bewildered. But why shouldn't she like him? Catch steals another look, somehow less bold, furtive. She was looking at him, and that was harder to bear, somehow, than the eyes that passed over him, hoping, instructed to not notice. "I like her. Sh-she - she's p-p-painted up like a b-b-butterfly," he adds, shyly.

He will cant his head, and frown a little, but - obedient - he'll say nothing else of worm-sisters to Nela, staring at her pointedly, as if he were the Lord and Nela was an intrusion. He copied Ser Stefan unconsciously, trying to absorb his stance, his cadence, his very way of speech.

"I am a Grand Catch," he says, his bearded chin lifting, and there is something of Stefan in the movement, the suddenly clear, concise speech. "I'm n-n-not ugly -" Aside from the gaping scar - "And I, I have c-c-coin." Catch pulls out of his pocket a scattering of coppers and one, silver sovereign, an embarrassment of riches, cupped there on the table in Catch's broad, hard palm. "And - and I d-d-don't hurt anybody."

Stefan asks what he desires, and Catch licks his lips, his mind suddenly, utterly blank. He does not know how to answer. Because he wanted pretty things? Because it gave him a strange sense of joy, of power, coming to these places and watching people flinch away, knowing that they dare do nothing? Not even the addled man knew, anymore, and he hesitates, his haughty grandeur flickering a candle's light.

"I." He looks at Ser Stefan, in his fine, beautiful clothing, with ladies that knew his name. I was new, once, he said, and now I would be your guide. He tried to imagine Ser Stefan like himself, not a councilor, not a fine, rich man, but as an awkward boy, his fist full of coins. Perhaps announcing himself, as Catch had done.

"I want t-t-to be like you are," Catch says.
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby Dulcie » Thu Aug 08, 2013 6:30 am

The Councilor cast a wink back to Annabelle. Oh there had been promises of coins and such already, but Catch wouldn't know those things. She'd give the pair another smile before she went off to attend to her duties. There would be time enough for her to visit the pair later.

"Of course she likes you. You're a respectable man with coin in his pocket and a good mind for learning the ways of this sort of business. It's my pleasure to meet you Mister Catch. And you are Mr. Catch within these walls. It would serve you not to forget that. Part of being respectable is carrying your name about in a way that demands respect. No one gives you that sort of thing Mr. Catch. It's something that you must presume. Demand even."

He took another sip of his tea and looked at Catch, considering what he had said.

"And why shouldn't you? I have far more than any man truly deserves, why shouldn't you wish for that sort of thing. The truth is, it's quite within your reach. Perhaps if you stopped by the Gilded Lily I could fit you with a proper coat and trousers. Something befitting a man of your wealth." He was already considering it. Oh he had heard rumours about Catch, and this man was a Grand Catch indeed.

"But I'm jumping ahead of myself. Tell me, have you laid with a woman before?"
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby catch » Thu Aug 08, 2013 6:56 am

Mister Catch. The addled man leaned in, the enticements and stimuli of the Tea-house suddenly a backdrop, a non-entity from the songs dripping off of Berdini's lips. Here it was. Everything he wanted. Not just being a Good Citizen, laboring at wood-pile and floors and the flanks of goats, for not even a pittance besides the food and the drink he may have at the Dagger, and the use of his shack, some clean clothes for his asking. Not laying in the dark, listening to the laughter and song of other, smelling the good, thick foods that he could taste only rarely.

You caused this. His broken mind clawed at him. You did this. You twisted Her all up inside, and she twisted up Elliot and Ariane, made Cherny frightened, made Gloria a racket of trouble. It will build, and build, a dome of mind-rape and opression and worship, all the bloodless atrocities swelling until pops, a blister of blood. Catch looks around himself. Right now, everyone was happy. Right now, they sang and danced - danced until all the skin peeled from their feet, until their songs came with tears in their staring eyes, their mouths open for the spiders, head thrown back to a sky slowly being devoured by stars.

What he was and what he wanted warred within him. But - is this not being quiet? Is this not being clever? His face comes back to Berdini, a hopeful face, eyes wide and dark with memories. He could have what he wanted, and then Agnie and Gloria could tell him where to go.

"I am - M-m-mister Catch," he says, stumbling over a word that he never thought would fit with himself. "Mister Catch." More forceful, more confident. "You are - Ser Stefan, on th-the Council. Which p-p-part are you?" An oddly astute question, but Catch feels he must know.

"Oh - I've, I've lain w-w-with women before," he says, with the brightness that suggests that he misunderstands. It is a truth, as well, and not a false boast - for though he misunderstands, there are histories, there is a past, and those brain-bits lay forgotten in the worm-paths. "M-miss Gloria, and Miss G-g-genny, and Lady Lamai, and somet-t-times Miss Airy Ann wh-wh-when she is asleep an d-d-doesn't know I'm th-there -"
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby Dulcie » Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:03 am

"Councilor of the Arts. I manage the Gilded Lily and the other more entertaining affairs of the town." He said with a bow of his head for his new found friend. "It's a position I rather enjoy. I was an Illusionist once, but now it seems that I merely fun the illusions of others. Not that I mind of course."

He sipped at the tea again and listened oh so carefully to the names of the women and the description of how he had laid with them. It was a good thing he was a trained actor.

"Mmm, I see. Well, I fear I might have been misunderstood." The line about Ariane was truly what had given him away. "Now then, if you wish to merely lay with a woman I'm sure that would be easily arranged. There is a certain pleasure to laying with a sweet delicate body in your arms. But I had intended to refer, without being as crass as I'm about to be, have you been with the woman in a sense where you have been within her body? And dare I ask further, is this even something you are seeking?"
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby catch » Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:10 am

Illusions. It was a term that, until the fateful Carnival of the Fiddler, that Catch was unfamiliar with. The gypsy-camp had called it a different name. But Catch knew illusion, now, the way a coin popped out from people's brains, and doves poured from a man's shirt-sleeves. Cherny had called these Illusions, and Catch had found them charming. Catch's natural nature begged to please, even if another part of him denied it, the part that wished to smash cups and take a dainty from a Lady and leave, with a child's mocking sneer.

Instead, the addled man held his teacup, trying to arrange his fingers the way Ser Stefan did. He took a genteel sip, but could not hide the twitch of his features. Dry, boiled grass. Even after that childish spasm, he took another sip, gulping it down like a hero in a tale.

"Oh," he says, and he does not blush. But there is more of an understanding, there. "Like a - tea party," he whispers, leaning in close, casting a look at Nela and the skirt-whisking Annabelle. "I. I d-d-don't think I've - I have. Is th-that where there is kissing? Lots of kissing?" His voice yearns for it, but there is nothing like animal lust that should be there, in his innocent eyes. "I know - I was t-t-taught where to kiss ladies. I th-think. A long t-t-time ago."
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby Dulcie » Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:16 am

He smiled at the man's innocence. Young and not young at the same time. He was rather enjoying this endeavor. There was something so unspoiled about Catch that made this such a worth effort.

"I suppose that might be a name for it. I've heard the people around town making jokes of that sort. I think a term you might like better is 'making love'. Doesn't that sound more pleasant? And yes, it does indeed involve a great deal of kissing. Most ladies enjoy their lips kissed first, however there are a good many other places they could show you that they enjoy the feel of a man's kiss upon."

He'd pause then, letting it soak in for Catch before he continues. "There's a number of options to consider of course, if this is the route you are hoping to proceed down."
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby catch » Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:27 am

Options and routes. Catch caught his lower lip and gnawed on it, an expression he picked up from the past. What if he picked the wrong option? The wrong route? What if Ser Stefan said he could not be a gentleman, told him he must leave, and Catch would be back to scrubbing floors and chopping wood? They were good tasks, and worthwhile, but Catch wanted so much more. Here it was, being offered.

"Kisses - k-k-kisses feel nice," Catch says, awkwardly. "I. I really like them. And, and holding. ... wh-wh-what are my options, Ser-Illusion Stefan?"

And his head is cocked up, as if giving Berdini supplication. The motion was not too far off the mark. Here was a friend who would help him. He could be a gentleman - and how, then, he could help Gloria and Agnie! How, then, he could help himself.
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby Dulcie » Thu Aug 08, 2013 7:39 am

"Of course you do. Kissing is lovely." He said with a smile, nodding his head as Catch asked for the options.

"Well, we could ask Annabelle there to join us and if she likes you, you might ask her to talk a walk with you and she might show you what else she enjoys doing with a man beyond kissing. Or perhaps you'd rather watch another in the act. Or maybe even, you'd prefer that I show you myself. Kissing and affection doesn't have to exist solely between a man and a woman you know. Though I promise no offense if it isn't something you desire. It's certainly not for every man." His eyes twinkled a bit when he said it though.

"I'll let you think about it Mister Catch."
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby catch » Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:02 am

Kissing is lovely, and Catch exhales, unaware that he had even been holding his breath, his lips stretching into a great, delighted smile. He had been half-afraid that Ser Stefan would do as Gloria had done. That he would shout, and wipe the cakes and sandwiches and tea from the table, and cast Catch out as a beast, a monster, and crack his heel into his nose.

You do not kiss. You do not ever kiss -

Ser Stefan said that kissing is lovely. That was something that no-one except Iron Shoes had told him.

"You and - and I, Ser Stefan? I would, I would love t-t-to, b-b-but you are g-g-going to be my - my Master, aren't you? You are g-g-going to teach me things?" A timid question; he must be bold, but he is too afraid of Stefan's displeasure to use the voice of Mister Catch. "And I. I th-think Miss Annabelle is, is v-v-v-very pretty. M-maybe wh-wh-when I am, am more learned in making love."

He parrots, and he does not fully understand. A night of kissing, of holding, sounds marvelous.

Give 'er a kiss, Blondie. Give 'er a kiss, and put yourself right 'ere in 'er. That's a boy!

"Wh-wh-what is th-there, beyond kissing?" he asks, curious. He scrapes his money together, and gazes down on it, trying to remember a strange thought, black-milk thickness against his tongue. "Miss Annabelle and I will, will have a tea-party." There, there is Mister Catch, Berdini's inflection burning in his throat, confidence. He looks to Stefan with mingling challenge and shrinking hesitance.
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Re: Tea Parties

Postby Dulcie » Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:19 am

He frowned visibly at the mention of the word Master and he would shake his head firmly, even going so far as to try to rest his two hands upon Catch's cheeks. A gentle, tender touch.

"No man should be your Master Mr. Catch. I can teach you certainly, but never could I own something so magnificent." He'd lean in then and try to touch his lips to Catch's. It would be only the barest hint of a kiss, a sweep of one pair of lips upon another.

He'd draw back then, whether Catch allowed the kiss or not.

"It's your choice who you wish to teach you things. It could be myself or I imagine it could be Miss Annabelle." He'd say, looking over to watch the teahouse girl who was overseeing the scene with an intense amount of interest and curiousity. "But no matter who you choose, I assure you there is a great deal more you can be taught about than just mere kissing."
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