"Fookin' gorgeous!" Tauli announced for the ninth time, crushing the red gemstone between her teeth with a deep moan. The exaggerated sound made Skip look away from her politely, as he failed to know what was right and proper in response.
She grinned, grabbing his arm and leaning up on her shrunken tippytoes to give a slobbery smooch to his cheek, "Ta, Skip. I been missin' dis shit. Ya wouldn't believe what dey try 'n charge me fa it."
She got a nose-full of his smell as she did it, and recoiled, burying a gag. When he had said he couldn't reveal what kind of exotic he was, she'd figured he was just being polite. He seemed like he was ashamed of not being a pure breed, which made a little sense.
There were three kingdoms competing for land and resources. Hers, and two others. A lot of people were caught in the crossfire, but well-spoken ones were a rarity. The only kinds of those were lords and their houses, coming down from the west and the mountains. Crossing the desert for a second chance at life. The Aspen king had decided to purge his upper echelons of impurities. Few of his refugees survived the brutal crossing, but she was fairly certain that Skip was one of them.
He gave her a polite smile, "So what do we do next, my enigmatic friend?"
"Friend 'n all." She smiled to herself, imagining her mother's horror at her playing at equals with a commoner. "I wassa thinkin' I needs ta tell ya beggar lord ta fuck off, in person. Clear things up afore dey go sideways on us, 'n shit."
"Oh."
She leaned into his shoulder, tipping her head sideways. "Eh, better ta get these t'ings done. Den we can play. Wanna go skinny dippin' off Goerdon's Cliffs? Dat sounds like a whole mess o' fun."
Skip nodded glumly, clearly distracted by the first task. Too distracted to think about her inflatable breasts in the sea. She wasn't sure why it was important he think about her that way. She still didn't want to bed him. Yet... It was. It was important to her that Skip see her as all woman.
She slipped her fingers through his and briefly squeezed, "So which do ya owe? Cowan or... Whatsdafucker... Tatch?"
"Newly arrived." He whispered, "A refugee."
She shrugged, "So are da ot'er two. All da fookin' assholes be foreign imports 'n shit. Buuut... Impirtant ta ma dat... Ya t'ink I'm cute. So would ya mind waitin' fa ma?"
Skip breathed a sigh of relief, "Sure... Um... Where?"
"'Board da Briney works fa ma." She said happily, leading him down towards the port. The ship in question was one that the survivors had arrived on, two years ago. They'd set up the reception for the rough bar in one of the bedrooms, and hadn't bothered to re-float it. The bottom deck was still flooded, but the squatting owner had turned that into a siren dive.
She made sure to go with him, let the staff know whose property Skip was. The halfelf girl on reception greeted them excitedly, "Tauli! Been a hot minute since I saw you last, doll. Couple kegs?"
"Noaw." She shook his head, and leaned her head into her boy, "Dis is Skip. I mades a friend! Just needin' a place ta stash him. Keep him outta da bottom deck, eh?"
The woman giggled, "Of course. He's a right cutie. Why don't you come with me, Skip? We've got some decent mead, and some rat skewers if you're feeling a little bit mad. Our food sucks."
Tauli kissed his cheek, lingering as she felt like her heart was breaking, "Donnae go 'n forget ma, Skip. I'll be back afore soon."
"I didn't tell you which -"
She shrugged, "Newly arrived? Ya's gotsa be talkin' 'bout Regius. Don't worry so much 'bout ma. Just watch out for Karliah, she's a devil in bed, 'n a witch ta gets ya there."
The elf's ears flushed in embarrassment, "Tauli! You can't call me a slut in front of everyone!"
"Did I?" She replied innocently, "I woulda thought it a compliment 'n shit. Nevermind. You two have fun, but not too much, gots it? He mine."
Karliah giggled again, "Gods you're cute when you have a crush, Tau."
She rolled her eyes, and the axomander left. She had little doubt the elf would succeed at screwing the man. There weren't a lot of people uninterested in the mythical grace of an elf in bed. Skip hadn't seem disinterested, either. Didn't help that Tauli was still sending mixed signals.
As she expected, when she exited the Briney, there were two thugs waiting for her. They were polite, and made no threats. Reluctantly showing her a modicum of respect as they invited her to speak to their boss about sorting out the disagreement.
She went willingly.
The human had set up in one of the tinker towns. A bunch of homebuilt shacks on the edge of town, mostly metal and sheets. The result of the end of the last war between the kingdoms. The military had gone from needing a hundred thousand artificers to less than twenty. Most of the people here resented her existence, even though few of them would recognise her.
Tauli was led into a particular shack with guards stationed outside. Inside, was a desk and a simple bedroll. Lying on the bed, uncovered but facing away from her, was a toxic. A slimegirl, rare and beautiful, but always so vulnerable. It hurt her to think the woman owed the beggar lord anything.
The man himself was seated behind the desk. He was wearing two leather belts around his chest, but nothing else apart from cheap pants. Proudly displaying the brand on his right pectoral that said that his house had been disbanded, and that he was no longer to be considered titled. Except you can't just order ten generations of loyalty to disappear. People didn't work that way.
