FFxivWrite Entry #27: Benthos
FFxivWrite 2021 Prompt #27: Benthos tw: suggestive, violence, language The streets of Ul’dah were barely more hospitable than wandering the Sagolii alone, but they were where C’therin had chosen to make her home, if it could be said that she truly had such a thing. Handouts were rare, and it was her policy to never take them. She knew that nothing was truly free, and anything advertised as such must have a higher price than anyone in her right mind would be willing to pay, but sometimes the work she found wasn’t much better.
She couldn’t remember his name, or if he’d even told it to her. She couldn’t remember, and she didn’t care. She had no doubts he hadn’t bothered to learn her name, either. He was little more than a stranger, and she was more than content to keep it that way. She slipped out of the comfort of the inn room bed, grabbing her discarded clothes from the floor and tugging them back on. “Well, assumin’ we’re done here, I’ll be glad t’take m’payment an’ get outta your hair. ‘Less ya want another rrround?” she shot him a challenging grin as he also redressed on the other side of the bed. “Oh, sadly, I think I’m spent… Speaking of spent… You mean you weren’t just having a good time with me, kitty-cat?” C’therin scoffed out a laugh. “Funny joke, but ya know we discussed m’rrrates before this.” He sighed woefully. “But you had a good time, didn’t you? Shouldn’t that count for something? I bought you some drinks. Let’s call it even.” Realizing that he was not, in fact, joking, she felt her patience immediately growing thin, feline ears curving back and her eyes narrowing as she peered at him across the bed. “Uh, yeah, not that good of a time. ‘M worrrth more than a few cheap drrrinks, ya know?” “Are you? All right, all right, don’t get too ahead of yourself. I did give you a roof over your head and a bed tonight. Factoring that in…” She sharpened her glare at him. “Factorrring what in? ‘F ya ain’t noticed, the night is farrr from over, an’ I aint really in the mood for stayin’ for snuggles an’ pillow-talk.” He heaved another large sigh, making a show of patting himself down until he found his wallet, fishing it from his pocket and tossing it haphazardly onto the mattress. “Fine, fine. There you go. Considering everything else, that should be more than fair.” He meandered his way past her and over to the sofa where they had been sharing drinks earlier in the evening. She picked up the wallet, opening it to reveal its contents, no more than a few coins falling out. She stared for some time at the meager sum of gil upon the mattress, then the empty wallet, then back to the man as he searched their emptied glasses and bottles for any remaining traces of alcohol to consume. “Ya kiddin’ me? This ain’t what we agreed on.” He laughed from across the room. “You really thought I’d pay to sleep with your trashy ass? Cheap whores like you are barely worth the booze.” “Uh-huh. An’ ya thought I’d fuck a slimeball like you for frrree? Shut the fuck up.” Tossing the thin wallet aside, she marched over to him to stand in front of him, sizing him up, her black-furred tail swishing in agitation behind her. “Bottom-feeders like you are disgusting. You think you’re getting my hard-earned gil just because you’ll spread your legs for me and everyone else? I’ve got a wife at home--a real lady deserving of my money--and I can’t have her wondering where all my wages have gone,” he snapped, glowering down at the Miqo’te. “Oh yeah? Bold worrrds when you’re the one payin’ t’fuck me, dumbass,” C’therin sneered. Her words must have struck something in the man’s pride, as his expression immediately switched from smug disdain to something far more resentful. “I think you’ve overstayed your welcome, skank-ass whore. You should be grateful I gave you any gil at all. Get out.” He held one of the bottles he’d plucked from the smattering of mostly-emptied glasses and liquor bottles upon the table, his fingers curled tight around its neck. “Oh, I would love to. Once ya pay me what ya owe me, dickhead. Ya better get t’scrrrapin’ up the rrrest of that gil rrreal fast.” She held her own, unflinching against the man’s rage. “You’re not getting a single more gil out of me. I said leave! Bitch!” he shouted and raised the bottle over his head as if to swing it down upon her. The gesture may have only been a threat, but unfortunately for him, that mattered little to C’therin, and she was far faster than he. She caught the bottle, snatching it out of his hands and swinging it back at him. The bottle caught him upon the temple, glass shattering upon impact and he immediately dropped unconscious to the floor. “Serrrves ya rrright, fucker.” Therin carefully nudged him with one foot, making sure he was truly out of it as she watched the blood trickle down his forehead and onto the floor. After eyeing over him for a moment, she crouched down beside his unmoving body, none too gently tugging the golden wedding band from his ring finger and pocketing it before she stood up straight once more. “Now that should fetch me some gil. Good luck explainin’ this one t’your lady-wife. Talk ‘bout a bottom-feeder,” she muttered, moving to collect the pittance of gil from the mussed sheets on the bed before she took her leave, offering a lazy kick against his ribs on her way to the door for good measure. @kitty-ffxiv
