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Min Li The Immoral Dragon Inn is one of the nicer structures in the Firewander District of Nexus, but that's not saying much. The district is the slummiest of the Nexus slums, so the fact that the Inn looks like it isn't likely to blow over in a stiff breeze or leak during heavy rains is pretty significant among is neighbors, many of which aren't safe to inhabit. Not that it stops the people who live in those haphazard structures.

Inside the air is heavy with smoke, with the combined odors of tobacco, hash, opium, and anything else one might imagine. The floor is covered in sawdust, to help with cleaning up after accidents... of all sorts, most likely. There are people gambling at all hours, and working girls to fill most any tastes are available any time of day for the benefit of any patrons who are interested, and can pay. The Immoral Dragon Inn seems, overall, the sort of place that tries to cater to the needs and vices of all it's patrons, and it does so without trying to hide any of it behind any facades.

It's currently not a busy time of the night, where the people who have work of some sort in the morning have gone to bed and the people who are likely to be there all night haven't gotten drunk enough to become rowdy. Min Li is seated on silken cushions in a corner, where an array of them are been set out more or less in a circle. The area around her is clear, affording her the chance to see what's going on in most of the common area of the Inn, and she's lounging with her back against a wall, her opium pipe in her mouth. There's a handsome young man lounging on the pillows a few feet from her, a gorgeous man of maybe twenty who is wearing nicer clothes than most of the patrons, and who is also clearly out cold. He probably had some of that same opium.

Orchid Blossom Orchid Blossom has made no attempt to hide that she's here to work (at least in part) as a whore, only two of her silken veils adorn her now, a flimsy blue silk wrap about her upper body and the violet silk about her hips. The young woman does still have her lute case slung over her shoulder, swaying her hips as she enters the tavern, making her way quickly to the proprietess.

The Fae-blood pauses, lips pursed as she considers the two men, then setting down hre lute on the floor she sits down onto a cushion. "Madame Min, you said I should seek you out in one of your establishments, is this a good time to speak with you?" The young woman is uncommonly pretty, trusting to the presence of the matron of the house to keep her from getting into trouble.

Min Li Orchid Blossom turns more than one head as she crosses the room. This is a truly seedy part of town, though, and she probably turned no shortage of them all the way through it.

Despite the fragrant, floral haze that hangs in the room from Min Li's pipe, and those of more than a few other patrons, Min Li seems to notice immediately when Orchid Blossom arrives, and her dark eyes follow the fae-blooded woman's progress across the room. Other than her eyes she doesn't move at all until after she's address, but she watches the whole while.

"I remember you." she says, turning her pipe in her hand to point its mouthpiece at Orchid Blossom. "You play quite well, and you look good doing it." She glances at her companions, who are paying no mind to any of this, lost to the opium, and then she shrugs and makes a casual gesture. "Make yourself comfortable, my dear. Push anyone out of the way if you need to. Can I have someone bring you a drink or anything else?"

Orchid Blossom "Thank you for the offer, and for the compliment but I am fine. I look even better dancing than I do playing. I know many traditional dances, and am trained specially in veil dancing." Orchid Blossom gently nudges the unconscious nobleman aside, taking his spot. "Also I can sing all manner of songs, from formal, to bawdy, to all manner of epics. I am more than willing to sell my skills, or my body." She lounges on the cushions not far from Min Li, not a hint of a blush coloring her cheeks. "Does your tavern here have men who can afford the likes of me, or should we speak of your other establishment?"
Min Li "Suit yourself," Min Li says with a casual shrug, like Orchid Blossom is missing out, but it's no skin off her back if she doesn't have to give away free stuff. She puts her opium pipe between her lips, slides down in her seat against the wall a little, and listens as she inhales slowly.

She speaks normally as she exhales the smoke again, and it billows around her lips and nostrils. "Most of the people who come in here can't afford you, but enough of them can, and the ones who can tend to have... coarser tastes. They don't look for circumspection, like my patrons at the House of Cherished Coral do." She lifts her left hand with a fluttering gesture of dismissal of the question. "You can make good money at either place, I'm sure. It just depends on how discreet you can, or want, to be."

Orchid Blossom "If I get to pick which men get to rent me, the coarser the better." Orchid Blossom stretches. "I take it if I am to work at the House of Cherished Coral then some level of discreetness is required, but here I should put all my wares on display, is that correct?" The Fae-Blood woman adjusts her position on the cushions, knowing that even now some patrons are watching her posterior. "May I ask, what percentage of my price would the house be taking, and do you give your whores Maiden Tea?" Her eyes are wandering over the two men resting near Min Li.
Min Li "That's correct," Min Li replies simply, since that's a succinct summary. "We don't have many restrictions on what behavior we do and don't allow here at the Immoral Dragon Inn, with a couple of exceptions. If you drive away business, you go, and if you get caught violating the strange regulations Nexus imposes on those of us who live here, you're on your own dealing with the consequences." She shrugs and admits, "it rarely comes up, and the rules apply to the customers as well as to the staff. I do look after my people too, so if someone crosses any lines with you then you let me know, and I deal with them."

She leans over and sets her pipe aside, then folds her hands in her lap and turns back to Orchid Blossom. Despite her reputation, the place, the opium she has been smoking, and everything else, there's a serenity to her that doesn't quite fit. "I usually ask a cut of just five percent for those who aren't in need of maiden tea, or who prefer for whatever reason to come by it themselves. If you need it, I can either acquire it and sell it to you for what I paid, or you can give me fifteen percent."

One of the nearby men rolls over and mutters something, but he never quite makes it all the way back to consciousness.

Orchid Blossom Orchid Blossom purses her lips. "I'm not too sure about the strange laws of Nexus, perhaps you'll have to warn me there, or have your bouncers from the city keep me aware. But what would you say to giving me a sufficient overdose or maiden tea to render me sterile, then taking half of my first month's pay?" The young woman raises a hand and wafts away a trail of blue opium smoke, trying in vain to clear the air between herself and Min Li. She lifts her hand to her face and then blows a kiss to a particularly handsome man to somewhat conceal the wafting.
Min Li Min Li laughs, a sound that burbles musically in her throat, and replies, "the laws are truly bizzare, but enforcement depends a great deal on where you are and who is around to see. It's illegal to eat alone after dark, for instance." She makes a gesture to indicate the inn on the whole. "Few people do it, because it's not worth the risk of getting caught, but I've never had someone in either of my establishments be charged, and I've had plenty eat alone."

She quiets to consider Orchid Blossom then, tilting her head a little. "You're sure that you wish to do that?" she asks, no judgement or disbelief in the tone, just the question on its own. "If you're certain, then I'll take that deal."

Orchid Blossom Orchid Blossom shrugs. "Well there are benefits to being barren. But then there are benefits to taking small doses of Maiden Tea as well. I never know if a young nobleman might want a wife, and that would rather spoil that. I suppose some might even want a Mistress to put a bastard in. What would you do in my place?" She moves her hand in front of her belly in a half-circle. "I don't know that I can afford to be out of work for the nine months I would not be able to perform for. I hear that slavery is illegal in Nexus, or some nonsense like that, so I can hardly end up in the harem of a handsome, depraved nobleman."
Min Li Min Li blinks at the question and answers, "I'm not certain, to tell you the truth. I've never been in your position. I've lived most of my life knowing that my breeding, and my ability to bear children who might carry on my breeding, are some of the most valuable assets that I own." Given how clearly potent the blood of the water dragon is in her veins, she could likely marry astoundingy well for an Outcaste crimelord, likely into one of the Great Houses of the Scarlet Empire. "My views on the value of a fertile womb aren't likely to be applicable for your situation, though."

She tilts her head thoughtfully, though her eyes are still a bit glazed over from the opium she had been smoking. "I have seen a baby ruin the life of more than one girl who thought she wanted it," she admits. "I've seldom seen it be an improvement."

Orchid Blossom Orchid Blossom gives a curt nod. "I imagine that few would want to have more of my breeding about, myself included. Unless you've clients who want to breed with one of your whores, the maiden tea seems prudent. And if they want to do that, they have to pay cost. But to the matter at hand, which of your establishments will I be better for? Here, or the House of Cherished Coral? I am willing to work at either."
Min Li "Why don't we start you here," Min Li says, rising easily from her seat and gesturing for Orchid Blossom to follow her. "I'll give you the tour, and show you the room that you can use as your own for now if you wish. It might be good to have a quiet, safe place to recover when you overdose on the tea, anyway."