you get what you give, so give goodFor some reason that not even Nova could comprehend, she wasn't feeling up to being in her own house tonight. A part of it was probably a result of her loneliness, and another part was just a result of pure boredom. The shop didn't need her tonight, so she took it upon herself to have a little bit of fun.And what better way to do that than to go somewhere that promoted sex?Nova was feeling a little wild tonight. She supposed she could stay the night in one of the rooms. But what was she in the mood for, exactly? She was feeling a little submissive, which was rare for her. Usually, with her role as a mistress, Nova was a dominant figure, in and out of the bedroom. What was the harm in changing that for just one night, with a complete stranger?No guilt, no strings. She could handle that.Nova had booked a room before her arrival, but before making any requests, she decided she would take some time to get accustomed to the place. Maybe she'd make a call in a little bit.She got changed into something a little more on the sensual side before she sat on the bed. It was practically a suite. Nice as it was, there wasn't a whole lot to do with it for as long as she was by herself.|OUTFIT|

Because of Faythe's good behavior, and the fact that she had a job coming up, Gretchen had given the girl the evening off from any duties so she could work at her job. Of course, the girl had been more than grateful, and had treated her to a long, steamy make-out session before leaving for work. The thought of it now brought a smile to Gretchen's lips.

Of course, the job had wrapped up early, and Gretchen had always found that killing was a major aphrodisiac to her. Still, she had given Faythe the night off, and Gretchen took great pride in keeping her promises. She had decided that the second best option was to find a slave at the pleasure resort to service her. She could also relax and unwind there…not that she couldn’t do that at home, of course.

She was carrying a glass of champagne in her home and opened the door, to see another woman in the bed. Had her request simply been anticipated? She glanced at the room number and saw she had opened the wrong door.

“Oh, sorry,” she said apologetically, beginning to close the door. Then the face of the other woman registered and her face lit in recognition. She knew Nova- she had ordered some merchandise from the store the woman worked at. “Nova! Good to see you! Do you mind if I come in?”

you get what you give, so give goodNova nearly leaped out of the bed in surprise when the door opened. She hadn't asked for any service yet, and she hadn't really even thought of ordering any. Still, she couldn't say she was completely disappointed about the intrusion. The woman on the other side of the door was a rather good-looking one - enough that she could say she was glad she hadn't locked the door.However, it seemed that this intruder recognized her; Nova couldn't say she shared the familiarity, and she felt guilty for it. She knew a number of people in the business she worked in alongside Dexi, as well as in the black market, but she was admittedly poor with remembering names and faces."I'm sorry," she said as she rose to her feet, not really worried about her attire being as exposing as it was. "I'm afraid I don't exactly recall... Where do you know me from?"|OUTFIT|

Gretchen could understand Nova's response. Most people would be jumpy if a stranger walked into their private room, and Nova, being someone who worked on the black market, had to be extra jumpy. Gretchen didn't want to frighten the other woman- and she held up a hand as she began to back toward the doorway.

Nova then got to see something few people ever got to see- a Valkyrie blushing in embarrassment. "Sorry. It's Gretchen. You helped me- ah, regarding some merchandise I was looking for. Guns and accessories? I'm sorry, I have a room right next door and I must have gotten the number wrong."

you get what you give, so give goodWhen the intruder began to explain herself, Nova's tense muscles began to loosen a tad. Sure, she was a little high on her toes, but she had to be, didn't she? She was a part of a business that was rather dodgy, and like other businesses that she knew of, it could cause a good amount of controversy, and she couldn't afford that.If the wrong people found out too much about the black market, she was fucked, suffice it to say.However, there was familiarity in the woman as she clarified that she was a customer. The purchase was made about a week ago, and Nova felt a little embarrassed herself for not remembering right away. Now, however, she did.Better late than never, right?"Ah, yes," she said, straightening. "I remember now. Sorry for the reaction, I was just a little surprised." She cleared her throat. "You don't have to leave. If you'd like to stick around, I have a bottle of wine chilling in the kitchen."|OUTFIT|

Gretchen was a bit uncertain at first whether she should accept or decline the invitation. "You're sure?" she asked hesitantly. "I don't want to be a bother." Her body relaxed when the tension came out of Nova's body.

Valkyries were normally not big into alcohol- being supernatural killing machines, they tended to be wary of anything that could compromise their reflexes and coordination. Still, the wine was a gift of a hostess displaying hospitality, and she wouldn't refuse a little bit of it.

"Wine sounds lovely," she said. She sat herself down on a sofa. "I promised my slave a night to herself- not something I would normally do, but she's very trustworthy. So here I am."

you get what you give, so give good"Not a bother at all," Nova said with a genuine smile. After she offered the wine, she noticed a moment of hesitance from the fellow mistress before she finally accepted, sitting down on the sofa before the television, which was currently displaying the local news. The volume, however, was low, so it provided no distraction to any conversation the two ladies might have.As she went to retrieve the wine just in the other room, Gretchen was still in sight, and she could hear her loud and clear explain leaving this night to a loyal slave of hers. Nova came back into the sitting room, holding the unopened bottle of Catavino's red wine."Sounds like you hit the jackpot, then, if you can leave her alone and unattended," she said, slightly curious. Nova didn't think she could ever leave a slave at home, or at least not without some sort of security watching over the house.She poured the wine into the glasses a bit more than half way, and she handed one to Gretchen first before sitting down next to her. "I'm currently without slaves," she told her. "Just trying to focus on my jobs, for the time being."|OUTFIT|

Gretchen glanced at the news briefly before Nova returned. She offered a smile and took the offered glass of wine. Sipping at it, she smiled. "Yes, I have. Security for slaves can be rather expensive. I tend to put one of those- what do you call them? The GPS monitors mounted on the ankle that they use to track sex offenders? Anyway, I put those on any slaves I think may be flight risks. Sometimes I tell them there's an invisible tripwire on the property that will cause the bracelet to explode if they go too far off the lawn." She chuckled. "Every one I tell that to suspects it's bullshit, but no one wants to call that bluff.

"One of my most willful slaves was a human male," she recalled. "He did everything he could to frustrate me. I finally asked him, 'what's so bad about being a sex slave to a beautiful woman?' He replies, 'I'm not into women.'" She gave another small chuckle- that one had really caught her by surprise.

Gretchen didn't buy that Nova was without slaves just so she could focus on work. "Well, I can offer my Faythe to you if you ever want to borrow a sex slave," she said. "She's very talented, if you're into girls."

you get what you give, so give goodWhat she said was partially true. Nova had a lot on her plate at present, with two jobs keeping her rather busy. Sure, she could afford a slave or two, but was mostly waiting for the right one to come along. She wasn't about to buy just any slave and hope he or she would adapt. There was a chance of losing a great deal of money, and that was something Nova could not afford.Gretchen talked about a slave she once had that was completely stubborn to her advances. This actually didn't surprise Nova. Of course, this fellow mistress was a lovely and attractive woman, but that didn't always win over a man, especially if he had a sense of pride. There were some males that despised the idea of being controlled by a woman. Some acted on that spite.Nova just shrugged slightly, unsure of how to respond, but not wanting to correct the woman, either. Then, Gretchen offered her slave, which did strike the demoness with a bit of surprise. Some masters never wanted to even dream about sharing their slaves. Apparently, Gretchen wasn't much of the jealous type, and nor was she too possessive of her slaves. Nova partially felt this was a bit of a mistake on the Valkyrie's part."You should keep your slave as close to you as possible," she suggested. "Sharing her with other masters might give them the impression that they can have her at any time. That can be dangerous, especially if she's as good as you say she is."|OUTFIT|

Gretchen smiled slightly as Nova spoke, as if something the other woman had said amused her. "Oh, I'm very careful that people understand the terms under which I'll lend a slave to them. And I've learned to be a very good judge of character.

"You know why that is, Nova? Well, when I was much younger then I am now, when I was but a child, humans owned and enslaved other humans simply because of the color of their skin and other odd things." She waved her hand dismissively. "Some countries and individuals found it immoral, of course. Anyway, I made the mistake of loaning a family slave to a friend who I trusted. The slave was returned late and horribly scarred. My battle-sisters beat me, telling me I had shamed our clan. They made me capture the offending friend and told me to skin her alive."

She gave a predatory smile. "It was actually quite fun to do once I got the hang of it. But I learned a lesson from the experience, my sisters made sure of that. They made sure the pleasure of bloodlust did not take away from my pain- for weeks after the incident I was forced to suffer every punishment they could think of."

She sipped some more of her wine. "Now I keep a close eye on any slave I loan, and yes, it's very infrequent that I loan a slave." She smiled. "But thanks for your concern. You sure you don't want to try the girl out? She's lovely and quite talented."

you get what you give, so give goodNova didn't entirely agree with Gretchen's beliefs, but she listened anyway, raised to show respect to fellow masters even if she didn't see eye-to-eye with them. Perhaps Nova just felt that sharing slaves wasn't worth the cost of them. It wasn't just judge of character or being careful. It was a matter of what a slave being owned meant to a master.Sure, some might have gotten off on it, and whatever rocked their boats, really, but Nova saw it differently.As Gretchen told her story about a friend she had let a slave borrow, and the following consequences she had to accept, Nova wasn't the least bit frightened by the details. After all, as a demon, she had done her share of torture tactics, as well."But thanks for your concern. You sure you don't want to try the girl out? She's lovely and quite talented." With the conclusion, Nova responded with a faint smile. She wondered why Gretchen seemed so eager to let her borrow her slave. Was she trying to brag, or was she just the type who liked sharing?"Maybe sometime down the road," she said, choosing to be humble. If the Valkyrie truly was this comfortable with lending a slave, Nova was beginning to feel that declining would just be rude.|OUTFIT|

There was an implicit threat in Gretchen's words, but if Nova heard it, she didn't seem offended or frightened. Then again, she was a demon, and many demons respected a show of strength as much as a Valkyrie.

Humans feared demons, and rightly so, but Gretchen had no quarrel generally with such creatures. True, they had their own rules and sense of morality, but she was not silly enough to enter into a foolish bargain with a demon. Humans who made such regrettable errors had no one to blame for their stupidity but themselves.

The implicit threat might have been uncalled for, but Gretchen cared for Faythe. Yes, she was willing to let other people use her, anyone who took advantage of her generosity...well, she was more than willing to make an example out of such people.

Gretchen wasn't an expert at socializing, but she could tell that Nova's reply carried a hint of a polite refusal. She was fine with that. She began searching for some other topic of conversation.

"So....umm....how did you get involved with the black market? Was it the family business, or did something attract you to that line of work?" Gretchen blushed slightly, unsure of herself...she wasn't good at small talk. She was used to doing most of her talking with weapons.

you get what you give, so give goodThe topic eventually took a shift in direction, moving onto how Nova got acquainted with employment in the black market. Truth be told, she hadn't been a part of the hidden community for very long at all, but some said that once you were a part of it, you weren't able to get out of it.Some fragments of the trade were very serious. All sorts of strange things - artifacts, drugs, rare items, even slaves, passed through the black market, so much that most people had no idea existed. However, all employees were sworn to keep their business within the business. It wasn't to be discussed outside of the shops - one of the reasons why Nova was a little hesitant to answer Gretchen's question."My father was a long-time patron of the market," she said. "He had a good friend that was able to hook me up with a long-lasting job, that's all." That was the truth, but she wasn't even going to begin to explain the official meaning of 'long-lasting'.Taking another sip of her wine before filling up both of their glasses again, Nova then decided to flip the question back to her. It wasn't often that she learned about what her customers did for a living. "What about you?" she asked. "I know you're a Valkyrie, and you're a warrior, but what do you do to make a salary?"|OUTFIT|

Gretchen nodded to indicate Nova had answered her question with a satisfactory amount of detail. She hadn't been expecting Nova's life story. If there was anything that Nova didn't feel comfortable adding about that story, it was understandable- they weren't bosom friends at this point, and didn't everyone have the right to a few secrets?

"I'm a mercenary and assassin. Fortunately, I have enough of a reputation that I don't have to perform jobs that I find unsavory and beneath my skills. My battle sisters helped vouch for my competence as well, and I suppose I owe them a debt for that."

"Personally, I prefer true battle to the skulking about of assassination, but sometimes one needs to compromise. For most of my life, many human cultures have considered warfare to be the domain of men. Even with talents such as mine, men were reluctant to hire me on as a mercenary. The profession of an assassin, however, harbors no such sexism- it only requires an aptitude for stealth and violence."

you get what you give, so give goodAs Gretchen explained her own duties, Nova nodded in silence. She supposed she could understand that men were a little hesitant about allowing women to be mercenaries, especially if they were powerful enough. They were typical like that, afraid of being put to shame by a female.Nova could have rolled her eyes at this. She couldn't relate, no, but she knew that if she could, she would really put men to shame."Of which I'm sure you have mastered," she said with a small smile. As a demon, it was normal for Nova to feel a little enticed by the idea of violence. She had always been that way, as it was in her blood.Nova didn't want to admit it, but she was starting to run out of things to say, which was why she occupied her hands by filling up both of their glasses again. "Do you ever get bored of it?" she asked her.|OUTFIT|