Making my way back towards the front to find Heather, I found myself humming quietly as I realized that this was bringing me another step closer to having another extremely~ fun thing to do now; running a club and having an excuse to have even more sex than normal as I auctioned off the privilege of laying in bed with me to make buckets of money.
When I had the contracts for a bunch of sex slaves acquired, I could start training them to be even better at pleasuring their partners while also getting them more accustomed to the rapid switch of partners, though I made sure to ask Heather to get a bunch of contracts of people who enjoyed having sex often and not people who took the sex slave contract simply for the reduced time on said contract.
As I was making my way back I paused when I heard a loud, crisp smack echoing through the halls, and it wasn't followed by the moan of pleasure one would expect from the people here; peeking around the corner, I saw Heather standing above Tuzi, the Hawkkin looking down at the Rabbitkin with cold eyes.
Tuzi was staring at the wall in shock as she held her cheek, while Heather slowly lowered her hand before hissing "What the hell did I say earlier, Tuzi?! Keep your hands away from my shit! Stop touching what isn't yours!" as she yanked something free from the Rabbitkin's grasp.
The taller Hawkkin protectively clenched her fingers around whatever it was that she had taken back from the Rabbitkin, and now that she had not only been slapped but also had her 'stolen' prize taken from her, Tuzi turned tail and ran away, rushing by me with wet eyes.
Heather just watched her go before gritting her teeth as she stood there silently, though her eyes eventually fell to the hand that likely still stung a little from slapping Tuzi; those ambers were complicated as she looked at her hand, and she didn't react to me quietly stepping around the corner until I was right beside her.
"Miss Astra... sorry about that."
I just nodded, staring at her silently and watching as she unfurled her fingers to reveal a pendant that was hanging on a tattered leather cord, the Hawkkin looking it over before she stuffed it into her pocket.
"I told you before that she just can't help it, right? Little bitch needs to put her hands on everything... that's part of the reason I've kept her contract from being bought, honestly. Yeah, she killed some people, but from what I've seen and heard from her that story is complicated. Doesn't make her not guilty though..."
Sighing, Heather leaned against the wall and glanced towards the hallway Tuzi had run down, her lips pursing into a thin line before she looked back at me and added "I just have a feeling that if she goes to a Noble or someone rather... unhinged, the first time she takes something she isn't supposed to, the result will be worse than just a slap. I don't want the bitch to die..."
She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out another sigh as I asked "So... why don't you buy her contract out then? Clearly you care for her.", to which the Hawkkin looked at the ceiling before she said "I might just, Miss Astra... I might just."
"What did she take to make you so angry though..? Did she know it was important, or..?"
Heather chuckled wryly at that and shook her head, her eyes holding amusement as she looked over at me again, this time saying "You trying to play therapist here or something, Miss Astra? Fine, I'll play along. Yeah, I told her it was important, didn't say what it was though. My little sister made that for me right before she passed. I have dozens of them in my room, each of them made from shitty leather, cheap beads and random fucking pebbles she had found whenever she was outside."
Even though her words became increasingly crass, the Hawkkin's visage was soft as she knocked her head against the wall, returning her gaze to the ceiling as she continued on in the same voice.
"Our Dama split off from our Mama, who whored herself out for the fun of it. Left my sister - half sister, technically - with me, and I was made to watch as an illness took her early. She liked using her hands for anything; cooking, cleaning, creating... those pendants were her favorite thing to make. Used to berate me whenever they broke when I was fighting. One day I came home and... yeah.
Sorry to just dump it, but fuck... you asked me a question, and that's the answer. These shitty fucking pendants are worth more than gold to me, and I've made that abundantly clear to Tuzi. Might not have told her the same story, but I certainly conveyed the importance. That's the gist of it, really."
Pinching the bridge of her nose again, Heather sighed once more before standing up fully as she said "Alright, let's go do some business. You want those contracts, right? You can go over them at your leisure while I hold down the counter. I presume Lady Duchess is back there talking to the workers?"
The switch from her trauma to business was quick, and while I felt like I could certainly help her through some of that, I just nodded and walked behind the Hawkkin as we returned to the front, where we found a few people waiting to talk to someone about acquiring some slaves.
Some raised a brow when we returned together, and others seemed hopeful that perhaps there was a way to lower the cost of their purchases by pleasuring that Hawkkin as they watched me sit down and flip through many different pages, which I found rather amusing since I knew Heather would likely accept some 'bribes' to lower the price.
As I read the contracts I realized her trick was to overprice these contracts and lower them down to be the usual price, maybe a little lower after getting what she wanted from that person; it was a slick and slimy move, but one I could respect, especially since I had a feeling I could get a proper discount when this was all done.