To say things are awkward when you meet Emerald at the breakfast buffet is to put it lightly. She’s clean but quite obviously tired, yawning into her hand and sitting down with a heavy thump. Would it be too trite to say she looks tired? Would it be too uncaring? Or would even apologising to her for this make it worse? Then again, she might see through the apology.
Saying “sorry” usually implies you’re not planning to repeat the thing you’re sorry about, and you’ve already set her up to be railed by another man tonight. At least it will only be one round. You have no idea just how many times she “took it for the team” throughout yesterday.
“I’ve got another actor on our roster and laid some groundwork for Velvet to get better,” you say, as she eats. “I think we’ll be heading towards a more stable financial position soon. We’ve got a video planned tonight.”
“Who?” she asks, between bites.
“You and a man who’s offered to pay for the privilege.”
Emerald pauses, taking that in and silently realising what it means. A man has offered to pay for sex. Before, she could have argued she was sleeping with the manager because there was no other choice. Now, there’s a choice. Not a good one, given how much you both need this to work, but a choice.
Her eyes dip down to her breakfast. In anyone else, you’d see it as a sign of despair, but Emerald looks at her food, cuts a slice of egg, layers it on some toast and takes a bite of both. She chews, savouring the runny oak and the crusty bread lightly touched with butter. Then, she picks up a sausage and takes a bit out of it.
She’s considering the food, you know, and what it means to be able to eat so freely, without fear, and to always have meals like this on hand. Everyone likes to think they’re principled people, stern and firm, uncompromising, but the truth is that most people are afraid of uncertainty.
There’s a reason domestic abuse victims stay with their partners, and unhappy employees let their bosses walk over them, and families stay in a country even when things get worse and worse. Change, and the uncertainty of it, is frightening.
It’s much easier to compromise just one more thing.
Just one more, they might tell themselves. Just this and no further. Just this one small thing.
Emerald is no better or worse than the average person despite her difficult experiences. Faced between saying no and not knowing how you’ll react, or whether you can make things work and support her or saying yes and accepting just one more instance of what happened yesterday, it’s easy to marginalise the latter.
It’ll only be one video.
It won’t even take an hour.
It might not happen again.
But it will. As long as people keep paying, and you know that once she has her toes in the water, she’ll slowly start to dip more of herself in, especially if you continue to sweeten the pot.
“I thought we’d eat out at lunch today,” you say, before she can answer. “You’ve put a lot of work in, so you deserve a reward. I thought we’d have a good meal and then stop by an ice-cream parlour. Have you ever had ice-cream?”
Emerald pouts. “The orphanage didn’t feed us bricks. They bought us ice-cream when they could afford to…” She looks up, and her tongue darts out to lick her lips. “But it’s been a long time since I’ve had any.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go. And maybe get you a hot chocolate fudge cake, too. Spoil you for a change. I want to show you how much it means that you put up with everything yesterday. And what you’ll be doing tonight. How does that sound?”
Emerald smiles. It probably means more to her that you’d make the effort than anything. “That sounds good.”
And she doesn’t even realise she’s let the matter tonight go.
On the way out, you stop to pay 1,750 lien at the front desk, and book yourselves in for another 7 days.
You have 2,317 lien remaining.
But at least that will be bouncing back up over 3k tonight.
Tukson’s bookshop is as quiet as it was the last time you came, but you notice a few empty shelves in the comics section that suggest people have come and gone. You encourage Emerald to have a look around and amuse yourself while you talk to the man himself. Tukson sees you coming, but, to your surprise, crosses his arms and fixes you with a dark look.
“Have I done anything to deserve such a look?” you ask him.
“You tell me, Joker. Have you done anything?”
“I… don’t believe that I have.” Nothing comes to mind, anyway. “But you seem annoyed all the same. Was it about my last video? I know you’re faunus, but that was entirely consensual and—”
Tukson sighs. “It’s about Kali, you idiot.”
Oh.
“Ohhh…”
“Yes. Oh.” Tukson rolls his eyes, uncrosses his arms, and sets his hands down on his counter. “Look, you know I dated her for a while – and you know her daughter comes around here. I’ve had it from both sides. Kali talking about how she has a new boyfriend who’s so much younger, and Blake complaining about the creep taking advantage of her mom. So, I’d like to know, how serious are you about all this? Are you just leading her on for a quick fuck? Because I’ll tell you now, she deserves better.”
“It’s not like I specifically went after her, Tukson. I didn’t even know who she was the mother of until the following morning. I was out drunk, saw her looking lonely at the bar, and things progressed from there.”
“And the boyfriend part?”
“Honestly, I was covering for her in front of her daughter.” And maybe you did it to rile Blake up a bit as well, but that’s not the part he wants to hear. “I promise you there was no nefarious scheme involved. I saw her, talked to her, and she came onto me. Would you turn her down in that situation?”
Tukson sighs. “I guess not.”
“Exactly.”
“But how serious are you about this? Kali is a friend. A good friend. You’re not trying to pull her into your job, are you? Blake will freak, and I don’t think Kali would be all too happy about it either. Does she know?”
“No. It didn’t come up. Don’t give me that look,” you add, seeing him stare. “Her job didn’t come up either. I don’t even know that. We talked, we had sex, and then we agreed to meet up again for a date. I figure I can cover the important topics when both of us are sober.”
He sighs again. “As long as you do. And treat her well, okay? Be honest with her. That woman has a whole lot of love to give, and she’s been alone for a long time. Kept herself distracted from that by looking after Blake, but now she’s flown the coop. I feel sorry for her. I know I’m single, but she’s been happily married. It’s different to lose something you took for granted.”
You know that full well. You took money for granted once upon a time, and the loss of it hurts all the more for having had it. In some ways you think Emerald is lucky because she doesn’t know what it’s like to have had a caring family, or to lose them. All she knows is the effort her orphanage put in, and how cruel the world is to not care about that.
Either way, you’re not going to tell Tukson anything he doesn’t want to hear, so you nod your agreement to take it easy on Kali. It’s not like you were going to walk over, grab her by her neck and demand she star in porn for you anyway. Though, from what you remember of your night with her, she’d be bloody good at it.
Tukson seems to know a lot about Kali, though. He might have some information that would prove useful in getting to know her, or at least in putting in a good first impression. On the other hand, he knows Blake as well, and you could ask about her, making it sound like you want to try and make peace with her “for Kali’s sake”.
It’ll probably come across a little suspicious to ask about both.
>KALI: Ask Tukson if he has any advice about dating Kali.
>BLAKE: Ask Tukson to tell you about Blake.
“Can you tell me a little about Blake and what her problem with me is?”
Tukson raises a single eyebrow. “Asking about the daughter rather than the woman you’re dating?”
“I’m looking forward to getting to know her the old-fashioned way, but I can’t help but think this issue with Blake is going to get in the way of any relationship if I can’t sort it out. I think things would be easier for Kali as well if Blake wasn’t so set against me.”
“Hmmm. You’re not wrong.” Tukson lets the matter go, though whether he’s convinced by your excuse is unknown. “Blake, then. Hm. It’s a tricky one. To understand her, you need to understand that her father, Ghira, was a renowned activist. He led activism toward faunus equality, and a lot of the laws we have today are because of him. Vale even has the Ghira Act, which came into force after his passing. It mandates certain laws involving pay to faunus and safeguards against unfair dismissal.”
Faunus rights, huh? You can’t say you ever understood the discrimination they used to face, but maybe that’s because it was more common before you were born. It makes even less sense when you consider it was a thing when the Grimm were still about, as if people didn’t have a perfectly good common enemy to unite against.
“Was his death… suspicious…?” you ask.
“Impossible to say. He died in hospital. Complications. Nothing about it looked too awkward, and I don’t think Blake believes he was assassinated or anything – though there are definitely some who say so. Really, the main problem was that Kali lost a husband and Blake lost a father. Blake idolised her old man and wanted to be just like him. Course, she found a cause to fight for soon enough. Inequality of another kind.”
“Do you think she picked it just to be like him?”
“Maybe in the back of her mind, but she’s also very much into the cause. Blake’s a smart girl – scary clever, sometimes. Wicked sharp intellect, but quite the temper and she’s stubborn as a mule, and that’s a problem. She doesn’t know when to give up, and she won’t let a matter go once she has her teeth sunk into it.”
You sigh. “Does that mean I’ve no chance of winning her over?”
“You’ve got chances. It’ll just take time. Blake’s temper is a constant, cold thing, with lots of glaring, but she’s not as good at keeping it up as she likes to pretend. She’ll probably fall back on icy disdain and general dislike, but if you match her stubbornness head on then she’ll be forced to deal with you.”
“Anything else I ought to know?”
Tukson thinks. “Blake comes to visit her mother every weekend – to make sure she doesn’t feel too lonely. If you hung around Kali on the weekend, then you’d have a good chance of running into Blake as well. The easiest way to get her to accept you might just be to brute force it. Don’t brute force her, though. Blake will push back against that! Instead, spend time with Kali while Blake is there, and be seen treating her mother right. That’d be the safest way to get her used to you.”
“And if I want her to like me?” You notice Tukson’s eyebrow rising again. “For Kali’s sake.”
“Well, if you want her to like you then you’re going to need to be useful to her. You’re rich, or you used to be, and you’re her natural enemy – but the enemy of my enemy is a friend. If you showed up to her rallies and put some effort in, then she ought to start realising you’re not like the others.” He laughs. “Course, you can fuck that up quickly if you do the wrong thing or say something stupid, but Blake knows her cause isn’t going to do well without help. Offer that help, and be useful, and she’ll be forced to play nice – and it only takes a little time before playing nice becomes actually nice.”
All good advice, you suppose, though Tukson is only considering ways for you to become friends with Blake. There might be many other ways to get her on your side that involve less friendly methods. If Blake needed something only you could give, or if you had some power or authority you could hold over her head, then she’d be forced to play along with you.
And then there’s always the possibility of going to her enemies instead.
After all, the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Tukson said it himself, and Blake isn’t the only one who has enemies. Of course, getting close to those people might be hard, but you could always go to the rallies and hope they take notice of you. You’re intimately familiar with the ways the rich and powerful put down things like these, and they often start by discrediting the ringleader and controlling the narrative through the news.
Just going to the rallies and getting closer to Blake ought to earn you some attention of your own, and the influential people of the city will usually try to solve problems diplomatically before they do so forcefully.
“I’ll keep all that in mind,” you tell Tukson. “I could also use your insight on what’s good for porn right now.”
“Hah. I expected as much.” Tukson crosses his arms again, offering a confident smile now you’re back on safer topics. “You’re right to as well. Tastes change, and they change quick around here. People grow tired quick – and that’s something to keep in mind. Last week’s hot kinks aren’t just this week’s nothing. They’re this week’s boring ones.”
“Are you saying they sell worse?”
“I am.” He nods. “It’s because the market gets oversaturated. Everyone is so busy trying to cash in that they flood the market, and people get sick of it. Give it a week and those’ll even out back to normal, but it might be a good idea to avoid them for this week. No worries about the ones in between. Those will stay about even.”
“Okay. Then what are the ones for this week?”
“Ahem?” He taps his register. “You need to buy something.” He nods behind you. “And you might as well kill two birds with one stone.”
You turn to see Emerald looking at two comic annuals. They’re not magazines, but thick annual ones filled with simple comedy. Children’s funny comics, really, but Emerald has such a huge smile on her face. You stroll over, seeing her holding two. When she notices you coming, she hastily puts them back on the shelf.
“Do you like those?” you ask.
Emerald tries to look indifferent. “It’s not like that,” she mumbles. “They just reminded me of ho— of the orphanage. They had those. Older ones.” Emerald smiles weakly. “They only had a few, and there was always a lot of fighting to see who would get to read them. The matron always had to break it up, and she’d make us sit around while she read it.” Her shoulders relax a little, and her smile becomes nostalgic. “I was never tough enough to get them off the bigger kids, and one day they were ripped up in a fight. Everyone cried.” Emerald snorts. “Me included.”
You can’t imagine what it must be like to fight over a ratty old book like that. You glance at them, and they’re rather large and thick. Hardback too. They’re 50 lien each. Tukson said you need to buy something, but it needn’t be that expensive.
On the other hand, Emerald has taken one for the team, and will be taking a second tonight – and probably many more in the future. Spoiling her… well, can you even call it spoiling anymore? You’re not even paying her, but you’re making her give her body to men who see her as nothing more than a toy.
>SPOIL HER: (100 lien). Buy her both books and encourage her to be more open in the future about things that she wants.
>BUY ONE: (50 lien). Let her choose one of them to buy and tell her you’ll get her the other if she performs well this week.
>LEAVE THEM: (10 lien). You’re in this tight spot because you were frivolous with money. There are plenty of free comics online she can look at.
“Pick which one you like, and I’ll buy it for you. Maybe we’ll get the other one next week.”
Emerald’s eyes light up and she rushes for the books. It takes her an agonising amount of time to choose, indecision naked across her face as she looks at one and then the other. The memories, more than the books, are what matter to her, and you can tell its agonising.
Eventually she picks one, holding it close as she reluctantly puts the other back.
You could easily have afforded both, given you’re selling her for 1,000 lien tonight, but you don’t want to encourage her that much. It’s good to be open about wanting something, but not to expect you’ll get that every time.
Tukson rings your purchase through, and Emerald takes the bag with a content smile. She holds the bag, and the book inside, against her chest, looking for a moment like the child she probably once was. Before you, Tukson makes an affirming grunt. You’ve probably won some points with him as well.
“That was good of you,” he says. “Anyway, the big kinks this week are free use, non-consent, femdom, and public exhibitionism.”
“Non-consent?”
Tukson rolls his eyes. “Fake, again. I hope, anyway. Treat it the same as incest last week – it’s just about the acting. Evolution of rough sex, I guess, and I’ve heard some girls enjoy it as well, though obviously that’s with someone they can trust not to take it to extremes.”
Roleplay, then. You suppose that’s fine. There are enough action movies about murder without people accusing them of promoting it, so you could do a few videos around the subject as well. You’ll just need to make sure everyone involved is on board and aware of exactly where the act starts and stops. Or you could get a slave and throw consent out the window entirely.
That’s probably what a lot of other studios will be doing.
“I take it you’re familiar with the other two,” says Tukson. “Free use is big when the acting is around it being totally ignored or normal. Think a guy just walking up to a girl, pushing her skirt up and doing her while she’s on the phone and she just doesn’t react. As for exhibitionism, it’s all a risk factor. Don’t get caught. I’d say it comes in two flavours, though. The first is like your old video – doing it where you might be caught. That’ll get you a moderate bonus. Still useful, but not as high as the other.”
“The other is getting caught, isn’t it?” you ask.
“It’s being seen but getting caught is optional. And I’d opt into not if I were you.” He chuckles. “But getting seen by one or more people and getting their reaction is a big draw, especially if you capture their reactions before you book it. You’ll get a bigger pay-off for that but be careful.” He holds a finger up. “Oh, and it has to be legit. People can tell when something is faked, so having another of your people just happen to see it and react is going to get called out immediately. You’ll probably lose face for that one. Video will feel super fake.”
There goes the idea of having Emerald gasp and scream off-screen for you. Tukson’s probably right, though, and most of the talent you could ask to act out the role will have been seen in other porn videos. It’ll be a risk, but you don’t have to do anything related to the kink. You can stick to others, or just focus on the other two.
Non-consent might seem horrible, but if it’s acting then it’ll literally be less against the law then having Emerald flash her tits in public. As for femdom, that’s explanatory, and you imagine it’s a direct response to last week’s maledom kink getting stale. People probably just got so sick of it they want the opposite.
“Thanks for your help, Tukson.”
“No problems. And really, do look after Kali, okay? We broke up on good terms and I’m not pulling the jealous ex here. I worry about her, and she doesn’t need you leading her on while you fuck other people behind her back.”
“I’ll tell her the truth. But what if she’s fine with it?”
He shrugs. “That’s her business, isn’t it? I’d rather us all get along, so I’ll be rooting for you that she is fine with.” He offers you a thumbs up. “And hey, Kali isn’t some 18-year-old girl who would get jealous if someone so much as looked your way. She’s a grown woman. Tell her your reasons, tell her why you’re doing this, and she’ll understand. Might not be happy, but she won’t freak out.”
That’s good to hear. You say your goodbyes to Tukson, and Emerald offers her own, in a cheerful mood with her book in hand. You keep a hand on her shoulder as you head for the door.
“Hungry?” You know the answer before she nods. “Well, I did promise you a meal out." As an apology for what she had to do yesterday, and a tacit one for what she'll have to do tonight. "Let’s deliver on that, shall we?”
>SPOIL HER: (50 lien) Take her for a nice lunch, with a proper dessert, and then buy her some sweets that she can save for tonight.
>CHEAP: (20 lien) Fast food and cheap ice-cream will fulfill your promise, and what does Emerald really know of the quality of food anyway?
You decide to spoil Emerald a little and take her to a nicer diner away from the fast-food joints. The food isn’t leaps ahead, but the main thing is that they have a proper desserts menu instead of some crummy ice-cream machine. You even order yourself a hot chocolate fudge cake, eat only half, and push the rest over to her to finish.
You finish off the meal by giving Emerald 30 lien and pushing her toward a children’s sweet shop. It’s a silly place of bright colours and fancy sweets, with loads of kids far younger than her milling outside. You don’t think that will matter.
“That’s your spending money,” you tell her. “Buy as much as you want.”
Emerald stares up at you. “Can I…?”
“Of course.” You give her a little push. “I’ll be on the bench out here. Take your time. I need a break for my legs anyway, and it’ll be at least an hour before our next stop. We’re off back to the electronics store. Figured I’d take a look around there.”
Scout some future investments, check prices, but, most importantly, see how Saphron is doing and whether your review-bombing has had any effect. Emerald rushes off either way, and you sink onto the wooden bench. There’s a stand nearby selling cigarettes and newspapers, and you part with 5 lien to buy today’s copy of the Vale Tribunal. You’re not really looking into any news specifically, but you figure it can’t hurt to keep on top of recent goings on. You crack the newspaper open over your lap and lean back on the bench.
You decide to spoil Emerald a little and take her to a nicer diner away from the fast-food joints. The food isn’t leaps ahead, but the main thing is that they have a proper desserts menu instead of some crummy ice-cream machine. You even order yourself a hot chocolate fudge cake, eat only half, and push the rest over to her to finish.
You finish off the meal by giving Emerald 30 lien and pushing her toward a children’s sweet shop. It’s a silly place of bright colours and fancy sweets, with loads of kids far younger than her milling outside. You don’t think that will matter.
“That’s your spending money,” you tell her. “Buy as much as you want.”
Emerald stares up at you. “Can I…?”
“Of course.” You give her a little push. “I’ll be on the bench out here. Take your time. I need a break for my legs anyway, and it’ll be at least an hour before our next stop. We’re off back to the electronics store. Figured I’d take a look around there.”
Scout some future investments, check prices, but, most importantly, see how Saphron is doing and whether your review-bombing has had any effect. Emerald rushes off either way, and you sink onto the wooden bench. There’s a stand nearby selling cigarettes and newspapers, and you part with 5 lien to buy today’s copy of the Vale Tribunal. You’re not really looking into any news specifically, but you figure it can’t hurt to keep on top of recent goings on. You crack the newspaper open over your lap and lean back on the bench.
You decide to spoil Emerald a little and take her to a nicer diner away from the fast-food joints. The food isn’t leaps ahead, but the main thing is that they have a proper desserts menu instead of some crummy ice-cream machine. You even order yourself a hot chocolate fudge cake, eat only half, and push the rest over to her to finish.
You finish off the meal by giving Emerald 30 lien and pushing her toward a children’s sweet shop. It’s a silly place of bright colours and fancy sweets, with loads of kids far younger than her milling outside. You don’t think that will matter.
“That’s your spending money,” you tell her. “Buy as much as you want.”
Emerald stares up at you. “Can I…?”
“Of course.” You give her a little push. “I’ll be on the bench out here. Take your time. I need a break for my legs anyway, and it’ll be at least an hour before our next stop. We’re off back to the electronics store. Figured I’d take a look around there.”
Scout some future investments, check prices, but, most importantly, see how Saphron is doing and whether your review-bombing has had any effect. Emerald rushes off either way, and you sink onto the wooden bench. There’s a stand nearby selling cigarettes and newspapers, and you part with 5 lien to buy today’s copy of the Vale Tribunal. You’re not really looking into any news specifically, but you figure it can’t hurt to keep on top of recent goings on. You crack the newspaper open over your lap and lean back on the bench.
Author's Note:
Original Quest: https://fiction.live/stories/Running-the-Red-Light/z3DQkYE5X8YBXovZ8/home
Visual Novel: https://andoravn.itch.io/running-the-red-light