Liddy knocked on the doors as she walked down the hall to get everyone awake at the early hour. After a long night of work, most were exhausted, but they needed to get ready for the party. The soldiers were awake and ready almost immediately, but the rest needed some prodding. Ving was awake and trying to wake up Hannah with her tongue between her legs. Liddy walked in on them and shouted at them for dallying. Easy and Mari were kissing while getting themselves dressed, but at least they were moving. The rest were just slow getting up, but were ready soon enough.
"Alright. Everyone except Inky and Leira is coming to this party," Liddy started to explain. "Ship will be locked up so you shouldn't have much to worry about. The rest of us are going to the party. Aside from Foxy and Conna, you soldier-girls will be armed and on guard. Working girls, we are getting uniforms of some kind provided by the hotel. So just worry about your hair and makeup. We go in, greet and serve guests, then at some point, they will take their liberties with us until sometime around noon when the shindig is supposed to end. If it hits noon, and they are still fucking us, then we keep going and I just add the time to the bill. Already received a bank note for the first half of the payment, so there is no backing out. Any questions?"
"Will we have any more time to sleep after the party before taking on more clients in the afternoon?" Mari asked while feeling up Easy as she sat on her lap.
"I have it on good scientific authority that human beings can live over a week without sleep and that Emberborn aren't much different in that regard. So I'm going to say maybe, but it doesn't really matter. Anyone else?"
"Are we allowed to eat or drink at the party?" Conna asked.
"Limit yourself to what they offer. Afterwards, we can just take what's left."
"How many guests are expected?" Hannah chimed in.
"Dozen or so. Never really know at these kinds of gatherings, but about that. They are upper class as well, so mind what you say. Anyone else?" Liddy waited for a moment. "Okay, then. Grab a bite now and meet on the docks. Foxy, a word."
As everyone filed out, Foxy came over to Liddy. "Yes, Ma'am?"
"How's Leira? I know she wanted to work, but I can't do that to her."
"Honestly, Ma'am, she is nowhere near as bad as you think. Rough around the edges, but she's been through a lot."
"That's what has me concerned."
"She needs time and people to care for her. There really isn't anywhere else she could get that. Nobody would take an Emberborn in. Plus, she seems keen on working for you. It won't hurt her if that's what you are worried about. It might even help."
"You two had sex, didn't you?"
"I... should have made your bed afterwards. I'm sorry, Ma'am"
Liddy's eyes widened in surprise. "In MY bed?" She sighed as Foxy had her turn to be surprised. "No worries. You know her better than I do at this point, and if anyone is going to be protective of her, it's you. If you say she can handle it then I will trust you."
Foxy was surprised at her captain's trust. Nobody outside her squad ever trusted her like that. "Thank you."
Liddy received a gentle lick of a kiss from Foxy on her cheek before watching her join the others outside. Inky approached with a smile on her face.
"That girl doesn't trust new people easily, but she really is starting to like you," Inky explained.
"So I'm starting to realise. She believes that Leira is good to work. I'd like your opinion on her as well. Get to know her and see how she reacts to you. I'd like to give her a home here, but not if it does her more harm than good."
"Understood. Have a fun time at the party."
"Oh, I plan to. Getting laid where I can watch the others getting laid. It's sex and a show, of sex."
"I was tempted to join in, but someone had to stay behind, and I don't feel right getting fucked in front of my squad."
"Fair enough. I will see you sometime after noon."
Inky watched Liddy go wrangle the girls on the dock and lead them off towards the hotel. She was happy that they had a proper escort with them. After losing sight of them, she turned to go look for the mermaid and found her in the bath under the water. She watched for a moment, before seeing some movement and suddenly Leira broke the surface with a smile.
"Oh hello. Who are you?"
"I'm the ship's chief security officer. Crew call me Inky. You must be Leira. Foxy told me a bit about you."
"Oh, are you here to fuck me, too? Because that Fox was a total riot in bed. I didn't think other women could be such sluts like me, but she wanted it just as bad. All the other women I met before her either didn't want it from a woman or anywhere near as often if they did. Though, I suppose if you get paid to fuck like sluts, it helps if you are one. That's why I wanna work here. Get to fuck all the rich assholes, right?"
"Wow. She wasn't kidding about the foul mouth. Lucky for you I'm in the military. No, I'm not here to 'fuck' you. The rest are off the ship at a party and I wanted to not be bored out of my skull. Since we hadn't met, I figured I'd introduce myself and get to know you. I don't have sex with clients. At least not yet. But that is what the rest of the women do. Though the captain is a bit worried about if that's healthy for you, after all of your trauma."
"What happened to me with the slavers has nothing to do with me wanting to get fucked. Though I do get what she is worried about. I saw a lot of really broken people in the market. That's why I pretended to act like them. All spaced out and shit. Hoped it would get me into a position to escape or something. I might not have all my shit right in my head, but I'm not some basket case anyone needs to worry about."
"That's what Foxy said. More or less. And the captain is inclined to agree. I still want to get to know you even if there is no other reason to do so aside from having a new friend on board. Seems like the crew is rather 'inclusive', so I'm just doing my part."
"Yeah. I didn't think people like me were allowed to be anywhere without collars. Never met any others outside the market. Yet here, shit's all different."
"Well, this place is unique. There are freed slaves here and there in most cities, but life is almost always worse for them. You have no idea how lucky you are. Granted, you shouldn't have had to endure any of this crap. Same with the rest of the Emberborn. But given the world we live in, you lucked out."
"Yeah, growing up I was always told I was lucky to be there. Thought they just said that to make me think they were doing me a favour by fucking me. Like, they would have gotten rid of me if I wasn't pretty enough for it. Suppose it was a bit of both. Dunno. Can we still fuck, though?"
"Let's just calm down for a bit. Working with clients requires patience and some discipline. Convince me you have both and I will tell Liddy you can work."
"Oh. Why do I always want things that are hard?"
Inky chuckled lightly. "Because it's better than limp?"
Leira looked confused for a moment before getting the joke and laughing. "Cock hungry whore." She shook her head. "Don't worry, I am, too."
****
A little while later at the hotel, Liddy got everyone into the staff room they were to be using to get ready.
"Alright! Listen up," she announced. "The showers are over there. Please do NOT have sex in them. Get turned on but save it for the clients." Liddy got a few annoyed but understanding looks. "Once you are all clean, you can get your hair and makeup done by those mirrors."
"Found the uniforms!" Soldier Kilty called out.
Liddy went over and found the bin where everything was stored. "This is a mess! Nothing was folded or pressed. Are we sure it's clean?"
"Bin is marked clean, Ma'am. We'll get them ready for you."
Kilty and the other soldiers not seeing clients got to work sorting through everything to get it ready for when they were needed. Black shoes with a slight heel were behind the bin, and the girls found ones that fit them. The rest of the uniforms were black nylon stockings with garters. White pleated skirts that went past their knees. White blouses with burgundy vests. White bras and panties were also in the bin in many different sizes.
"I would not run a hotel like this. They just threw everything they had in one bin. We don't even know if they have all our sizes." Liddy huffed.
"Why don't we ditch the underwear and blouses?" Mari suggested. "Roll the skirts to make them shorter without cutting them. Have the vests and stockings with the shoes. That way we don't have to fumble with anything to work and nobody has to iron blouses without actually having irons."
"I think you underestimate what we can do with military kit," Kilty commented with a smug smirk.