Bushtail: Club

Prologue: Tired

Squeak...

The door opens and Jen walks inside, letting out a deep sigh as she places her pink purse down on the coffee table.

She plops herself down on the couch, with a hand to her face as if comforting a headache. She doesn't say a word, simply staring down lost in thought.

Her friends had followed Jen into the apartment, quietly walking inside to plop themselves down in certain areas too.

Everyone sits in silence as they collectively stare off into nothing with a defeated expression on everybody's faces.

'It's almost funny,' Jen thought to herself. 'here I am in glittery pink makeup in a glittery pink apartment with my glittery pink friends and the collective feeling is anything but...'

After a time, one of the friends finally spoke, breaking the uncomfortable quiet.

"I'm tired," Max said, almost mumbling, without much expression. "I'm...tired."

One or two of the friends mumbled, agreeing with Max over the sentiment.

Dani spoke up, lifting her equine head that had been resting on Jen's lap.

"Bough Dough asked for more 'favors' again," she muttered, looking away from everyone from shame as she spoke. "he offered to pay a lot more than usual, like...maybe he knew I'd be uncomfortable with it so he made me an offer I couldn't refuse..."

Jen stroke Dani's dirty blonde mane, comforting her as Dani described her very uncomfortable day.

For example, Jamie, one of the friends in the group, was usually the most bubbly but even she was awfully quiet tonight. If today hadn't gone the way it did, she would most likely be excitedly describing her own day and the joys of working for a nightclub. Jen, Dani, and Max have their own reasons and circumstances for coming to the field of work but Jamie is the only one that sought it out willingly.

Sex work can be a difficult concept to tackle for many. Everyone in the friend group agrees that at the very least people in the field deserve respect just like everyone else, and that sex work should not be so frowned upon since it is still work like any other job. They know that some individuals like doing sex work and that they should be able to pursue it if they wish to do so.

Everyone in the friend group has had complex lives that has been leading up to this moment. Each story is intricate, though everyone agrees that out of every different things that's happened in their lives, there is one desire that's remained the same that all friends agree upon:

to get out of working for
Bough Dough.

Just as Jen's thoughts were wandering to anxiety, she looked out over to her friends that are just as tired as she is. She thought for a moment before she got an idea.

"Hey, how about I get us some pizza," Jen offers, wanting to comfort her friends somehow. "we could kick back and just sort of watch whatever...what do you all think?"

"Bough Dough would probably get pissed off if we ate junk food or something," Max protested in a defeated tone. "he wants us to be in 'just the right shape' and everything for work and all..."

"Oh yeah, that's right..." Jen realizes, getting back to thinking until she has another idea. "well..."

Jen stops as she studies the drab and dull expressions on her friends' faces, clearly heavily affected by everything they've gone through so far.

"Okay, look..." Jen lets out a deep sigh. "things have been like...really rough, it's all unfair and a lot of the time I just want to scream and want to take control of my life, not having to worry about if somebody's gonna take advantage of me or disrespect me and all..."

Jen's friends stay silent, absorbing her dialogue while still looking at the floor, sometimes meeting Jen's eyes.

"...but...I have some glimmer of hope that things can change, I know it's really hard to believe and the odds are super stacked against us but I just want to believe that if we stick together, there's just the tiniest chance things could change..."

Jen clings to Dani's hoof as a gesture of togetherness as Jen exchanges looks between everyone.

Jamie comes over to the couch to take hold of Jen's hand as a gesture as well, the tiniest of smiles creeping up on her face.

Max comes over last but takes hold of Jen's hand as well, not smiling but leaning onto Jamie for comfort.

The four friends spend a moment of solace together as the night wades on, promising each other that things will get better one day, and that Bough Dough won't control them anymore.