Providence Bound

Confirmed in Faith

[WARNING: coercion, suggestive content, nsfw (explicit).]

PROVIDENCE. August, saturday evening.

The stink of alcohol sits thick on your tongue. Some feller done partook so much he forgot how to sit up right and went and spilled his drink on Sissy, and now she's sitting on a seat in the dressing room in just her underwear and petticoats while you and Gal try and find another dress for her to put on. Sissy's pretty blue eyes are real wide, but there's a glaze sitting over them, like fog on a window, and she stares at the floor like it might start peering back at her.

"How 'bout this green one, huh?" you inquire all gentle and light, but Sissy keeps peering at the floor, and her shoulders are all round and slumped. "Sissy?"

The girl blinks suddenly and looks up, but she's gotta stare for a second at you, at the dress, and then, with her eyes all wide and shallow, she nods some and murmurs, awful softly, "Okay."

You frown, but Gal's got the dress in her hands, and she passes it to Sissy, who takes it like she ain't got no feeling in her fingers and then starts slipping it on. You stand for a moment in the dressing room, watching Sissy and knitting your brow, and then, once she's got the dress on and Gal's started pinning it in places where it's a little loose, you step over to Sissy and place a gentle hand on her arm.

"You feelin' alright?" you inquire kinda soft-like. Sissy's skin feels a little cool, or maybe your hands are just warm.

Sissy pauses. She's staring at the floor again, but she breathes in real slow and starts nodding her head. "Yes. I'm...tired, yes."

She don't sound all too sure of herself, and that makes you frown all the more, but then Gal pipes up and says, "Poppy, can you come and pinch this right here for me?", so you look away from Sissy and make yourself useful. A third hand's plenty important, and it gets the job done twice as fast. Soon Sissy's just as put together and done-up as she was before getting whiskey poured on her, and some mint does a good job of hiding any smell what might've sunk into her skin.

Then she's thanking you and Gal and going to leave, and you're following after her, but before you can reach the door, Cat comes hurrying into the dressing room. She's breathing easy, just walking quick, and her eyes spin around the room, find you, and lock on you like there's a string connecting you to her.

"Poppy!" she exclaims, and she brushes past Sissy, who don't even spare Cat a glance before slipping out into the hall. Cat's brow is furrowing some, and she frowns at you, but her eyes catch on Gal, and she says, firm but not too firm, "I've been looking everywhere for you." She folds her arms across her chest. "What's got you hiding back here, huh?"

"I was helpin' Sissy with her dress," you say, and now your frown deepens some. What's got Cat wondering after you? "You need me for sumthin'?"

Cat inclines her head. The dressing room ain't got nobody but you and her and Gal, but she glances around anyhow just in case. "The Madam's asking for you," Cat says, but for a moment, a bit of the firmness in her tone leeches out, and she's almost hesitant.

In the corner of your eye, you see Gal pause.

You ain't done nothing to upset the madam except maybe talk a little bit more than she'd like, but you've been getting better at speaking like how she wants, and if you keep saving, then she ain't gonna need to worry about nothing having to do with you.

"She say what she wanted?" you ask. You ain't done nothing wrong, but you bring your arms in anyhow and hold them.

Cat starts walking kinda slow toward you, and she brings her hands behind her back and raises her shoulders like she might start shrugging, "Well, she's got the Marshal with her. Says she's gonna take him to one of the lounges upstairs," Cat looks off to the side and gets a little quieter, "the one with the nice...view." She's just in front of you, now, and she slips one of her hands into a pocket hidden in her skirt and then pulls out a little folded up wad of something white and rubbery. "Wasn't sure if you knew where, uh, where these were," she continues, and now she's looking you in the eye again and holding out the wad of whatever it is like you know what it's for, "so I went and saved you the trouble."