unknownrival | [RL - Tea with Vanessa after lunch.]

He waited for another moment. When an explanation didn't seem to be forthcoming, he replied, "...Right, but what does that have to do with dating someone who was using you? I'm sure you could find someone who's much better for you to date."

Well, damn. Seemed like she'd explained this a thousand times if she'd explained it once, but she took in a deep breath to calm herself down before massaging her temples with her eyes shut and thinking of how she could phrase this so he wouldn't blush a thousand times over.

"I was working for a newspaper called The Globe when I was captured by Shillers guards for sneaking in at the owner's request. They let me have access to anything and everything technological I could think of. I stayed for a month as both a reporter and a slave. I write for their out of house magazine, Datumline, and for their in house magazine, The Girlflesh News. The two jobs go together."

She opened her eyes with a little sigh. "Issei, I'm used for a living, and I love every moment of it. Though things are different with Doctor Dickhead, I intend to get my own sort of revenge at this point in time. That's the whole reason I put on the begging face and got him back. Make sense now or should I just keep going?"

Issei stared blankly at her. That... really didn't make a whole lot of sense to him, but he didn't want to force her to repeat it.

"...um, I don't really get it, but you're saying that you prefer having a boyfriend who's a jerk to someone who's actually nice?" he asked, the confusion obvious in his voice.

Women were weird. Well, it was probably just Vanessa.

"No no," she responded, ready to drown herself in some hard liquor at this point in time...or to just smash her fingers in her car door just so she could scream out her frustration and no one would be the wiser. "I'd rather not be used by someone who calls themselves my boyfriend. I'm doing this to get back at him, all in the worst of ways. Him and his partner deserve to realise that their actions? Definitely deserve consequences. I don't care how long it takes me to enact revenge, but I will have it, no matter what it takes."

Issei blinked again. "You're dating him again because you want to get back at him, and for some reason you need to take revenge while dating him." Okay, he got it this time. Kind of. "I'm not much for revenge myself, but I wish you luck in that."

"Excella's helping me out," she said, a little smugly, too. "That's one of Wesker's former partners. She came to the community not long before Wesker killed her in her own timeline, so I have her living with me now to keep him from actually killing her should he find her again. She's a good woman; we went back to Kijuju, Africa, yesterday in order to fetch her money and other things that had been stolen, unfortunately."

She put her palms flat on the table. "It's...a very messed up situation."

Another brief silence. Issei didn't know how to deal with messed up situations and crazy people who wanted to kill other people. Instead, he asked, "...May I pour you your tea now?"

There was a laugh, one with a dark, bitter edge to it, almost like a dog's bark in its sound and nature.

"Yes, Issei, that'd be lovely, thank you," she responded, sending him a smile.

Issei nodded and poured them both a cup of tea. Once that was done, he sat down across from her. "I do hope that your time hasn't been wholly preoccupied by your boyfriend and your revenge, though. It may seem hard to believe, but most of the people on the community aren't that bad."

She rolled her eyes. "William's a pussy. I've nearly beat him senseless twice now, and he takes it like the little bitch he is. If Albert hadn't been there to get his scrawny neck out of trouble, well, good golly, he probably would've had permanent damage...or at least a real fucking big bruise around his throat that would have stayed for months."

She sipped the tea after blowing on it, making a face. It was...strange. Different. Interesting aftertaste, though, so she blew on it again and took another sip. "It's good, thank you."

Ick, swearing. Issei declined to comment on that first part. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like the tea."

She held it out, regarding the cup it was in and watching the steam waft up from the surface. She nodded her head after a moment. "Yes, it's very good. I'll have to find some in London and drink it on a regular basis."

"I'm sure it'll be easy to find." Issei sighed contentedly and began to sip his own cup of tea.

She set her teacup down after a moment, staring across the way at him, the grinding of gears behind her clear hazel eyes quite obvious even to the most of oblivious of folks. She eventually rested her elbow on the table and put her chin in her hand, tapping her fingers against her cheek idly.

"Soooo..."

Issei blinked at her. She was obviously thinking deeply about something, but drinking tea was supposed to stop that and let you relax. Had he not prepared it properly?

"So?"

She tapped her fingers to her cheek again, her other set of fingers going to circle the rim of the teacup. She watched him a moment more before straightening out yet again. "Did you have anything in particular you wanted to discuss?"

"No, not really. I just wanted to enjoy your company," he answered honestly. "Why, did you have something in mind?"

She smiled. It was almost...grateful in its expression. He was just a kid, really. She'd come to think of eighteen-year-olds as kids these days. But he seemed...so mature for his age. It was pleasant. And a little unnerving. She wasn't used to a man of any age just wanting to sit and chat with her. It was about as confusing as Birkin's niceties had been. She didn't know what to say.

"Well, I'm not used to this, clearly."

"That's all right," he answered amiably, with a self-deprecating laugh. "I've probably had more social interaction this year than any other year of my life, and I'm still not quite used to it."

He probably should be doing something to make things a little less awkward for her. Ask her about herself? ...No, that was a bad idea, he didn't want to bring up that sort of thing. Hm, he'd have to think about this...

Yes, asking about the life of a sex-slave caught up with the people she was caught up with would have probably been a very bad idea. Smart lad for not going straight into that one and winding up with an explanation of things that were not pleasant and perhaps even revolting to some.

Like the nun. Or the ponygirl trainer. Or...a number of things, really.

"Most men 'enjoy' my company in much...more intimate manners." She quirked the side of her lip up a little, trying to keep on a happy face. "I'm not used to...just sitting with a man or a boy and talking."

Issei blushed at the implications of that that even he could catch. "W-well, there's a first time for everything, right?"

...She didn't get to talk to men as friends? That was really sad, he couldn't imagine not being able to just sit, relax, and talk to someone... Then again, she probably talked to women all the time, and he needn't be concerned.

He'd offer to play Tetris with her, except she probably had bad memories of that. Stupid Eris.

"Of course," she replied, looking around the kitchen. This was so strange. Issei was a man and she was a slave. And she wasn't feeling the urge to jump him in the least. It was like it had been with Ban, with Ichigo. Suddenly she was having platonic relationships she never, ever would have had if it wasn't thanks to this community. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not yet, but she'd been so busy with Excella and Albert and William and well...it was nice to just be able to sit, even if the conversation was sorely lacking in any sort of experience. She wasn't exactly a geisha, trained in the art of holding conversation well and pleasing the client. Kind of hard to speak to the client with a gag in her mouth, isn't it?

"How long have you lived here?" she asked after a few moments, sipping at her tea again. She never thought she could be awkward around a male of the species; guessed wrong.

"My entire life," he answered amiably. "We're Japanese monks, so unlike other sects we're allowed to get married and have children. My father is the head of the temple, and my older brother is the heir once he passes on. Either of us could have chosen to not become monks, and I can't speak for my brother, but this has always been my chosen career."

He sipped his tea again, pausing for a moment of reflection. "I mean, occasionally I've talked about joining the circus, but that's what I say whenever my father is embarrassing me. I've never meant it."

"The circus?" she laughed quietly, holding her cup in both hands and leaning forward, interested in how to keep the conversation flowing and ignore the awkwardness of it all. He wasn't staring at her chest. He wasn't asking her what sort of underwear she was wearing. He wasn't taking her to his room and ordering her around.

She wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to get used to it.

"That's cute. How does he embarrass you?"

"Well, it's kind of like this..." He took in a deep breath, and began to speak in an attempt at a deep, boisterous voice. "A true monk should be able to live on a single slice of bread without complaints! The greatest joy in life is solitude and a tatami mat! I don't have an indoor voice!"

He laughed and shook his head. "My father is a little strange," he added in his regular voice.

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