playing the advice game

who: eris and jason
where: the round
when: evening

It had been a productive day at the Echo but when things had started winding down for the evening and people started heading home, Jason found himself dragging his feet. There wasn’t really any more he could work on today and he didn’t want to head back to the apartment yet either; he knew he was avoiding his friend but given how unsure of things he was feeling he just wasn’t ready to tackle the inevitable conversation they were going to have. So instead he made his way to the Round and ordering himself a whiskey, found himself a seat in an unoccupied booth at the back. Flashing a quick smile at the waitress who brought over his drink, it quickly disappeared once her back was turned and he took a sip of his drink, savouring it’s warmth as it slid down far too easily.

Eris stopped in the Round before she planned on heading up to the loft. She had done a hell of a lot of work today, and it was mentally exhausting for her. The whole brain damage thing sort of made it all simply harder to get through, and while she'd managed, she had a headache coming on. She hoped it wasn't one of her blinding migraines, and decided to have a little alcohol before she went to crash. She got herself a drink, then headed back towards her usual booth--only to find it occupied. But she knew the guy, so she didn't find someplace else, she instead paused, got a pitcher of beer for them and then brought it over, sitting across from him. "You look like hell." she told him in way of greeting. "What's dragging that pretty face of yours down?"

Jason really hadn’t been looking for company so when someone spoke to him he was all too prepared to politely but firmly tell them to take a hike. However the sight of Eris carrying a pitcher and looking a darn sight more put together than the last time he’d seen her was enough for the words to die in his mouth and he shook his head. “Too much thinking I reckon,” he replied, running his hands through his hair which only served to make him look more dishevelled. “Which is no small part is down to you I hope you know.” There was no aggression in his tone but rather a wry sort of amusement and he took another sip of his drink. “You’re looking good though,” he told her, not in so much of a funk that he couldn’t pay a compliment to a lady - even if the lady was a major contributor to said funk.

"Daddy not take things well?" she asked, sounding wholly unsurprised. "If you've talked to him yet." she added. She poured them both a glass from the pitcher, even if he wasn't finished with his initial drink, and she sipped at her own. "And thank you." she added. "Apparently I have things to take care of, and therefore I'm stepping up. I guess this place isn't done with me yet, so..." she shrugged one shoulder, and reached up to tug one of the pins out of her hair, to start letting it down around her shoulders. "so where's the thought process right now?"

Shooting her a look over the top of his glass, he put it back down on the table with a dull thud. “No I haven’t,” he admitted begrudged, twisting the tumbler from side to side. “Something else has come up and it made things...complicated.” The news that Eris was staying was a welcome distraction from his own swirling thoughts and a corner of his mouth twitched up in a vague move towards a smile. “I’m glad things have turned a corner for you though,” he remarked and he couldn’t help but appreciate how good she looked that evening; not just in terms of her appearance but there seemed to be some of her old confidence there as well.

"Thanks. I'm not entirely so sure but whatever. I guess it's better than continually being fucked by this asshole of a city." she commented, taking another drink. "But back to you. What's gotten complicated?" she asked. "I've been all kinds of supportive for people today, might as well continue the streak."

He should have figured that any reprieve from focusing on him was going to be short-lived and his expression became dour again. “A friend of mine came to Dodge with a business proposition and given how snippy they are with each other, if it goes ahead I’m gonna have to be involved,” he explained, picking up his glass but not drinking from it yet. “This when I was actually giving some serious consideration to your suggestion.”

“‘Was when’, meaning you aren’t anymore?” Eris asked. But she didn’t actually wait for confirmation on that. “And being involved like at what level? Intense? Just being in the room to make sure snippy doesn’t turn into stabby? Because there’s levels of being involved, dear. You don’t have to all-or-nothing everything.” she suggested. Not that she knew the full situation, but if he thought the only reason he needed to be involved was because people couldn’t put their shit aside, then that might mean just mediation.

“No it’s still on the table,” he replied, sipping his drink. “It’s just this venture’s gonna need me for more than just crowd control. It’s new ground for the crew and there’s going to be a lot of talking involved and that’s what I’m good at.” He sighed and downed the last of his whiskey. “If I tell Dodge I’m looking to fly solo for a while now? The whole thing’s gonna fall apart before it even starts.” And he owed it Maddy and Dodge to try and make it work before he started thinking about himself.

"Isn't he supposed to be the guy with all the brains and the ability to be smooth?" Eris asked, arching a brow. "And new territory or not, shouldn't he be able to do this on his own? Isn't that what 'leaders' are meant to do?" she posed, though it wasn't pointed. More just food for thought. "Anyone with a title, who's supposed to be in charge better damn well know what they're doing. And if they don't, then they need to not have that much power over other people. Trust me, as someone who I think likely has a lot in common with Dodge, I know. And I also run things a whole lot differently."

Jason shrugged and slid his empty glass onto the table. “Dodge knows what his strengths are,” he said, sitting forward so he could rest his elbows on the table. “And his limitations. He’s smart enough to know that he can’t run this job with just the skills he’s got, smart enough to know when he needs help.” That was without addressing his friend’s issues with Maddy; even if she wasn’t involved directly without him there to vouch for them to each other, the operation was going to fall down like a house of cards. “Maybe that’s not the best way to run things, I don’t know,” he admitted, reaching for the beer Eris had poured him and taking a sip.

"I think someone who runs around claiming to be all that and then some ought to tone it the fuck down if he can't even manage to get along with some girl you're trying to work with." Eris said. "Knowing your strengths and limitations is good. You're right, there. But I'm just remembering how you felt. Like you were somehow beneath him, he's the man in charge. Sounds like he doesn't deserve that title, if you have to come in for things and take point." She sat back, taking out a few more pins then threading her fingers through her hair to let it tumble fully loose in waves around her shoulders, framing her face and other assets she had nicely. “I started small. I started with a bunch of girls who were street walkers getting abused and risking their necks because they had nothing else going for them. I gave them a home, I gave them a safe place to do business, and I took very good care of them.” she told him, filling in some backstory with herself for him for perspective. “But I also sent them to school, and when any of them wanted to go out and do whatever it was they wanted to do, they were more than free to go. For some girls, it was just a stepping stone. A way to get somewhere else, and I encouraged that. I still do. My girls are my girls, but they don’t belong to me.”

Although he wanted to leap to Dodge’s defence, he couldn’t deny the truth in what Eris was saying or the feelings she’d uncovered, ones he not really been aware of until she started shining a light in all the cracks. There was also no ignoring how she looked like that evening and while he might have been in the midst of some serious introversion, he was also a man and when she took down her hair he look a moment to appreciate the view before concentrating on what she had to say. It was interesting too; he’d heard snippets about her rise to prominence in the city from various sources but hearing it from her was fascinating though there was no missing the small jibes towards Dodge in what she was saying. “But for the girls who leave there are more who stay right?” he asked, sitting up a little straighter.

"I don't know the exact numbers--I've been at this for a long time." she said. Even if she was young herself, she had been at it since she was a teenager. She'd started Babylon pretty damn young. She also saw him appreciating her appearance, and it felt nice. Even if she knew she was a good looking woman, she'd heard it from hundreds of men over the years, lately she could use the boost. So, she very subtly shifted position just to give him the best view possible. "What it was about was the individual girl. Some...they aren't quite cut out for life on their own, so they stick around just because it's safe and that's what they need in their lives. Others, they just need the right nudge in different directions, or a skill they can later use elsewhere. Like I said, I would send girls to school, further their education, or hire tutors, or buy instruments and get teachers to come in and instruct them in playing..." She took a drink. "Some have dreams. And if I can help them get there, I do. I will say it doesn't hurt to have people around who remember you helped them way back when, of course. I do have girls all over the city who were once under my roof. And I helped them get where they were headed. But I don't ask for kickbacks, either. Doesn't mean they wouldn't help me if I asked, but I don't go cashing things in unless it's absolutely necessary, and I have no influence in their lives that they don't ask for specifically." Because it wasn't as if some girls wouldn't leave then come by for advice. That had actually happened a lot when she'd had Babylon. “I have a core group of girls that have stuck by me and don’t seem to wish anything else. They had a period of time without me, and when I returned to the scene, they came back immediately. I’m under the impression that a lot of them were unable to find a path they liked without me, so they returned.”

As she talked about her girls, Jason couldn’t help but think about Charlie, wonder whether or not he would’ve stayed with the crew if he hadn’t taken the fall for the botched robbery. While there was some shifting in the crews members as people moved in and out of whatever jobs were being pulled at the time, it was rare for them to leave altogether. Charlie was the first from the core group to go and he’d been with them since the early years; cutting himself lose when he came out of prison and Dodge hadn’t taken it well. Eris on the other hand seemed to encourage it of her girls, to leave if they wished and supported them in their choice and she instilled no less loyalty in her girls then Dodge did in the crew so he couldn’t help but question if hers’ was the better way of running things. “You sound like you’ve got it figured out,” he replied, taking another sip of his beer as he slowly processed what she’d said, letting it sink in.

Eris shrugged. "A lot of people in this city run things through fear, opression or intimidation. I know what it feels like to be on the recieving end of that. No way in hell was I going to go the same route." she explained, being purely honest there. Sure, the decision had been a lot more calculated when she'd done it, but that didn't make it any less true. She'd run things her way, by rescuing girls from an otherwise very dangerous situation, and she made it not only safe, but profitable and they had their own choices to make throughout. She'd made something shady into something as close to legitimate as she could manage. And sure, it still had been illegal, but her girls were well looked after. "The way I see it, you don't take a group of people who have nothing then take everything else away too. You don't take their freedom, you make sure they've got that above anything else. You help. I could have become a queen bee, having everyone under me only profiting me. But I didn't. And yeah, if I ever do need a favor in this city? I can find someone who'll gladly help me. But that's because the way I did things helped everyone else, too. I didn’t make it all about me." And it had made her a rich woman, when she'd been in power. And it meant she had girls all over who would smile and greet her with not only affection but respect. Delight, even. She'd done business in a different way than most of the big names in the city, and it had worked for her, and her employees.

“I know Dodge talks a big game but he isn’t the self-serving asshole people seem to think is,” Jason pointed out, shifting slightly in his seat in a vain attempt to get more comfortable. “He’s got his flaws I won’t deny that but he does care about the crew. He could’ve made it on his own but he worked so we could all get there, I don’t think he took anything from us we weren’t willing to give.”

"You're the one who can't even consider leaving, even if you might want to, and was feeling trapped and like you aren't even free to make your own choices in life." Eris pointed out. "So sell it to someone else. I get you want to defend him and all, but people get a rep for a reason. And I don't even have to listen to that, I just was listening to you. Really listening, even if you don't like what came out from it."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t think I’m a sterling example of sound decision making when it comes to Dodge,” he replied, sounding more tired than he felt. “Charlie left without seemingly any problem anyway.” He drank some of his beer feeling lost, stranded on an island of his own making and he had no idea how he’d wound up there.

Eris watched him for a few long moments, not saying anything immediately. She then poured a little more into his glass to top it off. "Okay so if you have problems with decision making when it comes to Dodge, cut him out of the equation." she said. "If you didn't have any considerations that you needed to make, what would you want to be doing?" she posed. "And after that you can tell me about Charlie." Since that seemed important. Someone leaving with no problem? So why was it a problem for Jason?

The question stumped him and for a few moments all Jason could do was sip at his beer as he tried to think of an answer. “I like working at the Echo but I think I’d go a little stir if that was all I was doing,” he said, placing down his glass and drawings his fingers up through the condensation on it’s sides. “I’d want to still help my friend I think, she’s one of the only people who’s known me longer than Dodge. I don’t think I could handle going completely legit.” He’d lived on the wrong side of the law for most of his life, going straight was a vaguely terrifying prospect.

"Why? Does the idea of being on the right side of the law not provide enough of a spark for you? Eris asked. She'd made the jump, though she'd done it purely for Brett's sake, not due to any moral ideals. But that didn't mean it would be the same for Jason, so she needed to ask.

“Maybe,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Maybe it’s just ‘cause I’ve never done it before. Relying on an honest living to get by, it’d take getting used to.” Not that he was scared of hard work but he’s spent enough of his life struggling to get by that the prospect of being there again wasn’t a pleasant one.

Watching him, Eris considered for a few long moments. "Maybe that's part of you feeling trapped." she suggested. "You don't even want to try something new or different, something that you might actually have to work at. Things a little too cushy on easy street, only the price is you feeling like shit and not being your own man?" she asked. "You know the job offer I gave you still stands, and you'd make decent money and it's on the level. A lot of my girls don't have any use for a second job, all they do is work for the agency."

While resenting the implication that he wasn’t willing to work, there was enough truth, or at the very least a fair assessment, in what she’d said that Jason didn’t argue. The repeat of her offer from the other night certainly went a little way to calming things in his head, that level of security if he made the jump, and he smiled a little, albeit crookedly. “Thanks Eris,” he said, the gratitude obvious in his voice in spite of the roaring conflict going on his head. “Maybe I could come by and speak to one of your girls sometime, see what I’d be signing up for.”

"Feel free." Eris said, then she paused, and took out one of the little business cards they had, handing it over. She'd grabbed new ones when she'd been at the office. "There are apartments under the main office where a lot of the girls live. If you come in, we can see who's home and would like to talk to you. And I could just give you the rundown here, too, from the professional level." she added, if he wanted her to.

Giving the card a cursory glance, he couldn’t help noticing and being impressed by the business’ address before he slipped it into his pocket; clearly she hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said he’d be able to make decent money if her girls could afford to live there. “It couldn’t hurt to be better informed,” he told her, quite happy to hear what she had to say. He still wanted to speak to one of the girls but Eris was the boss so knowing what she expected of her employees would be useful.

"Well, you can either live there, which we provide the rent for, or you can live off site. It's up to you." Just when they'd started, some of the girls had been in dire straits and they'd not wanted to leave them there. "Beyond that, no one works every night unless they want to. We work around schedules, your days are very very rarely taken up, it's generally evenings. If you bring in clients you have first dibs on them, and in this business, just like my last one, there are definitely people who will always come back for the same person, so you may get repeat business. If at any time you feel the need to terminate an evening early--you're entitled to do so, and we'll deal with the fallout from it. If you refuse a client, that's fine, we'll find someone else for them. Obviously we keep a percentage, but you get most of what's charged. If sex is on the table that's none of our business--it is not a requirement and isn't in any way included in our fees in the first place. And if the clients don't understand that they they get to deal with me." And no one wanted to do that, if she was in protective mode. "Obviously if you want to add sex into things, you're allowed, it's just not our business, that's your business. I know some girls do, and some do not, so it's all on an individual basis."

It was abundantly clear as Eris went on just how tight a ship she ran and it was impressive. “Is there going to be much demand for a male escort?” he asked, laying the question out there. Clearly there was some if she was offering him a job but considering she only ever referred to having girls, he had to wonder.

"You'd be surprised." Eris told him. "Like you'd be surprised that there's business for male prostitutes as well. I've had a few over the years, though usually they burned out eventually. For this business, however, I have hopes it won't be a burn out situation. It's different than a brothel, and I think it's different enough that the same issues won't occur. I don't have any other males on my payroll yet, but there've been people calling and asking about it." she assured him. There'd be business, definitely.

It wasn’t too surprising to hear there was business for male prostitutes but then he had caught the eye of enough women over the years to know all to well that women had as much desire for sex as men did. He did however quirk an eyebrow as Eris went on. “Ladies I hope,” Jason replied, only half joking. He was comfortable enough in his own skin to play the escort for another man but it would be no surprise to anyone that he was all about the ladies.

Eris smiled at him. "You'll also never have to go against your preferences." she promised. It wasn't that she didn't get some calls for men from men, but it was so secretive. Alternative sexualities were not even a little bit sanctioned in this day and age. That didn't mean it didn't happen. But she also never forced anyone to do anything they were uncomfortable with. "So, if you only wish to escort women, then that'll be what happens."

Feeling reassured, he returned her smile. “I’ll jump that hurdle if and when I come to it,” he said. He still wasn’t sure what he was going to do and he wasn’t sure who else he could talk to about it but at least he still had some time, at least until Dodge made his decision about whether or not to take Maddy up on her proposition.

"You do that." Eris said. "And if you happen to know any other guys who might be able to pull off the same sort of thing..." she trailed off. Then she'd have more than one for the business, which would be nice. It was just a lot harder to find a guy to fill the role than it was a woman.

Jason laughed a little at that and shook his head as he tried to imagine the guys he knew playing escort. “I don’t think so Eris,” he replied, smiling as he sipped his beer. “But if one of the guy’s proves me wrong I’ll be sure to send him in your direction.”

"Just saying." Eris said, amused. She didn't think there'd be many out there that might fit the bill at all, but it never hurt to ask. "So, anything else on your mind I can either alleviate or poke holes in for you?" she asked. "Before I go decide I need to sleep."

“You’re really getting into this whole giving advice shtick aren’t you,” he observed, sitting back in the booth to relieve the pressure that had building in his knee. “But in answer to your question, I think you’ve done enough for one evening.” His tone wasn’t malicious and the smile was still present if not quite as bright - it might not be easy to hear what Eris had to say but he couldn’t deny her perceptive on events was a useful one if not always particularly helpful.

"I keep running into lost souls." Eris said, propping her chin on her hand as she watched him. "So maybe if I stop that, I'll hang up the advice game." She took up her drink, then finished it off. "Well, I suppose I'm off, then. Apparently, I have a day job now." With that she stood, stretching slightly. "Have a good night, sweetheart." she told him, before she turned to head out.

Reflecting that Eris stretching was distracting as hell, Jason still remembered to smile and offer a small wave as she went to leave. “You too Eris, thanks for the drink,” he said warmly.

"Any time." she called back over her shoulder before she melted back into the crowd, leaving him and a copious amount of alcohol to lubricate the rest of his night.