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Zuigetsu slinked out his window, the lust that emanated from the pleasure district, the lights of which could be seen from atop the walls of the palace called to him.
Rumours of a man by the name of Jinshi, dressed in princes garb and with long hair the colour of night, who seduced coutesans and doormen alike with only a look, only for them to be found in alleys drained and wanting, had run rampant over the past few weeks.
Sure enough he'd been having more fun than usually recently, it was a busy time in the district's calendar, the early winter nights inviting longer opening hours, encouraging more men to expel their sexual energy, meaning there was plenty for Jinshi to feast on.
Through quiet alleys and streets, skirting round the edges of the main road, he came across an estate. The long walls that surrounded it stretched from the backstreet all the way to the main road, the bustle and glow of red lanterns seeping out, stopping just shy of where he stood. It was precisely where he wanted to be.
It was the premier whore house of the capital, his courtly subordinates would likely call it something more sympathetic, but Jinshi used their merchandise all the same, so what if they cost ten, a hundred times the price, so they could sing and dance better than the rest, for his purposes they were almost all the same.
But here, there apparently resided a woman of exceptional vitality, who did as he did while making a hefty profit. The possibility that she might be as he was, a demon feasting off sexual desire, did cross his mind, but those like himself were so scarce, in his mind, the chances were nil.
He hopped over the high wall in one motion, landing behind the well kept bushes of the Verdigris House's garden, silently making his way towards the main building, not a rustle of leaves nor a crunch of gravel could be heard as he moved, he was utterly invisible.
He passed hedges, paths and ponds avoiding the light of the laterns dotted along the walkways, slipping in a dark hallway of the servants quaters, all of whom where of course on a night such as this, serving. The floorboards ignored his presence, the draft passed straight through him, a still, shallow shadow cast against the fading wallpaper.
He was stunned, something, inexplicable held him there in the light of a candle that flickered from within the room in front of him.
A pungent scent invaded his nostrils, it broke his sneaking stance, feet now flat on the floor. The sound a girl humming over a grinding millstone eased all tension in his shoulders. The sight of a petite girl in green, hunched over, diligently doing her job, made him want to pounce. A wide grin was plastered across his face, he'd pushed the real reason he was here to the back of his mind.
His step into the room was his first of the night that had sounded, the girl turning around to meet him. He continued walking towards her, around the counter, up to the raised working area.
"Can I help you sir."
Their eyes met, Jinshi deploying his usual mind tricks, his magic doing the work to captivate her, to contain her and to consume her.
"Sir? Can I help?"
It wasn't working, he stood there trying more, his arsenal of magic to distort the minds of his prey wasn't small, he went for more aggressive techniques, focusing his demonic energy on the small women before him.
She reached for a cupboard, pulling out what looked to be small pills.
"Take these if whatever you've taken is having too much of an effect, it'll-" Does she think I'm some kind of junkie? He grabbed her by the wrists and pinned her to the ground, making use of every seduction method he had.
His hair imprisoned her in his powerful violet gaze, sweat dripping down from his forehead onto hers, he heaved and grunted as he released it all on her, but still nothing. He couldn't keep it up, but he couldn't let himself lose, he made to make her submit...
He awoke to that same soothing humming, the odd sung medicinal ingredient thrown in following along with the tune. It was the same room, but he was lying on the floor, under a sheet.
He tried to turn to face her, but his wings got in the wa- Wings, fuck, I used up all my- fuck, if she saw them. He hid them, and the tail and horns that will have likely been showing.
Now turning on his other side succesfully, he found her staring down on him. He stared back, aware that he wouldn't be able to get out of this the cheap and easy way.
"Are you rested sir?" She asked rather flatly.
"Why'd you give me this?" A question to a question, she seemed dissatisfied with his reply.
After a heavy sigh, and with her returning to face her work, "I am an apothecary, least I could do is help those who come for my help."
He narrowed his eyes at the girl that sat working there, the slightest warmth sufacing on his cheeks.