The Threat of Smoke [I]

Nestled within the confines of his lavish living quarters, adorned with a mountain overstuffed pillows and a garden of gifted flowers, Daruka lounges after a long day of rehearsals. Draped over his lean frame are his usual loose robes, hanging off his shoulders to expose the piercings on his collarbone and nipples. His fiery hair cascades over his shoulders like lava, but as soft as silk to the touch. In one of his long, elegant hands he holds some sort of cherry-flavored alcoholic beverage with a luster that matches his hair.

Daruka sips casually as he winds down from a long day of performance and directing. His feet seem to pound with the rush of blood, aching from his dances. His lips pout slightly as he ponders whether or not it would be a good idea to call someone up for a good foot massage... Possibly some casual sex afterward.

The young performer's brow furrows as he realizes where his thoughts were drifting off to. Never before had he had any kind of issues with controlling his more... Unruly desires. A sigh escapes his lips and he leans back, still desiring his foot massage.

His door is currently open to any kind of performer who needs his assistance.

Lyra paced quickly in front of Daruka's door, nervous. She wore a creamy colored, oversized sweater that had sleeves that hung past her fingertips and shorts with her hair pulled back in a loose bun. Having no performances today, she wanted to wear something soft, comforting, and in no way revealing.

"I have to tell him" She muttered to herself as her brain argued with itself. It bounced between telling Daruka and seeing what happened or keeping quiet. She didn't want to think of the consequences of squealing on Zhuyin. Just thinking of his wrath made her quake in her sandals.

"That's it." Lyra decided firmly, "I'm not telling him."

Her feet chose otherwise as she took three steps forward and knocked on the large door with a meek fist.

The Balance Eidolon's red eyes flicker up to the door, his brow slackening after being furrowed against his thoughts. He takes one last relaxed sip of his beverage and sets it to the side, the taste of tart cherry still on his blushy lips.

"Come in~" He speaks in his melodic voice, which seems to dance across the air and slip through the cracks of the doorway. Daruka stays lounged against his pillows to keep the atmosphere relaxed for whichever young Eidolon was about to enter his large living quarters.

In the young man's mind he quickly runs through how he'll handle the situation. Offer a seat, offer a drink, offer advice. Relax.

Clutching the end of her sleeves, Lyra gently pushed the door open. She walks inside the lavish room and glances around for a moment before her eyes fall onto Daruka.

"Hello, sir" She says, bowing quickly, "I hope this isn't a bad time"

She tries to quickly word what she's going to say in her mind but just looks completely confused and nervous.

"Of course not..." his eyes scan up and down the young woman's person and the second he drinks her in entirely her name dawns on him, "Bitar. Please come in and have a seat." He speaks eloquently and gestures his arm out to offer her a seat among the sea of pillows. His robs seem to waterfall over his outstretched arm and spill onto the cushions below him in a puddle of fabric.

Daruka's eyes are calm and relaxed, they hold a very slight tinge of analysis, as if trying to look further into Lyra's person. He would be able to deduce more about her if he were to watch her perform.

Lyra nodded quickly and gently lowered down onto the mountain of pillows. It being softer than she thought, she sunk down beneath them. She squeaked and unburied herself keeping one pillow on her lap.

Suddenly forgetting her whole speech that she had so carefully thought out Lyra scrambled for words, "Um..." Was pretty much all she could get out before her brain caught up with her.

Shaking her head she quietly asked, "You said to come to you if anything... inappropriate happens toward the performers?"

The soft smile seems to melt off Daruka's face in one fluid motion as Lyra timidly speaks the basic context of her problem. Inappropriate? Was this young woman being harassed? ...Or worse? The young superior tries to stifle swallowing down the knot in his throat; these kinds of situations make him feel very uneasy, but he recognizes that dealing with such issues it comes with the title.

It appears as though offering her a drink to keep the situation relaxed is out of the question.

"Of course," He says calmly, almost sympathetically, "What happened?"

Sucking in oxygen as if she had been underwater for years, Lyra hugged the pillow slightly and looked down at her hands.

"Well..." She began slowly, "I was practicing the other day in Practice Room B but I didn't lock the door, like I usually do, because I thought some friends were going to come down. And um The Administrative Manager, Mister Zhong, came in and..."

Swallowing, she shook her head, "B-but he told me not to tell anyone! And I don't know what to do!"

Once again Daruka's ability to change expressions so fluidly doesn't fail him, his mouth arching down into a somewhat angered frown, his brow furrowing above his eyes. Zhong, how that man displeases him; how seedy and disrespectful he is to Daruka's performers. If the young man could wish any sort of ill fate on any person it would be that man.

A knot of anger forms in the pit of his chest and his eyes narrow as he looks up at the wall before him, not wanting Lyra to take his expression as one directed toward her.

"You don't have to say anything Ms. Bitar, I know how that man is," He looks down at the young woman with softer eyes, "He didn't hurt you did he? Just answer yes or no, you don't have to go into detail if you don't want to."

Lyra watched his expressions carefully to make sure she wasn't saying anything wrong. She shuffled a bit and hesitated on answering. Slowly shaking her head no she said, "Friends walked in before he could uh..." She trailed off.

Thinking about it, she touched her hip where he had ground his thumb into her and she quietly said, "I do have a bruise... Nothing too bad, though..."

She shivered as it all rushed through her mind as it had twenty times before. Him gripping her face with his disgusting smoke licking at her. Her being trapped and cowering between him and the wall. And him pressing onto her while acting like she should like it. Lyra shook her head to shake the thoughts away and gripped the pillow tighter.

With concerned eyes Daruka nods his head in understanding, Lyra will face something like this again he fears. For someone so young and beautiful to be in a position where receiving attention is the profession negative advances are always a looming shadow in the background. He straightens his posture, knowing that he will do what he needs to to protect his performers, even if it's from one of the most powerful people in the Bathhouse.

"Manager Zhuyin is not a shy man when it comes to making advances on my performers and if I could say this to all my young ladies from the start I would, trust me, but there are some things I cannot say outright without risking my position," He says, quietly as if someone may even hear him speak in the very moment, "But I will try to help in any way I can. For now I'm going to assign you a partner to train with at all times, someone you can be around so you are never alone in the practice rooms. If you need to lock the room then you have my permission and try to be careful about when you invite friends down here."

She noticeably relaxed as she listened to Daruka's solution.

"Yes, thank you, sir" She said.

Suddenly, her eyes the size of saucers, she tensed back up and her hands shot up in front of her. Lyra quickly shook her head as she frantically said, "You can't tell him I told you! He told me not to say a word and-and I don't know what he would do if he found out!"

A small, half smile comes to his lips though his eyes are still concerned and he bows his head to her.

"Trust me Ms.Bitar, if I had the option to never speak to that man again I would take it," he tries his hardest to keep the overwhelming sass out of his tone as he speaks, but he then reassures her, "My lips are sealed unless you need to speak with me again about it."

She relaxed again with a small smile, letting her hands drop back onto the plush pillow. Lyra quietly said, "Thank you, sir... I guess I should get out of your hair now... Thank you again for seeing me" She stood up and nervously arranged the pillows back the way they were.

She quickly and awkwardly bowed again before turning to the door. Wheeling back around she added "I can't wait to see your performance tomorrow!" She nodded, "I always love seeing you perform! Goodbye, sir"

Lyra scurried out of the room and shut the large door without waiting for his response, too nervous to hear it. She did just talk to one of her favorite performers. Even though it was about something terribly horrifying she still got to talk to him.

Daruka's eyes widen slightly as the young performer quickly exits, complimenting him on her way out. He holds his tongue and lets her speak, smiling softly as she scurries away. He waves to her right before she disappears and then leans back against his mountain of pillows, reflecting on what just happened.

Zhong has become such a problem for Daruka's performers and he knows there is barely anything he can do about it. He deduces that he will have to be more observant and protective around his performers... His family of workers really.

Lazily he stretches his body and gets to his feet, walking over to the calling pipes to send for someone to rub his aching feet.