Despite the violence beneath the surface of this place, Marza felt out of place. It wasn't an infrequent feeling for her. Unfortunately, she felt like she had to find her way blindly with both hands feeling out the barbed edges of the world. Anything outside of her comfort zone, which was unexpectedly claustrophobic now, was unexpectedly daunting. She'd never realized how small her world had become due to her own fears. And yet there she was sitting with what had to be the most beautiful woman and she couldn't think of a single goddamned thing to say to her.

It seemed obvious that Mei was interested in her, but it also felt like a cruel joke. Everything felt given at the edge of a serrated knife. Nothing was for free and she was undeserving of any interest. She had nothing to give. She was nobody. No amount of power or status changed that, in her mind. She could be a grunt or a beast and it made no difference to her.

Still, unexpectedly, she wanted to try. She wanted to form words that didn't belong to her, that might capture this inexplicable circumstance she found herself in. Mei didn't care about any of that, of course, she was all sly smiles and bedroom eyes regardless of whether or not Marza said anything captivating. She wasn't poetic or soft or sensual, she was brutal and barbed and lethal. Surely Mei had plenty of clients that capture qualities that Marza had no chance of competing against: money, power, charisma, a face that wasn't mauled to ugly bits.

She wore the only nice "blouse" she had, which hardly qualified. It was some black silk alternative, it swallowed up her neck and choked like a goddamn snake. Or maybe she was thinking too much, choking herself with indecision. God, she was dumb.

"I do from time to time. I got an ugly boxer nose, can't you tell?" She snorted, it sounded severe and it made her pause. This was just a job and yet it felt complicated and stupid. "Didn't think we'd get a chance to work together again." She almost reeled back and added "not that I'd wanted to" or something equally cold and discrediting. She nearly bit her tongue in the fight.

There was probably some underlying condition or demon that needed to be purged for her to get over her problems. Deep into the weeds of her past, but no no no, we don't go there. There wasn't enough room in her mercy for her to look back into old grievances or dig up the old bones of her miserable piece of shit father. No, she didn't have time for that. She wasn't in the pursuit of bettering herself mentally or emotionally. In her mind, all could be improved through physicality and violence alone.

Still, maybe it was worth questioning why the hell she was suddenly fucking inept at talking to beautiful women. More specifically, she seemed to be incapable of it with Mei, who seemed hellbent on hitting every chord and snapping every string in her pursuit for... well, Marza didn't fully understand her angle. She kept anticipating violence or degradation. She kept expecting a dead end in the tunnel. A big goddamn joke.

"Yeah?" Maybe she shouldn't have been so surprised, but it felt like an invitation beyond work. To spy into her life beyond the veil of Rocket. "Well lucky for you, I do every Friday night."

"Dunno, most people don't enjoy my brand of company." This was work, but it also wasn't. It was a comfort, until she called it a date. "A date...?" Marza didn't date. She didn't do feelings and certainly didn't hesitate as she was doing. She definitely didn't blush or wash wine down like cheap whiskey. "Why would you go and do a thing like that to yourself?"

Maybe she was being a fool. Maybe she should be goddamn grateful for the attention. It wasn't like she was seeking out attention, but even then... she'd be lying to say she didn't understand loneliness. She was human, even if she tried her damnedest to pretend otherwise. "Docks usually, a lot of smugglers from Unova meet there any just trash one another for money." She wasn't homesick and wouldn't go back to Unova even if she was paid to. "Places like this too, helps if it has booze."

Mei's incredulity wasn't unwarranted, but it was still unexpected. Marza kept looking for a motive, trying to peel back the pretty layers for the ugly lie underneath it all. Why? Maybe because she couldn't believe that someone as beautiful as Mei would wish that upon herself. She hardly knew her, the parts she'd seen were the only parts digestible to most people. She was more than certain that Mei could provide every imaginable want possible, but Marza could only recall that there was danger in wanting anything. It was the fear that kept her contemptibly stagnant for so many years.

She wanted a cigarette, she wanted something harder than the wine steadily vanishing from the glass in front of her. She wanted this beautiful woman, but she also couldn't combat that with the feeling that allowing such a thing was weak. It was setting herself up for self-destruction, again.

"You don't seem like the type of woman to set yourself up for disappointment." Still, she smiled. "Okay then. If this was a date, I'm not saying it is, but if it was... what would you want me to do?"

Even as she said it, she felt like she was playing a game of chance with a venomous animal. Mei was dangerous. Maybe not in the way that Marza was, but dangerous all the same (in many more ways). It was like inviting a blade to run its edge across her throat. She didn't wear any kind of vulnerability with grace or acceptance. She was too used to fighting. The way her body moved in that dress made her want to give in entirely, but give in to what? Exactly?  

Marza snorted at that, "This is supposed to be a job, Mei." Granted, not exactly a difficult one.

An eyebrow raised at the boldness of the next statement. For a moment following, she was completely silent as the request knocked around in her skull for a bit and the waitress attended to them. She ordered a lean tauros steak, rare. It wasn't like she was against messy quick fucks or even just taking a woman back to her place. 

Marza couldn't imagine that Mei ever waited around for anyone. So why was she waiting on her? "You—" Question of the goddamn century, only her attention was stolen away by movement. Maybe she imagined it, was desperate for action to drive away the unexpected anxiety she felt. A set of men were looking about a little too closely for her liking. "A little too interested in the place, aren't they?"

Maybe Mei liked these games, she couldn't be sure. The woman's patience was certainly remarkable. Marza knew what she wanted, but that rarely actually mattered to her. Though she wasn't a fan of games, she still made her moves with tactical care. The problem was this was not the time for strategy. It was the time to fall head first regardless of the consequences.

The tension was sliced, thankfully. Yet, even then, Marza wasn't satisfied. She felt like a coward. That was what her hesitation made her, right? Not exactly like her, even if there was a greater threat of getting hurt in the end. She didn't deserve comfort, but she was greedy for it.

Marza couldn't help the smirk that latched onto her lips. She shook her head as her hand latched onto Mei's. "No, not tonight. If you want a date. We'll make a proper one of it. I don't mix business and pleasure, got it?" Maybe it was too forward, but Mei wasn't giving her a lot of options here. It did occur to her that, in a way, she caved. She showed her hand. Well fuck.