Anna let El rest. A week passed, and then some more time as well, and the stitches were finally ready to take out. The process was quick and easy, quite painless really. "I just want you to keep checking in with me after, to make sure that nothing goes wrong or splits open again. Probably won't, the skin looks fairly healed to me, but you never know." she shrugged.
Elanor had winced faintly when the stitches came out, but more out of reflex than actual pain. At Anna's words, she nodded. "Right, of course." she had no idea if she was allowed to stay any longer. She had been looking around for somewhere to stay, but her funds were so limited that the only places that would have let her stay were the seedier sort of places where men came for a good lay, and she would have been expected to earn her keep there by shedding her skirts and spreading her legs for any man that wanted her, and she didn't want to do that unless she had no other choice.
Anna noticed El's feelings. She could just, well, read people. She knew El probably wouldn't want to go anywhere else, but Anna didn't have much choice but to send her away. Well, she could at least send her somewhere safe. "Boston… she helps run a certain place, a safe haven for women like you. Women who are running away from something. I visit there often, too. It's warm, safe, and while the work she and some of her girls do is less than legal, you aren't expected to earn your keep if you can't handle the sorts of jobs they do. You can even take Boris! They love animals there, it's therapeutic." she said as the small creature meowed.
Elanor looked up at her uncertainly, reaching over to pick up Boris and pet him. "I…would you show me the way there, then?" she asked. She was prepared to do some sort of work, she just was not going to be a prostitute unless there really was no other choice. "Please? And…and thank you so much for all of the help you have given me, I know that it…was not something you, perhaps, wanted to do."
"It was my pleasure, El. I love to help people, it's why I worked so hard to get this job in the first place. A woman of my particular status, a woman in general, needs to work this hard to get where she is. We all choose our paths in life, and this is the one I chose." she nodded. "Now, I want to warn you in advance. Boston owns, operates, and works at a place that is for the most part… well, it's a brothel, but her clients are safe, and are usually good men. You are by no means expected to work there, but that's what she chose, and I expect you to respect her line of work. She will kick you out if she finds you acting like you're above her station because she's a prostitute. Now, trauma is one thing, not wanting to work in that field is one thing, but disrespect? Is something else." Anna started to lead El to the door, slowly so it didn't seem like she was rushing her.
Elanor grabbed her sword and her cloak, snapping the cloak around her neck. "I understand." she said with a nod. "I will not disrespect or look down on her for her chosen line of work, you need not worry about that."
"Nice sword, by the way. I'd personally pick a rapier, or a foil, but it's your choice." Anna said, while El was somewhat distracted. "You could probably trade it in for some good money with one of Boston's friends, if you wanted to part with it. I definitely understand if you don't want to, however." she nodded.
El looked up, blinking at her. "Oh. Thank you, but I don't think I'm going to be rid of it. And while a rapier is a good weapon, yes, it does not have the…oh, what is your English word…" she thought for a long moment. "It is not sturdy enough."
"Says you." Anna said simply, nodding along. She opened the door, gesturing wildly. "You first, my lady." she smiled, giving El room to leave as she pleased.
El smiled a little at her in thanks, stepping through the door and waiting for Anna. "I'm right, though. Rapiers are good for duels, and for fencing, but they have little…little practical use, they're too long and thin and…and bendy."
"You can stab someone with them. You can stab them really well." she said, as if she'd done that already and had no regrets. "But that's not the point. Come on, Boston's place isn't far, and you've recovered enough to walk quite far."
"Yes, but you can't slash with them. You can't truly fight with them." El pointed out, and followed Anna down the street. She didn't have her hood on, and her golden hair was braided down her back.
Anna locked the door and walked with El, shrugging at her talking points for the most part. They each liked what they liked, and that was okay. "Fair, fair, but it's good for theatrics."
She laughed a little. "You have an excellent point there, I suppose I can't challenge that." she replied, smiling a little bit.
"Eh, we like what we like. We're all human. Oh! We're here! Good morning Smoking Jack, good morning Rosalie." Anna smiled to the scary looking women by the door, both tall in stature and strong in the arms, shoulders broad and imposing as the two women towered over even Anna, who was pretty tall herself. "They take care of bad clients. Come on." she said, nodding to the two. They nodded back, they knew Anna well. She'd even delivered their babies, Smoking Jack had been a model patient despite the stress upon her and Rosalie was probably one of the best mothers out there, if the happiness of her son was anything to go by. They did do work here, and the work wasn't without it's risks, but the two had retired to be bodyguards and live a comfortable life supporting each other and their children after it had gotten to be a bit too big of a job for them. If Anna believed in soulmates, she'd think the two of them were certainly the closest thing to perfect for each other. "Come on, El. Let's go talk to Carmilla, she runs the place with Boston and a few others, and she's probably our best bet here."
El nodded a little bit, a little intimidated by Smoking Jack and Rosalie, but also knowing that they wouldn't hurt her unless she misbehaved or something like. "Thank you, Anna." She said quietly as she followed the taller woman through the halls of the building.
They didn't have to look long, Carmilla was already in the makeshift lobby of the building. "Anna! I see you've brought a friend! Is she…"
"Yes, she is. She won't be working here, though, unless you need someone… well, she's good with a sword, if it helps." Anna said, not entirely approving of their other line of work but not questioning it because she always gave people the benefit of the doubt.
El gave a faint smile, curtsying a little to Carmilla. "My name is Elanor." She introduced herself. "You can call me El, if you wish." She smiled again, trying not to seem strange or rude.
"Good to meet you, El. We're always glad to have more ladies on our side, it really gives us a voice. So, are you new in town?" she asked, giving El a gracious smile and speaking slowly so she could understand her.
"Yes. I am from…from Denmark, so I have accent? An accent, I mean, pardon me. And I cannot understand if people speak too fast." She replied with a little smile, looking at Carmilla calmly.
"Don't worry, I try to speak as clearly as I can anyways. I'll just be more careful around you, if you're comfortable with that?" she tilted her head, blinking at El some.
"Of course, thank you." El tucked back a strand of hair that had escaped her braid, adjusting her cloak a little bit. "That would be great."
"Good to hear! Let's pick out a room for you then, single, double, or dormitory?" she asked, tilting her head to the other side now. she tapped her long nails against her arm, and you could swear she was wearing metal beneath her sleeves with the way that it clacked.
"Single? But a double would be alright as well, it is just that I pace and move around a lot and I would not want to disturb anyone else." She said, blinking a little at the clacking but not saying anything about it.
"Well, we have a girl named Tiffany who's a pretty heavy sleeper, so I don't think you'd be a bother if we roomed her with you." she smiled, taking El gently by the arm and steering her upstairs.
El nodded, letting herself be pulled along. She did glance back at Anna, unsure if the other woman would follow, before looking ahead again so she didn't trip on anything. "That sounds alright, then."
"Tiff, well, she's not the most trusting. Her husband really hurt her, that's why she came to Carmilla in the first place. She'll get used to you, though." Anna added, following them along up the creaking, splintery stairs that would have been suicide to walk barefoot on. When the three reached the room, Carmilla gave a firm knock on the door. A pale-eyed woman who looked to have not slept in days or had slept far too much, no in between, stood in the doorway. Her brown hair was greasy and unwashed, and her eyes were sunken in. She was much shorter and thinner than El, and seemed a bit scared of her, but not of Anna or Carmilla.
El blinked at her, and waved a hand softly in greeting. "Hello. I'm Elanor, it's nice to meet you." She said softly, trying not to frighten this obviously skittish woman any more than she already seemed to be.
"Tiffany. I assume you're going to room with me. Come in, then." she said, voice quivering all the way. She disappeared into the shadows of the room, not a single lamp was lit in the whole place.
Elanor raised an eyebrow faintly at the darkness, but stepped into the room carefully, hoping she wouldn't trip over some unseen obstacle on the floor. She really hoped that Tiffany wasn't scared of her, that wouldn't be good.
