I'm no one's slave.

Brennan looked away from her. Here he was complaining about his father and she was stuck in basements on some Thanksgivings. Sighing, he murmured, “Can’t we both agree that this is a stupid holiday and just be done with it. What’s even the point of Thanksgiving if not to force you to spend time with family?”

Lily shrugged a little, “The forced family part of it is, but I get why people would want it. If I had a real family I’d probably enjoy it.” she offered. “We could do a big potluck at my place maybe? Everyone could come over, Rosie, Roxie, Josie if you want? That sorta thing could be fun?”

Anthony exchanged lines with her, which thankfully was a big help. It made him look like less of a weirdo. If she wasn’t there he’d basically be talking to himself. “You’re good at this. Do you do a lot of public reading? You pronounce your words beautifully.”

Lily finished the lines with him and felt her ears get red at his compliment, “Really? Um, thanks. No one’s ever said that to me before.” she admitted. “I guess I’m getting better at it though.”

Get out? Cosette tilted her head in both confusion and curiosity, wondering what Miss Lily was referring to? Get out of where? It was only when the blonde uttered the word freedom that Cosette finally started to understand. Other slaves had used that expression before to describe a life outside of the House but for Cosette the prospect was rather frightening than liberating … Which was why she pulled back a little, leaning into her chair before shaking her head. She didn’t need to buy her freedom because she didn’t feel like a prisoner.

Lily watched her, “You need five hundred to get out, you have more than enough! With your extra points you can find a place in the city to live, or you can get out of this city. You don’t have to be a slave anymore, Cosette.” she explained. Maybe being free was scary for someone who never seemed to mind the House that much, but Lily wanted to see her out. “Don’t you want to be free?”

Lily’s touch against her skin was so gentle, and she let out a soft sigh as she slowly made her way lower. Once there, she eased her underwear away from her legs, and trailed kisses all the way along her inner thigh until she reached her centre. Roxanne paused for a fraction of a second before leaning in to drag her tongue over her wet folds, slowly and purposefully. Lily was already wet, which was a boost to her own little ego, and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she tasted her girlfriend for the first time. 

Lily kept her fingers wrapped in Roxanne’s hair as she worked her way lower, and her hips swayed a little again in anticipation. She wondered to herself why she’d waited so long to be with Roxie like this, but their excitement only made it that much sweeter. When Roxie’s tongue moved through her fold she gasped lightly before letting out a soft happy sigh. Her back arched into the other’s movements, eager for more.

“Got anything to make me feel sexy?” Max couldn’t resist teasing her, laughing to himself because of course that was a hilarious joke. “I don’t even wanna know what size these puppies would be.” He gestured to his pecs, still laughing.

Lily giggled and looked him over, “Well you would probably tear right out of most of the stuff in here.” she joked. “I could always do a sizing for you, if you were curious.” she offered. “But we do have a few things for men over here, some of them are a little goofy but they could still make you feel sexy.”

Annette wished that everything wasn’t happening the way it was, she wanted her life to just be alright for once, many people would think that she had it all but she didn’t. Her parents were dead, the man she loved and almost had a child with was dead, her abusive ex boyfriend still roamed the streets and Gideon had left her and on top of all of that, she had to run her business’s, she was on the verge of a breakdown. She gazed at Lily and listened to her as she spoke offering a soft smile “she always did have an amazing voice” Annette commented, her head tilted when Lily asked her if she wanted to talk about anything, she smiled “don’t worry about me, it’s nothing I can’t handle” she fibbed a bit.

Lily nodded in agreement, but watched Annette’s expression. She seemed lost in thought, and clearly upset by whatever was happening. Slowly the blonde stood and sat next to Annette, “I’m sure you can handle whatever’s going on, but you know you don’t have to alone, right?” she offered gently. “That’s what you’ve got friends here for, to distract you or be there to listen.” Even if it wasn’t Lily that Annette talked to, she wanted her to talk to someone.

Sofia: That's your- [text deleted]

Sofia: Fair enough.

Sofia: Of course. Is there a particular slave you have in mind?

Lily: No one in particular yet, but you would teach them real world skills before they got out?

Roxie: I can't believe they would do that - well, I can, but

Roxie: it's still a load of bullshit

Roxie: Are you sure? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable

Lily: It shouldn't surprise me at this point, really.

“All of them,” He nodded. “Traffickers, trainers, stylists… My old family. And friends.” Jayden said, frowning across at her. What kind of question was that? How did it feel? He’d never known Lily to be vindictive, but the question seemed a little… Self serving. “Are you seriously asking me how it feels? When I’m seeking shelter in the apartment of someone I was a huge dick to, practically naked? Cool.”

“Slow is good, take your time don’t worry.” Anthony replied with a smile. He was glad that she was going to check out his show later. Not because of the ratings or viewer count, but because she hoped she would enjoy his performance. “I really do hope you enjoy the show. It is a lot of fun to work on.” He added with a friendly wink. 

“Okay good.” she said with a nod, looking down and reading over some of the lines. “I bet I will, I watch probably too many shows already but it’s because I get hooked on them so easily.” she admitted with a laugh. Looking back down at the script, Lily started to read the highlighted lines to help him practice.

Cosette was still confused, not quite sure what Miss Lily was talking about. She pursed her lips, looking around before waving excitedly at a waitress and taking her little notebook as well as a pencil, starting to write before holding her answer up to the blonde. ‘Not 6. 600.’ She never considered what she could do with them, mostly because she got no idea hence why she never really kept track of them. If anything, she’d just want to buy macarons and other baked goods with them anyways.

Lily watched in confusion as Cosette wrote on a tablet from a waitress. When she read it her eyes went slightly wide before looking at the girl again, “Six hundred? Cosette, you have enough to get out!” she said, a mix of eagerness and confusion on her face. Had the House kept her so in the dark that she didn’t know she could be free now? How had no one told her yet? “You can buy your freedom with those points, you can get out of the House.” she explained. 

Sofia: You're certainly entitled to your opinion, Miss.

Sofia: Please feel free to do so. That's what we're here for.

Lily: I trust her judgement and style, I will leave those decisions to her.

“I am on it, yes” Anthony replied as he smiled proudly. “I play one of the leading roles, it really is a ton of fun.” He added before looking at his script for the starting point. “Please do give it a watch and I hope you enjoy it. It is a lot of fun filming here.” He added before pointing out on his script where they could begin. “Right here will work just fine, thank you again so much for helping me!” 

Lily smiled in surprise, “That’s so cool, I’m definitely gonna go home and watch it now that I’ve met the star.” she said eagerly. She looked over the script and realized she’d have to read quickly and her expression faltered a bit but she nodded in response. “No problem!” she assured, hoping she wouldn’t embarrass herself. “I might be a little slow though, I hope that’s alright?”

Jayden pursed his lips, wondering if Darla was taking a personal offence to his existence now. It wouldn’t surprise him. He looked across at her and then down at his knees. “I went back to my folks in L.A. Then when they asked me to do a job for them, I went to the cops? Turned in about 85% of the East Coast ring. They’re all in jail now. All my family. Probably some of Darla’s distant family, too. They’re all related.” Jay squinted across at Lily. “Then I went to come back to Sterling, I was jumped and mugged on the way. They sold me here.”

“Oh, hey Lily. I’m doing fine, just a bit exhausted” she admitted with a soft smile “how are you? how’s Rox?”

“I’m good, Roxie is good too. Have you seen her perform yet? She’s amazing at the Chateau.” she added. “You seem a little distracted, anything you want to talk about?” she offered.