Board Thread:What Would You Do?/@comment-34263048-20200111044526/@comment-35738644-20200111205457

I simply stay planted in a chair in the backroom as Angela leaves with a smirk. Shocked, afraid, and slightly tipsy, I sit in the chair contemplating my fate when I suddenly feel a furry paw grab my shoulder. I turn around, fearing what I might see only to be met with the concerned gaze of a ren xiongmao. “Is everything alright?” She asks.

I recognize her from earlier, she was dancing onstage when I first arrived and went to the backroom when her performance was over. I’m still too nervous to say anything but she seems to understand my predicament. “Was it a bad date? Are you in danger?”. She looks around for a moment making sure we are alone and reaches her paw out to me. “My name is Yuan. If you need help you can follow me.”

Though I’m still afraid and hesitant I take her paw, relieved to have some form of support. She leads my through the backrooms till we reach a door and exit out into an alleyway. I’m relieved to be outside but still slightly worried considering it’s late at night. Yuan looks at me with a reassuring smile, “Would you like me to escort you home?”

I simply nod my head as I continue to hold on to her paw and we make our way from the bar. “Hey you! What do you think your doing?” I suddenly freeze up as we hear a voice call out. We both look to see my date, a manticore, looking agitated and probably drunk. I squeeze Yuan’s paw tighter and the notices my distress.

“This boy is drunk and afraid, I have offered to escort him back home.”

“Awwwww. That’s sweet but this “boy” is my date and I’ll be taking him now. You should learn to keep your snout out of other people’s business!” The manticore begins to approach but Yuan stands in front, shielding me.

“If that is true then you should learn to treat your partner with a little more respect!”

“I said…STAY OUT OF MY BUSINESS!!”

The manticore swings her paw slapping Yuan, the force of it sending her crashing into a brick wall and then on to the ground. The sudden turn of events leave me mortified, frozen in place as the manticore draws closer and closer. “You’ve been a very naughty boy tonight. Now I’m gonna have to teach you a lesson!”

The manticore reaches out to grab me when suddenly a bamboo pole slaps away her paw and then smacks her in the face, sending her stumbling backwards. Yuan who I didn’t see recover, grabbed my hand and took off running down the alley, pulling me along behind her. What happened next was a blur as we ran through alleys and streets with the sound of flapping wings not far behind. She eventually pulled me into a house which I assumed to be her own and shut the door, locking it.

I made my way to a nearby sofa and sat down catching my breath, Yuan sat beside me. “Thank you" I manage to stutter out. Yuan simply smiles. I notice has a gash on her cheek where the manticore hit her. “You’re hurt. I’m sorry.” “It’s alright. I’m glad I could finally save someone.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but then she elaborated. “That bar has always been a hunting ground for predatory mamono. I've seen bad things happen to men there. Angela hired me so that my dancing would lure men there for them. I hate that my talent was being used for something so perverse. I always wanted to help them but I never got a chance until today when I helped you.”

I ended up spending the night in Yuan’s house. When I left the next morning she offered to show me some nicer spots in town. We ended up dating and she quit her job at Angela's.