---    Chassis

After ducking through the main door, the dragon was pleasantly surprised to find the interior spacious enough to accommodate his height.  From his view, he could see that the ornate crystalline light fixtures needed dusting, but at least his horns weren't gouging the molded ceiling.  The walls were decorated with sashes of colorful fabric, and the floors were a patchwork of plush handwoven carpets, all favoring the red end of the spectrum.  Various chairs and couches lined the walls, most occupied by clients and their respective consorts, while a hallway lined with many doors led off toward the back.  

The feline led him to a small niche with a black onyx counter, behind which a multi-layered beaded curtain occluded an adjoining room.  "If you could just wait here, I will see if Preston is available", she purred, and started to offer him a place to sit, but realizing his stature, stopped herself and smiled up at him instead.  Turning, she stepped behind the counter and pushed her head through the curtain.

The dragon stood, casually waiting, surveying the room and its occupants, who had now stopped what they were doing to survey him.  He waved them off gently with both hands and whispered loudly, "Just carry on with what you were doing and pretend I'm not here", adding a conspiratorial wink and nod.

"Employees aren't allowed back here", came a hushed male voice from behind the curtain. "Not even you."

"But he says he wants to speak to you", the feline replied in hurt tones.

"They all say they want to speak to the owner.  Get out there and make him happy."

"He doesn't want me Preston, he wants..."

"Employees are not allowed...", he hissed louder.

"How about a paying customer?", called the dragon, as his head parted the curtain above the feline.

A short heavyset Raccan behind an array of monitor screens shrieked, as he and his chair fell backwards with a crash. "Aaaugh!"

The dragon and feline extracted themselves from the curtain.  Turning to the once again motionless audience in the parlor, he gave them the nod and wink again, and returned to the feline.  She looked to be on the verge of tears.

Kneeling down and carefully taking one of her hands in his taloned claw, he held it reassuringly. "You should probably go back outside."
 
She looked up at him, then to the curtain, and back to him again.  Bowing her head, she nodded, and made her way out the front door.  As he watched her go, he made a mental note, 'No.. not Class III.'

Now recovered, the flamboyantly dressed Raccan parted the curtain and stepped up on a small bench behind the counter, bringing his eyes level with the dragon's belt.  Fingers covered in rings, he was constantly brushing down and repressing the pleats and creases of his opalescent jacket.

"I thought I was seeing things", he pattered, "We've never had a dragon visit us before.  I am Preston, owner of this fine establishment.  Was there something about Mira that you found displeasing?"

"Not at all, quite the opposite.  It's just that I am looking for something specific.  Something you can't find just anyplace", said the dragon.

"Ah, well we do our best to cater to all tastes here", he burbled almost giddy.  He was already thinking of ways to include the dragon's visit into future advertising.

Dro gestured to the parlor full of escorts and patrons, most of whom had returned to their private affairs, with only a casual glance in his direction.  "Something a little... darker.  If you know what I mean", he said quietly so only the Raccan could hear him.

"Oh, I see.  Yes, I believe we can accommodate you in that regard." Preston smiled, and called "Rook?"

With that name, what was possibly the largest wolf the dragon had ever seen, stepped out from behind one of the burgundy curtains, and struck a flexing pose.  He was covered in thick plush fur of the deepest black, which was offset by his bright blue-white eyes.  Apart from the silver collar around his neck, he wore nothing but a minimalist loincloth.

The dragon's eyes bulged slightly, partly due to the wolf's size, partly because he had completely failed to see him standing there.  "Oh, I'm sorry, I should have been more specific.  I am looking for a female", the dragon said, recovering from his surprise.  He briefly entertained the thought of Shannon's reaction if he chose a male body for her, but decided he would rather live.

The wolf, looking a bit crestfallen, returned to his place along the wall, blending in and disappearing into the shadows.  'Another one?', thought the dragon, then returned to the proprietor.

Preston tapped away at a panel below the counter. "How about this?", he said, presenting the screen.

The image of a well endowed female mephitine rotated on the display.  This would have had comedic value as well, the dragon mused, but Shannon would need something more agile.

"Anything a little less... top heavy?  Less traveled?", he said, waggling his eye ridges.

Preston's eyes widened. "Sir, we do not carry anything illegal here", he whispered tersely.

"I'm not looking for anything illegal", the Dragon whispered back, "I'm only asking for something younger than your mother."

Preston frowned and flipped through several more images.  "This?", he finally asked.

Looking at the girl on the screen Dro said, "I thought you said you didn't carry anything illegal?"

"She is of age, you can check her tank dates", said the Raccan tapping on the screen.

Looking at the image and details again, he sighed, "Yes, I believe that one will be adequate."

"Excellent", Preston gushed, as he ticked off a few boxes and sent in the request.  "It will take a few minutes to retrieve her from storage.  We don't get much call for this particular.. model type."

The few minutes turned into nearly an hour, during which Preston stood rocking back and forth on his feet, looking very proud of himself.  The clientele continued the eternal cycle of chatting up, teasing, retreating to a private room, and eventually leaving through the rear exit at the far end of the hall.  The escorts, cleaned up, re-dressed, and re-groomed, returning to their stations on the stairs outside the front entrance.

Newly arriving customers were very surprised to find a dragon standing in the parlor, and tended to rapidly drift away from the entrance and toward the wall opposite.  

Eventually the mephitine girl appeared through one of the side doors in the hallway.  Her fur still slightly damp from the tank she had been stored in.  Wearing only a simple white shift reaching down to her ankles, she stopped in front of the dragon and smiled.

The dragon knelt on the carpets, bringing his head down to her level, and looked into her eyes.  "Are you sapient?", he asked her flatly.

"No, of course not", she replied without changing her facial expression, her eyes emotionless and cold.  A true living doll.

Returning to the counter, the dragon reached into his pocket for his creds. "This will do nicely.  How much?", he asked.

"Well, in addition to the usual hourly fee, special orders do come with a premium...", began Preston.

"No, not a rental.  I wish to buy her outright.  How much?"

Preston sputtered, "Sir?  I.. she.. we don't sell.."

Leaning on the counter, he craned his neck so that his face was only a few centimeters from Preston's.  "How... Much...?", he rumbled in Raccan.

Preston tugged at the suddenly tight collar on his jacket and glanced over at the girl, trying to come up with a price that would be far more than she was actually worth, but without being so ridiculously high as to be obvious that he was trying to void the sale.  "Two hundred fifty thousand", he said, trying to make it not sound like a question.

The dragon was taken aback. "A quarter of a million?", he said loudly enough for the whole parlor to hear.  "And here I thought it was only your employees wanting to screw me."

He slapped his taloned hand down on the counter with a metallic 'clink'.  When his hand lifted, three large blue metallic coins lay on the counter.  Preston goggled.  He had heard of the blue coins, he knew they existed, but he had never actually seen one before, let alone three at once.  "I'll just get your change", he mumbled, as he picked them up, his hands shaking, not knowing where he was going to find fifty thousand creds.

With the Raccan busy, Dro knelt back to the floor in front of the girl, leaned in close and whispered twelve syllables of old draconian in her ear.

"mae'r goleuadau ymlaen, ond does neb gartref"
(the lights are on, but nobody is at home)

The girl immediately stiffened, and stood unblinking.

"Is there someplace where I could get a few minutes of privacy?", the dragon asked.

Still in shock, holding the coins tightly in his hands for fear they might simply evaporate, he absentmindedly recited his well honed business mantra. "Rooms cost extra.  Standard hourly rate, with a one hour minimum."

"Fine, I guess we'll do it right here", said the dragon, picking up the catatonic girl with one hand and laying her on the black counter top.