Chapter 995 - 995 Chapter 995 Retreating to Friendly Territory

995 Chapter 995 Retreating to Friendly Territory

Sue

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Sue moved the short distance back to the buffet table to grab a few things that she thought Lily and Kat might like to share before heading over to the bodyguard session and handing out her easily-gotten gains. Sue held back a grin as all the other guards standing around locked their eyes on Kat and Sue. *This was a good idea. Even if I really do need the break and I was just being polite… it seems like it was an excellent idea.*

“I’ve got a few things for you,” said Sue, “Apparently, I need a bit of a break. Honestly… I’ve not been doing as well as I’d planned…”

Kat smiled and took the plates from Sue, holding the one filled with salami up for Lily to much on from her shoulder. “Not to sound ungrateful… but Bodeir does seem to have a few women hovering around. Is now the best time for this? Also what do you mean ‘not as planned’ things seemed fine from here…”

Sue shook her head, “First off, one of those girls watching Bodeir is definitely gay, I caught her staring at my tits and ass at least twice already when I was checking over at Bodeir. Secondly, they’re all cultivators. I can tell that much based on how they walk. They aren’t really the type of people I’m supposed to be keeping off Bodeir. Any cultivator that’s seriously interested in him isn’t going to jump into his bed tonight, even if they have less then honest intentions…

“Well, except for those dual cultivators but I can easily deal with them. Demonic energy does horrible things to them so most know to avoid demons in general. Just having us both around should keep those types away from him. In fact, the only person that I’ve seen talk to Bodeir that might be a threat to his chastity was one gay guy… but I’m pretty sure that Bodeir wouldn’t appreciate me ‘saving’ him from the other guy. Plus, I’m not in the mood of outing people like that if the guy in question wasn’t out of the closet. Not sure what he sees in Bodeir, but it might be different for people used to mountain elves,”

Kat nodded, taking a bit of the cupcake she’d been offered before frowning. “What IS this? I think this might be the first thing I’ve tried from another realm that I haven’t liked the taste of. It… I don’t know how tod describe it but… not good is the answer…”

“Pass here?” offered Sue, willing to give her own opinion. Kat shrugged and did as she asked and when Sue bit down on the cupcake she instantly agreed with Kat. Shoving the plate back into Kat’s arms Sue dashed off to the buffet table, filled two cups with punch and then came back before downing the whole thing in one swig and handing the other off to Kat. “God… that’s… that’s AWFUL. I have no idea what they did wrong… hmm…”

.....

Sue looked over to one of the bodyguards, “Do you want to try this? See if it’s just us?”

The nearby bodyguards, sorry, the ‘totally-normal-guests’ all looked at Sue like she was an idiot. Sue just shrugged, “Well, that’s fine. If you don’t want to test it out it’s no trouble for us,”

Kat rolled her eyes at that assertion and said, “Don’t let their disinterest let you think I’ve missed you dodging my second question. What do you mean by things aren’t going to plan?”

Sue glanced at the bodyguards and, to her disappointment, they were all clearly paying attention now. Kat might have been good at spotting threats, but she wasn’t the best at understanding the danger of social situations. Sure she knew not to share sensitive information, and how to take no for an answer… but it was clear that in Kat’s mind, Sue having a less then stellar night wasn’t something that would be worth keeping secret.

She was wrong, at least in Sue’s opinion. Social dangers were insidious and the idea of admitting such a large weakness was ridiculous… at the same time… this was the only ball they’d be attending while she was in charge of Bodeir’s love life. Perhaps answering wouldn’t be a complete disaster… *Hmm… to share or not to share. Kat wouldn’t hold it against me if I don’t explain it to her…*

*At the same time, it might not be all that valuable. It’s my own personal failings, not Bodeir’s, so Bodeir Senior has no reason to come after me for talking about it. Heck, Kat might have some na?ve, but insightful information. On the other hand… I could just tell Kat it should wait till we’re back our accommodation. Hmm… no, I’m not doing well here, if Kat can help me, however unlikely that might be, I’ll take it. No offence Kat. I know you can’t here me, but in depth social manipulation isn’t your strong suit.*

“I came in here ready to play noble politics with all the fancy people around. I can abuse the fact that not only am I beautiful, I lean more towards the indecent side of things. Especially considering the size of my ‘natural assets’. These are things most girls, or women, are envious of. Plus, with my lustful appearance I can normally attract the attention of the men in the building. I don’t need a good personality for that, I just need to be showing more boob then anyone else, and their eyes will follow…

“But it just isn’t working. The one guy that talked to me is known for sleeping around, which I AM all for… but he’s the ONLY guy who came up to me. The girl’s have been a mixed bag… but I feel like I lost every encounter except for the very first one… but even that… now I’m wondering if I was the one who was set up, because everything after that has been poor form on my end. I just don’t know what’s going on. It’s like nobody here wants to play the same game as me…”

Kat raised an eyebrow and said, in a slightly confused tone, “Isn’t that because they AREN’T playing the same game?”

*What?* “Elaborate?” asked Sue.

Kat shrugged and said, “Look, I don’t know that much about these guys… but isn’t Qi all about enlightenment and stuff? So it’s probably much less socially acceptable to openly gawk and your tits, or even complain about it. These people aren’t nobles, their nobles AND cultivators. On top of that, the people here who aren’t cultivators? They clearly used to hanging around cultivators, and I imagine you don’t quite fit in with either the unpowered group or the cultivators…

“So nobody knows how to interact with you. I’ve seen two calls for duels break out and we haven’t even been here an hour. Sure there hasn’t been a duel just yet, but I imagine there will be. That’s the difference, I think. For a cultivator, if you go over their bottom line? They’ll break your legs. A normal noble party wouldn’t allow that,”

“That… that… huh… is it really like that? I’ve been to noble parties in world with Qi before though…” grumbled Sue.

Kat just shrugged again, “I can’t really say without knowing exactly what you’ve done before… but my guess is that even though the higher energy source was Qi, you haven’t been to a proper cultivator gathering before. Plus, they might just be more comfortable with themselves. Can’t cultivators get like… heart demons or something if they get too annoyed?”

“Eh… it’s not quite that bad but yes… heart demons are a major issue for cultivators. That… could explain things? Quite a lot actually. They’re probably all taught how to avoid that sort of thing years in advance and without any fancy stuff like pheromones, illusions, or the like I might be just a bit too normal. Beautiful I may be but… perhaps not enough to shake their foundation?” thought Sue aloud.

Kat just shrugged again. *Well, despite Kat’s lacking in follow up help… her initial premise could be correct. I don’t really remember just how many cultivators were at those other parties. With such a different culture I guess the fact that I’m failing isn’t a big surprise… though I am disappointed in myself. When did my social snob skills degrade to such a point that without having my conversation partner drooling or fuming I can’t get a leg up on the opponent?

I think this is another example of, I want the sex, but I NEED to be more than just the sex. I’ve even boiled down my social strategy to ‘flash tits, then react accordingly’. Where’s the examination of their clothes? Their stance? Wheedling out their history and guessing at past trauma and accomplishments? Perhaps this was a good slap in the face. I’ve clearly been slacking on this sort of thing. I wish I knew when it happened though… I can’t really think of any one moment… must have been a gradual thing. Annoying… but hopefully fixable.*