<strong>Marie Broussard, Harlot, Surveying the Playground</strong><br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y200/babycakes_0765/Steampunk/brunette.jpg)</div>Marie descended down the stairs into the Playground, walking slowly, soaking in the sights and sounds of her favorite part of the Pleasure Dome. She'd been dressed and awake for a bit, getting up when her lover Lee Chang had begun his preparations for the day. She knew that today was very important, with so many distinguished - and, to be honest, eccentric - inventors arriving at the Dome.<br/><br/>On this day, Marie wanted everything to be<em><strong>perfect</strong></em>. Her concern wasn't so much for the guests, but for Lee Chang. How today and the next few days went for the guests was a reflection of Lee Chang, whom she absolutely adored and worshiped. Seldom did Marie submit to the will of another man, or a woman. For Lee Chang, though, she gladly would do anything, if he so wished. So, she'd risen from bed when he did, dressed and made herself look perfect, like a proper Harlot of the Dome, and carefully studied the guest list of the incoming inventors. She memorized their names, the types of wondrous mechanical devices they'd invented, and any other sort of information she could find about them. If they was a was she could please them, she intended to do so.<br/><br/>She only wished that Charlotte - one of her fellow Harlots - shared her dedication.<br/><br/>Charlotte was an adorable girl, Marie cherished and loved the lovely blonde's big heart, and her infectious enthusiasm. But ... good heavens, the girl could be clueless at times. And, well, lazy. So when Charlotte had neglected to wake up in what Marie judged to be a reasonable amount of time, she'd decided to address the matter sternly. It'd taken twenty minutes of gentle teasing with tongue and fingers to get the sweet girl to spread her legs in bed and accept the clockwork dildo in her pussy ... all without waking her up. It'd taken considerable patience and discipline ... fortunately, Marie had both, in abundance. She had no intention of letting the girl out of her punishment, nor did she expect the third member of their little group - the fiery redhead Roxanne - to do so, either. Roxxi was a feisty girl, unmanageable and impulsive, but Marie thought she'd have far too much fun tormenting Charlotte to let the girl out of her punishment.<br/><br/>And if Lee Chang wished to free Charlotte ... that was his choice, and Marie was fine with it. Though she rather suspected he wouldn't.<br/><br/>But that was a private matter, better taken care of upstairs, behind closed bedroom doors.<br/><br/>Strolling around the bar, Marie took note that several inventors had already arrived, and were getting comfortable. Judging from the flirting and the conversation, some seemed to be getting<em>very</em>comfortable.<br/><br/>Marie smiled at Jenna, then at Donovan, giving them both a friendly wave. She approached Jenna, idly glancing around at the others milling about the bar.<br/><br/>"The guests are starting to arrive, I see," Marie said. "Any problems as yet, or have things remained calm for the moment?" The slender brunette rolled her eyes. "This many inventors, gathered together ... they're usually quite mad enough on their own. Put them all in the same room, and ..." Marie shrugged. "Well, it's fun to watch, anyway. But I want to be sure that if there's any problems, they aren't because of Lee Chang, or anyone else who serves or works for him."<br/><br/>