So young.  So shy.  Scarab could see why the poor lass had gotten a little taste of stage fright the other evening.  That, in addition to being a mortal surrounded in an establishment whose major customers were Dragon-Bloods, it was quite the reason for her hesitative manner.  But Scarab had found amongst the mortals – girls like Bao-li, and her coworkers – that they often enjoyed their lives the most, had the liveliest emotions and felt the biggest about their triumphs.  Plus, it was hard to be them in Creation these days, with so much happening; Scarab had resolved to be kind to them, as they were often overlooked despite their place in society as someone of everyday importance.  (How many days did you go by living in Creation without interacting with a serving girl?)<br/><br/>She acknowledged his change of name, and then turned to head back to the kitchen to bring him his food and the tea he’d requested.  Scarab had figured out that as one of the stayers at the House (in the previously multi-mentioned Crane Room), the girls were paying special attention to him.  It had been morning the day before, actually.  He’d caught more than a few girls staring in his direction and heard his name whispered a few times.  It wasn’t hard for him to know why – secrets were his thing, after all.  The previous afternoon, while he’d been changing after an intense martial arts practice session (which had been followed by a bath), Hanae had ‘accidentally’ come into his room to announce dinner.  She’d gotten quite the view when she did, including what was under his lower robes.  For Scarab, it was little difficulty to know that serving girls like them often spent time ‘after hours’ chatting and exchanging information about what had happened over the course of the day – Hanae had no doubt given explicit details as to what she had seen.<br/><br/>It had just been Bao-li’s luck – or had it – that she had been the girl with the most meaningful interaction with him (Hanae saw him more often, but just for little things) since he had arrived here.  The after hours talk combined with the fact that she had flirted with him after her performance easily meshed together to give the young blonde first shot at the handsome guest of the House.  Something that would continue tonight.<br/><br/>Scarab waited, bored, while Bao-li was in the back.  He smiled briefly when she emerged with his tray, caught her eyes as she came towards him…and rose to move to catch her when she tripped on her own feet and was about to go to the floor.  It seemed, though, that he’d been pre-empted.  The manager girl – Avelle – had already started moving, and by the time Scarab was standing had caught the other girl, pulling off quite the impressive feat of balance.  Internally, Scarab frowned.  That was a pretty slick set of moves that the girl had pulled off.  Granted, she was Exalted – Terrestrial compared to Sidereal – but that was still some move.  Not every Dragon-Blood could manage a maneuver like that.<br/><br/>He clapped along with the guests as the girls took their bows, and resumed his seat.  When Bao-li came to the table, placing the tray on it and apologizing with a red face, she would find her hand trapped under one of his the moment the tray met the table.  “You have nothing to apologize for.  We all have our bad days.  Besides, this nervous temperament doesn’t suit you.  Smile.  You always look prettier that way.”  There was a moment of silence before Scarab decided to continue.  “Bao-li, I heard something the other day.”<br/><br/>Pause.  Wait for response.<br/>