The few days she had been on the island had been eventful thus far. Outside of the normal gawking at her from strangers she had seen; people over twice her height constantly, people get murdered over trivial matters, pirates and revolutionaries being arrested and beaten by marines, and tourists pointing at what felt like everyday things to her and making them out to be something special to them. It was strange, being able to freely walk around and see things like this. Her time as a slave had made any type of wandering forbidden unless she really wanted to be beaten, or had a death wish. While a death wish had been common at times, she had never gone through with it all the way.

Finding the tavern that the girl had been to previously, knowing that the barkeep would at least recognize her if he was here today, the fishman would walk in and go directly to him at the counter.

"What do ya want? If you are here to offer sex for money you best git, or you'll be dealing with my hands grabbin' ya and throwin' ya out myself."

This was not the man she was looking for, but she would have to make it work. The man was gruff, quite overweight, and had a deep voice that would have felt menacing if she was not in a public place like she was now. Either way she needed to speak to him, at least to get what she came here for.

What she was here for was simple, just a regular job. Not a job like he was suggesting, but a job as entertainment for the tavern. She was a musician and was willing to work for pay, so she could eventually buy herself the items, which were most likely to be weapons of some sort, she needed to defend herself in the future. "Oh no sir! I would never think of coming into such a respectable place and asking for that kind of thing! I was just coming in to inquire about any possible job openings you might have in the entertainment part of this fine tavern!" Her words were laced with a heavy dose of sarcasm, though that was normal as well, and seemed to just make the man grumpier while also making him realize he had jumped to conclusions.

"Well, we have had a few openings in the entertainment part of the place for a while now. Most don't last long enough for reasons; mostly being arrested or being lil shits and being stupid, or stealing; that one's a big old firing offense. What can you offer? And I swear if you say anything sexual I will have you out of here faster than you can blink."

It was then that she would carefully bring out the guitar that she carried with her, the item gently taken out of the backpack she had with her before she started speaking again. This way she would be able to prove herself if he asked her to.

"Well, my family always told me I had a lovely singing voice, and I taught myself how to play guitar and have been practicing for years now. I can guarantee that I play better than most of the novices you surely get through this tourist trap of a town. That and I have no reason to steal from a tavern that I like, where else would I get my rum? Some other place that will serve it watered down?"

The man's face would sour slightly as he listened, as if he had heard the same story before from someone else, before he actually spoke up. "Well, lemme here a few of them chords and maybe I'll let you try to sing a song or play something for the crowd. You can keep any tips you earn today, but I will not be paying you for this one. If I approve you can come in every other day and I'll give ya the Beli I can afford for what you do. No promises on how much, it all depends on how we're doin' on business."

A bounty of different chords would be deftly played for him, after making sure the strings were tuned properly of course. She was tempted to play 'twinkle twinkle little star' but instead she would go with 'Can't Touch This.' It was a pretty risky song to play, as some people would definitely get a bit rowdy, so it was best to ask permission from the boss man first.

"Would it be okay if I climb on a table that's empty? And if I move along the stage as well? I have a song I want to play, but it might get people a bit rowdy so I do not want to just go for it without permission"

"Yeah, that's fine with me. Have at it, just don't you break stuff on your own. If someone else does they'll be the one payin'. You just do you and prove to me that you're worth it."

With permission granted from the boss himself, Hure Verkehr felt that she had this job in the bag. Beli would be hers, both in payments and tips if she got them! The now excited woman would make her way to the small stage that was set for the entertainers before looking out at the small crowd of people that were here. It was clear none of the people here were here for entertainment. Two marines sat in the corner, drinking what was most likely rum or something else strong, while a cast of a variety of humans littered the place lightly with their own drinks. It was still early in the day, and most of the crowd would not be here until much later in the night. It was the reason she had come at this time. If something went wrong she had no need to worry about too much repercussion from the crowd, it was a whole lot safer to do this now.

A few would look over to her, obviously seeing Hure on the stage with her acoustic guitar hanging over her shoulder. Most would go back to their business, drinks, talks, gambling, and whatever else they wanted to do at the time rather than stare at the pretty girl that probably had no talent; save for the marines, whom were staring intently at her. Just her, not her face.

Her hands would begin working the guitar, strumming the notes she needed, before she finally broke into song. "Can't touch this!" A head would snap in her direction, a surprised look on a tourist's face at hearing such a song begin to play. "Can't touch this!" The same person would begin looking at her, listening to her voice and the guitar in more surprise than anything. "Can't touch this." He hands would use the guitar to make the background 'oh-oh-ohs' for this and the next time she repeated the phrase, making the one staring at her realize she really was going to be able to do the entirety of the song. A smile would reach his face as she winked at him before going into the real lyrice of the song.

"My-my-my-my music, makes me do hard. Makes me say 'oh my Lord.'" The singsong to her voice was beautiful, people not realizing what kind of song it was as she slowly began to get more of them to listen to her rather than what they were actually doing at the time.

Now that she had a small part of the crowd watching, the adult fishwoman would begin a little bit of movement as she played and sung; adding in more difficulty to the situation she was in. Hips would sway left and right as she moved left and right across the stage with the strange movements she had seen people do while singing this fun song. "Thank you for blessing me with a mind to rhyme and two hype feet!" With those words she would jump down off of the stage to begin lightly dancing to the beat of her own song as she continued to sing.

"That's good, when you know you're down. A super dope homegirl from Loguetown." Her line would be changed to make the song sound right for who was singing it, something else that brought more eyes upon her; this time in amusement that she was also being creative about her own style of entertainment. She would move close to others as she continued playing the song. "And I'm known as such, and this is a beat, uh, you can't touch!" As the last words of the line were spoken she would look right into the eyes of a patron, a smile hitting his face as he was now involved in the song.

"I told you homeboy, you can't touch this." Another face told this, from about a couple feet away, made the man whom had a few empty mugs before him begin to bowl over with laughter.

"Yeah that's how we're livin' and you know you can't touch this" This time it would be a female patron, amusingly enough. "Look in my eyes man you can't touch this!" This one would go to the marines in the back, something she would regret much later in the day. However, as she was in the midst of doing something she enjoyed that did not click in her mind at the moments she had done it in. "You know let me bust the funky lyrics, You can't touch this." As she did this line the woman would make her way back to the stage so that she could sing the next verse.

"Fresh new kicks and pants, You got it like that now you know you wanna dance! So move out of your seat and get a fly girl and catch this beat! While it's rollin' hold on pump a little bit, and let me know it's going on like that like that! Cold, on a mission so pull on back. Let them know that you're too much. And this is a beat, uh, you can't touch!" She would go on with singing the song for quite a while longer. Her practice in song and similar skills allowed her to do so without being winded by it, among many other things like having fast yet skillful fingers and hands. Had she been asked to do something like this six or seven years ago she would have been out of breath and trying not to cry in the process.

The end of the song was drawing near, many of the patrons were now singing along, and quite a few were ordering more drinks so that they could have a reason to stay around and listen to the rest of her routine before they left for the day. "Yeah u can't touch this! I told you! You can't touch this! Too hype, can't touch this!
Get me outta here, you can't touch this!" The song would end, the thirty-year-old woman finishing with a few chords and notes that fit the song at the end before doing one last strum while standing in the middle of the stage.

A round of applause, only a light one due to the low amount of people in the place during the day, was made as a few even tossed some Beli onto the stage for her to pick up once she stepped down off of the stage; and after bowing of course! The woman would not count what was there, deciding to not look desperate by just casually adding it to the pack that held her guitar while she also packed it in so she could go back to talk to the bartender. He seemed to have a shocked, yet impressed, look on his face that made her feel good about her performance for the tavern. "So, how did I do? Good enough to maybe get a job here if I sing a different song each time? Or do I need to do something else as well?"

Her question made him think quickly. Whether it was about payment for the future days, how many people she would bring in based on her looks and skills, or the plethora of other things that could go on in the male brain was beyond her knowledge right now. Hure Verkehr just wanted to know if she had gotten the job or not. It did not even have to be a permanent thing. He could tell her it would only last for three months, or even just three visits, and she would be okay with it. She simply needed the money, nothing more and nothing less.

"Well dear, you put on quite the show. Though I expect that if you do change up songs that you'll make sure to clear them with me first, all right? And nothing that is considered illegal with the World Government either. We're slightly reasonable here, we let the marines drink even, and would rather not get shut down because a lass sang the wrong lyrics and caused us to get burned down; ya hear?"

"You bet, boss! So do you want me to just come in in two days and talk to you? Or can you leave a letter for your boss so everyone knows that I will be showing up every other day so there's no issues with payment?"

"Yeah, yeah, I can getcha all that handled. No worries...what's your name? You never gave me one!"

"Oh! I'm sorry! My name's Jienna. Sorry about that!" A fake name would be given for right now. She need not give her real name, not here and now.

"Jienna! Now that is a pretty name. Fits ya perfectly, don't it? Well, Jienna, we do have an extra room here if you want to stay here for free. No charge as long as you work for us, and we won't take it from yer payment either. You get ten percent of what we make in the time that you're here. So if we make one thousand Beli you get one hundred. That and your tips should be plenty for you to work on getting a place of your own here in town, or getting off the island if that be yer wish."

"Oh! Now that is a very kind thing for you guys to do! I hope that I drive your profits through the roof in that case, for both our benefits! Now, if you do not mind at all, I will make my way to that free room if you want to tell me where it is at!"

The man nodded, a smile on his face, as he looked to his left and began pointing. It'll be down that hallway. Go all the way down and turn right. There's another hallway, and if you go all the way down there you'll see our employee exit. It only goes out, so try not to go through unless you wanna do a walk of shame. To the right is your room. All it has is a bed, a cabinet, and some drawers for you to use. But it's free, right?"

"All right! Thanks for all your help...uh...oh..." It was then, at that moment, that they both happened to realized he had not given his name either. Both erupted into a fit of laughter for a good minute or two before the man wiped a tear from his eye as he calmed down from the outburst.

"Aye, that I did forget to do, didn't I? The name is Conor! It's a pleasure to make an acquaintance with you today. I hope the rest of your day goes well tonight, all right?"

"Ha ha, yeah! Me too! Enjoy the rest of your shift today, and I'll be ready to play in two days. I'll make sure to show up for the night crowd next time, though. Would be a shame if only the early ones got to have the fun."

With the conversation complete, the woman would follow the directions she had been given by Conor on where her new room would be. It was a pleasant surprise to be granted a free room as long as she was working here, as well as no definition on how long she would be working for them. While that could be very bad, and mean only one, measly, gig, it still had the chance of being something more permanent. That was absolutely fine with the pinked haired female, especially if the place ended up getting super popular while she was working here; that would just mean even more money for the newly freed woman.

Once arriving at the room mentioned, and opening the door before her, the fishman woman would be proud of the quaint room she had been given. It was big enough for her, had a spacious bed, and there was a small bathroom off in the corner that had a tub; perfect for submerging one's self in water. Shutting the door, and making sure it was locked before returning to look back at the room, the woman would walk further in and set her pack on the bed, which seemed to have room for two. That was good, if she got bored she could bring a friend back to her room with her! There were other things to focus on for now, such as getting into that bath and sitting in some nice warm water.

There was not a lot of clothing the woman needed to rid herself of all of them. Both pieces of the swimsuit were all that was needed to rid of her clothing, and the ribbon in her hair was carefully removed before she began to fill the tub with a comfortably warm level of water before submerging herself into it. It felt good to have the Fishman tail back, and the water made her feel much better than any moment she spent on the dry land that the other species of the world walked upon. It was weird to think that there were even some that could not swim, or had eaten a devil fruit and could not even stay afloat.

The woman of the age of thirty almost fell asleep in the warmth of the tub before she decided it was time to get out. It had been maybe an hour, or so, if she judged it by the water's heat level going down. The woman really did not want to spend the whole night in the tub, as that would just be completely uncomfortable to sleep in through the whole night. Moving herself out of the water, her tail splitting into legs as she did so, the woman would slowly dry herself completely before she put on a clean swimsuit that looked similar to the first, this one being in a bright pink that matched her hair color. Her ribbon would stay out of her hair, for now, as it would not be needed;she was not going to be out in public anymore for the night. Instead, she would grow a weary, and worried, face as she lay herself onto the bed with a 'poof' noise as the pillows attempted to comfort her head. A sigh would leave in a deep breath as she thought about what the man had said to her before. Being an escaped slave was dangerous, more so when you had been under the ownership of a Celestial Dragon. They got away with murder, literally, and were known to keep slaves. Yet, all the same, they were protected by the World Government and would simply come up with a way to get her back. Even if she was in a respectable position before doing so.

It was not a long time after laying on the bed that she drifted off to sleep. There were no dreams, just the blackness of rest, for who knew how long. It was not until there was a knock on her door that she was roused from it, however, and the woman rubbed her eyes sleepily as she lazily sat up in the bed. She had moved quite a bit in her sleep, the sheets and blanket on the floor from when she must have kicked them at some point. A yawn would escape her mouth as the locked door's knob wiggled a little bit.

"The door is locked! Is that you Conor?" The woman would speak loudly, though not quite yelling to do so as she had no clue just what time it was right now. There was no answer at the door, just silence, and that fact started to make the woman grow a bit more worried than she had been before sleep had taken her mind off of prior memories. "This room is occupied, and I am not letting you in unless you identify yourself and I say you can. Until then you can either tell me who you are or go away!" This time she did yell slightly, emphasizing the word 'away' with a harsh tone that made it sound all the more serious. The knob continued to wiggle a bit more before a loud THUD would make her release an 'eep' as well as jump to her feet; someone was trying to break in!