Solo (Soothing Waters) Do You Even Teach? (Min)

[Orion Michaels]

Orion, 39th of Winter, 512 AV It was a generally slow day for Doctor Orion Michaels. Some days he was thankful for it, but this was not one of those days. Thoughts of sun touched skin and chestnut hair teased his memory, the feisty woman he met the last day stealing her way into his thoughts. He could have had her, easily, but he walked away. He’d received a full view of her in the very waters of this locale, and given any who cared to look a free show while he was at it. There was nothing at all to be ashamed of, after all. He was supposed to be working today, however, and there was no time for him to have random encounters with surprisingly beautiful women. That was always a shame. For now, he wandered the corridors of the bathhouse, lost in his thoughts. The season had been quite busy as a whole. New employees, confrontations with said employees, a handful of severe injuries, even an encounter with an exotic woman in the Bronze Woods. With the season just a third over, it was pretty impressive that so much had occurred already. Though he may complain about it, there was nothing worse than being bored. Excitement was far better than the other option. Slowly, he made his way back to his work area, just in case there was anyone looking for him. He could waste a lot of time in the bathhouse, doing things both pure and otherwise. He didn’t wish to be reprimanded for not doing his job, so it paid to at least give the appearance working. Orion was quite surprised when he saw who was waiting for him. They’d barely come to know one another and quite a history they had built. “And to what do I owe this pleasure, Min?” oocIf you don’t want me to make an assumption about where she is, I’ll edit this.

[Min]

She had given it quite a bit of thought, though in the end, it had not been a hard decision to make. The Myrian just wanted to make sure that Orion was the appropriate person to approach, and that she herself could contain her contempt for those parts of this man which made her want to throttle him. He was a very good doctor – she knew this from her own observations and from the reputation he had around the city, and here at their mutual workplace. If she was to learn, she wanted the best – and as far as she could tell, Orion was the best that she had encountered to date, since her arrival in Syliras. There might be better physicians or healers around town, but if so, she didn’t know them. So she felt like she would at least give her idea a try, and see if somehow, they could bury their differences and move forward as professionals. Min respected that facet of who Orion Michaels was, even if all the rest was… unworthy. Unworthy of himself, more than anything, she thought, for why he chose to act like a donkey’s rear end was beyond her. It was also none of her business, either, so she would simply try to overlook it and pick the man’s brain for the knowledge that it held – the first order of business being – vocabulary. It had become abundantly clear to Min, in the relatively short amount of time that she had been working at the Soothing Waters, that her lack of fluency in the Common tongue hindered her abilities as a healer. She had instructed Kayle to correct her when she made mistakes in that language. But the young man had little to no knowledge of the sometimes complex terminology of medical conditions, procedures, the bodily functions and organs and parts, treatments and techniques and equipment – all that she really needed to know to be at her best, and provide the best in healing to her patients. To that end, she had decided to seek the help of Orion, with an appeal to his better self that might appreciate what she was trying to do. That was the plan, anyway. She had gone to the room he used as a work area of sorts and had a seat in one of the two chairs pushed next to a table being used as a desk. The whole layout of the spa and its various areas and rooms was always amazing to her, for she had done her own healing back in Taloba in her small one room house – most of it set up for and given over to her vocation, and only a tiny corner devoted to her sleeping mat and a trunk for her clothes. The spa seemed vast indeed, and she wondered if Orion had any sort of sense of belonging here – as she certainly did not, though it was early days yet. She waited patiently, and finally heard approaching footsteps, and turned to watch as he entered the space. The surprise on his face was unmistakable, and she knew the reason for it. With their limited interactions to date, it was only reasonable that he might conclude that she would steer a clear path away from his, if possible. Coming and planting herself right here in his personal space must have seemed quite odd, and unexpected. But with composure, she rose to her not unsubstantial height and greeted him with a polite nod and a neutral tone of voice. “Doctor Michaels,” she began, having learned the correct syntax of his names, and forgoing the informal first name only approach, even though the happening of several nights ago might have allowed for such liberties. “We have not been good to each other. I want to change this. I want to offer you me as your friend.” She stuck out a long, slender dark hand towards him. “Please, I wish for you to do something for me.”

[Orion Michaels]

Orion Orion crossed his arms, flabbergasted by Min's foreign attitude. Was this not the woman who'd managed to hurt him at every turn? This woman who seemed disgusted by him with his every action? Why, she'd even lied to him, with vague promises of a particularly glorious evening with her. She'd made it quite clear over the first third of the season that they were going to be nothing more than business associates. Why, suddenly, were they to be friends? A wry smile grew on the doctor's face as he began to slowly circle Min, ignoring her outstretched hand. "Do something for you? I usually at least buy a woman a drink before I 'do things' for her, but if you insist." He didn't expect a real reaction from the woman, as surely she was used to his crudeness by now. "I thought we'd burned that bridge anyways. But seriously? Friends. Friends? Friends." He chewed the word over and over again, reveling in the almost power he felt given by her suggestion of friendship. It was absurd, wasn't it? "What is it that you need? Maybe we can negotiate." He raised an eyebrow in challenging fashion. Maybe this was the way her culture operated. Maybe they just tossed things aside and did as they pleased. Yet, from his interactions with Min, he doubted this very much. Someone was worthwhile, and worthy of time, or they were useless and a waste of it. "So what's the game, Min? What are you using me for?" That was the short of it, right? Orion was a tool for something, but he didn't feel offended or upset. Not at all, because he would try and play right back. It's how he endeavored to do these sorts of things, anyways.

[Orion Michaels]

oocWith Min's retirement, I'm going to turn this into a solo. Orion wasn’t surprised when Min didn’t follow through with her promises of friendship. They’d been at one another’s throats since they day they’d met. Things were going to change at the drop of a coin, no, and he doubted they ever would. While he was somewhat enchanted by her beauty, the way she judged him and spoke down to him at every turn was enough to drive him insane. The beauty couldn’t fix a broken relationship, especially since she’d made it clear that the only kinds of relations he’d been interested in weren’t the slightest of possibility. ”Fine then, whatever. I’ve got better things to do, Min. Figure out how to help yourself with whatever you needed, you came to the wrong doctor.” Orion turned away from her and walked away. Part of his required work for the day wasn’t as required as he’d made it seem. With the skill in medicine he boasted, he wasn’t always the first they called upon to treat injuries. If they were minor, there were plenty of assistants who could take care of them. What Orion could do in that time was go and help with the other masseuses, learn the craft, and help them with the burden of a rather busy service. They claimed that the art of massage had healing properties, so Orion saw no reason not to work at learning it. It didn’t hurt that it was an effective tool in his repertoire when it came to his ..exploits. A man who brought in money, cooked, and could give a killer shoulder rub? If anyone could give the illusion of being a good catch, it was Orion. Making his way to the massage area of the Soothing Waters, Orion greeted a few of the other workers. He’d not really gotten to know many of them well, but they were fully aware of him. Many of the workers were suspect of his intentions, and he couldn’t blame them. He didn’t massage because he liked it. The course hairs on the backs of blubbery men were not what made him pick up the talent. It was its impure applications, naturally. But if he wanted to impress when he performed, he couldn’t be learning on beautiful women, no he had to suffer through middle aged laborers, who were as enthused to see him as he was to see them. Orion walked into the massage room, quickly moving over to the small chest of massage oils, taking a few of them out to have readily accessible. He then went about lighting the candles throughout the room, the dark room flickering with the faint light hanging from the wicks. With all of that taken care of, all that Orion could do was wait for the customers to start arriving. He could hope, pray, and beg that at least one of his customers would be a beautiful woman; otherwise he would lose his mind. The only sweaty man Orion liked was Orion. Unfortunately, it was usually laborers, males, and they had lots of knots which needed worked out. ”Why don’t beautiful songstresses ever need a rub down..”

[Orion Michaels]

As if on cue, a rotund man walked into the room. He paused at the door, hesitating upon seeing Orion, looking at him as though to say 'is this the right room?' Confirming that it was by taking a peek outside the room, he sighed and continued on his way in. "Shoulda specified I wanted a woman." The disappointment dripped from his face. He'd expected to find a blonde beauty or a buxom brunette, but instead there was some scrawny man. He was here already, though, and that was that. Orion was just as displeased as he was, but he'd have to let it go and do his job. At least he knew he wouldn't be asked for any special favors at the end of things. Gods, he hoped he wouldn't be asked. "Welcome to the Soothing Waters. What will it be for you today?" The man grunted out a reply. "..Full body." Fucking wonderful. Orion nodded and made his way for the door. "Alright. Get down to whatever clothing you're comfortable in and get under the towel. I'll be back in a few chimes to check if you're ready. I'll knock and you give me the cue." The man nodded in reply and moved aside to allow for his masseuse to exit the room. Orion closed the door behind him and waited outside, leaning against the stone wall. This wasn't at all what he'd had in mind, but it seemed there was no choice in the matter. If he was going to help out and improve his knowledge, he'd have to take the good with the bad. It just so happened that this bad had excessive fat rolls. Even worse, well, no, that wasn't right. Less worse, but annoying nonetheless, was the fact that he couldn't keep his mind off of Min. That dark skinned beauty would torment him for a few days yet, until he found someone else to lose himself in. He was supposed to have someone like her waiting in that room to writhe under his touch. Instead... Knock. Knock. Knock. Orion's rapped his knuckles softly against the wooden door, and when he recieved the go ahead, he entered. Soft candlelight kissed at the darkness, shadows dancing along the walls as he moved about the small room. His customer was laying face down the massage table, towel covering most of his rear. ....Gross. Gross. Gross. Gross. It was time to get to work. "Relax, I'll light some incense, and then we'll get things under way." The man remained silent as Dr. Michaels set about lighting a relaxing incense to set the most comfortable environment he could get, considering the situation. This job was going to take an eternity, and he was going to have to really apply pressure to get down to the muscle. Full body work was tiring enough as it was. It was a good thing he was tall, giving him plenty of room with which to use his leverage. This was going to be a long, long, day at work.