Closed Massagynist

[Gale Austin McCenry]

52nd of Winter, 514 A.V.
Zastoska Bath House

Warm water ran down his face and trickled from his long, curly hair, taking dirt particles and grime with it. Another splash took away any other marks that were evident on his face and shoulders. The warmth was soothing and the mere thought of being clean was rejuvenating to the blonde who had put off the task all day. Rising steam from the water drifted to his nose, smelling the all familiar aroma of hot water and scented soap.

Gale was quite dirty when he had entered the bath house, though he wasn't covered in mud and gunk, so to speak. But Gale put off coming to the bath house until the later hours of the day, not because he didn't want to get clean. He did want to get clean, he would assure anyone, but he wasn't particularly fond of the fact that he had to get a massage afterwards. Doctor's orders.

The widower, after flicking away excess water from his eyes, took hold of his bar of soap, rubbing it along his shoulders and arms, spreading the suds to further rid of dirt. It wasn't the massage itself that really bother Gale as he thought about it, it was the fact that it was suppose to be for his leg to help it. One of the medics had told him that he could possibly get rid of his limp if he took care if it better. And by taking care of it better, they meant by getting a few massages and use it whenever he could. So running, walking, going upstairs, and massages, and he wasn't a particular fan of any of them, except walking. Of course, he wanted to help himself and get rid of his limp, seeing as his life would be so much easier if he didn't have it, but he didn't fully trust the medics opinion. More specifically, he didn't really believe that getting a few massages would do anything besides waste his money.

The man looked around the room, glancing at the others briefly before looking around at the sculptures and carvings in the walls and ceiling. They really were extravagant, and Gale always enjoyed looking at the art. But it wouldn't be a complete waste of money, he supposed. If he had to make an excuse then it would be that everyone needs a massage now and then, but Gale wasn't particularly fond of massages either. Well, it wasn't getting a massage he had a problem with, it was that he didn't really like people touching him all that much. Maybe that was a little drastic. He didn't like people rubbing him. He just didn't really like the idea of someone running their hands along his back and driving their thumbs or fingers into his shoulders. He didn't like people jabbing him, poking him.. grazing him... Okay, he didn't like people touching him.

The man closed his eyes, facing down at the warm water as his scrubbed the soap into his hair. The curls and thick locks never made it easy, but Gale soaped up, cleaned, and rang out his hair, the blonde hue seeming less dull than before. His finger scrapped his scalp and pulled his hair this way and that to make sure his got his head clean. His hair was always difficult to wash out, but he didn't mind spending a good five, ten chimes on making sure it wasn't dirty, seeing as his hair tended to collect a lot of dirt. But it wasn't because of getting dirty or getting sick that he didn't like being touch. He just wasn't someone who expressed themselves with his body, like some people. He didn't need to hug ever person he recognized and he didn't need to give people pats on the back to show that he was proud of them or to comfort them. He was perfectly capable of expressing his affections and saying what he meant without having to touch someone or be touch. He didn't mind being hugged by friends or giving a firm hand shake, but just anything excessive made him uncomfortable. He liked his space and it felt strange when people didn't respect that space. Which is why he wasn't entirely fond of the idea of having a masseuse rub him all over and, naturally, he wasn't very excited for his massage.

With the last bit of soap running from his hair and into the water, Gale shook his head, his hair splaying our and excess water flinging around him. As always, some of the other men close enough to him flinched as some of the spraying water landed on them, but as usual they only laughed it off, poking brief fun at him, claiming him to be a dog rather than a man. It never bothered Gale when he was young, those crummy remark that is, but since his incident in the Pass, he had a hard time shrugging it off as he used to. He frowned under his curtain of hair before finally ringing it out and rolling his eyes.

Gale hopped out of the bath after finishing his hair, taking the towel he paid for and drying himself and his hair the best he could. Scrubbing his hair with his towel as he walked to his locker. As he set the towel aside, it became apparent to Gale that he didn't actually know how massages worked here. He had had massages before, but they were mainly done by Hana before she passed away. None of them were professional and but no means were they full body massages. Gale didn't see a 'legs' option and felt uncomfortable about asking so he merely paid for a full body massage, but this sudden thought and remembrance didn't really help him with his built up nerves. So he took his time putting his clothes back on. He didn't know if he had to take them off again or not, but he felt more comfortable having them on, at least initially.

After locking his stuff up again, Gale headed up the stairs to the balcony were the masseuses were. He hated stairs, but at least he was being proactive with helping his leg, according to the medic.

Ledgar-1 SM Locker
-1 SM Towel
-5 GM Massage
-1 GM Public Bath
____________
6 GM 2 SM

Note: Gale brought his own soap.

[Eshe]

”Eshe we have an appointment.” Eshe glanced up at Anelda as her boss motioned for her to follow. While she had been at this job for half a season already, she really didn’t feel like she had progressed that much. Mostly Eshe figured it was because she observed most days while Anelda made simple comments on what or how she was doing something. Her mother had only begun to really teach her the basics of massage when she had left for Syliras and honestly Eshe hadn’t considered getting into massage as a job until she had no choice.

That wasn’t to say she didn’t like it. Rather the opposite really because while she was terrible with people, she really enjoyed helping where she could. Any free time she had at work were spent going over the myriad of notes that Anelda had written for references. Everything from anatomy to pressure points to far more advanced types of massage that Eshe would take her a long time to even get near trying. Perhaps that was why Anelda put up with her—because no matter how novice she was in the art of massage she was more than willing to learn. And if she was lucky, maybe Anelda would teach her a little medicine too.

Putting down the notes about hot stone massage that was still far out of her skill level, she silently followed her boss to the balcony room where clients waited. As usual the area was quiet, only a client or two waiting for the next masseur to be available. Anelda’s eyes scanned the inhabitants for a moment before she called out in a clear voice, ”Gale McCenry?”

Eshe leaned around her boss to catch sight of their next client and froze. She recognized this man, though now that she thought about it she hadn’t even learned his name the last time she had seen him. He was tall—well taller than her anyway—and still looked just a smidgen too thin. Not that he could have gained much weight since the last time she saw him not two days ago.

She could feel her nerves kick into high gear as she stared almost in shock at the man. When she had met him at the Infirmary she had offered to help him with his leg… and then promptly felt too embarrassed by her offer that she hadn’t told him how or even her own name before she had took off from the storage room. She wasn’t sure if she was more embarrasses then—or now. Eshe knew her face was probably a shade of red that gave her away though.

”Eshe!” She let out a squeak as her eyes finally pulled away from the man—aparently ‘Gale’—to look up at her boss. The look on Anelda’s face told her that it wasn’t the first time she had said her name. Wincing she stood up straight and cleared her throat. ”Sorry. Right this way please.” Eshe could hear Anelda sigh, but she refused to look over her shoulder to further her embarrassment. Opening the door to a small room that was fairly empty, save for a massage table and another table against the far wall that held various oils, towels, and sheets. There was a window as well, but there wasn’t much too see as there was frost clouding the glass.

Stepping back from the door, Eshe motioned Gale to enter the room as she pulled a sheet from the stack off the table and covered the massage table and then placed another sheet folded on top. Beside him Anelda motioned to the table. ”Remove your clothing please and cover yourself with the sheet. To start we’ll want you face down with your head in the face cradle. We will return in five chimes.” With that, Anelda left the room with Eshe following right behind. She gave Gale a small awkward smile before shutting the door behind her.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Sitting patiently in the assigned waiting area, Gale shook and combed his hair with his fingers, attempting to further dry it before it was his turn. It didn't do a whole lot of good in the end, but it gave him something relatively productive to do than to just sit there imagining how things were going to go. But he ended up doing such anyways as he combed his hair. When one thought about in such a sense, he really wasn't doing anything at all besides fidgeting. Which was exactly what he was doing.

He gazed in the direction he presumed the masseuses would be presenting his or herself, holding his lips with his teeth. Maybe he should just do it himself. He didn't have to pay anything if he did that and he was sure if the stupid massage was going to do anything at all then he would be able to do it on his own. How hard was it to give a massage anyway? He didn't imagine it to be very hard.

But he had already paid for the massage this time and it was too late anyway considering that Anelda had came out and called his name. He didn't realize that he was starring at the floor now, but he yanked his head up to look at what he thought would be one figure. But instead their were two.

Ssena, meet Lhex. Lhex, meet Ssena. Now go petch one another because this is just petching ridiculous.

Gale's gaze immediately fell onto the familiar woman, holding his breathe. Why in Ssena's name did it have to be the one person that could possibly make this any worse than it already was? She was a Kelvic dammit! And they didn't really know each other! It's one thing to have someone know you and understand what exactly is going on, it's another story when it's a complete stranger who doesn't know anything. It's an entirely completely different thing when you know just enough about a person because then that person thinks they know you and makes all these assumptions, but they don't know you that well so they ask questions which you really don't want to answer! It's just all sorts of ugly, as if this situation wasn't already weird for him.

Gah!

"Eshe!"

Gale blinked at the sudden outburst. He wasn't sure what she was exactly trying to say or whether that was a different language or if that was her name or her version of a groan- he didn't know. But it didn't seem like a very good sign.

With a sigh, Gale stood up from his seat, following ever so hesitantly, trying not to think about his faltering steps as he hobbled his way into the room. This was going to be great...

Just great...

He paid more attention to Eshe setting up the table than to what Anelda had instructed him, but as Eshe finished and they started to leave, one of her words hit him. But only after they left.

"We?" He turned to the door, finding it closed. There was going to be another person in here watching him? Well that's just bloody perfect. Yeah, great. Thanks Lhex. Hope you're having fun up there.

He groaned to himself and rolled his eyes, going over to the table by the sheet. He slipped of his shirt and clothes, taking only a few ticks to fold them before setting them on the edge of the table by the wall. They could move it if they wanted, he didn't really care at this point. Can't possibly get more uncomfortable than this so who cared? Gale wrapped himself with the sheet and sat on the table, taking a moment to look at the window. It was like any other window int he city, fogged up to the point where nothing beyond it was visible, but that didn't really bother him. Because after all, with everything else that's been happening, if it wasn't fogged up, gods forbid someone try and climb up to look through the widow and watch. It was ridiculous, seeing as it was the second story, but everything else that could possibly happen happened, so.

He really wasn't too concerned about the window thing though. Gale merely was just cursing every deity he knew. Leaning back on his palms, the man pulled his legs onto the table, but he frowned, as always, as his eyes caught sight of the mark just below his sternum.

Petch Lucans. As if the plain memory wasn't enough of a reminder.

Gale let out a long breath before finally flipping over and laying down. Suppose all he had to do now was wait.

[Eshe]

”You’re not going to be this wound up the entire session are you?” Anelda’s tone was serious, but when Eshe glanced up at her boss she could see the faint quirk of her lips that told her she was probably more amused than anger. Of course Eshe figured she was probably a sight in the first place. Since she the moment she had shut the door she had begun to pace nervously, her fingers from her left twisted were twisted into the ends of her hair. Letting out a soft groan she stopped in front of Anelda.

”I’ll be fine, promise. I just… know him in passing is all. I didn’t expect to see him again.” Eshe was bad with people, but she wasn’t sure what was worse; working with complete strangers or people that she had met but nearly run away from after offering help. She would have liked to think that it was just stress from that day, given how many people she had been surrounded by. Eshe had barely been able to keep herself from falling into a panic attack, and her offer to help the man currently getting ready for a massage had nearly sent her into another one.

Anelda didn’t respond, just continued to watch her with a stern expression and Eshe let go of her hair with a sigh to pull it up into a ponytail. His chimes were up and they needed to get into the room to get started, freaking out wasn’t going to get the job done. Finally looking up at her boss, she gave a small nod and after a moment Anelda seemed pleased with what she saw because she turned and knocked on the door a few times before opening it slowly. The man—Gale—was already lying face down as ordered and Eshe silently thanked the gods. This was going to be awkward enough.

”Today I will be mostly supervising. Eshe will be performing the massage today.”

Well there goes not so awkward…

Eshe barely managed to contain her groan as she stared wide eyed at her Anelda. She had only worked on a few people, and that was generally after Anelda started. Her boss however simply shot her a look and Eshe let out a long breath before turning to face the table. Reaching out, Eshe reluctantly grabbed the edge of the sheet closet to his head and folded it down until it rested low on his waist. After ensuring nothing was inappropriately showing she stepped over to the table where the oils rested and she grabbed one of the lighter scented ones. Eshe had no idea if Gale wanted to smell like a flower, so she avoided the rose and lavender oils.

Applying a generous amount to the palm of her hand she returned to the side of the table as she rubbed her hands together. Anelda motioned for her to start and Eshe couldn’t help but hesitate a moment before taking a deep breath and lying her hands on top of his shoulder blades. ”This is a full body massage, but are there any places specifically you would like us to focus on?” Anelda’s voice was clear and direct, something Eshe was sure she wouldn’t have been able to manage at the moment as she simply moved her hands across Gale’s back in order to spread the oil.

Anelda took up a position on the other side of Gale, leaning forward a little over him as she spoke in a more soft tone. ”Remember to start out soft. Apply more pressure as time goes on, not from the start.” Eshe nodded slightly before she looked back down at her hands. Starting out at the top of his shoulders, she pressed lightly down on the muscle beneath her hands. Once again however she was stuck that the man—Gale—was too thin. Not that she had any room to complain.

As her hands reached the base of his spine not covered by the sheet, she lightened the pressure of her hands as the moved back up to the base of his neck. Anelda nodded at her slightly in approval and Eshe began to repeat the process. She was only a chime or two into the massage however when a knock at the door had her stalling for a moment. Anelda frowned and made her way to the door, opening it just enough to stick her head out. After a long moment she turned to Eshe, motioning for her to continue as she left the room entirely.

”Great.” Eshe couldn’t help the sarcastic mutter from her lips if she tried as she turned back to Gale lying on the table. Now it really was awkward.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

OOCSo! Given a previous thread I did where Gale just so happens to kick a puppy, Gale now has a few minor injuries, just to make things even more awkward. He has three or four small puncture woulds like looks like a shallow bite mark on both the front and back of his left shoulder. They're scabbed over and such so they aren't bleeding or anything. He also had a long bruise along his jawline and a moderately black eye. If you want to see the actual thread and all then just go to my CS and look up Don't Kick the Puppies. But yeah! I'll be adding that in from now on. If it changes anything with your post at all then you can either just change it or talk to me or whatever.

Gale didn't know what was worse, that someone was supervising his massage or someone was going to mostly supervise the massage. If they were just supervising then they would just be sitting there watching him the entire time, observing anything that happens like its some sort of University exam. If they were mostly supervising then that could mean any number of things. One would be that they could also decide to jump in with the massage and that would just be weird for him, and two would be that they would either be talking to him or 'Eshe' which would be even more weird because they're talking during it. It seemed like things were gradually getting worse for him.

Just watch, the whole bathhouse is somehow going to catch on fire and burn his clothes so he'll have to walk home a cloth.

Gale had noticed the lotions and oils and such on the table he put his clothes on, but he didn't take any time to look at them. He wasn't really here to smell nice or anything, so it didn't really matter to him what oils she used at all, but for one reason or another, hearing her rub her hands and smelling the faint scent of the oil made him nervous. Was he supposed to pick an oil before hand? He didn't want to give them more work or make them have to do it differently than they normally do. Because special cases were, in fact, awkward and he felt like if anything else happened he would just explode, guts and all.

But it didn't really matter now, since she had already picked one it seemed. Gale didn't see Anelda nod for Eshe to start, so when her hands pressed against his shoulders, the sudden burst of cold from the cold made him tense up in shocked. He quickly relaxed though, realizing it was just the oil and nothing else, trying his best to simply let her do what she needed to do.

Anelda then asked suddenly, filling the quite room with her voiced question. "Uh." Yeah, his leg, but,"Not really, but thanks." There was a reason why he didn't want to ask about the legs thing when buying the massage. Gale wasn't very comfortable asking for anyone to go out of their normal routine just for him, especially in a professional setting. Considering that this was already strange for him, he didn't want to feel like a special occasion just because he asked for something.That would just be too much.

Though he probably was a special occasion, probably for Eshe at least.

She spread the oil along his back, and although it was cold at first, it quickly become moderate with just a few ticks of being there. Her hands almost glided across his shoulders, passing over the small scabs. He half expected it to sting, but then he remembered that as long as the scabs didn't peel it probably wouldn't. But he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding once her hand pass over the minor bite. He wasn't sure how often people with scraps or scabs or bites came in for a massage but he prayed that it wouldn't be weird for Eshe. One person being awkward was enough.

Anelda came up to him as well, however, Gale trying to keep himself calm by breathing as evenly as possible. But she started to lean over him, making his subconsciously tense up. So Eshe was fairly new at this then? She wouldn't need supervising and be given pointers if she wasn't. So maybe he wasn't the only awkward person in the room. Although two awkward people didn't really add up to a very promising situation, it helped his nerves a little. Having someone who was confident with someone who was awkward was good, but having two people who felt the same way gave off a sense of comfort in not being alone.

But Gale wasn't entirely sure if she felt awkward about it or not. He couldn't see her and he couldn't tell if she was doing anything differently than she normally does.

Nevertheless, Gale simply was silent, trying not to focus too much on everything. The silence helped a lot, and he was glad that there wasn't much talking after that, seeing as his mind briefly wondered to other things, like that Shadow dog he met the day before. Though, as he lay in thought, the knock at the door startled him, visibly jolting as he was brought back to the Bath house instead of wondering around the fish market. Anelda answered the door and then left the two along. Gale found himself holding his breath again, which he promptly let go. Who knew, someone else could have walked in and then he would just die right there.

Although Gale felt much more comfortable with only one pair of eyes staring at him, it didn't sound like Eshe was too happy about with her mumbled sarcasm breaking the silence once again. Silence was a fragile thing wasn't it?

"I swear, if she stared at me any harder she would have burned holes." He didn't think about the connection between what he said and the shallow marks on his shoulder, but nevertheless, he still thought it was funny. What if people actually could just stare at you and burn a hole in your skin? That would really suck. Wouldn't want to get a glare from that person.

[Eshe]

Gale’s voice jolted her out of her daze. Blinking down almost dumbly at his back, she tried to process his words. Did he mean her or Anelda? Eshe was leaning towards the latter because… well she was still in the room. Plus Anelda was known for her strong unwavering gaze. The woman could make even the toughest men wither under her stare. Looking back down at his back though, her own eyes scanned over the various small puncture wounds in his shoulder. She couldn’t help the breathy laugh that escaped her.

”Anelda is quite intimidating. I don’t think many can actually meet her gaze head on for any extended period of time.” Lightly, she let her fingers brush just under the wounds on his shoulder before she shook his head—not that he could see it. ”Though by the looks of it someone certainly tried to already.”

Eshe didn’t bother questioning how he got the wounds. He’d either tell her or he wouldn’t… it was the only thing she had honestly picked up from their last meeting. That and she realized that she was asking questions that one wouldn’t normally ask a complete stranger. Those little social reminders always perked up too late, usually when she was trying to relax and sleep for the night.

Shouldn’t have asked this, shouldn’t have looked at that.

Some days being socially appropriate seemed more exhausting than being bluntly honest. But there were ‘rules’ for a reason, seeing as she hated when people pried too deeply into her own life. It was just hard to remember that she should follow the same rules as well. ”She’s actually very nice once you get to know her though. She took me in after all.”

It took another several ticks before she realized that Gale probably wouldn’t understand the last part of her statement. Resting her hands back onto his back, she began to apply gentle pressure to his muscles once again. ”It’s not to make you nervous if she’s in here is all. I’m still very new to massage. She just wants to make sure I know what I’m doing before leaving me alone.” Wincing slightly she rushed to add, ”Not that I’m going to hurt you or anything now that we’re alone.”

Eshe huffed out a breath as that sentence didn’t sound right either. Seriously why was it so hard for her to put together simple words? It wasn’t like she was housed up as a child and never had any sort of social interaction. She had always been bad with words—but her workplace didn’t seem like the best place to mix and match words. It made people nervous after all.

” I don’t think I could actually hurt you, unless I went out of my way to deliberately do it.” As the oil beneath her hands finally really begun to heat up from both his skin and the friction of her hands, she slowly applied more pressure in her downward sweeps along his spine, but keeping the return stroke up far lighter. ” But do let me know if I apply too much pressure. Everyone is different, and it’s difficult to know otherwise. Or if there is anything you are particularly uncomfortable with. Like your leg…”

Eshe had no idea why he was leaving out the option of extra attention to his leg. Perhaps it still bothered him, or the idea of having it touched just bothered him. She was never any good at reading people, so she let the sentence hang as she moved her hands across his back.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Gale couldn't hold back a chuckle. That sounded exactly like Ricky's old friend Hannah. Man, was she something. He swore that that woman could have just starred down all those pirates all those years ago. No fighting or murder required. Of course, Gale was glad to do what he did, seeing as any number of them could have died without his help, but Hannah was just about the toughest woman he's ever seen. Could probably take down Ricky himself if she had the chance.

Not that she would do that of course.

"I can't tell." He grinned a smile that she obviously couldn't see. He wasn't able to see Anelda's face or anything as she left so he had no idea who or what happened by the door.

Though his mind started to wonder off again at the statement of taking someone in. There were several different ways one could take it, but the first thing that Gale thought of was literally take in. Mainly because it reminded him of Ricky who literally decided to carry him home like a stray so he could stay there. Almost the most embarrassing thing he has ever experienced, but it was fairly... interesting.

But Gale figured that's not what she meant. Unless she was related to Anelda, which he doubted since he didn't see very many similarities, he didn't see very many people taking in others with such a determination or simply with as much compassion as Ricky. So she probably meant job wise, which he could understand too.

Being who he was, that being a stubborn, strong headed, underweight, middle age man who had a limp and is missing fingers, it was fairly hard to seem more appealing for a job versus a burly sailor, or a fresh, young University student. Almost every in Zeltiva besides the worst if people probably would have done his job better than he did, but for some reason he got a job as courier anyway. Talk about taking him in.

Gale couldn't think of any other ways she could have meant before she explained herself. Probably for the better.

So she was new. That's good to know. Maybe Eshe was just as nervous about this whole thing as he was. Or maybe it helped her that she knew him. He didn't know but when he was new to art, he definitely felt more comfortable showing people he knew his work. Of course, when he started drawing he was a kid so that didn't really apply to selling or anything, but he sold a few pieces to people he knew too. And that helped.

But maybe it didn't help at all, or it made her even more nervous.

As Eshe continued on to try and explain herself, he only got more confused as to whether she was nervous or not. Because both people who were confident and people who were nervous say strange things, and that was pretty strange. Both strange and a little unnerving. He wasn't too concerned of being alone with people or anything, but when someone mentions being alone and saying that they aren't going to hurt you, it's hard to not think about getting hurt.

He suddenly started to focus on the pressure she applied on his back. Gale had a nasty slouch, and often times it resulted in his shoulders feeling stressed. He only really noticed this when he sat down for a long period of time, so he rarely tried to escape this habit, but he slouched quite a lot, and he could already feel her rolling over several knots.

He wasn't sure if it felt good or not.

But Gale listened as she explained how he could help. He definitely wasn't used to this at all so it was actually kinda nice to know that letting her know would help instead but make him sound needy or something. "I actually haven't really gotten a massage, with my leg, so I don't really know how it will react, but I'll make sure to tell you." He didn't talk about massages much but whenever he ended up talking about it with someone, it seemed like it was a custom to get one every once in a while. So not having gotten one at all would probably either be frowned on or just seem strange, so he added the leg part to make it sound more normal. It was still true yet it didn't make him sound like he lived under a rock. "That's what this whole thing is supposed to be for, anyway." He muttered.

Ow.

Eshe had managed to roll right over one the knots, surprising him slightly. It was a dull yet sharp pain and it both hurt a lot and not at all at the same. It was one of the few moments Gale couldn't decide and he didn't particularly want to, because every time she applied pressure it hurt, but when she let go, it felt better. Of course, Gale wasn't dumb and he knew how massages worked, so it wasn't the fact that this happened that really made him confused or shocked or whatever the heck he felt. It was the fact that this was really awkward yet he was starting to feel okay with it.

That wasn't natural, was it?

He didn't know, but he knew for a fact that that doctor wasn't natural. He still had a hard time believing that man's opinion. Especially with that strange, creepy smile he had. What type of healer looks at someone like that? Augh, it made him wanted to shudder.

"Healers are so weird." He said out loud, talking to himself.

[Eshe]

Eshe let out a small hum as Gale addressed that he wasn’t sure how his leg would react, before admitting that was what he was here for in the first place—though she just barely caught the second half. At almost the same time however she felt just under his skin the telltale sign of a knot. At least she was under the impression it was a knot seeing as it wasn’t hard like bone, but didn’t quite give like muscle. Outwardly she couldn’t see the knot itself and she couldn’t help but wonder if she worked long enough in massage if she’d be able to tell just by looking with enough experience.

”Healers are weird?”Eshe frowned a little as she shifted the intention of her actions. Instead of following the length of his spine with her hands wholly, she brought them both both to the knot. Carefully she lined her thumbs together and moved them together as one as she applied a little more pressure to the knot upwards towards his shoulder, before attempting to soothe the action by bringing the rest of her fingers back downward in a much lighter pressure. ”The only healers I’ve really met are the ones from the Infirmary, and right now none of them seem to be in their right minds.”

Of course there was reason for that, and Eshe bit the corner of her bottom lip. She wasn’t even one to talk, seeing as she had practically fled from being on the verge of a panic attack. Did that mean she was grouped together as a ‘healer’ in his mind? Instead of asking him that question however, she let out a breath through her nose. ”Too much pressure?” It seemed like an infinitely safer question. Eshe already knew she was odd, but she kind of liked it that way.

”Is there any particular reason that you think we’re weird though?”

Aw petch it all, she really thought she had a reign on her mouth. Not only did she ask another personal question, she apparently went ahead and grouped herself along with the ‘weird’. At least it seemed personal to her, but then his question had been out loud so he really couldn’t get upset with her… could he? Thank the gods he couldn’t actually see her face though, it was probably ten shades of red that she wouldn’t have been able to hide.