Solo [Job thread] Sky High

[Vaerin]

13th Summer,
517 AV
Afternoon

It had been several days since Dra-Vaerin started his new job at Stark Naked and Starstruck. The new employment suited him fairly well. Even if it was not truly what he wanted to do with his life, he had no cause for complaint. The building itself was for the lack of a better term, magic. Every detailing was plush, luxuriant, ethereal. The air constantly was filled with beautiful and heady aromas that enticed the senses. All the qualities of this bath house were just like the woman that ran it. Vela was the first Ethaefal that Dra-Vaerin had crossed paths with in his life, and what a sight that had been. It was a race unlike any he could have ever imagined - like something carved perfectly from marble. So far she had proven to be a gracious and enthusiastic employer to him; though perhaps that may have been on account of the glowing recommendation he had procured from his previous mistress. He still felt very much out of his element though.

Especially when it came to the constant illusions that surrounded the baths. They were beyond impressive, he could not argue that. But for someone that still was adjusting to the sensory overload that was the forever changing streets of the city; it caught him off guard frequently. He had nearly dropped three dishes filled with bath salts on his first day walking in and seeing the baths themselves transmogrify into the night sky. The same had gone for the private baths that had a unique theme depending on what was marked on the door. Part of him worried that he would fall into the expanse of the door if he was not careful. Though wrapping upon the strange surface of the door helped allay such a fear. As he had learned quickly, it was always better to knock first before entering a closed door.

It was just like anything, he found himself thinking as he walked downwards to the massage room. He would get used to it with time. Maybe it was even better that he was viewing his new workspace with such a child-like rapture? It kept his mind off the sheer amount of nudity he found himself surrounded by on a daily basis. It was something the young man had never come into too much contact with growing up. Most of the other Symenestra tended to leave when they saw him coming to bathe, and he was admittedly fairly prudish about displaying his own body in such a manner. He knew that it was natural, but it was something he so rarely saw apart from his own body that it was jarring to be exposed to it so much now.

Today was proving to be a different experience though, it was to be the first time that he had been assigned to give a massage. On his second day, another member of the staff had given him a basic explanation of what would be required of him. As well as assurance that he would not be asked to perform anything outside of his skill. The young dancer turned masseuse was relieved to hear that, as it banished away thoughts of having hot healing stones pelted at him for failing to soothe an old battle wound. The young man approached secluded room at the very back of the premise. This was apparently where the man he would be massaging was located. Dra-Vaerin was not entirely sure that this was how massage appointments went. However, he supposed since he was still so new that it didn't do to ask too many questions. It had sounded like the man had wanted some time to himself in the room before being introduced to Dra-Vaerin.

The youth had no idea what the interior was to look like. However, he could smell the alluring scent of jasmine and nutmeg drawing him in. It filled him with notions of giant trees covered in thick vines and blooming flowers in the sticky heat of the day. He was excited to see if this expectation matched what was behind the thick wall.

He rapped against the wood thrice before announcing his presence. A few ticks later a deep, masculine voice partially muffled by the door told him to enter. The young man eagerly wrapped his hands around the knob of the door, and coltishly pushed it open. The sight Dra-Vaerin would open the door to caused his heart to race wildly, his foot hovering at the precipice of the entry way as his eyes took in every last detail.

Behind the door was a sheer plummeting expanse of evening sky from which he could barely see Mizahar. He was in the petching sky!

"AIYYYEEEEE!" Dra-Vaerin shrieked with ear piercing terror as a sling of Symenos exclamations of surprise of varying degrees of rudeness escaped his mouth as he sprung back with the intensity of a startled cat doused with water.

The shock wore off quickly and was almost instantly replaced with embarrassment as he heard the booming laugh of the man. It was with a red face that the half-blood stepped back into the room.

"I, uhm, please forgive me for that display. I am still quite new to this. I have not quite come grasp the nature of the illusions produced here." Dra-Vaerin stammered, keeping his eyes downcast as he forced himself to step through the door. The reasons for this were multifaceted. Firstly, he could not bring himself to look at the man after making such an idiot of himself. Secondly, he did not want to appear lewd in his approach to his job. While thirdly, he needed to keep his eyes focused on the ground to remind himself that it indeed was a tiled floor, and not a plunging drop through the midnight sky.

[Vaerin]

The young man's face felt hot to the touch. Most likely due to the overwhelming sense of embarrassment he currently felt as he made his way to the man that sat disrobed on the massage table.Though Vaerin was sure the way in which he was clenching his jaw to avoid focusing on the all too realistic illusion that engulfed the room played its part in this as well. How awful this first impression was. He found himself thinking he would have to make sure that he did the best he could in order to not jeopardise his position here so soon. It wouldn't do to have a masseuse that carried on in such a manner in such an establishment such as this. He inhaled deeply, it was time for him to swallow whatever other emotions - mostly fear that somehow the illusion would become a reality - he felt.

"Good afternoon ser, please once again accept my most humble of apologies for my behaviour just then. I am Vaerin, please feel to call me 'Rin'. What may I assist you with today?" He said with the usual politeness that he prided being associated with.

"It was amusing. Don't trouble yourself over it. You're new to Alvadas aren't ya? Alondric is my name. Nothing too complicated - just focus on my back will ya? There's been a mighty amount of tension just sitting there. And maybe a little in my thighs and calves."

Dra-Vaerin felt a certain level of discomfort at being recognised as being an outsider so easily. Although it made sense, and he couldn't argue it in the least. After all, he had nearly flung himself to the floor in terror over the illusion that persisted.

"I suppose it is that apparent then?" He replied, queasily adding a levity to his intonation to make it sound as if he found it as funny as this man did. He did not though. He raised his eyes to the man sitting in front of him on the table. Through the dim lighting of the currently moonlit night of the massage room, Dra-Vaerin could see that this Alondric fellow was quite sturdy looking. "If you would please lay with your face downwards, we can proceed."

A transitory thought about how lucky it was that his species was gifted with such excellent vision in the darkness passed through his head. It allowed for him to be aware of what exactly he was doing with his hands while he massaged this client. The man had very thick, ropey looking muscles and a broad frame. It was hard to tell when the man was seated but he did not look to be all that tall but was more than likely to be taller than himself. His features were fairly non-descript, favouring the same broader set appearance that his body did. What was apparent was the thick growth of hair that covered his body. Something which made Vaerin temporarily lost for what to think. Would it interfere with his ability to perform the massage? His people did not really have any abundance of body hair, so to see it evident in such a vast quantity was peculiar. He supposed that he would find out, as Alondric laid himself down, and thankfully spared Vaerin from having to pull the towel up over his buttocks. He still was not desensitised to nudity enough to be okay with doing that for another person - whether he was being paid to do it or not.

"I will start with using some oil, feel free to close your eyes and relax." He stated in what he hoped came across as soothing. He reached over to an elegantly filigreed side table covered in smaller dishes containing essential oils which appeared to hover delicately on top of a particularly fluffy white cloud. It was quite the whimsical sight indeed. He lifted one of the saucers and quickly smelled it, the aroma of chamomile and what might have been Lavender oil greeted his nostrils. Quite the strange combination, but he was sure that it had its purpose. He proceeded to tip a sizeable dollop of the viscous liquid onto the small of the man's rugged back. The widow then placed the palms of his hands onto the skin and gingerly slid them upwards, spreading the oil up the man's spine. The sensation of the man's body hair on Vaerin's palms produced a slightly uncomfortable tickling feeling as the oil slid through it. He circled his palms around the man's shoulderblades next. Yes, already now Vaerin could feel the tenseness of the iron like muscles that knitted just underneath the surface of the man's skin. He began to suspect this man worked in hard labour given the both the size and strength that he sensed from this man.

"Ah, a bit harder if you would. No need to use the kid's gloves."

"Ah, of course. I was just spreading the oil..."

Dra-Vaerin was not even sure he would be able to push hard enough for the man to feel it, given how thick the man's skin felt. His touch was also admittedly very weak. He would endeavour though. So he dug his palms and fingers down into the man's skin a little deeper this time as he pulled his hands down the lengths of Alondric's sides before repeating his circular motions again. Once more he could feel an immense tightness in the man's obliques. This was already starting to feel as if it would not be an easy job. And he had not even really started yet. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could still see that the illusion gave the appearance of him being high up in the sky. Just another obstacle to overcome then...

[Vaerin]

Totally unsure of where to begin now that this hairy man lying on the table in front of him whilst the room seemed determined to keep them at a leisurely cruising height of far too high for Dra-Vaerin, he decided to just prod around for the time being. Surely he would be able to feel the tension in the man's body and could just use that as a basis of where he needed to rub to relieve the stress in the muscles.

Then it dawned on him that his years of dance training would probably be highly effective in providing him with some understanding of what he would probably need to do. After all, had he not known full well when his muscles were fatigued? Or where he needed to press down on to properly stretch out any forming tension when he was stretching? This man complained about pain in his back and legs, and he had felt a lot of tightness in the man's obliques. It seemed to him reasonable to assume that Alondric must have been lifting heavy items often and as a result, the tension was forming in areas that were burdened often by these activities. He would blame this lack of instant recognition of what to do on the illusion that surrounded him. It was currently in the process of causing his jaw to hurt because of how clenched it was. It was beautiful without a doubt. Still, it was terrifying to look out on. The young man only liked being so high up in the air while he was performing. This was much too high.

So Vaerin started to move his hands up the man's back once more, gently pushing down along the indentation made by the muscle that curved inwards to the man's spine. Dra-Vaerin felt the most tension being produced from the very base of the man's spine as it progressed into his hipbones, and at his shoulder blades. Perhaps he had not been lifting with his legs as much as he should have been? Or his cargo had been so heavy it was causing such an undue strain on his shoulders as he moved. Thinking of his own experience as a dancer, he knew how important the core of the body was in producing any form of movement. It really was the centre of everything in the body. He felt the man somewhat careless to not take better efforts to avoid straining this part of his body as much as he was to cause this level of tightness. Using the base of his palms Dra-Vaerin pressed downwards into the two little indentations that sprung up from the man’s hips and into his lower back. Vaerin threw in as much of his body weight as he could behind this action. Which was not easy, and left him feeling as if what he was doing was not particularly effective. There was not all that much to Dra-Vaerin though, so it was not completely unsurprising to him that this did not have an immediate effect. His next action was to slowly circle the area in the reverse manner, still trying to keep the pressure similarly distributed upon the man’s body. The waif of a man did this several times until he heard a dulled cracking noise from the man’s body and a sound of satisfaction from his client.

“That did it. Took ya a while, but it feels a bit better.”

“Please do forgive that inconvenience. I will try to be quicker.”

“Ah, don’t worry ‘bout it too much. Just as long as it gets done.”

Though, Dra-Vaerin felt as if his job was still not entirely complete in this region of the man’s body. True, there had been that cracking noise and the muscles did feel slightly less tight. Yet he was still not satisfied. He knew how his muscles felt when they were relaxed and properly stretched out. The man’s lower back did not yet feel this way. Gently easing his palms up, he angled his thumbs backwards and began to rub in smaller circles across the areas he just massaged. The aim of this was to better individually target the areas of tension he still felt through the man’s skin. This continued as the young Widow made his way to the man’s sides. He was now much more satisfied with the state of the man’s lower back. Though, he could elicit from the noises of slight discomfort that Alondric was making that he would need to do something further to avoid causing the man further pain later when he got up. The muscles had been worked out, but they also needed to be soothed after that process. Dra-Vaerin knew that much. It was just the same as when one danced. If proper stretching during the winding down just after the performance was not taken: the following day, the build-up of the exertion would fatigue the body much more intensely. He only assumed that it would be similar with the massage process.

He reached for more of the oil. He really was unsure of how much was too much regarding this. Pouring another reasonable sized amount onto his back and utilising the lengths of his fingers, Dra-Vaerin gently slid his fingers horizontally back and forth across the man’s lower back. He finished with gently repeating the process of gently circling this area with the base of his palm. That felt conclusive to him. He was certain now Alondric’s lower back would feel more recovered than when he walked in. However, he still had to target this man’s shoulders and his legs.