[Soothing Waters] Drykas in Training [Open]

[Eldon Sunkiss]

Eldon was pleasantly surprised to find his hand still attached as he peeled the towel from her back down to just above the buttocks. He nodded to himself as he once again places his hands on her bare skin, but rather than focusing on the neck, the shoulders, or small gentle circles, he worked from the bottom of her tailbone. Either palm of his moved as one, as if mirror-image copies of one another as they traveled upwards towards her shoulders once again, then they circled around and moved downwards towards her butt once again. He made this cycle probably a dozen times before he heard her speak, encouraging him was her intention. But what did he hear? A fierce misinterpretation. Lovely, not a word he was familiar with, but love was something he knew the translation of. He inhaled and held his breath caged as he heard the word. He pondered the meaning, 'love', trying to understand what she was saying to him. He wasn't accustomed to hearing the word 'love' used frivolously so to 'love a massage' would seem strange to him. He accepted that even an interpretation like this would be possible since he wasn't used to the customs of humans, or whatever she was. He just had this subtle fear that, for some illogical reason, she admitted her undying love for him, a stranger. How awkward. "Okay." Was that even a suitable response? Eldon had no idea. He would need to study Common more vigorously and as soon as possible. Eldon was focused though, despite his mind jumping to such strange and broad conclusions simply form hearing a word he misinterpreted, and his hands continued their circular paths, from lower back and pressing slowly up towards the shoulders, and circled outwards to trace that very same path in reverse. Next he may try to massage the legs. He knew from experience that exercise built up tension. Running caused soreness in legs. Laborious work caused discomfort in arms, shoulders, the back. Even the occasional write found pain in their hands that could be massaged away, not that Eldon would know anything about this. The door opened, breaking Eldon's concentration at last. His head snapped up as Calyna stepped inside, unfazed that Eldon was massaging a young woman who was nude with only a towel covering her ass. Of course not. Calyna was a true masseuse, she had not only been used to such a thing for years, but even saw it as normal. Eldon looked back down at Asara's snow-white skin as he continued to work, Calyna spoke to the client, Asara, completely. "I hope he's doing alright, he's a little new. Are you ready for the public baths or do you want to remain here a bit longer?"

[Asara Willow]

Asara couldn't help but succumb to the need to let her eyes drift shut in enjoyment. Rarely did she find herself revelling in an activity. She took no enjoyment out of her life, but this moment she'd do her best to remember as perhaps the most pleasant moment in her entire history of living. Even if her memories opened for her, her real ones from before her awakening in the Wildlands, she'd hold this one as the first time she liked something enough to want more.

Her eyes snapped open at his sharp inhalation. She knew enough about humans to detect shock when they felt it. She exhaled slowly, wondering over what she had said, if she had said something offensive. She had come to enjoy the alien touch of his hands on places no one ever touched, but she felt uneasy at the hint of something being wrong. How to apologize when one didn't even know what they'd done that was so offensive..? Why would she even need to apologize, though? Humans were humans. She shouldn't feel the need to apologize for her words. But she wanted to. She had to, to make sure the man knew she didn't mean what was so offensive.

Her inner turmoil was inturrpupted by the arrival of Calyna. Her head lifted a bit, her gold eyes flashing with her hard-to-conceal unease. She smiled though and bit her lip, her fangs depressing her skin for a moment, as Eldon did something that made her skin tingle.

"I am enjoying it very much... Can you tell him that for me? I am afraid there is a language barrier and I don't know how to articulate for him to understand..." Asara smiled faintly and lowered her eyes slightly. She felt the need to leave, to escape before she did anything else to offend or alienate the human working on her back. As much as she enjoyed this, she was beginning to doubt herself for coming here. "Yes, I'll go to the baths. Tell him I'll see him again maybe one day."

[Eldon Sunkiss]

Offend probably wasn't the correct word. Eldon, though confused and frustrated, was not in any way negatively effected by the Symenestra. It was the language barrier, the culture shock, his inability to truly communicate with someone that was making him somewhat sorrowful. Asara, she was fine, the perfect first client, better than Eldon could have asked for, despite her interesting trust issues. Eldon smiled, the whole while as Calyna came in and the two ladies exchanged words. Calyna was the first to speak to Eldon. "Good job Eldon." It was in Common, then she smirked and turned back to Asara on the massage table. "I don't know Pavi any better than you do I'm sure. He's come a long way, I'm not sure why, but he doesn't speak Common well yet. We're working on that though." Eldon's face lit up as he received his compliment. A little reassurance went a long way with him in that situation. A few comfort words would make his day a little brighter, and each day spent within this walls of Syliras had plenty of room for improvement. Calyna helped Asara replace the towel about her body as Eldon instinctively turned away, avoiding any unwanted wandering eyes. Calyna continued to chat with Asara. "Well, thank you for bearing with him. He's still new to all of this. If you ever want to come back and request him personally, I can assure you that he's available." There was a sly wink Calyna offered Asara as they were about to leave the room, leaving Eldon to wait patiently for another client, to clean while he waited, and whatever else needed to be done. End OOCThanks for threading with me. I plan on doing several work threads like this so if you ever want to do another, feel free to let me know.

[Archon]

Illumination of Development Eldon Sunkiss +4 Massage +2 Persuasion +1 Reimancy Lores: Massage techniques (Basic), Reassuring a customer, Dealing with the language barrier Other: Eldon's common has improved slightly, but not enough to give him basic fluency in it. Several more threads of him struggling to work on the language, or a thread with some dedicated teaching, should get him up to basic. Care to see more? : Massage experience for the massage, Persuasion experience for relaxing Asara, and Reimancy experience for your brief use of it. Asara Willow +3 Rhetoric +2 Observation +1 Intimidation Lores: Taking a chance can pay off, Some humans can be trusted, Fondest memory ever Care to see more? : Rhetoric experience for the bits of conversation, Observation experience for noticing things and paying attention, and Intimidation experience for getting Eldon nervous with your sharp words. Notes: A well done training and meeting thread. I loved seeing the problems with the language barrier played out. I'd love to see the interesting relationship between Eldon and Asara develop further.