Let Me Show You How This is Done (Orion)

[Min]

The 8th day of the Winter season, 512 Min tapped her forefinger thoughtfully against her cheek, looking down at the mound of dried fibrous roots, covered with pale nodules. With pen, ink and paper, she tried to draw what she was looking at. She had already detached the stems and the five lobed, broad, deep green leaves and those were set aside. Under the crude picture she had created, she wrote copious notes, including what she had been told by one of the old women she had found in the marketplace that sold such things. She was careful to put down where the herbalist had said the Goldenleaf could be found growing. When she was satisfied with her note taking, Min began to detach the round rhizomes from the roots, placing them in a bowl, ready to crush them with a mortar and emulsify them. All the items that she was using were on loan to her, borrowed tools belonging to the spa and place of healing where she now worked. What she concocted would thus belong and stay here as well. It was the knowledge gained that was most precious to her, and what she wanted most to gain for herself. Adding a vegetable oil base, she began a crude saponification process, grinding it all together and then heating it over a small brazier. It bubbled and she removed it to cool, having made an ungent that would act as a cleansing astringent for wounds and ulcers, and ailments of the eyes. The remaining plant bits she carefully gathered together and burnt on the fire in the grate of the little compounding room, for the woman had told her it was toxic if eaten in quantity and she would take no chances of accidentally poisoning any of those who came to the spa for treatment. On the other hand, she had certainly made a mental note of that property of the plant as well. Leaving the room after sealing the ointment in a stone jar, Min crossed the pool area, paying no mind to those bathing in its waters. She found it so odd, this combination of bathing and healing, though the city dwellers all seemed to think it made sense. The Myrian thought most of the inhabitants should come here more frequently, for she was finding the smells of the city quite foetid at times. It was hard to imagine what it would be like come the summer. That was one tiny benefit of the miserable cold – at least outdoors one could usually find a breath of fresh, if brisk, air. Here at the baths, the air was redolent of the clean scent of soaps and scented oils used in some massage. Min had quickly discovered that the word in Common that had mystified her at the employment office signified what she knew of in her own language as the healing art of both detecting and removing evil spirits from the flesh, and deeper organs, with the power of touch. Her own long, sensitive fingers were very skilled at this – at least the detecting end of the equation. She had often used a light running of her hands and fingertips over various body parts to diagnosis what ailed a patient. The use of heat to drive away the unhealthy spirits that vexed a body was also known to her. However, the Myrian treatment was quite a bit rougher and with far less concern for the patient’s comfort. When she had been asked just the day before if she could use the hot stones to bring relief to a patron who suffered from the old age disease in the back, along the backbone, she had nodded affirmatively and set to with assurance. But the old man’s yelps from the over heated stones – that had left angry red marks on his flesh – had brought another staffer running and Min had been ignominiously pushed aside to her great indignity. The two had almost come to blows, but Min had backed down because, well, being in Syliras was of critical importance to her, and she knew she could not fail in what she had been set to accomplish, all those months ago. Besides, she had been told to keep her mouth shut – as much as any Myrian could stand to – and her eyes and ears open. So, she would learn. Or so she told herself. And so today, she was to be instructed. One of the other healers at the spa was to teach her this art called massage – the one involving the use of the hot stones. It was near to the time that she had been told to show up, back in one of the rooms they used for such purposes. She entered, arms across her chest, ready to see what this healer thought they could show her.

[Orion Michaels]

Orion If you're going to keep trying to help out as a masseuse, Orion, you need to learn what you're doing. The never of these people. The patron's had never complained to him about any of the work he had done. Yet apparently there had indeed been complaints about a certain blue eyed doctor and his lack of massage skills. Too rough. Not enough pressure. Too much pressure. 'I felt worse after the massage than before it.' So an ultimatum was delivered. Learn proper techniques or sit back in the medical area all day waiting on someone to be injured. Orion hated having his hand forced, but it seemed he didn't have a choice in the matter. He'd made a good impression on some by working his magic, so he couldn't, wouldn't lose this opportunity. It seemed there was a new addition to the staff, or at least one he'd never met before. The new worker was to be instructed in the way of hot stone massage, after a..less than successful attempt to use them. Apparently he was being sent to failure class. Gods that was annoying. Hopefully it would be a short session and he could get back to work. Someone entered the room just ahead of him, though he didn't really see who it was. Either the other worker or the trainer, he presumed. It didn't really matter. Unless either of them were easy on the eyes.... Shortly after the first had entered, Orion walked into the room as well. The trainer hadn't arrived yet, and for that he was glad. Slender, skin seemingly kissed by the sun, and an attractive, but intensely serious face. Orion couldn't stop the smirk from touching his lips. "New girl?" Being at work, he was pretty mild in what he would do. If he'd met her at the tavern, though.. "You're the one that burned the old man," he stated, probing at fresh wounds. "Right? Well, don't worry, you'll get better, I'm sure. Just watch and learn." His tone dripped with a sense of playfulness, and his eyes danced with amusement. Orion chose each world with purpose, just waiting to see how serious a person she was.

[Min]

She had just taken up a position on the far side of the table – that which a patron would lay on for whichever of the various massages they had requested – when an attractive, but extremely pale, young man walked in. Her dark eyes took him in and, not knowing that she wasn’t the only staffer doing less than adequate work with massage, she assumed he was to be her instructor. This didn’t make any difference in the slightly defensive stance she had adopted, or the grave expression on her features. She had no especial regard for any of the humans here in Syliras, but she would listen and watch, and learn what there was to be learned. She would keep an open mind – as much as any haughty Myrian could. That was her attitude, until the man opened his mouth. Her finely arched dark brows came together in a frown, as he called her ‘girl.’ No Myrian male would dare address a woman such as herself in those terms. His next flippant remark just reinforced what was an obvious total lack of respect, and she almost hissed in anger. What was playfulness and amusement to him was heard as disdain and mocking to her ears. The Myrians were an intense race, however their personalites turned. There was very little playfulness about this one – even for a Myrian she tended to be quiet and reserved, preferring work and learning to being rowdy or loud or boisterous. But even in her reserve, she could be fiercely proud and more than a little arrogant, and wasn’t afraid of anything. Her first impulse here was to leap over the table between them, drawing the knife from her boot and put it to his throat as she demanded an apology. This simply wasn’t possible though. This job was too important to her, for her own reasons. So she bit back the urge to make his handsome face a bit less smooth, and instead settled on arching one eyebrow and unwrapping her arms from about her chest. She placed her hands wide on the table and leaned forward slightly towards him, giving him a direct look. “Yes, new,” she said in a quiet but commanding tone. “You will teach me. Now. Quickly.” Her use of Common was not perfect and her tones were heavily accented. But clearly, she expected him to fall to and get with it, for she had directed him to. "Show me what you know," she said slowly. A good ear might have detected a faint note of sarcasm in her tone. Or maybe she was just being careful with her pronunciation.

[Orion Michaels]

Orion oocLet me know if you want me to change something. It's your thread so I don't want to hijack anything. As soon as the words left his lips Orion could feel the tension in the room rise tenfold. He'd chosen the wrong way to approach this one. Intense features only became more so as the anger twisted her pretty face. This one had a temper, Orion noted, and for a moment he thought she was going to jump him, and not in the good way. When she leaned forward, Orion instinctively leaned slightly back. When she spoke, however, his fear dissipated. He could barely hide the mischievous grin that desired to creep on his lips. She thought he was the instructor. Oh this was fun. But he couldn't, could he? "I'm..not really much of an instructor," he muttered. He wouldn't lie to her about it. That way Orion couldn't get in trouble for it. She'd simply asked for his help, and he was only doing his best. Or that would be his story. "But I'll do what I can. Hot stone massage right?" There was really only one way to go about that. "The best way to learn something is to have it done on you first. I messed up badly the first time I tried, and another one of the workers here showed me the correct way." He motioned to the massage bed. "Get yourself ready. I'll get the stones heated, you'll have to remove your top so I can work your back." Not bad, new girl. Not bad. I'm kind of an awful person sometimes. Orion hoped that they wouldn't have to work together often, because he was pretty much burning this bridge before it was built if he was found out. Whether or not she would respond violently, cooperate with his command, or do something different all together, the actual instructor would walk in at the most inopportune time. "What is going on in here?" He gave Orion a knowing look. He couldn't really get away with anything here.

[Min]

OOCLooked fine to me :3 His mumbled reply only confirmed what Min already thought about this crass human. Her smoldering eyes watched him carefully as he first admitted his own lack of skill, and how he had had to be corrected. She didn’t doubt that a bit. It didn't instill any confidence in her regarding the tuition he was likely to give her, but she just wanted to get it over with. But his suggestion that they proceed with a practicum involving his demonstrating what was what on her body brought a snort of derision from her. “No,” she said emphatically, never taking her eyes from him, her expression about the same as if she was keeping a close watch on a snake. “You tell me. You show me, I will make stones on you.” Again, she was finding the lack of fluency annoying, though she wasn’t embarrassed by her weird syntax and errors. It was just inconvenient. Min drew herself up to her not inconsiderable height and stepped away from the table, to a shelf where the round, smooth stones lay, ready to be heated and used. She took one up, wanting to throw it at his head, but restraining herself. She held the stone out to Orion. “Show me. What is the right heat. This is first.” She looked at him imperiously. “You are the teacher. Teach me – but I will not undress for you.” Her eyes leapt to the second man who just at the moment popped into the room. Her brows drew together in confusion, when that one asked the first one What is going on in here? Her gaze returned to Orion, and she too waited for his answer – for him to tell this newcomer that he was busy here, teaching a lesson, and to come back at a later time – so that she could have her instruction and get it over with and be done with it.

[Orion Michaels]

Orion KlausCould you please take a break from posting to read the rules? This thread is just between Min and I, and you don't have a CS. Not surprisingly, she was having nothing of his game. Still, this could work out. Her eyes were locked on him, studying his every move as though he was something to be feared. Maybe he was. He raised his eyebrows playfully at her retort. That he should be the one to allow her work. She would learn on him. It was a little unnerving, as she had burned that man. Still. This could work out. Maybe not as well, but not all was lost. "Goodness, that's the worst I've been rejected in my life. I'd have taken a slap," he quipped, taking the stone from her. Almost perfectly smooth, cool to the touch. This wasn't going to go well. Orion had not once attempted a hot stone massage. He'd kept to feet, necks, and shoulders and done well enough. He didn't have a clue what was supposed to happen. "It's pretty simple," he lied, tossing the stone back to her. "You made the stone too hot last time. Don't heat the water so much and give it another try." It was sensible advice, right? Orion motioned over to the pan of water. The stones would be placed in the hot water to bring the stones up to the acceptable temperature. Too cold and it wasn't effective, too hot, and well you found yourself in lessons like this. "If you won't learn by experiencing, learn by doing." With that Orion began to remove his shirt. This would be fun. Or it could have been, because that was the very moment the real instructor had entered. When he asked his question Orion froze, his shirt dropping to the ground beside him. His slender frame lay exposed, a generally unremarkable body before them all now visible. The only thing of note was red scar which sat horizontally across his chest. Time to lie. Lie. Lie. Lie "...P-perfect!" This would be a long shot. Orion was counting on two things. The woman was clearly not from anywhere close to Syliras and Common wasn't her native tongue. His ineptitude at lying would hopefully be lost somewhat in translation. The second was that the instructor wouldn't blow his cover. "I..I was just getting ready to be the subject for our experiment today." He positioned himself on the massage table, face down. Letting out a soft sigh, Orion could feel his heart wanting to climb out his chest. This was about to explode. "I'm glad you could make it. Why don't you show her how it's done since you're more experienced with it than she is?" It was the truth. Orion just shouldn't have been telling the trainer how to do his work. Please play along.

[Min]

OOCHope this works for you Min’s confusion was growing by the second, and it was a feeling that was both very foreign and very upsetting to her. The man spoke of being slapped, as if he was reading her mind – how much she would very much like to smack him around and teach him not to be so flippant with her. But – she had shown the utmost restraint, had she not? So why did he speak of this? He accepted the stone she held out to him, but almost immediately threw it back to her, like some child’s game, as he spoke of getting the right temperature. Well, of course she realized this was the crux of the matter – but what she needed was for him to show her what that temperature was, and then how to place the stones, so they would neither burn nor hurt the fragile skin and flesh of these weak humans. In Taloba, she had used hot glass for much the same thing. It burnt the skin often but the efficacy was apparent, and her patients didn’t mewl and cry like little babies. When Orion began to remove his shirt, her eyes widened as she still thought he needed to show her the first step before they moved on to the others. She had just opened her mouth to point this out, again, when the real instructor walked in on them. Her eyes flew from one to the other and it was clear to her, something not right was going on here. But once again, the younger man’s patter went fast and Min had to listen carefully to understand what he was telling the newcomer. He seemed to be indicating that this new staff person show her how to properly use the rocks. And that seemed odd, because, he was the teacher and she was the student so what in the world was this other guy doing here? As the ‘instructor’ was already laying down on the table, Min turned a puzzled look to the other man and somewhat hesitantly came around the table, handing him the stone. “Show me,” she said, though the words were more a question now than a command. She just wished to heaven that one of these jokers would show her how to do this so she could get on with her day. Her dark eyes went questioningly back to Orion, expecting him to steer the lesson as they went along.

[Orion Michaels]

Orion "Orion. What are you doing?" The real instructor inquired again. He was here to teach both of them, and yet there was Orion, his usual hi-jinx at full steam. "Nevermind. Let's just get this underway. Both of you pay attention. I guess Orion is going first. I'll have him practice next. This isn't the easiest type of massage, so you'll have to pay good attention. We don't want a repeat of last time..Min, was it?" He crossed his arms, regarding both of them with a somewhat cold demeanor. Orion was enough trouble. Did he really need another medical practitioner who thought they could do massage as well? It was a good thing that Orion's face was buried in the massage table. His expression betrayed him. His ruse had been destroyed in a matter of ticks. "Y-yeah...show her." He commanded. Sort of. In reality his voice had little to no command to it. His thoughts still trailed slightly, however. Min, is it? "I intended to, Doctor Michaels. Why don't you be a good test subject like you volunteered to be. I'm sure you're just dying for your turn." He had the right of that. But there was no way this woman would allow that to happen. "I..erm..." Orion fell silent. He'd failed badly, hadn't he? "Alright, Min. Let's get to work on the doctor here. Maybe I'll have you warm the stones a little too hot, just to teach him a lesson." He began to load small logs into a brazier. "Now this is something you've just got to get a feel for. See, while it might seem like it's a good idea to get the fire as raging as possible to get the water heated quickly, that's actually not how we want to do it. That just makes the water too hot." Their instructor took some kindling and a flint and steel to get the fire started. "Does it make sense so far? I looked over your attempt at this and there was just too much wood. Go ahead and put the stones in." After she complied, he nodded and continued. "Perfect. While they are warming, I can show you on Orion where the stones are supposed to go. It's really pretty simple here." Orion remained silent, though taking in each word that the instructor said. There was always a barb in his voice whenever he worked with Orion, so he didn't want to press him. Not when there were searing stones involved.

[Min]

This other man took the stone but he began barking like a seal, mainly at Orion Doctor Michaels, as Min was piecing together was the name of the other one – the one she had thought was come to teach her this hot stone massage. But with narrowed eyes she realized that he was not the one who was to instruct her – the newcomer was. So that made Orion – nothing. He was here to learn, just as she was. And yet this real teacher had accorded him the title of doctor, so he must be educated in the arts of healing. The demeanor of their teacher seemed to indicate that he was not well pleased with Orion Doctor Michaels, though, so by the time the teacher was addressing Min directly, it was all clicking into place. Orion Doctor Michaels had his head practically buried and Min now realized why. He had been caught out by this other man, pretending to be the teacher, and he was embarrassed. Min felt a rush of prickling anger running over her skin, that he had tried to pull such a childish prank on her. What had he first said? That she should take her top off and he would show her? Show her what, she thought with a snort of derision. Was this the best he could do? Did he normally have to resort to such ridiculous subterfuge to get his hands on a woman? With contempt, she looked down at him and thought to herself that he had probably never had a real woman in the first place. The whey faced, mealy mouthed women she’d seen here in the north looked about as fiery and passionate as dormice. The men looked hardly any better, and she imagined Orion Doctor Michaels panting and exhausted after a scant hour with any of these bloodless sacks of meal. He acted like a child, and she pitied any woman who was brainless enough to fall for his stupid tricks. Although he was pretty to look at, in his own pale way. Min had been musing thus while the teacher blabbed on. Someone could have just told her the other day to not heat the water so much. It would have saved them all this time wasted on such foolishness. But she kept her mouth shut and merely nodded in understanding, sliding the various stones into the tepid water. She liked the look of them, their smooth, dark surfaces, and she liked the feel of them. They fit just right in her hand, a comforting kind of size, just right to wrap her long fingers around and bring it crashing down on someone’s skull. Her gaze went to Orion Doctor Michaels sprawled out on the table and her fingers clenched convulsively. But she released the last stone into the water as instructed. “Yes, I understand,” she replied to the instructor’s question if it was making sense. When he then indicated that he would go ahead and show her the proper placements, while the water and stones heated up, her eyes widened in pleasure. She moved to the table, standing beside the recumbent doctor who had tried to trick her, in not a nice way. Min looked only at the instructor and asked in a curious tone, “Do you know of the massage of kenja?” Min paused looking for the right words. “It means, pressing. Like this.” Without any warning, her hand came out and with her thumb she pressed deep into Orion’s back, right at the edge of his shoulder blade. For a skilled practitioner of the art, the amount of force one could exert was incredible, and could be incredibly painful, if the one applying the pressure so desired. OOCI’ll let you decide how much what she did hurt, if at all

[Orion Michaels]

Orion Orion had misjudged this situation horribly. He now felt like a cornered animal, but instead of one who would fight, he had no choice but to roll over and play dead. Only his predator didn't care. He gulped involuntarily, as the stare of the woman nearly caused his cheeks to flush red. Orion Michaels, embarrassed? Who would have thought the day would come again. It was hard to tell, though, if it was from Min's reaction or because of just how badly he'd been found out. The blue eyed doctor listened, almost nervously, as the massage trainer spoke warming the water properly, the occasional half interested reply coming from this 'Min' woman. Orion wondered what she was up to. He kept his face planted in the table, unwilling to look up, so he tried to focus his other senses. The gentle aroma of burning wood, softly flowing, enveloping the room, masking anything else. Touch wasn't an option at this point. And if touch was a line you didn't cross, taste was out of sight beyond it. For now.. So on and on did the instructor drone, until he got to the point of showing her on Orion where the stones were to be placed. Each step, each time the mocha skinned woman moved closer to Orion was like torture. A tigress stalked her helpless prey. What was she going to do? He'd have his answer quickly. No hot stones. No boiling water. No, she spoke of pressure. And pressure she did apply. Her hand was unsteady, but fortune had smiled upon her, as she picked the perfect spot. A nerve. Orion's mouth opened of it's own volition. "Ow ow ow ow ow!" He repeated his phrase of pain over and over as he twisted his body on the table to ease the pain. This woman was crazy. Sure he'd played an inappropriate joke, but come on! Rolling off the table, he found himself at her feet, looking up. "What the petch is wrong with you?" He shook his head, trying to stand, shoving the table aside as he did so. "Get out of my way!" His temper flared, though he may have been yelling at the table rather than Min. One could never be too sure.