52 Fall 522, Evening
The clouds had gathered in the skies, pushing and shoving each other into a crowded grey mass that obliterated all the stars. The skies opened up to a downpour and Taln felt the extra pressure in the steady thrum of heavy rain. It was a stinging soothing anodyne to the tempest within. Slowly, the fire died down and the Priest of Ivak turned back to the shore, leaving the ocean's depths.
It hissed around him in a relaxing white noise, almost as if drawing a protective curtain of privacy around him. Most of the people and animals took shelter from the sudden heavy downpour and it left him walking the sands in peaceful solitude. Taln followed his feet, not heeding any particular direction or guide.
The tall redhead found himself stopping at the Tranquility Center and he looked around in confusion. He'd done this before back in Wind Reach but it had always lead him directly to the hot and relaxing Tisuma baths. There must be a reason for it. His feet had always led him to where he needed to be so he went with the instinct and stepped inside.
Dripping onto the edge of the platform, Taln stood still and silent not wanting to mess up the neat clean wooden floors within. Zayne sat quietly, again, exactly as the first time he'd seen the man. He looks so content!
A surge of yearning rose and asserted itself directly into the forefront of his consciousness, making itself known. It was maybe the second time in his entire lives that he directly wanted something. The first had been an all consuming need for his freedom. But now, this was a peace, a completely confident contentment.
He'd only felt a tiny portion of it, buried in the deep warmth of the earth but it was purely physical only with zero mental engagement whatsoever. He didn't know that contentment could come easily from even one single happy relaxed memory of constancy.
Zayne turned and welcomed Taln to come in out of the rain and he complied.
"What are we here for?" he asked.
"I don't know. I only went to where my feet took me."
"Is something wrong? Do you feel the need to relax or seek comfort?"
Something innate tickled at the edge of his brain and he nodded to all three questions.
"So a massage should work wonders for you." Zayne suggested helpfully. "Why don't you step over here with me and we'll get you feeling better in no time."
The tall redhead obeyed out of automatic compliance rather than any real direction or second thought.
That behavior was a matter that would be one of many as a second life-long issue to conquer. He'd spent an active two decades walking the earth as a (mostly) obedient Dek, eons living and dying as elements, Djed and magic. Then eleven years in utter dark sheltered solitude, retreating from the pain of too much, so fast, all at once with no way to mentally digest it. And now to arrive among people, totally different from everything he'd ever known in any lifetime. He was floating adrift like an ember, not sure where to go, and if it should die out, flare up or rejoin the fire within.
A money plate rested near the pillar and Taln looked at it stupidly for a moment, not comprehending the idea fully. He frowned and looked between Zayne and the plate and back to the guy again, clearly puzzled. Wait, he was supposed to pay to...? The gears tried to connect, to draw on the past to know what to do next, as this was incomprehensible to him. Was he supposed to pay Zayne for a hunger he wasn't feeling? He was sure that the brunette wasn't his type and he didn't pursue men of his own volition. Taln didn't know if it was something offered here as everyone just seemed to mingle freely with each other. This situation didn't feel the same with all the open empty space and it didn't smell like sex at all. The redhead had no idea what he should do but the urge to comply was dominant. He put a small amount of pinions on the plate and looked at Zayne with uncertainty on what to do next. What exactly was the ginger paying for? Was he to be the Endal now or the Dek again?
Gesturing to the table and some finely made towels, he smiled at Taln.
"Disrobe, lay on the table and relax now. The massage will help to relax you." He oiled his hands and lit some lavender to get a nice relaxing scent in the air to aid in his client's total relaxation.
The lean ginger bent to shuck his clothes and donned a towel to tie around his waist, laying face down on the table. Every nerve, fiber, bone and muscle in his body were raised to maximum tension, unsure of what was going to happen next. Strong but gentle hands rubbed at his shoulders and Taln waited nervously alert for the next signal to continue.
A massage was just a foreplay cue to demand sex, wasn't it? Bodily autonomy and consent were still very new concepts that took getting used to and it was hammered home from an early age to full compliance. Taln's skin ticced uneasily and moved, sliding around like a horse working to dislodge a fly but the redhead tried very hard to stay still.
"This is supposed to relax you, not make things worse." Zayne said with some puzzled asperity apparent in his tone. He removed his hands from Taln's shoulders and asked.
"What's going on here?"
"I wanted to ask the same thing.." the redhead answered apprehensively, holding his position rigidly.
"Ok do you not like the massage technique? Is it too rough? Not strong enough?"
"I don't know what you want me to do. I don't know your signals." he answered, not sure how to initiate what was expected next.
"Signals?" Zayne asked.
Taln sat up and his eyes lingered on the floor, unable to fully articulate the extensive concept of what needed the most explanation. He'd been long conditioned to obey and now he daily walked the line of actively deciding between assertion and obedience.
Unperturbed, the brunette understood the implications, especially with newcomers to Syka.
"This isn't a place for happy endings Taln. We don't have any need of those places here. A massage is just a massage with no reciprocation other than the coin you paid."
An expression of vast relief crossed his features and he nodded, now understanding what he needed to for this community.
"Lay back down and let's start over, shall we?"
Taln returned to his face down position, ready to try again, but there was still that ten percent doubt that would always remain. Touch didn't have to always hurt, but it had literally been a lifetime ago and he really needed to finally move past it. He would make this small step to trust Zayne but it wasn't without firmly conscious effort.
WC 1,187
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by Taln on November 9th, 2022, 7:59 pm 
