Check-In Day: Around the Inn

[st_oriedqueen]

Finished with self-imposed paperwork and emergency planning for the week, Regina permitted herself a leisurely ride on this absolutely gorgeous spring day. After a good gallop, Grace was content to walk, cropping at dried scrub and new shoots when Regina gave her rein. Regina steered the mare gently toward the west; she could teleport, of course, but she appreciated the quiet of riding toward the beach. She found, in the wake of Henry's Christmas visit, she more often craved the scent of the salt air and ocean breezes. Of course, the Pacific never quite smelled like the Atlantic, always warmer and less bracing somehow, but it soothed the wildness in her just the same.

Back at the Inn, Kitty busied herself with stocking the pool bar and generally setting up for the warmer seasons. The pool had been skimmed of winter detritus and chlorinated by the staff-spectre she rarely if ever saw, and there were fresh towels set out like a proper resort. Since the choice of music was hers, the air around the bar filled with dance beats, Afro-Caribbean today, and Kitty moved right into it. She didn't usually dance at work, but she felt bright today and maybe Lara would come down and work with her and they could goof around Cocktail style.

Sam passed through the Copper Cafe in search of a cup of coffee and a salad, or one of the two gorgeous women he'd somehow wound up involved with. His brow scrunched like a caterpillar hurrying away from a predator while he semi-consciously outpaced thoughts about babies and brothers, and possibly babies and girlfriends. His mild scowl wasn't helped by the pack of spirits trailing him and chatting at him about the lives of his family members. He'd asked them not to gossip about people he wasn't close with, but as a consequence, they talked rapidly and often about River's most recent oddness or his mother and Hathaway acting like...well, like him and Molly and Bo, and no thanks. Ditto on Dean and Jane. For all that he looked a little bothered, there wasn't anything menacing or aggressive about it. If anything, the slight tilt of his head as he strolled through the Inn looked thoughtful, as though he listened to something somewhat distant.

Lillith had come to a bit of a routine for arrival days, and around noon, she sat for tea with River Song. They spoke little, and it was difficult to tell whether the women even liked each other. But for all that, Lillith was content with the ritual. If Curnen sang, she would go out to the lawn next and listen. In fact, on such a sunny day, she would undoubtedly flop on the lawn with a sketchbook and a practice notebook, letting her mind float between image and spellcraft as it would. Out here, she would quickly veil herself at the approach of anyone new, but she often was distracted enough that they might catch her in her true form with her all unaware.

Around them, the Inn hummed and buzzed with the happy energy of winter giving way to spring. The most patient and subtle would undoubtedly note the undercurrents of tension, fear, frustration, and boredom that built up over time. But for day, at least so far as this four were aware, the worst of it had been suspended, in favor of enjoying warm sun and the company of friends.

[OOC: GP. It's a gorgeous day. Come and play! All four of mine can be available. Ping me if you're inspired to tag. <3 Welcome, Carol, Toby, and Number Five!]

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Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_allionofdoom]

Entering the parlor, Valkyrie noted the tumbling sound of the drying machine. When first Valkyrie had encountered the dryer, it involved some attempts at instinctive operation that ended with holes and frayed fabric where the frustratingly delicate clothing was concerned. Some advice for Bo was enough to set her straight.

It was arrival day, but she wasn't in the prime welcoming mood--not yet, anyway. The last few nights had involved some charged debate about Asgardian refugee settlement with Thor, and the tension was accumulating with no signs of leaving.

"Can you fit me in?" Valkyrie nodded at the redhead, rotating her bare arms restlessly. "Certain places I can't reach myself."

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_onecoldfox]

Mildmay was still making his mind up about Valkyrie. But he never did decide himself on people quick. 'Cept Felix, and powers if he knew why he'd latched on so strong and so quick to the more'n half-mad hocus, other than them having been abandoned by the same mother long ago. But he didn't dislike Valkyrie. He didn't know her well enough yet for liking. Corbie'd say he needed to get to know more people better. She had done. More'n once. Saying he needed more friends.

Mildmay looked around the room that was empty 'cept for him and her, showing how fucking busy he wasn't. "Ain't got nothing better to do." He closed his book and reached for Jashuki as he stood.

"Even when you can reach, don't mean it's better than having somebody else do it for you."

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_allionofdoom]

"You can show me how it's done." Valkyrie angled her head from side to side, massaging the tight fibers around her shoulders as she approached the table.

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_onecoldfox]

Like Steph had shown him, and there were still ways it was easier for somebody else to work out the knots his leg got into, instead of him doing it himself.

Another thing Steph had taught him, and Mildmay ran a hand through the front of his hair that wasn't pulled back into a plait. "Want me to go, for a minute, let you strip down? Just to your skivvies if you want." It was easier, working the muscles when there weren't clothes in the way. And there was an extra sheet folded at the end of the table for covering up. Not that Mildmay waited for Steph to leave before getting out of his trousers that first time, and she'd told him some people preferred to do that in private, even if they were gonna be naked or almost all through the massage. He got it, though, 'cause Felix might not've had a lick of shame when it came to sex, but he'd be damned before he let somebody see him undress if he couldn't control what and how much they saw.

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_allionofdoom]

“Whatever you prefer.” Valkyrie replied as she lifted her loosely-hanging tank top over her head with all the rest following. Asgard was less puritanical than many Earth societies and Sakaar was degeneracy on a stick. The absence of clothing was a non-topic. Setting her linens off to the side, she climbed aboard the table and found her fit against it.

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_onecoldfox]

When Valkyrie wasn't any more bothered by her getting stripped than he was, just meant they could get to the massage sooner. He did have a moment thinking how here and most of the places he'd been with Felix there were way more people with skin ranging from pale to the the corpse white of his own, instead of the many darker shades he was used to in Mélusine. But it was just a passing thought.

"Anywhere particular you want me to work on?" he asked, reaching for the bottle of oil and warming a small amount in his hands.

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_allionofdoom]

"The back. The arms." She'd gone from swinging her sword every so often to wild and daily sessions. In fact, she'd had to keep her own energy in check. Two proteges and a king all too happy to throw himself into the crosshairs made that a difficult task. The scent of the oil--whatever it was--made her muscles loosen the slightest bit on their own.

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_onecoldfox]

The first touch was light, but nothing tentative. The oil let his hands move smoothly over the muscles of her back, reading the surface tension there, identifying the spots that would need the most work. Like casing a building before going to work: read the lay of the land, find the places that'll be trouble, make a plan, do the job and do it right. (Keeper'd never let him do any less, and in his former profession it would've been a good way to wind up dead.)

"Never knew of any real women warriors, 'fore I came here." Kethe, he hadn't known many warriors at all, 'cept Kay. But soldiering wasn't something women could do where he was from, or anywhere he and Felix had been. But here it was different. And Valkyrie was training Emma too, as weird as it was, thinking of Emma in some kinda fight.

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_allionofdoom]

Mildmay certainly nurtured a touch with more finesse than her own, and Valkyrie was caught between relaxation and the study of his movements across her skin.

“They’re plentiful where I’m from.” Even moreso once upon a time. “I take pride in rearing more.”

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_onecoldfox]

"Ain't much need for 'em here most of the time." Didn't mean when there was need, they didn't want all the fighters they could get.

"But ain't need for much 'cept filling time here most of the time." Having identified the areas most in need of work, Mildmay began to start on one line of tension, starting at one end and following the muscle, his thumbs digging in more as the outer edges started to loosen.

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_allionofdoom]

"It's--" She immediately paused, tension escaping her muscle and expressed as a quiet sigh, "--extremely difficult to reconcile. I'm used to going. Fighting, drinking, orgies--not participating, just knowing they're around--that sort of thing. Everyone's capacity to get along is...one of the stranger things I've come across."

[ooc: your post got a bit buried, sorry!]

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_onecoldfox]

Huh. She was right. Mildmay wasn't sure he'd thought about it like that before. But Lower City, the Mirador, all the fucking places he and Felix had been, there was always drama of some kind. People just didn't get on that well all the time. If nothing else, little frustrations built up into feuds. And with as many dangerous people as were stuck here, things shoulda been getting bloody.

Okay, so a lotta times, Felix started shit just 'cause he could and 'cause he was bored otherwise, but that was pretty much always verbal attacks. (Mildmay was gonna ignore the sex, other than knowing Felix was easier to live with when he fucking on the regular.)

"Ain't that the truth. Wonder if it's something to do with the magic around here."

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_allionofdoom]

"In my experience peace has 'best'--" Even more emphasis was placed on the word as another kink was methodically worked out, "--achieved when all had a figure to tread in fear of." The sarcasm oozed like honey, but it was hard to summon any heat with the hands still working down her back.

"I'd almost find it suspicious but I've yet to find a face that'd do best with a fist."

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_onecoldfox]

"Ain't enough ho- wizards here," Mildmay suggested, his always slurred voice as flat as ever. But someone who knew him, or knew how to listen well enough, they might here the humor behind the words.

"Not that punching one of 'em usually ends up all that good for the one with the fist."

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_allionofdoom]

As Mildmay finished his work, Valkyrie rose to sit, letting the warm and scented towel rest on her shoulders. She rolled her head from side to side and indulged in the sensation. She could feel all the ways her blood pumped and her muscles knit neatly together, her skin taught.

"How long have you been here?" She asked, legs finding their way over the side of the table.

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_onecoldfox]

Watching the way she moved, Mildmay didn't know how anybody could miss she knew how to fight, when it seemed so obvious to him. But there were flats plenty, and wizards too, who didn't know to look for that kinda thing. Not as many here, but...

But she was asking him a question.

"Almost a indiction," he answered automatically, before reminding himself to use the flashie calendar. "Be a year in..." a decad and five, and he stopped to think "a couple weeks." Way the fuck too long, and not long enough for him to stop looking for Felix over his shoulder or thinking he needed to go find him before he got into too much trouble only to remember, again, that Felix wasn't here.

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_allionofdoom]

"Well, then. Happy anniversary." Valkyrie said as she leisurely redressed. "Hope you don't mind if I come 'round more often."

Re: Mildmay/Valkyrie - Lessons in Relaxation

[st_onecoldfox]

"Any time." Mildmay was only a little surprised to realize he meant it. It felt good having something to do, something helpful, that he was good and not everybody and their brother could do.