An Advent of Cordialities - Day 3
@lucifcriisms - ✨ Day 3: A Relaxing Massage
He had been aware that there was a chance he would be giving this particular gift to a man instead of a woman, and he had been fine with that. What he had not expected however, was for it to be a man that could end him if he wound up displeasing him.
Still, he had agreed to do this, and surprisingly, so had the other, so he would try to see this through.
And so it came to pass, that Sceada, a lowly Burmecian, would massage the shoulders of none other than Emperor Mateus of Palamecia...
Mateus had removed his pauldrons and the chest piece of his armor, sitting before him in only a shirt.- a shirt Sceada was not going to ask him to remove. Granted, he had brought some oil with him, but he felt it would be awkward. Besides, he could just as well massage Mateus’ shoulders like this. It had worked well for Maria back in the day, so why not here?
And so he had set about to work on the other man’s shoulders, placing his palms atop each other as he carefully applied pressure to several spots around the Emperor’s upper back. He seemed rather tense, more so than the Burmecian had expected - perhaps his armor was heavier than it looked? Or was the proverbial weight of carrying an empire on his back translating into an actual weight somehow?
In the end, it mattered not. Sceada was here to help the man relax, not question things. And so he kept working diligently for a while longer, trying to get an impression of just where the big lumps and the most stressed spots were.
Alas, they were more numerous and also more tenacious than he would have expected, and so he soon finds his options limited, unable to work the spots properly in the current situation.
“... I am terribly sorry for having to ask this of you, but... If you could please lie down and perhaps remove your shirt, so that I can attend to these sore spots more effectively, then... well...”
He cannot hide his nervousness, a fact that appears to amuse the Emperor as he laughs at this foolish rat attending to him. But he complies, lays down as asked - and even removes the shirt.
Sceada just nods, and then resumes his massage, working on the lumps with care and ample pressure. Seems he did his job rather well, as Mateus not once complains,
Sceada does not know it yet, but before he would be done with the massage, he would be using the oil as well - and thanks to it, eventually manage to leave the Emperor relaxed, with no sore spots or lumps in his back anymore, and satisfied.
And that was all he wanted for today, no?
