Written Wonderland

Xavier watched as Saryf took some tentative steps toward the water, coming closer to Xavier in the process. Xavier inhaled quickly, excitement flooding through his body.

"Is this a silent bathhouse?" Saryf whispered to Xavier, and Xavier found himself wondering what other types of things this man might whisper to him. He suppressed a telltale shiver.

Xavier allowed himself a light conversational volume, just one step above a whisper.

"Not silent, no. But meditative. Quiet conversations are welcome." Xavier found himself leaning forward toward Saryf as he spoke, getting closer to the man's ear.

"Ah, all right." Saryf increased his volume to match Xavier's. He smiled at the handsome man. "Thanks, still learning the protocol."

Saryf lowered himself into the hot water, closing his eyes as the heat seeped into his muscles and offered relief. He sat back and relaxed. He wasn't sure if Xavier was staying around or not, but he offered, "Meditative sounds...relaxing."

Saryf closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles enjoying the peaceful harmony of a well curated space for rest.

"Oh, all right," Saryf said, sounding more at ease. And then he smiled. Xavier's grin grew wide. "Thanks, still learning the protocol."

Xavier nodded, trying to make Saryf feel better.

Xavier almost felt his mouth watering as Saryf lowered himself into the hot water. If he wanted to look, he could see every tiny muscle as it moved across Saryf's arms and legs.

"Meditative sounds...relaxing." And indeed, the tension was quickly melting out of Saryf's body, which gave Xavier a full-body shiver.

Xavier blinked and finally sat down to put his own feet in the water next to Saryf. He'd need a better position than this to really massage Saryf's shoulders, but this would do for now while they got comfortable.

After a couple minutes of silence while Xavier ran his legs through the water and looked up periodically at where the other people and the matron seemed to be, he asked, "So... shoulder massage? Would it be all right to get behind you?" He was trying very hard to keep his voice level and his cheeks from blushing.

"Mmmm, that sounds divine. Thank you, Xavior."

Saryf was enjoying the young man's company. He had felt the small ripples created by the man's legs, as gentle as he had been with them.

"Tell me about yourself. What do you enjoy when you aren't in marvelous bathhouses?"

Saryf's short shoulder hairs raised in anticipation for the contact his mind was already imagining. 'Today is a good day,' Saryf thought to himself, 'A chariot repaired, a relaxing break from work, charming company; what more could anyone want?'

"Mmmm, that sounds divine. Thank you, Xavier," Saryf said, and Xavier's stomach jumped in place. He giggled a little, helplessly.

Xavier made quick work of getting back out of the bath and repositioning himself, placing one leg on each side of Saryf carefully. This wasn't exactly procedure, so to speak, but surely it would be fine.

He stared at Saryf's bare shoulders admiringly. Such a landscape to play with! Where to begin?

"Tell me about yourself. What do you enjoy when you aren't in marvelous bathhouses?" Saryf asked.

Xavier giggled again, overwhelmed by the question and the proximity to touch. His foot grazed against Saryf's arm in the water, and Xavier shivered pleasantly. He was definitely stalling on the question now, but he couldn't even help it. And he hadn't even started massaging Saryf yet.

Yeah, maybe Xavier wasn't cut out for this. Could he really keep up a conversation at the same time?

Look, you'll feel better when you're touching him, he told himself. Bravely, he put his hands on Saryf's shoulders, begin to test the muscle there and gage the tension. They were exceptionally light squeezes as his fingers assessed the right approach.

When he could focus on the question, Xavier wasn't sure he wanted to think about anything outside of this place. He giggled again, quietly.

"I do some weaving in my free time. Well, and my grandma taught me how to make some potions, so every once in a while, I make those with her, too."

His squeezing on Saryf's shoulders grew a little bolder, and Xavier reached down to scoop up some of the warm water to pour over Saryf's shoulders to help them loosen up, leaning over the other man in the process.

Xavier's quiet giggles instilled feelings in Saryf that he was surprised by. He tried to put words to them. Curiosity. Caring. Compassion? Maybe more like a sense of pleasant empathy. Fun. Saryf found himself very grateful to have been caught peeking at this man in particular. He found this exchange uncovering such a vast and pleasant personhood beneath the mask of procedure the man had worn thus-far.

Xavier's fingers and palms danced across Saryf's shoulders. Saryf's smile would be invisible to Xavier, but his face moved anyway. This was all just so...nice.

Xavier shared about weaving and potions. Saryf was interested in both, but as the warm water poured over his shoulders; only one remained at the forefront of his mind.

"Mmmmmm...this is so good. Thank you, Xavier. I, uh... potions? Tell me about that."

Potions were illegal for the official chariot races. A team could conceivably gain too unfair an advantage with the right official connections or money. For the night races; not so much. Being unsanctioned, not only was access less of a problem of unfairness, but it gave brewers a chance to gain names for themselves; and it added some extra spice to the races. Night vision potions were standard, and that had opened the door to everything else. But his team lacked the skilled brewer for such an advantage. They had made out okay, but who knew what potions may hold? It might be just the thing to give them that little edge they needed.

Could this chance meeting turn into a working relationship as well? Saryf blushed as his mind lingered on the word 'relationship'. He shook himself from it and focused on the relaxing rhythm of pressure to his shoulders and the man's firm and caring hands.

[[OOC: happy to revise the part about potions if you didn't want things to go that direction with them]]

"Mmmmmm...this is so good. Thank you, Xavier." Xavier was grateful that Saryf couldn't see him blushing because it was stark, but he tried to channel the energy into the massage instead, kneading muscles deftly. He hadn't exactly had much practice, but it was sort of like... dancing--only with his fingertips. Gliding over tendon and bones until he hit something juicy and pressed. Pressed. Mmmm.

"I, uh... potions? Tell me about that," Saryf added, pulling Xavier out of his hands, though he kept kneading, working his way down toward Saryf's biceps.

"Well, uh... we make the standard set for the pharaoh and the nobility, mostly. Elixirs of alertness, healing poultices, sleeping draughts, truth tellers." Then, Xavier lowered his voice a little conspiratorially. "But, we've also been experimenting with some new concoctions for layfolk. Little things to make their labor easier."

Xavier's hands had stopped moving briefly, forgetting themselves. He returned to massaging again as soon as he noticed, though his feet accidently squeezed Saryf in alarm when he realized. Xavier hoped he wouldn't mind.

Saryf smiled at the friendly squeeze of Xavier's feet at his hips. He enjoyed the comfortable almost-affection that seemed to be falling into the interaction between them. Or was it affection? Surely not; they didn't know each other. Right? It was invigorating either way. Saryf relaxed back a bit more to express comfort at the gesture. He worked to stay on topic verbally.

"Fascinating. Elixirs of Alertness sound great. I'm certainly curious what else might suit us. Any chance you know how to make night vision potions? No, nevermind. That one's easy to pick up either way." Saryf's voice trailed off a bit before he continued.

"Xavier, I work with chariots and my team's got...an opening for a skilled brewer to help our drivers out at the night races. They're unsanctioned, but...well, they're not not allowed. I don't know what your night life looks like, but...well, night races are nothing if not exciting. I can't promise pay beyond supplies, but it is there if we place; which you'd be helping with. What I can promise is that it's unlike anything else. It's fast paced, but when your team works like a well-greased axle you really feel alive. It really is like nothing else."

Saryf leaned back even more, arching his neck so he could look Xavier in the face; if upside-down. He sought to gauge the man's reaction.

Saryf didn't seem to register that Xavier's feet had acted on their own, but he did lean back more comfortably into Xavier as he thought.

Soon, he said, "Fascinating. Elixirs of Alertness sound great. I'm certainly curious what else might suit us. Any chance you know how to make night vision potions? No, nevermind. That one's easy to pick up either way." Saryf trailed off, sounding like he was thinking out loud. Gears started turning in Xavier's head.

Sure enough, Saryf took the plunge.

"Xavier, I work with chariots and my team's got...an opening for a skilled brewer to help our drivers out at the night races. They're unsanctioned, but...well, they're not not allowed. I don't know what your night life looks like, but...well, night races are nothing if not exciting. I can't promise pay beyond supplies, but it is there if we place; which you'd be helping with. What I can promise is that it's unlike anything else. It's fast paced, but when your team works like a well-greased axle you really feel alive. It really is like nothing else."

Saryf looked up at Xavier from below, making him look a little upside down. Between the strange and sudden proposal and the look Saryf was giving him, Xavier giggled, letting off some anxious energy.

"Uh..." Xavier said, trying to think as his face fell slightly. One of the other patrons glanced their way, making Xavier a little uncomfortable.

"Well, officially..." Xavier started but again stopped, unsure exactly what to say. He had his work here at the bathhouse, but it didn't sound like the night races would interfere with that. And the night races only lasted as much as the day tournaments did, right? So it wasn't as though this would be a forever arrangement. But how would his grandmother feel about him getting involved in something like this? He wasn't sure. He didn't exactly count her among the rule-following crowd, but she certainly had her own sense of morality that Xavier was still coming to understand.

"Could we... talk about it later? Meet up somewhere maybe?" Xavier asked, rubbing Saryf's shoulders a little more forcefully.

Saryf smiled at the giggle passing over Xavier's lips. He could only savor it for a moment, and then something seemed to make the man uncomfortable. Saryf wasn't sure what it was, but he relaxed and repositioned his head in a more normal fashion.

Xavier seemed to have some thoughts to share, but then stopped. Saryf was curious what he was thinking about, and then Xavier asked to talk about it later, somewhere else. Saryf was starting to see that he'd maybe overstepped. He felt a little guilty, but still; it would be great to have an alchemist on his team. This man was thoroughly adorable too, and Saryf thought he detected some possible chemistry. At the very least, it would be good for teamwork or friendship. Maybe it could lead elsewhere too, but at this point not even Thoth could say.

Xavier began massaging with more vigor. Saryf wasn't sure if it was relaxing or not still, but his muscles sure did need the work, so it was welcome none-the-less.

"Of...course, yes. Later is good. Sorry if I've...overstepped, Xavier, I got caught up in our conversation. Anyway, I'd be happy to meet you when you're free to discuss it further. There's a tea house not far from here that grows their own hibiscus, unless of course there's someplace you had in mind?"

Saryf took care not to make an awkward move as before, as much as he wished to read Xavier's face to gain more insight.