Arisel's Brushing (or massage)

Finding herself worn down and still a little sore from the assassin's attack a few days ago, Arisel finds herself once more upstairs in the Clanmother's, scouring over books and scrolls. She's sitting on a rug at one end of the room, surrounded by the pieces of work that may help her find a way to heal Ri'sari. On top of that, she is also searching for a way to create a safe portal to save Lands, another issue she finds herself in the middle of. Thus is the life of a leader now, she thinks to herself with a smirk. Ever since her absence led to Ri'sari's injury it seems like S'ren-ja can't go a few hours without something happening or someone finding trouble.

A scroll to her left catches her attention, and she quickly reaches over to pick it up. Unraveling it, she finds herself grinning when she reads the words upon the scroll, the words flowing into a poem about a young warrior who suddenly finds himself the general of an army and not knowing what to do, yet becoming very successful later on during his campaign. At the end of the scroll is a saying that she reads several times, "Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."

"Interesting," she murmurs, gently setting the scroll down before reaching to grab another.

((Queue Zura! :) ))

He wore his patches, of course. His gleaming coat of soft white fur, and atop that the vibrant purple budi and the white trousers that showed off the shape of his legs. Ma'zura approached, a small smile on his muzzle, playful curiosity alight in his golden eyes.

"Clan-mother," he purred, a teasing, happy tone to the words rather than respect - not disrespectful, but more of a rolled singsong as he slipped into the room, his hands clasped behind his back. "You have been working very-long, freind-Arisel."

"Clan-mother," she heard, but it did not register right away. What did register was that someone was in the room and she hadn't realized, making her jump like a field mouse dropping her scrolls to the ground with a low thud. Arisel blinks a few times, fatigue clearly winning this battle. She turns to her left and sees that Zura was the one who entered the room and spoke her name, her new name, one that she was still getting used to.

"Zura, it's great to see you! Pardon the mess," she says sheepishly, embarrassment clearly on her tiger-striped face. "As you can see this one has been doing a lot of reading lately." She runs a paw through her orange hair, noticing how frazzled it feels making her frown a bit. "What brings you here today friend?"

Ma'zura stepped over, his color-ringed tail swaying behind his ankles. The calico consort's lissome form gracefully bent to take the scroll from the floor.
"This one has come again to offer his services," he replied, rising, a warm expression written on his face as he met Arisel's gaze, the scroll held loosely out in his well-manicured fingers, "He has convinced you a massage or brushing at least would help ease the burden the Clan has weighed upon your shoulders, no?"

Arisel blinked, almost looking dumbfounded for a moment as she recalls her conversation several days before with Zura. "Oh goodness yes, this one completely forgot about it." She stands up from her scroll and book menagerie and dusts herself off. "This one has never had a massage before, she would like to try that," she says with a smile.

Ma'zura laughed, tossing his well-groomed mane out of his eyes with a gentle flick of his head. "It is understandable, Arisel has much on her mind. But she should not forget herself, yes? If the clan-mother forgets her own pleasure, there will be none of her left to lead." He looked around the room. "A massage is a lovely thing," he notes, "You should lay on your front, or kneel, whichever makes you most comfortable. Zura will need to see your bare back. He promises not to count your stripes."

Arisel ponders a moment about whether to lay down on kneel, but decides laying down would probably be more comfortable. She finds herself chuckling for a moment at Zura's stripes comment as she begins to pull off first her gloves and then untying the laces to her shirt, turning away slightly as her shyness shows. "There is the seat over there, or the table. Which would be better for this massage?" she asks.

His attention wandering, Ma'zura cast his eyes over the paperwork on the table, idily reading whatever presented itself. "Whatever is most comfortable for Arisel," he replies, gold-painted nails catching the light as he waves his hand dismissively, "Zura can work with whatever is best for you."

Arisel nods at Zura before walking over to the couch-like lounger, still working on the laces to her armor. Even though the armor she wore mainly consisted of cloth, there was a leather guard on the front and sides that always took her forever to undo. A little time to lace and unlace it always trumped an injury though she thought. As Arisel finishes the last lace, the lies face down on the lounger, still keeping her front covered.

Ma'zura smiled and looked over as Arisel laid down. He stepped gracefully across the floor, his sandaled feet stepping gracefully as he moved to her side, studying the woman. "Next time, if you like, Zura will also help with the armor? He is sorry he forgot to offer," he smiles, whiskers twitching. He settles on to his knees next to the couch, drawing in his claws fully and resting his hand lightly on the base of Arisel's neck before slowly drawing his warm fingers down, studying the tension beneath her striped fur.

Arisel turns her head to the side offering Zura a warm smile. "It is alright, this one is getting those laces down to an art now," she says with a light chuckle. She turns her head back down to rest on a small pillow. As Zura traces his paw down her back to study the tension, she feels a shiver run through spine. "Sorry, this one isn't exactly used to much touch.. apparently my back is a little ticklish."

Nodding softly, Zura considered. "Just relax," he advises, repeating the motion with a slow and steady touch, trying to gauge the threshold of her ticklishness. "This one understands." His hand is warm, his movement slow, assured, careful. He smooths downt he fur with spread digits and a flat palm, his small form remaining perched attentively at Arisel's side.

Arisel closes her eyes and lets out a deep breath. Relax, she had never relaxed before. It was always "You're needed here, save this person, there's an illness in this village," and so on. She must admit though, having someone move their hand down her back to gauge the tension felt really good and was quickly relaxing her, or at least it must be, because she noticed how drowsy she was quickly becoming.

Zura continued, moving both hands to slide in tandem down the fur of Arisel's back, thumbs meeting in the valley of her spine. "Mmm, he hopes you are not too tired to be awake for this," he chuckles, his spread fingers gently spread across the center of her shoulders, then moving down to the bunch of muscles that supported her tail.

"Mmm.. Oh this one won't fall asleep, she just hasn't felt relaxed like this since.. well, ever," she says quietly, closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath. She can feel how tight her muscles are under his palms. Everywhere he presses hurts, but in a soothing way. When he reaches her lower back to work on the muscles near the base of her tail, she flinches a bit, surprised at the knot. "Ow, that must have been from the recent fighting," she says in a slightly pained tone.

"This one would not be upset if you did. He suspects a good nap is rare for the clan-mother, yes?" His whiskers twitch with a smile as he brings his hands back up to her shoulders, starting to knead now, soft-pawed fingers squeezing at the ttension beneath the striped pelt. He purrs soothingly, his fingers starting out gently, alert for any twitch of pain.

Arisel finds herself grinning in amusement, whiskers twitching. "What's a nap?" she jokes. She flattens her ears against her head, enjoying the pressure suddenly being kneaded deep into the knots residing in her shoulders.

The lissome calico consort chuckled, casting his hands down gently lower on Arisel's back. He started to knead with pressure now, rather than squeezing with his fingers,using the meat of his warm palms to apply pressure to the knotted, tense muscle. He continued to purr, his shoulders rolling as he stood to get a better angle to knead from.

Arisel, not used to being this relaxed lets out a quiet purr. Even though the tone of the purr may be soft, she is sure Zura can feel the purring vibrations through her tiger-striped fur. She closes her eyes once more, her purring not waning for a moment as the calico Khajiit continues onto her lower back to work out the tension.

The masseuse smiled with pride, continuing his work. He gazed across the striped back, his white-furred paws sliding slowly downward as he kneaded along the valley of Arisel's spine. He did not speak, letting her relax as his shouldered rolled and hands pressed, not until he reached the cluster of muscles that supported her tail. As he worked these, the spoke again. "Feeling better?"

"Mhm.." she purred quietly.

((I am so sorry I've been so busy this week that I completely spaced this thread out D:))