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"Lady Bar was very accommodating when I explained what I needed. I think she worries about us."

He helps Athelstan undress and steps back himself to change out of his heavy linen tunic and into a light silk kimono set aside for the purpose. The room is warm enough to go without clothes but he suspects Athelstan will be more comfortable this way.

Twisting his hair up in a topknot bun, he looks deeply anachronistic. Like some Victorian aesthetic in Chinese dress.

"Come lay on your stomach and I'll start with your back and legs."

"All right." He takes Sinric's hand and moves over to lie down on the couch.

Sinric kneels at Athelstan's side, pouring oil into a small bowl, warming it between his hands.

He strokes a slow, sweeping down Athelstan's spine and out across his shoulders, his touch gentle. He starts with a slow exploration, mapping the areas of tightness wit his hands.

There are quite a few areas of tightness, though his physical pain is as reduced as it's ever going to be. He tries to relax under Sinric's hands.

"Breathe to the chanting and the bells." Sinric whispers as he starts to apply pressure. He has been studying Eastern medicine and pressure points, including that in his technique.

The chanting and the bells softly wafting from the speakers is almost perfectly the 4-7-8 rhythm of the breathing exercises both of them have learned from different sources.

"The chanting and the bells", Athelstan murmurs to himself, and concentrates on the music.

"In at the bell, out with the chant." Sinric whispers gently, breathing with him.

He hoped the trappings of the Buddhist meditations he find so relaxing with help Athelstan too as he works across Athelstan's shoulders and upper back.

They do, and it's simple enough to take it in easily without going into the religion.

He breathes steadily, taking Sinric's pressing hands.

Sinric moves with the sound, finding his own meditation in the rhythm of sweeping hands and digging thumbs.

He touches with care and love buy without any pressure of desire, beyond that to feel Athelstan relax under his ministrations

That much, he's getting and Athelstan finds it relatively easy to give.

Slowly, slowly, knotted muscles begin to ease under his touch.

Sinric is patient and content to work as long as he needed to bring Athelstan to a state of relaxation.

He doesn't speak at all, but lets the music and the drifting scent of incense and oil fill the space between them.

They do their job, and the incense especially soon has Athelstan drifting in a state near sleep.

Sinric works his way down to Athelstan's feet, using the pressure point he learned to rebalance the humours within his dearest lover.

Once he reach Athelstan's toes, he gently urges Athelstan to roll over onto his back.

He rouses himself a little at Sinric's urging, enough to turn over as he wants.

Sinric soothes and eases him, gently rubbing down Athelstan's calves and feet to give him time to get back into a relaxed head-space.

He waits to be sure Athelstan is comfortable before moving higher.

Athelstan smiles just a little into the pillow, as he lets himself begin to drift again.

Sinric starts to deepen his touch, working up tto ease the pressure points around Athelstan's knees. He understands the flow of Chi better now and does his best to help unblock Athelstan's.

His hands move steadily up Athelstan's thighs, his touch intimate but professional.

"Did they teach you this in the Sino Empire?" Athelstan asks sleepily.

"Some, yes." He hums, fingertips following the lines of muscle from knee to groin with long, sure strokes. "It's a different style to what I was taught in my Constantine's court."

Edited 2016-03-23 20:26 (UTC)

"How so?"

Mostly he likes to hear Sinric talking.

Sinric gets the hint and starts to explain in soft tones. "The medical men of Sina believe there is a flow of energy, like water through the body, called the Chi. Most illnesses can be attributed to blockages or imbalances in the Chi. They teach ways of finding those blockages and release them."

As he speaks, his hands move into the crease of Athelstan's thigh, lifting one of Athelstan's knee to get his fingers into the crease of Athelstan's thigh to massage a pressure point at a knot of nerves to one side of Athelstan's crotch.

There's little sign of arousal, but perhaps he's just too tense - or too drunk - for that at the moment. Or a combination of several things.

"And this massage helps to release the blockages?"

The touch isn't intended to arouse but the ease tightness and blockages in that area. Something Athelstan may well be suffering from.

"That's the idea. To restore the natural flow to all the parts of the body and spirit. The Sinese believe the two are very closely linked."

He nods against the pillow.

"As it may help open the way for blood to flow around as it should."

"Just so." he presses a soft kiss to Athelstan's hip. "I hope it will help you."