Getting to Know the Party

12 March 2014

01:22 < Wicked> "Most ponies, myself included, have a problem with being touched. This is a problem of trust mostly, and stress." His hooves now describe gentle, small circles in the area of Smoldering_Ember ?s shoulders and neck.

01:25 Smoldering_Ember twitches at first as Wicked sets his hooves in place, but after a heartbeat she relaxes and smiles softly her wings flexing a little in anticipation of the pleasure that is about to be visited upon her. "Mmmm...I like the sound of this already," she murmurs but can't resist joking, "...at least as long as this ritual doesn't turn into the kind that involves altars to dark gods." flashes a grin adding, "Just in case it is, I would like to note that while I'm not the most experienced, I'm no virgin to be sacrificed. Your Princess is in another castle."

01:28 Wicked chuckles at her comment. He lets his hooves wander in small circles, until he had a good view on what her back needed. "Speaking of trust, where would be your limit, Miss Ember?"

01:29 Ruzeth watches intently as wicked rubs over Embers back. "Well...Most of the ponies that I would even consider doing this for would be the ones that tust me anyways. I don't really expect to have to build trust with them." Ruzeth giggles at Embers joke, blushing a little.

01:35 Smoldering_Ember gives a soft whicker of appreciation at the gentle start, her wings flicking every now and then, back muscles occasionally jumping at the unfamiliar touch, but less and less so as she gets used to Wicked's touch. "Hmmm? Limit? I don't really know. I've read about this, but...I mean I think I remember my dad giving me a back rub way back when I was a foal and had feather flu something awful and needed to clear my lungs. It's not something I'm really familiar with..."

01:40 < Wicked> "Then let me guide you." He now starts to rub, a deeper and calmer movement then the former circles. The red stallion makes sure he touches her calmly and slow, without breaks in his movement. The fluent movement lets the twitches grow lesser, and ensures the muscles do net react as strong as before. "Your back has yet to set, try to relax."

01:41 Ruzeth scoots a little closer, his body now casting flickering shadows on Wickeds work. "Don't forget to guide me too wicked..."

01:44 Wicked smiles softly. "Ah, yes. But I am no doctor, Ruzeth." Ensuring his voice keeps low and relaxing too he continues. "I do not know any names, for me this comes natural. But I can tell you a few secrets, and show you the basics."

01:48 Smoldering_Ember can soon feel her eyelids wanting to drift closed and her muscles almost entirely stop twitching once Wicked changes tactics. "Ahhhh...that's...yeah," she sighs. What little tension remains in her muscles ebbs as she grows more and more relaxed and comfortale with the contact. "You're good."

01:50 Ruzeth frowns at Wicked's response, "But I cant know how much pressure you're aplying or if you're doing something special with your hooves or any of that by just watching...you don't need to know the words...just walk me through it."

01:52 Wicked keeps on until her entire body stops any kind of twitchy movement and nods Ruzeth :"This is the state we want to reach: relaxation. Now you can see the muscle-build, and the tensions. Like here." He strokes gently down her back, where the wing begins. "Patience, Ruzeth, this needs time. Value the situation."

01:56 Wicked concentrates on the tensions in her backs mid, from bad sleep and too much flying. "Miss Ember is very athletic." He says to Smoldering_Ember in a praising tune. "But of a fragile build. She has not much mass to counter cramps, so they tend to go deep..." He works slowly from outside to the inside, very calmly nearing the spot, not to tense her at any cos

01:57 < Wicked> "We will speak about the theory, Ruzeth. But you too have a bonus. Seeing you I think you may be a dancer?"

01:57 Ruzeth comments on wickeds words. "I am valuing the situation, thats why I'm asking and watching." He listens intently watching as wicked works his magic. "How do you know that there's tension there? Is it something you feel? Cause I don't see it..."

01:59 Smoldering_Ember starts to lose track of time, allowing the quiet words between the two stallions to roll off her, more caught up in the sensations coming from the hooves moving hypnotically across her body and the warm, fragrant pot of soapy water faintly steaming nearby. A tendril of steam caresses her left wing, and the feathers there instinctively shift slightly, ready to catch an updraft. otherwise lays relaxed, hovering on the edge of sleep, a dreamy smile on her lips. The smile fades a little as the hooves go to work, but it's not with dismay but appreciation verging on wonder.

02:00 Ruzeth gives a nod towardsnods towards Wicked, "Yes, all of my tribe are, its part of our training, but I was a little better at it than most. Sword fighting is just a dance with a new partner."

02:02 Wicked furrows an eyebrow. "See, her wing. It has moved, in that moment I saw her entire back move. Do you not see this, Ruzeth?" He smiles. "But as a dancer there is an easier way to learn this."

02:08 Smoldering_Ember distantly takes note of Ruzeth's ability to dance and smiles to herself as she imagines the two of them in some highly improbable fancy affair like she once saw in Gentlemare's Quarterly. It's distracting enough that her body lays limp save for the slight swish of her tail and flex of her primaries.

02:11 Ruzeth shakes his head, a look of confusion written plainly accross his face. "No...I don't see her moving at all. What is this other way, the one learned through dancing?"

02:14 < Wicked> "As a dancer, you feel your body, right? And you can feel your muscles move, because you have learned to use them, right?" He smiles and finishes a middle cramp before he works up to her neck again. "Concentrate. You have to get a good picture for ones body, through meditation."

02:19 Smoldering_Ember gives a soft groan of pleasure as the red stallion works loose a knot right between her wings that had been troubling her for days now. When his hooves move to her neck, she briefly flinches, but the reaction is there and gone so fast a less observant pony would miss it.

02:21 Wicked puts gently a hoof back to her shoulder and the second betwween her wings. He does this patiently, but in a manner that Smoldering_Ember can feel how he backed up. "I think the neck is a taboo, Miss Ember?"

02:22 Ruzeth puts a hoof to his snout in contemplation. "Yes I do know my own body well...but how is that supposed to translate to detecking tension in anothers? Especially one like a pegasus?" Ruzeth smiles at Embers noises, very happy to be learning something she'll enjoy.

02:25 Smoldering_Ember blushes faintly but also frowns ever so slightly then gives a tiny shake of her head. "No...no, it's okay...just some bad memories. Probably best to replace them with something better. Just...take is slow, okay?"

02:25 Ruzeth furrows his brow as Wicked pulled back. "What? Is something wrong with her neck?" He hadn't noticed her flinch under the pony's hooves. "Oh..." he says faintly as she reveals her past.

02:28 < Wicked> "It is good, Ember. I was a slave for more then fifteen years, I know bad memories well..." He works over her shoulders now, taking a totally different approach under her cheeks now, then up and down again.

02:30 < Wicked> "I will need *your* guidance now, Ember. The only wings I ever set hooves on where griffin wings... I can preen them, but the muscles are different."

02:33 Smoldering_Ember gives a small nod in response, her eyes turning away from both stallions towards the trees on the other side of the clearing. "Probably nothing as bad as you then, but...mmm...yeah, that's nice..." She blinks owlishly at the question, her relaxed mind working over it. "What do you need me to do?"

02:37 < Wicked> "Tell me what you like." He smiles at Smoldering_Ember, a smile that tells he asked this very many ponies, and seems confident to deliver what she asks for. Not to brak his movement he now works her sides, first testing, as many are ticklish there.

02:45 Smoldering_Ember ponders the question, imagining the stallion's gentle hooves moving along her wings, both her primaries and secondaries spreading slightly at the thought. "Oh, well...yeah, I guess now that you mention it, you're right. Griffons, at least most of them, are all about gliding, soaring, and diving. Flapping is mostly for gaining altitude or in pursuit. I guess they'd tend to go kind of stiff, you know?" slowly flexes her wings, showing off how much more mobile her primaries are than with most griffons. "Not pegasi though. We can soar, yeah, but most pegasi keep their wings moving at least a little even when just riding a breeze." She demonstrates, shifting just her primaries. "Do that long enough and you can get sore even if you aren't out of practice."

02:47 Ruzeth hmms as Wicked continues to ask questions about what she liked. "Does a massage vary much from pony to pony? I had thought they were fairly standard in technique. The Zebra cant help but look on in awe as Sember flexes out her wings, leaning in over them to get a closer look. He even goes so far as to brush over them lightly with a hoof.

02:50 Wicked looks at her wings fascinated. He tilts his head and smiles again. "Yes, Ruzeth. This is why I called it a ritual, every customer has very different needs. You are as flexing as mir Ember here, but due to your mass I would consider shorther, depper strokes... Others can?t be brushed at all, and need a touch with the muzzle instead."

02:53 Ruzeth tilts his head in thought, "So how do you know what works best from pony to pony then? I mean I know it comes with experience...but surely there are a key considerations? And what can a muzzle do that hooves cant?"

02:55 Smoldering_Ember flutters her feathers a little at the unexpected touch, but she shoots Ruzeth a quick smile to show she isn't upset. "A muzzle massage?" she murmurs curiously, but when she tries to imagine one of the two stallions using the technique on her, a soft blush warms her cheeks.

02:56 < Wicked> "Hmmm..." he tilts his head at the last sentence. "First it is all about watching, Ruzeth. And there are none I would know... And last, let me demonstrate..." He strokes over the back of one of her wings, with his leg and fold it into a better position. "If this would be okay, Mis Ember?"

02:59 Ruzeth pulls his hooves back at the flutters, worried at first that he might be doing something wrong, before he swa her smile. Ruzeth observes intently a how Wicked folds the wing, still in awe about how pegasus wings worked.

02:59 < Ruzeth> "But you said that you would use deeper strokes because of my body build...so there has to be some guidelines," he points out astutly.

03:01 Wicked puts a hoof on Smoldering_Ember her back and repeats some strokes do let her relax, which relaxes the wing too. "Such precise movements mean sensitivity, Ruzeth. An simple observation. But no theory now, we still have a customer." He smiles at Smoldering_Ember again. "Even if I would prefer friend... ?"

03:07 Smoldering_Ember shifts her eyes to watch Wicked's hoof move along her wing, gently shifting her coverts and ending at her alula before he nudges her wing to shift it into a more relaxed semi-extended position. While the touch is unfamiliar, it's gradually becoming less so and conversely more and more welcome with each gentle stroke. "Mmm...good so far," she answers with genuine pleasure. It takes her a moment to realize the question is directed at her. "Hmm? Oh...oh yeah, I think 'friend' works."

03:12 Ruzeth watches as the ember relaxes under the hooves, this time being able to actually see the tension leave her. "Oh, I saw it this time. I saw the movement you were talkign about...i think anyways." He says excitedly.

03:15 < Wicked> "Very well, Ruzeth. Now concentrate, feel it yourselve, and descripe it to me." Then he gently strokes Smoldering_Ember her wing, using the softest and most gentle move he has, his nose. "So, Ember... you were a dancer? You look like one... If I am going too far tell me."

03:23 Smoldering_Ember beams placidly at Ruzeth. "Glad to see you're getting into this. Maybe if things go well, you can try tomorrow night under Wicked's guidance," she suggests and her tail gives a little swish at the idea. The softness of Wicked's nose takes her by surprise, and she twitches again, but this time it's accompanied by an airy giggle. "Sorry, just a small ticklish spot. It feels really nice though. Please, do go on." does indeed settle down, visibly relaxing again and smiling beatifically. "A dancer? No, at least not by trade. My mom did though, and she managed to teach me a little when I was younger."

03:25 Ruzeth goes silent as he thinks about how best to describe it, trying to do as wicked asks and walk his muscles through it. "It was like...hmm...there was a spot you touched in her back...and it caused her wings to slink down, going a little limp...I'm not quite sure..." Ruzeth lets out a cry of delight. "Oooh I would love to give it a try, and maybe we could try that dancing you were taught as well."

03:31 Wicked goes on with his muzzlestroke, his neck now working kind of snakelike. "Oh you told me, Ember... but it sounded like she didn?t like you very much..." He lifts his muzzle under her wing, using only the wings weight for force. Slowly he nears the inner part, and uses one hoof to relax the other wing.

03:34 Smoldering_Ember gives Ruzeth a dreamy smile. "Sounds wonderful. I wish we had a piano or something to accompany it. I may not have my mom's looks, and I dunno if I could do any of her songs justice, but I always wanted to try stretching out on top of one while somepony played just to see what it was like." She's enjoying the gentle nuzzling of her wing right up until Wicked's comment seems to splash cold water on her. Well, more of a sprinkling of cool droplets, but it's still noticeable. raises her head and shakes it. "No, what ever gave you that idea? Mom loved me, loved us both..."

03:38 Ruzeth continues to look on curiously as wicked stroks Ember with his muzzle, the movements seeming all a bit odd to him. Ruzeth let out a happy sigh at the scene Ember portrayed. "Oh, I couldn't imagine a better looking pony. I'm afraid I dont' know anything about pianos but I know one of those ponies can provide us a tune. I heard it the other night." His curiousity is piqued, "Both of yall? Did you have a sister?"

03:38 < Wicked> "Well..." he shrinked back a bit. "You said she didn?t agree... that you?re beautiful. Most honest, I never saw a more beautiful mare then you are, sorry, this had given me a wrong expression..."

03:40 Wicked looks a bit aside to Ruzeth, happy not to face a further explanation. "I had... I think. I was very young when I was sold..."

03:48 Smoldering_Ember blinks at Wicked's confusion. "I did? I don't recall...I mean I certainly didn't mean to give that impression." She shrugs it off clarifying, "I mentioned I wasn't as pretty as her, and that's the truth, but those are my words...and probably the rest of the town as well, but they weren't hers. I'm an only child...only Ember I know now," she finishes in a murmur.

03:51 Ruzeth shakes his head in disbelief. "You are a very beautiful mare. In a competition between the moon and yourself, the moon would come in second."

03:53 Wicked leans forward and strokes her mane, suddenly sad. "I am sorry, Ember. You still have a memory, please, value it." Then he looks at her, nods and asks :"Is there anything else I can do for you? Any cramps I missed, anything?"

03:58 Smoldering_Ember blushes and limply waves a hoof at the zebra. "Heh...nice of you to say, but you never saw my mom. Glowing Ember was...she so tall and graceful and she just lit up the room when she walked in. Sometimes literally," she quips pointing to her forehead. "Unicorn." She turns her eyes to Wicked and shakes her head gently smiling back. "It's okay. Mostly. That was a long time ago. I think I'm okay though. That really was everything I'd hoped."

04:01 Ruzeth smiles back sweetly at the blushing mare.. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, that did look like you enjoyed it quite a bit." Turning to Wicked he askes nervously, "So I guess its my turn huh?" Following as he'd directed Ember, he lays down on the ground.

04:05 < Wicked> "I am glad I could be of service, Ember, Ruzeth. You both have no idea how." He lifts his chest up, bending his own back and stretches. "Alright, little dancer. And for you: try to feel what I do, which muscles I touch, how and what happens." He snickers. "If you meditate about this later, you might learn it all by yourself."

04:08 Smoldering_Ember lets her eyelids drift closed, smiling peacefully. "Oh trust me, it was my pleasure," she replies laying limply where she is. "Mmmm...dun wanna move now...just...wanna...sleep..." And she does.

04:12 Wicked washes his hoofs again and pours new hot water in the bowl. Then he pats Ruzeth, poits at the sleeping mare and makes an expression to him to speak quietly. He gathers his mantle to throw over Ember and smiles.

04:13 < Wicked> "Where do we start?" he whispers.

04:13 Ruzeth grins at the nickname. "Hmmm little dancer...That doesn't sound half bad..." he thinks allowd. "I'll pay as close attention as I can...though if Ember is anything to go by...I'm not sure how much concentrating I can do..." he whispers.

04:13 < Ruzeth> "Umm I think you started at the shoulders right?"

04:21 < Wicked> "Yes, but I wont need this here. The shoulders are the point where you begin with unsure ponys..." He puts both hooves slowly on Ruzeths lower back and begins to *step* them, slowly building pressure with one, then the other hoof. "I have asked you questions, watched you, and I know where *your saddle is tight*, as I would call it. And zebras are different."

04:24 Ruzeth tenses initially as unfamiliar hooves begin to press down on his body, the gentle pressure allowing him to relax a little bit more as they worked in. "How do you know from watching me? And how are zebras so different? Our bodies seem so much the same..." He tenses up a little bit more each time he goes to ask a question.

04:27 < Wicked> "You do not value the moment, little dancer. Relax, let it go. I will answer all your questions, but one after another... and now relax, okay?" He smiles and leans forward on an unfitting part in his spine, setting it in proper position with mild pressure. "So... which one first?"

04:31 Ruzeth winces slightly as his spine lets out a loud crack before letting out a long sigh. "Well...how about how you knew where to start? That seems like one that will be particularly useful I think."

04:35 Wicked smiles. "You walk bouncy, light hooved. But not uphill, where your saddlebags put pressure on your lower back. Then I just had to find the spot, and decide what to do." He now uses his weight for mild pressure and rubs deep in the zebra stallions trained muscles. As he said, the mass catches the drift, and looses tension to adapt to the new movement.

04:39 Ruzeth relaxes even further as the stallion continues to rub, the zebra feeling the springness of his muscles returning with each wonderful knead. "Well...how do us zebra's differ from earth ponies then?" he asks, though his words are less interested than his first comments, loosing himself in pleasure.

04:43 Wicked kneads tensed muscles and calmly puts pressure on one point, then another, often finding a tense spot he can gently undo. "Well... zebra feel different... an odd strangeness, like if muscles were different. Another denseness." The red stallion now works on the higher back, with much more effort then before, when it was Embers turn.

04:47 Ruzeth murrs happily as as the tension continues to leave his body under the constant pressure. "We need someone who knows this back at the tribe. This is wonderful." he comments

04:53 Wicked chuckles. "Oh, I had a book once, about this kind of work. From one of my ancestors, but I couldn?t read back then... Should be still at my parents home." both hooves find a plain area under Ruzeths fur and the elder stallion begins to build mild pressure, *stepping* on him again. But this time he moves his hooves a bit after every step, gently kneading.

04:53 < Wicked> "Aren?t zebra tribes to be the ones who know about spirit and body?"

04:58 < Ruzeth> "Oh to find that book..." Ruzeth suddenly perks up curiously, "Wait...how do you remember that? I thought you were sold at too early an age to remember?" He begins to loose tension once more as the pony began a new technique. "Sure...we know all about the spirits and how to dance like a bird...but we had nothing like this," he murrs out softly.

05:01 Wicked leans forward again, this time just to put his stubborn customer into a relaxing position again and continues. "You sure have alot of questions... Let?s just say for a slave remembering a face can get difficult, with the years. But a precious you once possessed? not at all."

05:05 Ruzeth lays back down under Wickeds insistant hooves. He blushes a lilttle, "Sorry...its just...you've got me curious...Did you ever have any zebra customers?"

05:09 Wicked works for some time silently. His hooves do not miss a step and find even well hidden tenses under shoulder and at the lower end of his spine. When he finally answer he simply says: "Not customers. Owners." Then adding friendlier. "Shall I stretch your legs? It helps after the long marches we have, and sets you free like a fleethoof again."

05:11 Ruzeth begins to droop under wickeds constant attentions, the Zebra starting to realize how tired he actually was as he lays there being massaged. He barely registers Wicked's question at first. "Wha-? Oh...ummm yes please"

05:16 Wicked now sits on his haunches, gently graps one hindleg of Ruzeth and tugs a few time, rearranging joints and hinges. Then he wrabs his hooves around the leg and strokes hoofwards, more gentle then on the back.The red stallion repeats this for every leg, leaving his youg customr feeling like... if he knows noodles, that is a good description.

05:18 < Wicked> "I hope you feel all better Ruzeth. I am happy to be of service." He smiles at the youg zebra and pats his head. "If you ask again I will tell you the story, but not today. I am tired myself, and have yet to find a place to sleep..."

05:20 Ruzeth lets out a gentle sigh with each movement, the expert stallion leaving each leg in perfect relaxation. "Ooooh" He coos out softly in enjoyment. Hes gone quite for the most part, kind of fallen into a trance. He's roused slighly as wicked pats him on the head. "Oh thanks...Oh before you go, I forgot... there's a bottle with dirt in it in my bag...could you please add some for me?" He speaks softly.

05:23 < Wicked> "Of course." The red stallion smiles and turns to the zebras back. "Uh... I just wondered if I could... huddle here, I miss a blanket, and a sleeping roll, and..." He stammers as he alredy fill eath into Ruzeth his dirt-bottle.

05:26 Ruzeth scoots his sleeping roll so that its layed out next to the one Ember was on, and scooches over so that his body rested agaist hers, leaving plenty of room for the other stallion. Wordlessly, the zebra closed his eyes, drapping a hoof around Ember.

05:28 < Wicked> After some time the former slave lays down too. He does not lay a hoof over anypony, but snuggles into Ruzeth. "Thank you." He says, before resting his much too tired eyes.