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 Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 2:44 pm
Who: Hu Rong Wei, Alex & Zul
When: Midday, after lunch
Where: Leaf Parlor
Weather: Warm with spotted cotton clouds
One fateful meeting had ended in a promise of a date, and Alex was being unusually...concerned with her appearance.
She'd torn apart house and home to look through all the 'nice' clothes she had - which really didn't amount to anything. She'd tried on her dresses, even entertained the prospect of wearing the Halloween red dress again (but had quickly changed her mind when she remembered how difficult it had been to pour herself into it so she wouldn't be indecent, that and the cat calls from her brother and charge and made her redder than the dress); in the end, it was her brother's gentle insistance to breathe and his offer to help that had spared the destruction of her house. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she'd just have to trust him, much as it was against her better judgement!
Now there were only two hurdles: a day, and her not-so-feminine appearance.
Even she had to admit that her long hair had gotten almost too long to deal with. The true-black tresses had become too heavy to properly clip as she was used to, which is why she wore it haphazardly in a twisted ponytail as she entered the establishment known as the Leaf Parlor. Her nails were likely also in need of a check up, likely a bit more uneven and engrained with the day's work than would be proper for a five star restaurant. She needed a bit of help in that department, and after nonchalantly asking about a co-worker's faaaabulous hair (Alex had to keep from gagging herself, all this girly stuff was going to be the death of her), she found herself directed to a family-owned joint that seemed...well, just normal enough that she wouldn't run screaming at the first sign of some bleach-blonde trollop who wanted to sink ruby red claws into--
The woman snorted softly, shaking her head. Anything that had to do with beauty was like the bane of any tomboy, and she was no exception. "Just a few inches trimmed," she breathed in a shaky mantra, "get your nails done. Stop being a wuss."
"It smells like hair in here," Zul announced with gusto, floating around the beauty parlor like he'd never seen anything like it. In all respects, he really hadn't, and it was so different than anything he'd seen that he was immediately charmed, even if the scent of chemicals was enough to make his nose itch. He floated around the waiting room, expertly eyeing the magazines - even these were different! - and the chairs, the wares for sale and the tile floor. The demonic Frei floated back to Alex's side, hands gripping the crook of her elbow. "What happens here?" he asked quietly, as though it were some great or terrible secret.
Alex could only grin at her charge's demeanor, a little relaxed by his company. "We get our hair cut here," she explained, motioning to the magazines of hair styles, "and women...get things done to try and look more pretty." The last words were spoken a little slowly, because really, for the life of her, she wouldn't know what those things were. She just hoped it didn't involve wax or tweasers. The woman thanked her genes that she had naturally appeasing eyebrows that had never and would never be touched by metal.
Zul looked appalled. "Cut your hair? Why would you do that?" His hands lifted to run through his own short locks, which hadn't seemed to grow at all in his seven months of existance. "Doesn't it hurt?"
The Italian laughed, feeling a little foolish that she'd been so uncertain before. She knew better, she should be making a good example. "Nope, and I'll prove it," she grinned at her Raevan, patting his cheek beneath his dubious eyes. "Just a trim and a manicure. Nothing I can't handle."
I hope.
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Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 3:28 pm
Among the smell of acetone that was known to linger in nail establishments lingered faint traces of smoke, the source appearing to drift about from a figure seated in a chair near a door that lead to the back room. The chair was turned so that it was facing away from the pair that had just entered, its occupant clearly doing something else other than listening for the door or even the sounds of voices, the evidence being shown with a cloud of smoke that was exhaled with a raspy sigh.
A thin hand with well manicured nails leaned over one of the rests, two of the fingers flicking a cigarette to knock of the ashes, and there was silence for a little before a voice filled the air. It was just as raspy as the sigh despite being young and somewhat feminine, almost as if the speaker indulged on cigarettes too much and was already feeling the side effects of a harsh life.
"Sign in at the desk, tell me what you want."
The hand motioned backwards towards the counter that stood before the door, a small white notepad and pen resting on it as if inviting someone to write their wants there. Above it and mounted on the while stood the price charts, many of the numbers taped over with white tape as they were no longer as low or as high as the printed sign advertised, and they seemed a little faded with age. Rates were good here, however, and despite having set prices a certain woman was inclined to charge more or less depending on the nature of her client and whether or not she got miffed halfway through the process.
"Also, pick a color from the wall unless you want me to decide for you."
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 3:14 pm
It took a great deal of steeling her nerves not to leap out of her skin at the voice that snaked out of a being near the back, the sound something that made her ridiculously think of one of those flamingo dancers with a long cigarette. Alex knew she was a bit troubled and more uncomfortable than she let on if her mind was playing tricks on her so soon.
She was so engrossed in kicking herself that she almost missed the instructions, giving a quiet, "Yes'm," before shuffling to the counter. The Italian wrote in her clear, block handwriting - Alex V. - before giving a minutely confused glance to the aforementioned wall. Colors? Did she mean for hair or nails? And oh god, what color should her nails be? Should they be colored? She didn't have a dress yet! What if she got a color and it didn't match? She couldn't embarrass Aphismet like that! She could already feel the threat of a panic attack in her lower ribs, vivid eyes staring at the wall as though it were growing hands to attack her.
The demon gave his Guardian a baffled look as she suddenly went glassy eyed, waving a gloved hand in front of her. He actually laughed as she jumped, giving him a wide-eyed and spooked look. "It hurts, doesn't it?" Zul gave her a knowing smile, as if he understood that all her bravado was just a rouse so he wouldn't worry about her. There was no other explanation for her almost LuLu-like behavior in the face of something that was seemingly harmless.
"No it doesn't," she replied automatically before again looking towards the chair that was still with its back to her. Taking a breath through her nose, she spoke up so her voice was a bit more clear. "Just a couple inches - well, pft, maybe a foot - off the back, ah, maybe a recommendation on how to style it for an important event. Um, nails," her green eyes flicked uncertainly to the wall, "just a french manicure. I'm afraid I don't have anything to match yet."
"Sounds painful," came the amused echo at the mention of a 'french manicure.' He was pretty sure he'd heard of something like it on the history channel, something used for a war. Definitely not something to be excited about.
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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 9:30 am
Rong Wei raised an eyebrow as she listened to the two voices, a male and female chattering on about something or another being painful, and after a moment or two of just waiting in silence after the woman's voice had announced what she had wanted Rong Wei reached down towards the ash tray at her feet and put out her cigarette. It had been sitting in her hand mostly as a decoration for a while since she wasn't interested in smoking while she was listening to her customer and she smeared it out without too much effort. She rose out of the chair and slipped her feet into the sandals that had been sitting before her, taking care not to smudge the nail polish that glistened on her toes fresh from that morning. She would have to wait now to do her nails to match, but whatever. Money first.
"Manicures aren't painful until the nail breaks off from carelessness, and I don't normally cut hair here but I figure I can make an exception. The point of a salon is to make women and men feel beautiful so I'd have to be some kind of unprofessional to deny all services possible."
The Chinese woman finally turned around and shifted her gaze up from the ground and towards the people at the front of her store when she was greeted by not only an Italian woman, but by another one of those things she had sworn up and down to be a hallucination brought on by a bad mixture of sleeping and drinking (not really in that order). She did her best to try and mask her surprise and still appear to be something of a calm and collected person though it would seem her expression and words that followed would have proved her otherwise.
"Ah Jesus. I guess I really am going insane and it wasn't a one time deal seeing something like this. Or it really has got to be that I can stomach that nasty stuff they serve as a final round knockout."
She placed a hand on her face, fingers splayed on her forehead and temple with her left eye covered by her palm, sighing deeply as she tried to sort everything out. This was unprofessional in more ways then one, then was slightly unnerving in more ways than one, but mostly it just made her want another cigarette and a drink. Maybe two drinks and a nice long nap.
"Lady, please tell me that the floaty thing next to you can be seen by you as well or belongs to you. Reassurance is always a good thing if we're going to get anywhere here."
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 1:13 pm
"Oh," came the intelligent reply. Alex blinked, having not thought that those within the parlor might actually not do everything a parlor had to offer. That was rather shallow of her, all things considered, and she felt bad for it, lowering her eyes briefly. "It's okay, if you don't do hair usually - I just need a few inches, I can do that m--"
The words that came out of the woman's mouth made Alex looked up with surprise, green eyes quizzical until she realized that the woman was speaking about Zul. The Italian gave the Raevan a glance to make sure he was still next to her before looking back, nodding slowly. "He is a Raevan--"
"Zul."
"--and I assure you Zul is very much visible and very much my charge." She moved her arm to take the demon's hand, lacing her fingers between his and lifting their conjoined hands as proof. "Very real. He's very polite too, I promise he'll be good." Eyes snapped to the side to the Frei, her voice dropping a few points in the chill factor. "Right?"
"Mmhmm." He had no idea what he was agreeing to, but somewhere between his woman taking his hand and the look on the other lady's face, he hadn't really paid much attention to what was being said. Zul drew out of Alex's grasp and floated closer to the seemingly unsettled woman, extending his hand to her in turn, the other lighting upon his partially formed chest. "I am Zul. This is my first time in a place like this. It smells different." The smile he wore took the bite out of his words, or perhaps indicated that 'different' was a favorable term for him. Tucking his bone wings harmlessly against his back, he tilted his head and put a little more charm into the curve of his lips. "My woman is Alix. Very sorry for not introducing ourselves sooner."
In the background, Alex quietly groaned to herself.
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:00 pm
".... . .."
Rong Wei remained silent for as Zul floated close to her, slightly pale if only for a moment or two, and she finally opened her mouth after the floaty dream that was very real introduced itself and the woman behind it as though coming into places like this were very commonplace for the pair. A sigh escaped her lips followed by something murmured in Chinese, the words lost to those who didn't speak it.
". . . .Name's Rong Wei, and if we're going to get started then I'll need you to either wait by the door or sit - float -do whatever the hell it is you do in a chair over there. I can't have you hovering around me while I work or else I might make a mistake."
Reassured by the Raeven and the woman's words that she wasn't dreaming, that this was another creature quite like the white thing she had encountered a few days before, the Chinese woman stuck her hand out as well and briskly shook what had been extended to her, quickly releasing before she moved on towards one of the manicure tables. She motioned for Alex to come over to her and sit in the chair on the opposite side of the table, at the same time pointing for Zul to find a proper place to do whatever it was he did.
"And as for the smell, it's the different chemicals we use in here. What you're probably smelling the most is acetone, which is harmless enough to humans if you don't drink it or inhale too many fumes from it. The stuff we use in here is also watered down slightly and we only use to to clean up nail polish spills."
Rong Wei took a seat in one of the chairs and pushed herself up towards the counter, her hands moving swiftly to set up whatever it was she'd be needing to do a manicure. There hadn't been anyone in the parlor for most of the morning so her supplies were where she needed them to be, all that remained now was for the woman to join her with a nail color.
"If you've got a polish color in mind bring it over, or I'll pick one for you based on my own very extreme opinions."
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Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:04 pm
"Float," Zul agreed in a chipper tone, not in the least bit upset at being told to float elsewhere. He was greatly amused by the woman's seemingly sour outlook on his floating presence, encouraging him to pour more of his charm into his smile. The demon complacently floated to the chair that was indicated, settling against the furniture with ease with his ribbon draping over the edge. Bare fingers descended to tug his ribbon upwards and curl it on the chair next to him, leaning an elbow on the arm rest and sitting upright like posing for some demonic King painting.
The woman shook her head at Zul's little display, following Rong Wei. "Very sorry, Rong Wei, didn't mean to startle you so. You said you met another though - or was it just in passing?" Alex wasn't trying to pin the woman down with details, but more to make a passing conversation to perhaps ease the shock of seeing the floating body. It made her think of when she'd first seen the Raevans, so long ago - her nature had made her react much differently, however, and certainly not as safe as doubt. She chuckled at that.
The question - or rather, the command - made her take a quick seat across from Rong Wei, biting her bottom lip. She had the feeling her gruff new friend here wasn't too keen on talking girly mechanics. Wouldn't that just figure? "I guess a...I...yeah, a french manicure should do it." Alex didn't like how hesitant she sounded, but she didn't do these things on a normal basis. "I'll, um, be wearing a dark dress," I hope, she added quietly, "so I don't know if reds or the like would be wise."
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 6:49 pm
"How about we try a green then? We can get into several shades of darker green that may look black if needed, but still hold a good hue of color that match with many different other colors. You can pretty much get away with wearing green regardless if you're wearing anything else."
The Chinese woman turned and looked behind on a small wheeling rack that rested at her left elbow, her fingers easily sifting through the few bottles of nail polish that had been left there from manicures done earlier in the day or week. She pulled up a bottle and held it before her eyes, squinting with a frown before she set it down and grabbed another. This one was a darker shade of green and would suit her well, so it would be used.
"Alright, right hand up please. And to answer your question - yes, I've seen one of those before. We met on the street and had a conversation - he called himself 'Xiu'. I'd passed it off as a bad hangover but seeing your...well, whatever they are, then I guess I have to face the facts and admit that it was real. Not much of a shock all things considering."
Rong Wei motioned with her hand to Alex that she needed to relinquish her hand up so she could get started. A French manicure was easy enough and so was adding color to it, just replace the white tips with the desire nail polish color.
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 12:06 am
The Italian nodded once, though in noting that Rong Wei wasn't giving her the time of day, she said quietly, "Green sounds fabulous." She obediently lifted and displayed her right hand to the woman, fretting inwardly just a bit; Alex was not a girly-girl, and though she'd done her best to clean her nails and cuticles and all that nonsense, she still felt as though her work-worn hands screamed of being suited wrist-deep in muck and not being tended to. A very light blush touched the olive skin, more ashamed of attempting to look nice than embarrassment.
The continued conversation, however, was something she could relate to. Grasping onto the words like a raft, she gave a distant nod, even as recognition touched her eyes. "Xiu's just a little older than Zul," she remarked in an off-handed manner, painfully aware that her little contribution to the so-called conversation had absolutely no bearing on anything. Trying again, she said, "They're called Raevans. Xiu is a very intelligent, kind Raevan." At least it was him you met first, she thought inwardly, thinking of one or two that would have been much more detrimental and less positive to have encountered.
She fell silent for a moment, never one for small talk. Alex always found forced words to be utterly awkward, uncomfortable at best. Or worst. However one looked at such things. Glancing over her shoulder to her smiling charge, who simply made a grisly expression at her while mouthing the words 'french manicure,' the woman exhaled through her nose and smiled, relaxing a little. She wished she could take a page of relaxation from Zul's book, as comfortable and unfettered as he was by the whole situation.
"Xiu," the demon repeated the name, idly adding himself in the conversation even though he hadn't been addressed. If he and his kind could be spoken of, the least he could do was partake! "Very nice, but cold like winter." Zul had learned, over time, that cold wasn't the right word, but it was the best he could come up with. The elder Frei's demeanor had always been friendly enough, but there was something about the unassuming male that made the demon wary. Like there was something beneath the pristine, silver-etched garments that he would not like. "How is he?" It didn't matter if it'd been months since Rong Wei had seen Xiu - the topic was broached, and Zul would use it to his advantage.
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 12:25 am
"How is who? Xiu? Couldn't tell you, I've only met him that once and if I'd never seen...whatever you are - a Raeven? I'd probably never have believed I saw him in the first place. I like to think myself a rational person who just happens to be unable to separate fantasy from reality when I've had too much to drink."
Rong Wei was moving at a bit of a startling pace, not wanting to take too long on this yet not wanting to actually seem as though she didn't care. The very fact that something was over in one of her chairs, something that was missing pretty much everything from the torso down (wasn't there a monster like that?!), well, it was making her uneasy. Mistakes though would be made if she got too careless, so it wasn't only until after she was done shaping the nails on Alex's hand that she allowed herself a break in her pace. She'd made sure to clip all the nails so they were even and she'd rounded then down at the tops to give a more delicate look. A french manicure often involved fake nails being involved, but from the looks of this woman? Likely not a good idea - she could get the same look without the hassle.
"You know, you've got really nice hands. You clearly work with them more than a normal woman would yet they don't show any signs of external damage. A few calluses and a few patches of rough skin, yeah, but we've all got that."
Compliments were kinda rare when coming from this woman, seeing as she saw hands all day every day. Feet too, but that was a subject she was going to steer clear from like the plague. She was moving on to placing something like a warm lotion on the tips of Alex's fingers before wrapping them in a plastic sandwich bag, prepping them for the heater gloves. She'd need to soak the dead skin off if she wanted to cut the cuticles without damaging anything.
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 12:53 am
"Ah," the Raevan commented, dismay clear in that one syllable. "I haven't seen him since last year." He wasn't entirely sure that was a bad thing, but he did find himself morbidly curious about the white Frei. Zul imagined it was like that phrase his woman had spoken to him once - playing with fire. The demon felt smug; he supposed it wasn't much a danger when he was part lava. Though the thought had little to do with the conversation, he was still satisfied with his outcome. "Alix doesn't see fantasy when she drinks," he added thoughtfully, wondering how soda or water could have such an affect on anyone.
"Not that type of drink, Zul," Alex murmured through clenched teeth. This was not exactly how she wanted to teach him about booze, especially not in a place he was associating with torture by french manicure. While her nails were worked on, she continued to cast her ward a look that told him that now was not the time. Goodness willing, there would never be a 'right time' for drunkenness to be okay to talk about.
The Frei simply gave a charming smile that said she would not be so lucky.
She was about to deliver some witty one-line retort to that look when Rong Wei threw her for a loop. 'Surprise' didn't quite cover the look on her face as Alex looked to the woman, lips slightly parted as her jaw slackened. Did she just get paid a compliment? Over her hands? "I, uh..." Way to stumble! "Thanks," she finally said, bewildered and somewhat amazed. "I didn't think there were people out there that coveted hard work anymore." She wasn't wholly aware of what she was saying, shock settling with a welcome warmth in her skin. "So...really. Thanks. I think that's the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a while."
Alex smiled then, the effort reaching her eyes and lighting the green orbs into a more vibrant shade. She was quite complacent as her hands were tipped in lotion and wrapped, suddenly feeling less out of place and much better about her decision to go with the not-so-commercial shop. If she'd really thought about it, she might have felt bad that the nicest thing said to her in a while was a compliment to her hands, but Alex rolled with the punches and took the good out of whatever she could. This compliment meant more to her than mere flattery; she took her work seriously. She wasn't even aware Zul had moved until a tri-horned head peeked over her shoulder.
"Is this when the bad things start?" he questioned, tilting his head to look at his woman from close enough to touch his nose to her cheek. Though she had strong control of her reactions, she couldn't help but jump a little as her left hand was being offered to Rong Wei. "What's in there--did she take off your nails?" Zul looked at the bagged hand with bewilderment, the crinkles in the plastic and the lighting just enough to skew his perception.
"Zul, go sit down!"
Tan arms folded over Alex's shoulder, chin jutting out a bit as his blue eyes continued to observe the odd mechanism of torture being applied to his woman's hand. "It's easier to see here," he replied breezily, the demon still not understanding the point of the visit and doing his best to learn. It seemed to Zul that both women didn't want him to see what was going on - and that, if anything, was one way to pique his interest.
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Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 1:06 am
"As long as he doesn't touch me or any of my things I don't care what he does anymore. Just don't breathe on me either, I'd like my personal space kept thank you."
Rong Wei had pulled out what looked like two massive oven mitts and had slid each one over one of Alex's hands and the Italian woman would likely have felt the heat that the mitts produced on her hands. The Chinese woman every now and then between their silence and conversation had pressed down on them, as if to speed up the process, and while she pressed she tapped idly at the sides of her mouth with two of her fingers. She wanted a cigarette, badly, seeing as she'd been interrupted while smoking her fourth or fifth of the day when this pair had entered. Rong Wei could probably light up and smoke if she really wanted to, if she really wanted this customer to get out and leave mid-way through, but seeing as she was bored and money was always amazing she kept her urges under check. For now.
Eventually the gloves were pulled off, along with the plastic, and Rong Wei reached over into her little box of random items before she pulled out what looked like cupped scissors. She lifted one of Alex's free hands into her own and started cutting away at the cuticles, pulling the dead skin off that had been loosened by the lotion and the heat. She was silent, meticulous, and each little snip was not a wasted effort in the slightest.
"Is he wanting his nails done to, or really just observing this closely? I don't care doing them for him if he wants at least one done, just haven't done anything to a non-human before. I'm lead to believe we're pretty much the same in terms of genetic make up, only he'd without a lower half and I'm made of fat."
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:14 am
Alex cast Rong Wei a nervous, sidelong glance, her smile just as uncertain. "He wont touch anything," she promised despite her expression saying otherwise. It wasn't that she didn't believe what she said, she'd just never met anyone who was so against the Raevans before. She'd met plenty of curiosity, fear, awe and excitement, but the borderline disdain that the woman was showing put her in an odd position. She didn't know what to say, and so, she said nothing, eyes flicking away as the cutting began. The Italian knew it wouldn't hurt, but there was always something slightly off about watching chunks of skin - no matter how little - being sheered off.
Zul, on the other hand, was quite fascinated. As instructed, he held his breath if he leaned in, able to hold it for quite some time. The demon didn't know enough about anatomy to consider it a feat, resting his chin on his palm, elbow on the corner of Rong Wei's work table as his blue eyes remained fixated on his woman's hand. When the cuticles started to be clipped, his expression fell into surprise, glancing to Alex with mild alarm. She didn't seem in pain, just uncomfortable, and that was good enough for him to resume his blatant staring.
Both individuals looked to the woman as she asked about his nails; Alex laughed and Zul looked both intrigued and put out. "No, I'm not dating," the demon politely declined, expecting that his answer would provide all the necessary rejection required in human conversation. "Or have a dress."
"That can be rectified," Alex giggled quietly under her breath, the mirth in her eyes and on the curve of her lips somewhat girlish. "But no, not today, at least. He may change his mind someday." Not that there was anything wrong with a male getting this type of attention, in her mind; good hygiene was important.
The Frei, however, did not look so impressed. "Not today," he agreed, watching another bit of white skin fall. Humans and their sado-masochism would never cease to amaze him.
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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 10:37 am
It only took a few more turns and clips of the cuticle scissors for Rong Wei to finish up Alex's hands, and she took a slightly moist towel into her own hand and used it to wipe down the nails presented to her. After making sure most of the lose skin was off she reached over and grabbed a pump lotion bottle, squirting a little bit of the scented mixture onto the woman's wrists. She quickly rubbed some of it in on Alex's hand, and her movements were strong yet gentle. There wasn't a whole lot of force behind whatever it was she was doing (massaging, apparently) but she took her time now with each finger and Alex's palm. Rong Wei even pulled the woman's arm a bit forward and lightly rapped her knuckles against the muscle, working out any small kinks that might have developed. It was common place to massage someone's hands at this point in time during the manicure, and Rong Wei's face remained blank as she went about working. She'd been listening to the freak with wings speaking well enough, but it wasn't just in her. . . to answer. Yet.
"If he changes his mind, let me know."
The same massage/rap/rub process was continued onto Alex's other hand and arm and when it was finally finished Rong Wei wiped her hands on the moist towel from before and motioned for Alex to get up and go wash her hands at the sink near the back.
"Please wash and rinse whatever you can get off, off. We've got fresh towels over there to dry your hands as well, and when you're done come back over and we'll continue."
With that the Chinese woman sat back in her chair, all the while watching the Italian woman and her strange companion. The sour look on her face had faded somewhat, making her look less constipated and more just musing, but she still wasn't in the mood to be saying anything just yet. If more conversation was directed her way then sure, she'd answer - but. . . .
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:25 pm
It was awkward to be so woman-handled in such a womanly fashion, but Alex was doing her best to suffer it with dignity. Admittedly, once the Chinese woman's fingers began their impromptu massage, the Italian was doing her best not to melt in the chair. Holy cannoli, that felt good! She never really realized how much she depended on her hands - and how much she abused them without reprieve - until that moment. For the first time in her life, Alex was tempted to have her nails done on a weekly basis just for the massage!
And then it was over, Rong Wei speaking to her as though Zul wasn't in the room. She glanced to her charge - he didn't seem to mind, more amused than anything - before returning her gaze to the woman, nodding slightly. "Sure." Alex was slightly taken aback when Rong Wei was very suddenly and abruptly professional with her. Wide green eyes blinked a few times before standing, looking where indicated and shuffling in that direction like a child in trouble. Turning on the faucet and setting her hands beneath the warm water, she sighed quietly to herself and began to rub them together to try and remove the skin and excess gunk.
The demon had floated halfway after his woman, but in realizing she'd return, he stopped, turning his head between the two women though his gaze lingered more so on Rong Wei. Zul had never met a human with such an unpleasant expression, as if the taste in her mouth was exceptionally foul and it was his fault for putting it there. This amused him even more so, the curiosity in his eyes prominent. As Alex bathed her hands of their recent torture in preparation for a new round, he returned to his 'seat' next to the chair opposite of Rong Wei, folding his arms in his 'lap'.
And - possibly to Rong Wei's chagrin - he simply smiled, saying nothing as he watched her. The demon didn't know well enough what it meant to be a bother or annoyance to others just for smiling, but he didn't really know what to say. Why does your face look like that seemed too rude, and Do you want some water didn't seem very helpful either. So, Zul simply watched Rong Wei as the woman watched them in turn with all the simple-mindedness of a puppy watching someone with intent to play.
The silence didn't stretch too long, as after she had dried her hands on the towels presented, Alex returned to the table and took a seat, resting her elbows on the desk and handing one towards Rong Wei in a manner that didn't expect it to be taken. "Alright," she said with a light smile, "let's do this." Her tone may have suggested they were exiting the atmosphere, but it was no less strenuous to her. What was done would be done; she was only grateful to have a professional on her side.
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