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RESPITE BATHHOUSE - EARLY EVENING
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Florian makes his way out of the men's locker room, a towel modestly wrapped around his waist. The lithe snow leopard looks around a bit, perhaps a bit unsurprised that the bathhouse is kind of busy today, and makes a beeline for one of the unoccupied baths. In the slightly lower light, he stands out pretty readily with his white coat of fur, and well-kept (and rather long) red hair. Once he's settled into the water, though, he opts to just soak for a bit, relaxing after an afternoon spent wandering around town.
Isgrimnir opened the locker room door as well. "Bugger" The deep voice booms a bit and he puts both hands just above his hips on his lower back and tries to stretch some. He was a cross between a man and a bear, a wild white mane mixed with pure white fur on his shoulders and upper arms, another patch ran down from the broad chest over his abdomen until it disappeared in to the towel. He moved somewhat stiffly as if in pain and started to look about. A lip curled as he saw three others occupy his most favorite bath, no room for him.
Florian stretches a bit with a yawn, relaxing in one of the only relatively empty baths. His ears flick a little as he rests in the water, mostly just letting the warmth soak away the tension in his muscles after a day of walking around, which he's been doing a bit more often now that the seasons have been changing for something a fair bit cooler. He turns his head a bit, working a kink loose, only to spot Isgrimnir standing and looking about. He raises a hand and gives a wave to catch the bear's attention. "Hey, there's a spot open here if you don't mind company."
Isgrimnir looks at the wave and the snow leopard, well there was kin of a similar region at least and there is nothing wrong with some company "Very Kind of you Sir, The name is Isgrimnir Grimbrandr" His voice befitted his size, deep and with a tiny bit of growl in it, but well under the user's control, a voice for telling stories at the hearth. He took the towel off and sank down in to the hot water with a content sigh. "hmmmm hot bath is so divine"
Florian shifts his tail underwater to make a little more space, not that it's needed just from the size of the baths in general, built to accommodate people of many sizes comfortably. As the bear settles into the water, he offers a cheerful smile. "Good to meet you, sir. I'm Florian Swinder." He chuckles as he settles a little more comfortably into the water and nods in agreement, "Nothing quite like a hot bath after a long day, yeah. We got lucky that there was a bath free... looks kind of busy here tonight."
Isgrimnir: Indeed, much busier than I anticipated
Florian hums, nodding absentmindedly as he just spends a few seconds soaking. He opens his eyes again after a short bit and looks over at the fellow across from him. "Don't think I've seen you around town recently. Did you just come back from a trip out somewhere, or new in town like me?"
Isgrimnir holds his breath for a moment as he dunks completely under the water and then comes up again, he starts to rub the joints and muscles that ache the most. "I arrived not too long ago, making a fresh start. I bought a little place for myself to do business from and setting up that business now."
Florian gazes down at the water's surface as Isgrimnir vanishes underneath it for a moment, following the top of his head as he rises back up. He blinks a bit, surprised, when he hears how quickly the bear got himself set up in town. "Wow, you must be pretty well off to get settled in so fast with a store and such. What do you do?"
Isgrimnir laughs softly "Maybe I was well off when I came here, but only because I sold most of what I owned with the exception of my good basic tools, that paid for the trip here, the house was abandoned and needed a lot of work and it was reflected in the price. But I do not mind hard work and menial tasks so that was a win for me. My profession is Healer, but any coin I make is from my hobby, I make mechanical devices."
Florian 's eyebrows go up a good bit as he listens to Isgrimnir talking. "A healer and something of an engineer? That's a pretty diverse skill set, though I can't argue against more folks looking out for the injured. The more the better, really." He smiles a bit, "So... what made you decide to uproot and move here? Change of scenery?"
Isgrimnir nodded "Indeed, sometimes things go stale, you learned what there is to learn in a place, new knowledge gets ever harder to come by, you read all the interesting books and what is left is just not very captivating or stimulationg if you get my drift. A new horizon, new insights, a new start, just staring over and doing things a little different. It is a struggle for sure but at least it is not a rut. Seems people set great store by accreditations here though, so I have not done much healing truth be told and as far as the hobby goes, well most of my time is spent making more tools. working on a lathe at the moment, but it is slow going"
Florian reaches a hand up out of the water and scratches his chin thoughtfully. "Kind of to keep things exciting, then? That's an interesting reason, and at least it's not because you're in trouble or something like that." He nods a bit, "The town's primary doctor does have a proper education and such, but there are a bunch of healers from the Saurs that came into town some time ago, from what I hear. You might find some like minds there, maybe?"
Isgrimnir listens and nods "I will have to look in to that, it is not as if I have not received extensive training in several disciplines of healing, it is more that they did not come with pieces of paper saying so"
Florian shrugs. "Skill is skill, even if you don't have the degree to back it up, I figure. I'm a woodcarver... and a pretty skilled one, I like to think, but I wasn't professionally trained or anything." He flashes a bit of a grin, "Pretty sure we both know our ways around our professions, even without a fancy bit of paper."
Isgrimnir studies the snow leopard for a long time. "Carving of wood in to figurines, or do you also do inlays and such like for boxes or furniture?
Florian smiles again. "A bit of both. I prefer carving inlays, but I spend free time making figurines on occasion." He shakes his head with a bit of a sigh, "Not much call for either out here, but it's at least not completely dry for work."
Isgrimnir: that is about to change then for you
Florian hums curiously, giving Isgrimnir a curious look. "What makes you say that? Thinking about hiring me to carve something?"
Isgrimnir smiles "not right away of course, but once I can get to making my clockwork toys, I will need fine boxes to store them in, and bland will just not do. one of them is a merry go round and until now i always just braised a flat piece of shaped metal to the little rods to simulate the wooden horses, how much better would it be if there were actual little wooden figurines." He gets a bit of a faraway look as he envisions it in his mind's eye.
Florian seems intrigued by the thought, and he sits up a bit straighter. "About how large are you thinking for the figurines, then? I've a pretty steady hand, but details are of course harder to do the smaller the figurines are."
Isgrimnir: Between 2 and 3 inches high
Isgrimnir relaxes a little more as the heat has drawn the aches from his body "and there does not need to be a whole lot of detail, if the animal shape is recognizable it tends to suffice"
Florian grins quite happily. "Oh! That'll be easy enough, then! I do have a couple of example pieces at the Minnow if you'd like to see them some time. Probably not tonight, considering the time, but whenever you'd like otherwise."
Isgrimnir: heh, yes, time.. I tend to forget about that, I am so used to working late in to the night, or even in to early morn. I do not need much sleep and then when I go out because I need something, it surprises me that the stores are closed and I am reminded that not everyone is like me.
Florian hums thoughtfully. "Really? I'm not sure how well I'd function with less than maybe seven hours of sleep a night." He pauses, furrowing his brow a bit as he remembers how well slept during his first boat trip out of Vamas, "...Actually, I take that back. I know, and I don't function too well at all."
Isgrimnir: Good sleep is vital for most, being well relaxed helps.
Isgrimnir: It is what I was most called on previously.
Florian nods. "Agreed. A good night's rest keeps the hands steady." He pauses, tilting his head at Isgrimnir, "What you were most called on before? How's that?"
Isgrimnir: helping people relax, many menial tasks require being bent over or other uncomfortable positions, or just a repetitive movement. There is stress, and sometimes just exertion of having done something strenuous, the muscles ache and cramp, joints lock up making movement painful and difficult. I can remedy such things with relative ease.
Florian hums and nods, being quite familiar with the aches and pains of exertion ever since he'd left Vamas. "Ah, so you're... like a masseuse or something as part of your healer skill set? That'll get you a good bit of business out here. Almost everyone that lives here seems to live really active lives."
Isgrimnir: once the word spreads, maybe..
Isgrimnir laughed again and stretches the massive arms out along the edge of the tub sitting up a bit straighter "So far I have had only one customer on the healing end of things, plenty interested in the toys I am going to make though, can not complain about curiousity at my window"
Florian chuckles. "If there's one thing about being out here, it's that you'll have a lot of folks curious for knick-knacks compared to larger cities. From what I heard in my time here, the town's only just started getting less "essential" businesses moving in recently, and I hear there's talk about a theater or something being in the planning."
Isgrimnir: if I find the time for such distractions.. it is not that I do not enjoy good entertainment, but more than once I had tickets to a concert or a performance, and then looked up from my work in the middle of the night.. utterly forgotten the time..
Florian winces, aware of how expensive things of that sort can get at times. "Ah, yeah, I can see that being a damper on things. Still, I guess when you love your hobbies that much, it's a sort of entertainment all of it's own, right?" He sighs a bit, "Though... it's a good indicator of how... starved the town is of things to do outside of work, I guess."
Isgrimnir: "being a healer is more of a calling for me, a deep rooted desire to help people, to take away what ails them, I never charge for it, so no one has to fear they can not afford seeing me. The coin comes from the hobby"
Isgrimnir looks once more at the snow leopard "mind lending me your foot for a moment?"
Florian smiles for a moment as he goes to respond, only for the request to bring him up a bit short. "You, sir, are a true altruist, and I... er... my... foot? Uh... sure. Here." He shifts a little and lifts one of his feet out of the water a bit.
Isgrimnir takes it in his hands, places it on his lap so he could rest, fingers trace muscles and bone for a moment, getting a feel for the joints, everyone was different of course and with so many different species, it was prudent to first get the lay of the land as it were, then those skilled fingers started to ease any tension from the muscles, and another thing was odd, despite the hot water that they were in, his hands seemed to feel even warmer, almost as if he was running a fever*
Florian 's foot wiggles a little at the gentle touch of the bear's hands, only to hum quietly as he feels a bit of tension from the day's walk starting to ease from his foot. His foot quickly stops shifting about as he lets Isgrimnir do his thing, only to give him a curious look again. "Is that some kind of magic at work? Your hands feel warm... like, more than the water."
Isgrimnir: "I have some magic, but the warmth is not like that, I have always been rather warm to the touch. I found it does help when giving a massage"
Isgrimnir massages the foot, then moves up to do the calf of that leg, that was still in easy reach of his long arms
Florian hums warmly, the tension in his leg pretty obvious to the touch, as he'd been walking around the town just taking in the view (and wandering around to see if he could pester his sister) since around mid-morning. His ears flick a bit as he leans back against the bath's edge, getting more relaxed by the moment. "Huh... well, I can't argue with the feeling... usually takes me a half hour of soaking to loosen up after all that walking..."
Isgrimnir: hmmmm soaking is fine, this is faster, deep tissue would be faster still, but it is not as comfortable, Other leg please Florian?
Florian nods as he shifts about a bit, his now-relaxed leg moving aside as he carefully lifts his other leg for Isgrimnir to grab. "Sure thing, here you go. And... yeah, I'm not unaccustomed to long walks and running, but I don't think I've felt this little tension in my legs for a long while."
Isgrimnir: it builds up over time, and because it does, people tend to not notice it much until it becomes pain. Like I said, for me it is easy to take care of stiff muscles and joints. like.. this..
Isgrimnir feels how one of the little bones in his foot was just a bit out of alignment, by itself not a big deal, but over time it could irritate and become inflamed, he increased pressure for a moment, still gentle though and with a tiny pop that he would feel more than actually hear it slid back in place, the hands went back to loosening the muscles around it
Florian feels an odd sort of tension in his foot as Isgrimnir adjusts his toe, only to jolt up as it shifts back into proper position, though it's more just out of surprise than anything else. The odd sort of relief he ends up feeling moments later gets him relaxing once more. "Uh... okay, you're going to have to tell me what that was, because wow that felt strange..."
Isgrimnir: misalignment of a bone, nothing major, maybe you stepped on a stone or something, it would not have bothered you for a long while to come, if ever, but it can cause inflammation and pain, though I hope I have prevented that now.
Isgrimnir started working on the calf muscle of the other leg now, slowly drawing the tension from it.
Florian nods a bit as he continues to relax into the water. He's looking quite relaxed at the moment, with the tension in his legs melting away by the second. "Wouldn't be surprised if it was a stone or something... the roads in this town aren't completely smooth yet. Thanks for catching that."
Isgrimnir: My pleasure
Isgrimnir finished the other calf as well and eased the leg off his lap "there, that should take care of at least part of your stress"
Florian lifts his head back up again and nods gratefully at Isgrimnir as he readjusts himself to be sitting upright once more. "Heh... I almost don't even want to get out of the bath at this point because my legs feel so relaxed. Given a bit of time, word about your massaging abilities will spread, I'm sure."
Isgrimnir: Spread the word, word of mouth is most effective
Florian chuckles and nods. "After that kind of treatment, you can bet I will, Isgrimnir."
Isgrimnir: My shop is off the main road, in ropewalk lane.
Isgrimnir: If you ever feel tense and need some release, come find me.
Florian hums as he takes a moment to remember the town's layout. "Ropewalk Lane... gotcha. I think I know where that is. One of the shops that recently got renovated, right?" He grins, "And... hey, after today, you'll be the first to know if I've got any knots to work out of my muscles."
Isgrimnir: it is easier working on the table, I can make due in the bath.
Florian hums. "Easier access to the limbs, I can imagine. The bath works, but... heh, it's not exactly the most natural of positions for a leg massage."
Isgrimnir laughs softly "no, not like this no.." He spreads his arms along the edge again. "What brought you here?"
Florian laughs in turn. "It's a bit of a long story, but the short version is that I'm here because my sister is here. We're both originally from Vamas, way up to the northeast."
Isgrimnir: family is important.
Florian: "Definitely. I love my sister, even if she can be a bit prickly at the best of times to most folks."
Isgrimnir laughs "well I do not see anything wrong with prickly to be honest. it can be refreshing"
Florian laughs a bit more. "Really? Well, you might enjoy meeting her, then. She sticks out like a sore thumb here around town, being the only other snow leopard here, as far as I can tell."
Isgrimnir: Sweet is fine, but it gets boring over time, sometimes you just need some zest.
Florian shakes his head in amusement. "You'll get plenty of that from her. I still wonder what her girlfriend even sees in that attitude she shows to pretty much everyone aside from myself and her..."
Isgrimnir: maybe just the same as me, something different.
Florian chuckles. "Mmh, maybe. I guess it just mystifies me a little, is all." He pauses, then adds, "Though I guess I do maybe overstate her attitude a little sometimes."
Isgrimnir: no doubt if I ever get to meet her I will find out what she is truly like then
Florian gives a lopsided, joking grin. "When you do, don't say I didn't warn you beforehand. She can be a handful, even when she's dealing with me, and I'm her brother."
Isgrimnir: consider me warned
Isgrimnir laughs deep and heartily.
Florian relaxes against the side of the bath again as he and Isgrimnir settle in to chat for a while about nothing of particular consequence, just whiling away the time as they slowly go about getting themselves cleaned up. Though it doesn't feel like a lot of time passes, by the time the two get out of the bath so they can change and head out for their respective evenings, they're both quite waterlogged.