I swear I couldn't love you more than I do today
and yet I know I will tomorrow
and yet I know I will tomorrow
Beloved as her spa may be, there is little the House can't recreate when the chips are down and her daughter needs somewhere to escape. Ru had considered having one of the workers in for massages, but the heartache on her daughter's face had changed her mind immediately. Nobody is worthy of hearing her daughter's feelings and secrets, and unfortunately Hotaru can only compel people, not mind-wipe them.
"Do you want me to braid your hair after this?" A soft murmur as she gently twists and pins it loosely out of the way, exposing barely-there freckles across Flora's shoulders. The House's favored warming oil covers them soon after, and the firelight from the hearth shines like illusory gold in it. Hotaru's thumbs cradle the delicate vertebrae in Flora's neck and rock gently, working up the pressure in a slow and unhurried fashion. "Big breath in, and slowly out." The seated massage chair may be plush enough to burst, incense and the sound of both distant waves and forest birds may fill the air to remind her of home new and old, but Hotaru knows the tension under her hands can't be fixed by those things alone. "I've got you, petal. You talk when you're ready."
"Do you want me to braid your hair after this?" A soft murmur as she gently twists and pins it loosely out of the way, exposing barely-there freckles across Flora's shoulders. The House's favored warming oil covers them soon after, and the firelight from the hearth shines like illusory gold in it. Hotaru's thumbs cradle the delicate vertebrae in Flora's neck and rock gently, working up the pressure in a slow and unhurried fashion. "Big breath in, and slowly out." The seated massage chair may be plush enough to burst, incense and the sound of both distant waves and forest birds may fill the air to remind her of home new and old, but Hotaru knows the tension under her hands can't be fixed by those things alone. "I've got you, petal. You talk when you're ready."
Ru
