Let the water rush over you.

[madmeemey]

the intimate bathing meme;

Grooming is an important part of many species' rituals. It keeps them clean, healthy, and content. And a good bath? It can change the whole tone of a day from terrible to relaxed and blissful. But nudity is sometimes viewed as a weakness - and it is almost always sexualized - so bathing is often kept a private matter. If you do share these moments with someone, they're almost always a significant other or a sexual partner. Like you're doing now. Whether it be after a battle or after sex (or before sex, even), the two of you are going to get clean. Be sure to help each other out with that, won't you? After all, there are places on the back that just can't be reached... HOW TO PLAY: Comment with your character, your prefs, etc. If there are other grooming-related practices or kinks you'd like to include, like shaving, hair washing, mention them! Reply to others!

Comments

[glovesup]

Flatterer.

[Tifa shoots him a fond, if bashful, smile. His attention and compliments have stopped turning her into a stuttering, blushing mess for a while now, but he still manages to catch her off-guard at least once every time they meet. She should be used to it, given how much she'd heard the same sweet nothings growing up, but-- well, Alexios never leers at her when he says those things, and so she counts him as a special case.

Her smile slips a little when she notices just how badly bruised his side is, and it's obvious that her thoughts are mirroring his own earlier concern for her. Worry and respect flicker through her face for just a moment, and then she decides to let it go. He's alive, and that's all that matters. They only have so long before they need to part ways, too. Better to talk of pleasant things.]

If only I could bottle it for you! But you'll have to make do with the time we have now.

[A playful smile, now, and an arch of her eyebrow that's almost daring him to take her words out of context. She's mostly doing it to make him laugh, though.]

And if you're willing to be a bit of a guinea pig, I could show you something I learned how to do recently.

[godlyrage]

I would be wrong not to recognize the truth.

[He knows he can be a flirt, but Tifa has an effect on him that's different from other people he meets on his travels. She makes him want to keep coming back.

That is unusual.]

I'll have to think of a way to make our time together as memorable as possible.

[He smirks back at her, very purposefully taking her words out of context. Possibly. If Tifa was interested, Alexios would be more than happy to fool around in the bath, injuries be damned. Even just teasing each other with their hands would be enjoyable.]

Oh? What have you learned?

[glovesup]

[She scoots her way closer to him. With deliberate care so as to not startle any of his warrior instincts, she takes his hand, drawing it close to her chest, unfurling his fingers so his open palm sits on hers. His hand is huge in comparison, and she quietly marvels at the strength in them. How many lives has this hand ended and saved? What mountains will it climb, what weapons will it hold? Tifa is terribly curious, and yet is all too aware that it's not her place to know. Alexios is destined for much more than she'll ever understand in her lifetime.]

How to give someone a hand massage. Interested?

[She glances up at him through her eyelashes to look coy and continue their flirty banter, but there's a softness at the edge of her lips, too, a gentleness that speaks of the healer in her.]

I promise I've gotten very good at it.

[godlyrage]

A hand massage?

[Alexios looks down at his open palm in Tifa's. His palms have all the wear one would expect of a mercenary who both wields various weapons, a bow, and has a tendency to climb extensively on difficult surfaces. They aren't pretty, but they do tell a story.

He moves his eyes back up to Tifa's face, gaze caught on her mouth briefly. She has such lovely lips... and then her eyes. Nobody's smile could lighten up a beautiful face even more, and her eyes are so lively and bright. Alexios is sure he could lose himself in them.]

I've never experienced that before. Why not give it a try?

[He does trust her, more than most. And if she says she's very good at it, then he believes what she says.]

[glovesup]

Good! [Tifa hums, pleased at his answer.] Close your eyes and relax.

[It would be a better experience if they were sitting or if he were reclined, and if she had oil, but they'll just have to make do, and the warm water is comforting enough to suffice. Tifa ducks her head a bit to focus on his hand.

She starts on his fingers, taking them one at at time and thumbing the skin back towards his knuckles. Then her thumb presses into the empty spaces next to his finger bones, up towards his wrist in long strokes. Naturally his wrist and the rest of the back of his hand is next to be massaged, her thumbs working in small, slow circles. A flip of his hand, and his palm gets the same gentle, firm treatment.

The last thing she does is lace their hands together. It feels incredibly intimate (as if the rest of it didn't feel intimate enough!) and she studiously ignores the slight heat in her face as she stretches his fingers apart, then turns their joined hands to the left and right to stretch his wrist.

She finally lets his hand sink into the bath water, looking up with a wry smile.]

How was that?