ShadowDancer's Room

[Dameon Black]

Red Gypsy

I'll get them posted there soon

Amir
Amir watched Dancer finish braiding his hair and then smiled as he heard Dancer say that he wanted to go to the coast. "The coast sounds nice," he said. "I grew up in a desert, and I didn't actually get to go anywhere else until I pissed my father off and got assigned to be a guide for a man who lived near the ocean." He hesitated for a moment, actually blushing a bit before he continued. "I always regretted the way that assignment ended. I messed it up. I'm sure you can guess how."

He seemed intrigued when Dancer mentioned that he'd gotten his leopard at the coast and then followed him out of the room. He noticed that Dancer was still moving a bit slow, but he decided not to say anything about it. Hopefully, Dancer wouldn't have to worry about his other injuries for too much longer. Amir was going to do everything he could to get Dancer fully healed as soon as possible. He just hoped that he could help with Dancer's emotional damage in the process. He shook his head as these thoughts crossed his mind, following Dancer to the coast.

 

[Dameon Black]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir let out a soft sigh of relief as they finally got back into Dancer's rooms. He gave Czar a charming smile. "Thank you so much for your help with getting back here," he said. "Healing Dancer takes a lot out of us both, so we wouldn't have been able to get back here on our own."

He placed a kiss on Czar cheek and then stepped away a bit to stand on his own. "I hope that I can get to know the two of you better while I'm here. Even if the clothes have to stay on." He gave Czar a wink at that and then looked over himself. He was a bit annoyed by just how much sand had gotten stuck to his body, and he realized that Dancer had to be similarly covered as well. They should probably deal with that before going to bed, or they would probably be pretty uncomfortable when they woke up.

He looked over to Dancer. "I know we're both a bit wiped out, but I think that it would be a good idea to get all of this sand off of us. It probably wouldn't be the best idea to leave it. Do you think that you would be up for a bath?"

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black

Dancer gave a nod as the couple left them be, "A bath sounds wonderful, actually," he said softly, thinking that the warm water would help hide the muscle spasms he was trying to keep Amir from noticing.

Thankfully, they wouldn't have to run water for his bathroom. He'd modeled it after the Bathhouse, which Desha and Sebastet had modeled after the old Greek and Roman baths. They constantly circulated water at just the right temperature. So they could just soap down, wait a moment, then the water would circulate fresh water in. No filling or draining needed.

He also had an open shower in the bathroom, perfect for quick rinses or rinsing off bigger messes. But he mainly used the tub set into the floor since he didn't have to mess with it too much.

He got to his feet and took it slow to walk into the bathroom, knowing that the slower pace would hide more as well. He shed his shorts along the way through the bedroom and dropped them into a hamper he kept just inside the bathroom, then unbraided his hair since he'd have to get sand out of it as well.

He wasn't embarrassed by his body at all and paid little attention to it now, despite the fact that Amir would be able to fully see the extent of the scars he carried as a result of his version of healing, as well as past lovers. He had no problem with pain, and even enjoyed it. But most of his scars were from his patients. Helping them reveal where he needed to heal them usually took work on his part: sparring, wrestling, sex, talking... And sometimes he waded into pretty dangerous situations to heal others. He'd also been one of the major blood donors in the castle until the attack, and not all vampires were 'polite' with their food...

Right now, though, he paid no attention to what Amir could see and concentrated only on getting clean and hiding the muscle spasms. He started with his hair, knowing that he could pin it up when it was clean so that he could clean the rest of himself easier.  

[Dameon Black]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir was glad that Dancer agreed about a bath being a good idea. "Glad you think so," he said. He did want a bath because of the sand, but he'd also been wanting to test out Dancer's bathtub since he'd first seen it. He just hadn't wanted to leave Dancer unattended to test it on his own while Dancer was still so injured. He was glad that he was getting the chance now.

Amir started to follow Dancer to the bathroom and froze for a moment when Dancer's shorts came off. With Dancer's hair braided, Amir was getting a very good view of Dancer's naked body. Naturally, his desire shot through the roof. The scars Dancer carried only served to add to his beauty. He knew that many of Dancer's scars would have been gained while healing the pain of others, and that only served to make Amir want him more. As Dancer had no doubt figured out by now, Amir truly respected and valued those who healed the pain of others.

Amir forced himself to tear his gaze away from Dancer's body, not doubting for a single moment that Dancer had felt him staring. He shed his white pants and dropped them into the hamper with Dancer's shorts. He slipped into the tub with Dancer, starting with his hair as well. As he washed up, he kept an eye on Dancer. He had been expecting side effects from the rapid healing, so he was a bit confused that there didn't seem to be any so far. He decided that keeping a close eye on Dancer would be a good thing, though he hoped that Dancer would interpret the staring as checking him out instead of looking for ill effects.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black

Dancer knew Amir was watching him and it set off his own libido. Sometimes he was a bit of an exibitionist and very much enjoyed being watched. Then again, he was considered to be very kinky...

He rinsde his hair and clipped his hair up out of the way so that he could clean the rest of himself. But as he reached for the oil to get started, the muscles cramped up in his forearm and made him give a grunt. Amir could control the pain from the healing, but not the pain from the muscle spasms and cramps, a result of the faster healing.

He tried to move to sit on the underwater ledge at the edge of the pool, his thigh muscles decided to start spasming and made him drop under the water briefly. He got above water but didn't notice Amir helping him to the ledge as he tried to breathe through the problem.

And he had a feeling that Amir was going to figure out that he'd gone through this last time, that it was why he'd sent Amir to bed before him. He hadn't wanted to worry Amir about it last time.

Thankfully, he wouldn't be able to pick up on the pain he'd gotten from healing Amir earlier. That pain, there might be no fixing, no healing. Still, he didn't regret it.

All he wanted right now was for Amir to calm down and figure out what the problem was instead of panicking. There was a way to deal with it... Okay, there were two ways to deal with it, but both would leave Amir blushing like crazy and maybe running for the hills...  

[Dameon Black]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir blushed a bit when he realized that Dancer was enjoying being watched. In other circumstances, that would have been a massive bonus in Dancer's favor. In the current situation, though, it made Amir flustered because it was distracting him while he was trying to make sure that Dancer was okay. He was starting to find himself looking over Dancer's body again as the other male rinsed his hair and clipped his hair out of the way.

Amir's attention immediately shifted back to less sexual things when he noticed Dancer's forearm muscles cramp and heard his grunt. His eyes narrowed a bit, and he watched him more closely as he tried to make it to sit on the underwater ledge. He reacted in an instant when the muscle spasms caused Dancer to drop under the water. He moved over and helped to pulled Dancer back above the water and helped him over to the ledge.

Amir gave a soft sigh. "I thought it was weird and unlikely that you weren't having any sort of side effects," he said. "There was almost no chance that you would have gotten past the first session without them, and an even lower chance that you would have escaped it with further sessions." He sighed again and sat down on the underwater ledge with Dancer. "I thought something might be up when you suggested that I get some sleep when we got back yesterday. I just didn't think that you would try to hide it from me entirely if the effects were like this."

He shook his head a bit, clearly starting to feel a bit guilty and uncomfortable about it. "If I'd know how bad the effects were, I could've adjusted the pace a bit to minimize them. I like to ease pain. I can enjoy causing it when things get kinky, but I don't want to be causing pain from healing like this. The entire reason I'm doing it is to ease pain." He sat back against the wall. "Maybe we can experiment with things a bit and figure out a better solution. Maybe adjust the pace or something to cut down on the side effects."

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black

Dancer shook his head as he waited for the spasms and cramps to ease a bit, then panted a bit from relief, "There was no escaping this, Amir. I was expecting it, as you should have. Healing is never painless, otherwise you don't learn from the injury. There are ways of dealing with it, but I didn't want to put any more stress on you," he said softly, giving a shiver as the water circulated warmer water into the tub.

He finally looked at Amir for a moment then gave a heavy sigh and took the plunge, "I've had to heal someone's aura like this a few times. But I use a different method of dealing with the spasm and cramps. They still get them with healing an aura, it somehow translates into physical pain. But my methods of dealing with the side effects would leave you with a few problems. One, you might manage. But not the other," he told him simply, hoping he wouldn't ask but knowing that he'd have to from sheer curiosity.

"The one you can manage, I think, would be a massage. Working the problem muscles with your hands until they relax. It's more labor-intensive but still effective. The only problem with it is that when we finish one of the healing sessions, you're just as exhausted as I am, if not more so," he gave him that method but held back explaining the other one.

He gave Amir a smile then and cupped his cheek in one hand, "I can deal with this. The healing is making progress and I"m more than grateful for it. Don't feel bad, don't feel guilty, don't try to change things. You can do this. And I can do this. The sooner it's done, the better," he assured him, hoping that he wouldn't freak out on him and try to change things.

His other method was guaranteed to help, but he really didn't think Amir was up to that one. Not without having problems. He'd already blushed like crazy over the playroom as it was...  

[Dameon Black]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir sighed and shook his head a bit when he heard Dancer stating that there was no way to escape the side effects and that he should have been expecting it. "Of course I was expecting it," he said. "I know that there are always consequences to healing at such a rapid rate like this. I know that we couldn't have avoided this sort of thing. But we could have minimized the pain. You know that as well as I do."

He sighed again and listened as Dancer mentioned that he had methods of dealing with the side effects. He tilted his head a bit when Dancer mentioned that he would probably be able to handle one of his methods but not the other. That got him curious, since it would mean that he could keep the faster pace and relieve Dancer's painful side effects.

He thought about things carefully as Dancer detailed the first method he could use. A massage would certainly help to deal with the muscles that were having problems from the accelerated pace. But Dancer was right about the problems with that solution. They were both wiped out after the healing sessions, so a massage after each one would likely be too labor-intensive to be a viable solution.

He could tell that Dancer didn't really want to go into detail about the other method, so he figured that Dancer would prefer that he didn't ask about it. But if it was a method that he could use to help Dancer deal with the side effects so that they didn't have to slow down, then he was willing to try it. "The massage probably wouldn't be the best idea since we're both so tired after each session. So what's the other method you mentioned? I know you said that I wouldn't be able to manage it, but I still think that we should explore all of our options."

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black

Dancer gave a soft sigh and looked down for a moment then reached for his bating oil again, determined to get cleaned up now, "It's the playroom, Amir... There's more than one reason that I have it..." he told him simply, letting him know that he really didn't want to push the explanation.

He worked at cleaning the sand off of himself then rinsed easily and headed for the towels. He was moving easier now, dealing with the muscle spasms had him moving slowly, but it was obvious that it was easier to move....

He dried off quickly and squeezed the bulk of the water out of his hair before wrapping it up in a towel specially made for him. Then he headed into his closet to grab a pair of shorts to sleep in. He didn't usually wear anything to sleep in, but he was making the effort to help Amir where he could. And that was just another sign of it...

He slid the shorts on and got under the sheet on the bed, tossing his wrapped hair over the pillow as he turned on his side facing the wall. He wasn't pouting. He was trying to deal with the fact that he'd tried to leave a subject alone for a good reason and he'd been pushed on it. He also knew that there wasn't much of anything else to help deal with the muscle spasms. Going into his playroom would turn the spasms into something else, channel the excess energy into something productive instead of just pain.

For the first time, he was a little embarrassed by what he enjoyed. He'd never felt that way before and it was oddly disturbing for him...  

[Dameon Black]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir could tell that Dancer wasn't happy that he had asked about the subject he hadn't wanted to mention. He thought hard about the answer he received. He knew that the situation would get a lot more complicated if they tried to go with that solution. With the way he was starting to feel, the playroom would only serve to make him more complicated. But he wanted to do whatever he needed to do to help Dancer.

He watched as Dancer finished cleaning up and then headed out of the bathroom. He sighed and started to clean himself up as well. As he worked on getting the sand off of himself, he debated the idea of going through the playroom with Dancer. He knew that it would make his situation more complicated, but he also knew that it would make things easier for Dancer. The part of him that lived to heal the pain of others was screaming at him to do whatever it took to heal Dancer and ease the pain of the side effects.

Amir got out of the bath and dried off. He retrieved his favorite pair of pants that had been laid out for him and pulled them on. He moved over to stand over the bed for a moment, looking over Dancer. He couldn't tell exactly what was going through the other male's mind, but he could tell that Dancer was struggling. That was the moment that he made his mind up. He slipped into the bed with Dancer and gently made the other male turn over to look at him. "Let's go into the playroom," he said softly, keeping himself focused on what he had decided. "I want to give you what you need to stop the pain. I don't care that it may cause problems for me. I know that I can find a way to manage. But you need something to help you deal with the side effects, and the playroom is the better option of the two. I've never really practiced giving massages, so I wouldn't really be good at it. But the playroom is full of things that I know how to use perfectly. So let's use that expertise to help you." He managed to keep his tone calm and even, managed to stop his nerves from showing. And he knew that Dancer would be able to tell that he wouldn't be backing down from this. He wouldn't let the fear of problems it would cause for him get in the way. He wanted to take Dancer into the playroom to help him, and he wouldn't let Dancer talk him out of it.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black

Dancer had a feeling that was coming and was fully ready to argue over it. But he was picking up a different change in Amir, probably one he wasn't aware of. That change had him hesitating briefly, then simply nodding in agreement. So he let Amir help him out of the bed and keep him steady on the way into the playroom.

Thankfully, Amir knew the rules and principles. In here, Dancer could hide nothing: reactions, emotions, pain, pleasure, needs, wants... Nothing at all... In the playroom, he would be an open book.

As he closed the door behind him, he watched Amir to see what he'd do first and wasn't surprised when he led Dancer over to one of the tables, cuffed him in, blindfolded him, then let him sit for a few minutes while he looked around. The anticipation set his breathing increasing already. He could tell that he'd be in his shorts for the beginning, as Amir warmed up; then switching to completely different play as things progressed.

But as he waited for now, he found that he could only hope that Amir didn't ask him exactly how bad his torture had been and what the true extent of the damage had been, beyond the obvious. Still, a session in here would help with his muscles... and his mental state...  

[Dameon Black]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir was glad that Dancer didn't fight him and simply nodded at his words. He helped Dancer out of the bed and kept him steady as they walked toward the playroom. He was surprised that he was still so calm about the situation. He knew exactly what he would have to do with Dancer in this room, but he was still calm about it all. He hoped that Ra was really trying to match him with Dancer. If he wasn't, there would be consequences for sleeping with another charge. But Amir wasn't too concerned about that. He needed to take Dancer through the playroom to help with his healing. He was willing to risk Ra's anger to help Dancer in every way he needed.

He waited a moment for Dancer to close the door and then led Dancer over to one of the tables and cuffed him in. He debated for a moment and then blindfolded him as well. After that, he simply let Dancer sit for a bit while he looked around to decide on the best course. He finally picked out a few of the items around the room and carried them over to where Dancer was waiting. He got to work with the items he had picked, using them to warm up and get Dancer started. He kept things non-sexual as he began, leaving Dancer's shorts on and using the tools to give Dancer a bit of enjoyment.

Once Amir had warmed up, he paused for a moment. He could see that Dancer was really getting worked up, and he knew that he was as well. He'd gone as far as he could with the non-sexual play. Now it was time to really get started. His fingers trailed over Dancer's body and stopped at the waist of Dancer's shorts. He listened to the way Dancer's breathing increased again as he touched him and then leaned in and claimed Dancer's lips in a kiss. Unlike the gentle kisses at the coast, this kiss was rough and full of that lust and passion that had been absent before. As he kissed him, he pulled Dancer's shorts down and simply tossed them aside. His own pants followed shortly after. When he broke that kiss, he got started on giving Dancer everything he needed.

Amir eventually carried Dancer back out of the playroom, knowing that the other male was probably feeling like jelly right now. He'd really worked him over. He carried him back into the bathroom and took a bit of time to get them both cleaned up again before carrying Dancer back into the bedroom and placing him in the bed. He didn't bother with finding any clothing for either of them. There was no point trying to hide anything from his view at this point. He held Dancer against his chest since he knew that Dancer needed physical contact to sleep properly. "How are you feeling now?" he asked, wanting to confirm that Dancer was feeling good. Honestly, he hadn't gone as far as he could have. He had definitely worked him over really well, but he had held off on a lot of things. He had decided to ease Dancer back into things in the playroom since he hadn't been in it in a while.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black

Dancer was about as boneless as he could get. He was deliciously sore and worn out. His muscle spasms had been essentially bypassed with the workout he'd been given. Each time he'd started to get a muscle spasm, Amir had redirected the muscles in the most perfect ways. Now, he simply cuddled up to Amir with a soft pleased sound.

"Mmm... Much better..." he said in a relaxed tone, visibly so very relaxed, "That w3as exactly what I needed... In more ways than one..." he admitted softly, unsure of how much to say, exactly.

He'd needed the intimacy as much as the rest. Over the last two years, he'd forgotten what it was like to be intimate with someone again and he'd actually missed it more than he thought. For him, it wasn't just the trip through the playroom that had been what he'd needed...

Healing came in so many forms and Dancer needed so much more than Amir was likely thinking he would need. He'd needed the physical healing to help his body. But he also needed an emotional healing that could only come with intimacy. Especially after the kind of torture he'd been given...

He'd needed to know he was still desirable, and still... able... to be intimate...

Amir had given him just that and he'd needed it so desperately that he hadn't even realized it. He felt something inside of him trying to heal, a gentle warmth that felt so good and was exactly what he'd needed.  

[Dameon Black]

Red Gypsy

Amir
Amir simply held Dancer as the other male cuddled up to him. He smiled a bit when Dancer said that he was feelings better and that their time in the playroom had been exactly what he needed. "I'm glad to hear that, Dancer," he said. "I'm glad that the experience gained from shirking my responsibilities and indulging in men for centuries is actually proving to be useful for something."

He thought about that statement, finding it odd that he viewed himself so differently after only a handful of days spent with Dancer. Before meeting Dancer, he'd been mostly unrepentant and refused to acknowledge that he was doing wrong by ignoring his responsibilities or sleeping with his charges. Honestly, he still didn't feel bad for part of it. He did acknowledge and regret now that he had caused harm by sleeping with so many charges, but he couldn't regret that he had ignored his duties as his father's warrior in order to act as a healer for villages that had needed his help. He had known for a while that he didn't care for fighting, but now he understood that there was a different path he wanted the chance to fully explore.

He placed a kiss on Dancer's forehead. "I think that I'm going to try to do something I've wanted to for a while. When we were at the coast earlier, I told you that I wished I had figured out the path that I really wanted to take. Honestly, I've known for a while now what I wanted to do. But neither of my parents ever gave me the option to try. I never wanted to be the warrior they wanted me to be. I want to take away the pain of others. I don't want to be the one inflicting it, unless it's in an environment like your playroom. I want to devote myself fully to being a healer."

He lifted Dancer's face and placed a brief kiss on his lips. "I want to take a path of my own, one that I chose. And I think that path starts here, with you. I don't know if either of my parents will accept it, but I don't think that I'll ever be truly happy until I try to live the way I want to." Amir was struggling to find the right words to properly express what he wanted to say, but Dancer wouldn't be able to miss the point of them. Dancer had inspired Amir to want to take his own path. He had made the demigod want to act on the feelings that had been building for centuries, and now Amir was pouring out his feelings to the one person that he thought would understand him. He didn't know exactly what his feelings for Dancer were, but he knew that wanted to explore them and try to start down the path he wanted. In that moment, Amir was fully opening himself to Dancer, allowing the other male to see him more emotionally vulnerable than he'd ever been.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Dameon Black

Dancer gave a small nod, "It's about time... You should have stood up for yourself long ago... They can train you as much as they want, berate you, and even cast you out... But they cannot make you do something you don't want to do... If the position they want you to fill doesn't fit, there is no way it will ever fit," he said softly as he snuggled in next to him more comfortably.

"I'm a healer as well. While I can heal the body, my gift led me in a different direction from my father. I can fight. I'm good at it. I'm good with weapons and without them. I can defend my patients if needed, fight off attackers... But my gift is in healing the traumas that people go through," he continued then raised himself up on one elbow to push a lock of Amir's hair out of his face.

"You're a healer at heart, Amir... That doesn't mean that there is no place for the warrior, just that it is not where you should put your focus. For your happiness, you need to heal. To restore blood and bone, to knit flesh, to make people healthy again... To save lives... That is where your heart is, where it always was. You can take pride in your fighting skills, teach them to others, use them to defend your patients... But you have to follow your heart... At some point, your parents have to realize that you're not a child anymore..." he finished, hoping that his words helped.

Of course, as Amir had spoken, Dancer's magic had been at work again. This time, it was much more subtle, almost undetectable. He dealt with the pain of doing so and hid it very well, so Amir wouldn't be able to tell that he'd done anything this time. He'd simply healed a bit more of that long-festering pain and boosted his self-confidence a bit.

He leaned in and gave him a light kiss to his lips then another to his shoulder as he laid back down and had to smile a bit, "But now... I can't wait for our next healing session..." he said in a soft purr, unable to resist the tease and knowing that Amir would understand the teasing humor this time.