Written for the prompt: Shoulder rubs for thegingerjedi on Tumblr


Theron winced as the elbow digging into his back elicited a flare of pain. This really wasn't what he had in mind when he'd accepted the offer of a massage, especially not after being requested to lay down on the bed. His companion's intentions were pure (somehow), actually intent on kneading the tension out of his shoulders, but was it really necessary for her entire body weight into it? He was starting to suspect this was less a massage and more an attempt to pop his arm out of its socket.

"Ow," he said loudly.

"Sorry, it's just a really tight knot."

"I thought Jedi were supposed to be gentle and compassionate."

"It can't hurt that much."

"I think your elbow is about to hit my spleen."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Am I? Because when I said I liked it rough, this is not what I meant."

"I'm not trying to be rough," she said, seemingly oblivious to what he was actually referring to. "You just managed to really work yourself into a state. This knot is hard as a rock."

There was a very crude response he could have made about the hardness of other things seeing as there was a very attractive and very oblivious woman straddling his naked torso, but Theron Shan was above such things. Okay, that was a lie, he wasn't above that at all. But sometimes it was best to know your audience, and this one usually seemed to fall on the clueless side when it came to the more subtle aspects of the art of seduction. Sometimes dropping a metric ton of synstone was more effective in getting her attention than his usual methods of flirting.

"How long were you at that data terminal anyway?"

"I forget," he said lightly, "when did we have breakfast again?"

"Theron," her admonishing tone was punctuated by another deep jab to the knot, "you do realize that you can take a break every now and then?"

He grunted. "I could, but then I'd lose my train of thought."

"For ten hours? What could you be working on that requires that much concentration?"

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps researching and gathering data since some stubborn Jedi is wanting to infiltrate a giant orbital space weapon again and I'm hoping this time I can keep her from winding up in the brig."

"You worry too much."

"You were off comm for twenty minutes! I was about to—" Something in shoulder popped, and the bright pinpoint of pain gave way to blessed, soothing relief. "Oh."

Gentle fingers replaced the hard elbow, lightly kneading the poor abused muscles. "Better?"

He nodded, falling quiet as he let the pleasant sensation wash over him. It was too easy to get lost in the feel of her hands rubbing across his bare skin, her thumbs softly sinking into the flesh above his shoulder blades. He definitely did not drool or anything unbecoming of the sort, but was dangerously close to nodding off by the time the pressure eased up.

"Did you fall asleep?"

"No," he mumbled into the coverlet.

She made a noise of disbelief. "How you tie yourself up into these knots, I'll never know."

"I'm an expert at knots." He couldn't help but grin to himself at his own stupid little joke, imagining the more creative uses of them (not that he got much practice in these days; another case of knowing his audience).

Even though he couldn't see her face from his position, it was easy to imagine the confused frown stealing across her face. "Is that some kind of spy thing?"

"Sure. We'll go with that."

"You confuse me sometimes."

"Only sometimes?"

The banter had pulled him out of his massage-induced stupor, and her close proximity was giving him all sorts of interesting follow-up ideas (and not all involving the creative use of a knot). His grin grew a bit wider, and without warning he rolled over and sat up in one smooth motion. She gave out a startled yelp, suddenly finding herself pressed up against his chest as she straddled his lap.

"What—?"

"It's only fair that I give you a massage as well." He grinned as his hands found their target.

"That's not my shoulder you're 'massaging'."

"Haven't you heard of a full body massage?"

"I am fairly certain this is not how that is supposed to work."

"Funny, that's what the Coruscant Board of Kinesiology Professionals said when they took away my license to be a masseuse."

A blonde eyebrow arched delicately and she pressed her lips together as she fought down a smile. "Really?"

"Yes, it was the end of quite a promising career. I had to move into spywork to make ends meet."

"That's the next logical step, was it?" The edges of her lips twitched, as she stubbornly refused to give in.

"Well," he rocked forward and gently knocked her onto her back, leaning over her with a what could only be described as a leer, "there's some small crossover in skills."

"Really?" She looked up at him. "What skills might those be?"

"I could tell you," he whispered into her ear, "but it might be easier to show you. They're very tactile after all."

It was about as subtle as a nerf stampeding through an antiques store, but again, Theron just needed to know his audience. And he obviously did as she finally lost the fight to keep a stern expression and an amused smile took its place.

"I don't know, I'm a bit skeptical about your 'expertise' in all of this."

"Let me make you a believer then." Theron's voice dropped a few octaves, and he felt a shiver run through her as his return smile became a wolfish grin.

Her subtle nod was the only invitation he needed before he dove in, capturing her mouth in a deep kiss. As she practically melted in his arms, he decided that sometimes the obvious tactics worked best. Subtlety was overrated anyway.