"Oh yes… oh FUCK yes…"
A moan passed through Exusiai's lips. Midnight whispered to her, digging his thumbs in against the small of her back.
"I take that to mean I'm doing a fantastic job," the Sarkaz mused. And Exusiai giggled.
"No kidding! Where'd you learn to give massages like this?" The angel practically purred with pleasure, her entire body turning to gelatin beneath Midnight's touch.
"I spent a few months in Red River, for business. While there, I couldn't help but mix in a little bit of pleasure," the Sarkaz told her, causing Exusiai to hum with thought.
"Where's Red River?" She asked him, eyes sealed shut from the comfort she experienced, as she lay prone on the massage table.
"It's a town in Victoria, dear," Midnight explained, "it got its name when the river that runs around the town turned blood red."
"Whoa, really? That's kinda scary!" Exusiai peeked an eye open, watching from the periphery of her vision as Midnight circled the table, fetching more warming oil for her. "How did the river turn red? Was it a curse? Was the town cursed?"
Midnight chuckled lowly. "I'm afraid the real answer isn't quite so fascinating, dear. The river just became polluted, and the rocks along the banks were full of iron-rich minerals."
"...Oh. You're right, that's not nearly as fun as a curse," said Exusiai.
"You'd prefer the town be cursed? How awful of you."
"I know. I'm just the worst, aren't I~?" Exusiai wiggled her bare hips, though she slowed down her fidgeting once she felt Midnight's hands slide across her bare back again. He rubbed the warming fluid along her body, from the back of her neck to her trapezius muscles, before her shoulder blades. Another soft moan slipped from Exusiai's mouth, and it made Midnight smile.
"I remember when you used to be so shy about this," Midnight said. "You wouldn't allow yourself to relax around me. Now you're moaning whenever I lift a finger~"
"Well, could you blame me? A handsome stranger - a Sarkaz! - asking me to undress so he could put his hands on me…"
"To your comfort level," he reminded her, "I told you to undress to your comfort level. You didn't have to get completely naked."
"Naked is my comfort level. I sleep naked," she confided.
"I used to do the same. Not so much anymore," Midnight lamented.
"How come?"
"I typically sleep in the same room as one or more of my squad mates nowadays. That includes operators Spot, Popukar, Catapult, and Orchid."
"Ouch!" Exusiai tried to imagine how that would go down. "I'm so curious to know how they'd react to something like that."
"Loafing around in the nude, in their company?" Midnight scoffed. "Spot would probably be the most nonchalant about it, though he'd—"
"Hold on, the most what?"
"Nonchalant, meaning laid-back or reserved."
"Oh. Carry on!"
"He'd probably keep throwing things at me until I got dressed. Catapult would take pictures and parade them around, making me look like some kind of pervert…"
"And we all know you're not a pervert," said Exusiai, smiling with amusement.
"Orchid is… well, she wouldn't appreciate seeing me naked again."
"Again?" Exusiai whistled. "You HAVE to tell me that story later."
"And Popukar…" Midnight winced. "Popukar is just a child."
"You'd be arrested," Exusiai noted, smiling at the thought of handcuffs being placed on her masseur's wrists.
"Or I'd face Orchid's wrath. I don't believe I know which is worse!"
"Speaking of kids… would you ever want to have any?"
"Me? An infected Sarkaz? Having children?" Midnight scoffed.
"It's still possible, you know that." Exusiai paused. "Especially since you wouldn't be the one giving birth. It's safer if the male is—well, yeah," she trailed off, suddenly feeling awkward for having brought it up in the first place.
"I don't know. I don't ever think about it," Midnight admitted. "Even before I became infected, I suspected I wouldn't be a very good father."
"Why do you say that? Ooh, right there, yeah…" Exusiai bit her lip once Midnight trailed his warm, slick hands over her spine, pushing down carefully with his thumbs and kneading the knots out of her back. "You work hard. I think you'd be a good dad."
"Not good enough," Midnight mumbled, before clearing his throat. "So, my dear, how are things at this… Penguin Logistics working out for you?"
Exusiai gave Midnight the exit he wanted; the subject change he desired.
"Things are going well! It's nice to have a family you can rely on, you know?"
"Oh, absolutely, my dear. So you consider them all your family?" Midnight asked, wrapping his arms around one of Exusiai's thighs, running the scented oil over her skin.
"Mhm!" Exusiai smiled widely as she spoke of her comrades. "Texas, Croissant, Sora, even Mostima, even though she's gone for so long, most of the time…"
"That blue-haired fallen angel you've mentioned once or twice to me, yes?"
"Yeah. We went to the same academy, you know. Grew up together for a while, before she left Laterano. Actually… The entire reason I'm here is because I decided to follow her," Exusiai confessed.
"Really?" Midnight paused. "You came here all the way from Laterano for one fallen angel? That's no short hike, my dear…"
"Tell me about it…"
"It makes me consider the reasons why you might have followed her," Midnight mused, switching to Exusiai's other thigh. "Romance?"
"Something like that," Exusiai said, sighing with both relief at Midnight's touch, and at the memories still bubbling up to the surface of her mind. "It's complicated."
"Romance is oftentimes complicated, you silly Sankta."
"Yeah yeah yeah… less talky, more massage-y!"
"Your wish is my command! I can feel your happiness blossoming through your skin," he touted, "your soul is positively radiant tonight, angel."
Exusiai scoffed. "Smooth… does that line usually work on the ladies?"
"It worked on Orchid," Midnight told her.
"What ever happened between the two of you, anyway?"
Midnight raised his hand, and brought it down swiftly against Exusiai's ass cheek. The resulting clap surprised her, and Midnight laughed.
"Hey! You ass!" Exusiai turned her head and stuck out her tongue.
"I couldn't resist," said Midnight, "you're just lying right there, utterly defenseless."
"I can summon my gun anytime I want, you know… you don't want a piece of this!"
"Oh my. How positively frightening~!" Midnight picked a bottle up off the workstation: lavender caress, and he held it up to Exusiai's face, just to see her expression light up with glee.
"Oh my God, yes!" Exusiai wiggled her toes. "I love that stuff! It makes me feel so smoooooooth afterwards."
"I know. That's why I reserve it only for my best customers. May I?" He was already uncapping the bottle.
"Yessss. Pretty please!"
Midnight chuckled. "Just because you said pretty please for me."
Midnight covered his open palm with a generous helping of the special lotion, before rubbing his hands together and starting from the top. Exusiai's shoulders: he rolled his hands along the uppermost portion of her arms, from her neck to her shoulder blades; two hands on her left, and then two hands on her right. Alternating like this, he could apply adequate pressure on her body with firm, alternating presses, and listen for the sweet sound of her relieved moans.
"Orchid and I… things have been complicated between us," Midnight said.
"Because romance is complicated?" Exusiai asked. "Ohhh… oh, that feels so good… I like it when you touch me like that…"
"Because romance is complicated," Midnight affirmed, "and Orchid is… very complicated."
"H-how so? Ooh…"
Midnight shrugged his shoulders. "She's almost like an ever-evolving math equation. Just when you think you've solved the mystery, it changes form. You try to put a smile on her face, and you get the cold shoulder. But if you avoid speaking to her altogether, she confronts you about it. I've had Spot and Catapult confide to me that they're sometimes frightened by her frigidity. And on the day I go and make sense of it myself… she takes me out for ice cream."
"Really? Huh…" Exusiai pouted. "She sounds kinda bipolar then. Kinda like Texas, except maybe a little worse."
"I wouldn't go that far. However, we did grow close enough to be… intimate, once or twice. Ultimately, however, things didn't work out between her and myself. She was too… regimented for my tastes. And I suppose I was far too lax with… well, everything." He sighed.
"Sorry to hear that," Exusiai told her masseur, "but don't worry. There's plenty of other women out there!"
"I know. But there's no one like Orchid."
Exusiai was silent for a moment. Though, perhaps sensing the sudden tension, Midnight cleared his throat.
"Goodness me… I've been so distracted tonight. You must forgive me."
"I might… but only if you start REALLY working that lotion in!"
"Can I touch you anywhere tonight?"
"You already know the answer to that question, Mister Midnight…~"
"A gentleman always asks for consent before indulgence, my dear."
"Pfft. Don't worry. I'm uh… nonchalant, yeah! That's the word."
"Fair enough. Sit up for me, won't you?"
Exusiai flips over so that she's lying supine, and then she sits up with her knees to her bare chest. She smiles, knowing this is her favorite part coming right up.
Midnight puts his hands on Exusiai's knees, before leaning in to kiss her on the forehead. Immediately, her angelic halo twinkles. The warmth, which had since spread throughout her entire nude body, once again envelops her. The scent of the room was simply heaven, what with the fruity aromas and the lavender body cream leaving her feeling smooth and… desired.
She liked feeling desired. She liked having a professional handle her like he is.
She knew that each and every time, Midnight wasn't thinking about her. She could see that his mind was, now more than ever, always on that woman. And that was okay.
Because this was only a massage, and she was always just another client.
When he kissed her bare body, she was just another client.
When he spread open her thighs, she was just another client.
When he had her seeing stars… she was just another client.
And Orchid was something else entirely.