Starring:
Date: June 12th, 2010
Summary:
The three most nefarious kunoichi around take the time to relax at a day spa.
"Stage Theory and Inappropriate Touching"
A Day Spa
"Mmmmmmnnnnnnnghhhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn…"
It was one long, continuous, unabating growl-moan of contentment that was coming out of the blonde-haired teenager, though today her hair was black and her eyes an unnatural shade of green so light they almost glowed. She lay face down on a table, with a round pillow with a hole in the middle for her head to rest on, naked, except for a towel that was draped across her lower abdomen to cover her most intimate parts. The masseuse was a middle-aged woman with a craggly face. Normally Datura wouldn't allow body contact with such an aestheticly displeasing person, probably worried that she might catch 'the ugly', but this woman, as most masseusers did, had a magic touch.
The room was private, reserved only for the party that had come, having been paid for by the genjutsu user on account of her not wanting to mingle with the 'common' people in the public area. And the fact that the girl tended to spend money like it was water. How on earth she didn't go broke was a mystery, as she'd typically drop more ryo on an evening out than a daimyo's child.
The room was simple, one half of it being taken up by an enormous, sunken tub pumped with heated water. One could see the steam rolling off of it, which made the room humid enough that any activity other than standing perfectly still tended to begin to accumulate sweat. The walls were wood-paneled, and the other half of the room was set aside for changing, with a small bench to hold guest's clothes, or for tables, such as the one Datura lay upon getting lilac-scented oils massaged into her skin, to be placed.
"NgggggggggghhhhhoooohhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggI could take this lady home with meeeeeeeeeeeeemmmmmmmnnnnngggggghhhhhhhhh…"
The rest of the building had several such rooms as this, rooms for hair care, rooms for nails, those purely for massages, with tables that weren't portable, the public hot tubs, places to sun oneself, etc.
Kanami likes being clean. She likes being pretty. But usually one leads to the other on its own, since Kanami is naturally a very elegant-looking woman. All she has to do is maintain her cleanliness, and the rest falls into place. However, this time around, she has decided to join Datura when invited to experience what it's like to receive the 'full treatment' at a day spa. Kanami has to pay for herself, of course, but she has plenty of money and not a lot to spend it on.
Stepping out into the open, body bare except for a fluffy white bathrobe that whishes into place about her, the Nogakujin woman takes a moment to gaze with amusement in Datura's direction at all the noises she's producing. Sounds like fun. She'll have to try for herself when the presently black-haired younger woman is done. Sitting on the edge of one of the tables, next to Datura, Kanami does not bother to close the front of the robe except to cinch it closed at the waist loosely. And then she just watches. "Having fun, Datura-chan?" she asks lightly.
Mune, on the other hand, does not have a lot of money. She spends most of what she makes on medical supplies, texts, and sometimes bribes for the really extroardinary information or items. Today is no exception. Instead of being given a 'full treatment' she has managed to scrounge together just enough money to be able to join Datura and Kanami in their private room, and receive some relaxing and beautifying treatments of a less-thorough sort than the other two will receive. She has a bathrobe as well, but rather than leaving it open in front, as she tends to do with her longcoat normally, she takes this rare opportunity to actually cover herself up for once.
She stands next to the hot tub, staring into its steaming waters, as though expecting something to happen. Her face is uncovered, so it is apparent that, despite what some might have thought prior, Mune is not hideously deformed. She just has a distinctive collection of curving and snaking lines in black ink tattooed on her left cheek. It's actually a Seal — or more than one — but it looks like a tattoo, at least.
For now, the Medic-Nin remains in the background.
"Ururururururuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu… Mmhmm!"
The dark-haired young woman groan-squeals in affirmative delight as the masseuse works her stubby, yet amazingly deft fingers across the muscles of her lower back, just over her kidneys. The young woman scrunches up leg muscles and arcs her back, her hands gripping the table as she squirms and practically purrs as muscle group after muscle group continues to be unwound and brought to relaxation. Finally, after giving one last rub along her spine, the outcast Leaf relents into a soft sigh of contentment, and as the older woman turns away and begins toweling off her hands from the oils, Datura is still for so long that one could wonder if she'd fallen asleep!
After several long moments, and many deep breaths, she lifts her head up and kicks her feet up into the air, regaining her composure as a person, rather than a quivering pile of glistening flesh, flashing a Cheshire smile of ultimate contentment with heavily-lidded eyes that eventually focus on the older woman on the table next to her.
"You just don't know /how/ much fun it is. You gotta try this lady. I don't even care who's here and who sees, I'm tempted to ask for the happy ending, because her fingers are just /that good/."
Pushing up from her prone position, Datura immodestly tosses the towel off from around her hips and stretches her arms overhead, tossing her head back and arching into the stretch, her fingers overhead as if she were trying to grab the cieling. After it's done, she allows her arms to flop back to her sides, where she slouches, as if she were trying to melt into a puddle.
"I feel so good I don't even want to /move/. I think I'mma get in the water now. Mu-Mu, you just can/not/ leave without trying it, too!"
Kanami's lips quirk in further amusement. "You are a very interesting person, Datura-chan. You take great joy in life's pleasures. It would seem that the only duty you accept is your duty to please yourself…" Hmmming, she slips down from the table and says, "Very well. I will try this lady's skills, when she has the opportunity. Mune-san, could you please carry Datura-chan to the water? She does not wish to move." She gestures at Datura vaguely. She might be joking. Or maybe she isn't. But either way, she stands expectantly with her right hand on her hip, hand extended towards Datura, waiting for a reaction if nothing else.
Mune glances over. "The 'happy ending', is it? What would that be?" A pause and then. "…'Mu-Mu'?" She honestly does not get this 'cute nickname' thing that Datura does. It's almost as insufferable as men who try to shorten her already-short name or otherwise give her 'pet names' and so forth after a single night. But Datura is (mostly) not as annoying as most men are, so she tolerates it for now. "I am not sure the fee I paid covers a massage."
She then looks towards Kanami and stares when she is asked to carry Datura. "…." She then looks to Datura and stares at her too. "…." Then she sighs and moves forwards to try to help Datura towards the hot tub, if she requires it. And if she demands to be carried, Mune will do that too. After all, Datura can not weigh THAT much, right?
"Is there any higher calling for someone than to take care of themselves? The rest of the world will get along just fine without me managing it, I think. Freedom isn't found in chaining yourself to the expectations of others. Isn't duty just another word for /slavery/?"
The black-haired teenager rolls her eyes as she emphasises that last word, as if it held a particular bit of distaste for her snesibilities. Though at the mention of being carried off into the waters, Datura cocks her head, her too-green eyes finding the dark-skinned kunoichi expectantly as her legs dangle off of the side of the table, kicking back-and-forth, back-and-forth slowly. Was she really willing to have herself be allowed to be carted like an infant or invalid? …Of course she was! Few things pleased the young woman more than being pampered.
Which is why she's emminently pleased and satsified with herself when Mune agrees to lift her slim form up and cart her off towards the heated pool of steam rising, wrapping her arms around the older teenager's neck as she squeals a giggle and kicks her feet mildly in the air.
"Don't worry about it, I'll cover the cost. I'll just add it to my tab or something." Who knew if the girl even paid her tabs! "You know what a happy ending is. They take their fingers," She waggles her digits up near Mune's face for a moment. "And they massage your Jade Gate." She unabashedly points at her own crotch. "Until you're reeeeeeeally happy. It costs extra, though. Usually."
Kanami rolls her shoulders a bit and says, "Duty is mostly for those individuals who seek meaning in life beyond their immediate physical reality. They wish to accomplish something of significance. Protect someone… Feed a child… Find love or acceptance… Many things can lead one to taking one a duty. Even being there to help a friend could be considered a duty. But there is no reason why one must accept any of these if one has no interest in such. I merely find your ambivalence towards obligation interesting."
She watches as Mune carries Datura towards the hot tub. Something that Kanami cannot do herself. Her physical strength is nearly non-existent when it comes to lifting, carrying, or other types of manual labor. The explanation that Datura gives to Mune makes the second-eldest woman in the room smirk and shake her head. She is not that much older than the two teenagers, and yet she feels as though the gulf of time between them is as vast as the breadth of the ocean.
Mune nods her acceptance and gratitude for the gesture of paying for the Medic-Nin's own relaxing massage. The explanation given, however, makes her hesitate for a moment. "Ah. Right HERE you say?" she asks as one of her hands supporting Datura points at the spot indicated, and brushes the location with her fingertips. She quickly withdraws her hand, however. "I suppose it makes sense it would take another woman to know how to do that. Men are so incompetent that they I've never managed to--" then she bends over and dumps Datura into the water without fanfare. At least she had the courtesy to decrease the distance between Datura and the water before doing this, so it's more of a 'sliding in' maneuver, instead of a 'dropping in' one.
"--well, enough about that." she comments placidly afterwards.
"Have no one to protect, don't have kids, and don't believe in love." Each 'fact' is ticked off rather cheekily by the youngest of the spa's guests as she's lifted towards the water, speaking over Mune's shoulder. Considering that age was almost more a state of mind than a physical thing, it's no wonder Kanami felt so much older than the free-spirited missing-nin. Mune likely felt the same thing, with her vast reserves of relative maturity, at least compared to the flighty, usually-blonde teenager. "There's no reason a girl can't do whatever the hell she wants, so long as she's prepared herself for the consequenAHHHHNS!"
Datura's voice rises in both pitch and tone exponentially as Mune's fingers breeze across a very private, very sensative place, her eyes going wide and her mouth dropping open in a perfect 'o'. She doesn't have any time to say anything else before being plopped into the water a lot less gently than she'd have preferred, though at least not as roughly as /could/ have happened. Sitting in the tub, which came up to her chest while sitting in the current part, and up to her nose in the slightly deeper parts, she gives the older of the two teenagers a frown, as if reproving her for not treating Datura like she was made of lace and porcelain. After a moment, she holds her nose with her thumb and forefinger and leans back into the water, submerging herself completely. It washes most of the oil from her back, sides, and thighs away, but now that she was no longer getting the rubdown from Olga the Ugly, she didn't really care. A moment later she comes back up, rubbing water out of her eyes and trying to push her mass of wet black hair away from her face.
"Maybe you've just had the wrong guys!"
Kanami glances around, wondering if she is going to be receiving one of these massages or not. She's still listening to Datura, but she has priorities. She could certainly do with some 'feel good' time. At the high-pitched cry from the youngest present, Kanami turns her head to look, but can't quite see what happened. All she knows is that a moment later she witnesses Mune dumping Datura into the water. "…Hm." she offers at first, waiting for Datura to surface. Once she has done so, the yellow-eyed woman says, "You have US to protect, if you wish it. But it is ultimately up to you. Still, I think you have a duty whether you are aware of or accepting of it or not… You see…"
She undoes the cloth belt of her robe and slips out of the garment, carefully placing it over one of the tables. "Life is not some grand cosmic phenomenon with no rules or guidelines, no meaning, and all of that. But it is also not a place to be bound by conformity or stagnation or anything else. It is, ultimately, a series of performances. One writer once said, 'Life is like a play, and all the men and women merely players. Each have their lines, their entrances and their exits; and one man, in his time, plays many parts.' That writer was drawing an analogy — an apt one, but incomplete. I have extended his analogy further to become a form of reality perception. Essentially, at any given time there are people performing in tandem with one another. They may be heroes or villains, observers or observed, but in the end, every interaction, even interaction within one's own mind, is part of a performance."
Standing there in the steamy air, her skin a tone between Datura's and Mune's, but lacking either of the teenagers' more generous curves, she nonetheless manages to convey a certain something… The steam seems to swirl around her, masking the rest of the room, as she continues to ouline her reality. "There are various roles in life, and one may change roles as the situation and events dictate. But there is a man that the three of us associate with, and serve, whether we choose to think of it in that manner or not."
She gestures and for a moment the steam seems to hint at some tall, masculine form standing in the room. One who might be the man called 'Amuro'. But a moment later those indications have vanished. "He is the 'Shite' or 'primary actor'. There are also three 'Kouken', who are effectively stage hands. It is the purpose of the kouken to accomodate the needs of the shite, and to ensure all runs smoothly. We three are the kouken of the shite." She indicates each of the three women in turn.
"Another important role is that of the 'Waki'. The waki is the role of the counterpart or foil of the shite. The waki is our primary opponent to the completion of Amuro-sama's plans… But it is still just a role. Enemies we may be with the waki, but we need not harbor him — or her — ill-will. A player in a play is merely fulfilling his or her role. It matters not what the end result is… Only how well one performs in the process… How convincing and entertaining one is to the audience. That audience may be other people, it may be the natural world, or it may be oneself. It may even be the gods themselves. We will not know until our days on the stage are complete."
Then the steam disipates. It's no longer some mysterious world of smoke and vague outlines that hint at some greater expanse beyond… It's just a humid room. Was this Genjutsu? Stage craft? Something else?
Mune smirks at Datura as she frowns. And then makes a non-commital noise. "Maybe. Except for the experienced ones, they often go off the moment they see me uncovered. I mean it. I take off my shirt and that's all she wrote. Or all HE wrote, as the case may be. If you know any good ones you can introduce me." She then turns her attention Kanami as she speaks. The dramatic nature of the presentation is hard to break free of. If this is a Genjutsu, then this is explainable. But more likely this is simply a mistress of oratory skills and acting at work. From waht Mune knows of Kanami, she can become anyone or anything at the drop of a hat. She can fulfill any 'role'. It is no surprise that she can draw in the attention of those around her to such an extent that she can make a simple room become something else entirely. Is Jutsu involved? Maybe. But Mune has little time to think of such matters, as she becomes half-entranced by what is being said to her.
When it all returns to normal, she blinks once, slowly, and then says, "I assume that one does not have to be aware of her role or that she is performing in order to do so? In which case, Datura being her natural self… Including not feeling beholden to anyone… That is her 'character' she is playing. The same for me. I have never thought of myself as merely a role to be filled, nor anything else in my life. And yet every thing about me could be summed up as 'the character of Kishi Mune'."
She ponders over this for a moment, and then shrugs. "That is an interesting perspective on reality, but I do not necessarily accept it. It is certainly a way of looking at the world objectively, but it sounds very complicated to determine who is fulfilling what role at what time. Are we the 'kouken'? Or is one of us the 'shite' with the other three acting as the 'kouken'? Even Amuro-sama could be seen more as a patron than a master, if you look at it in a certain way. Either way…" Since they're all standing around naked, she might as well join in. Maybe she can beat Kanami to getting one of these 'happy endings' if she cuts in line. Thus, off goes the bathrobe, and she makes her way towards a table, hoping to slip past Kanami before Olga the Ugly or whatever her name is can attend to the elder of the three kunoichi.
"What, you can't protect yourself?"
The glibness of her tone is unmistakable as she tosses a catty look Kanami's direction through the thin veil of dark hair falling across her field of vision. The youngest of the group slithers towards the edge of the pool, listening with half-hearted disinterest as the eldest begins to lay out the way in which she saw the world around them. The fake-brunette rests her arms against the side of the tiled tub, propping her chin on her slim forearms as she listens with the bored expression teenagers across the world have perfected just for use when they are faced with lectures. It's the one that foretold that she could probably repeat back most of what was said to her, just in case she was accused of not listening, but that she hadn't allowed a whit of it to sink in between her ears.
"Sorry, but I'm not even /his/ slave. I do what he wants because /I/ feel like it. …And because he pays me. And if all the world's a stage, as you say, then I'd have to insist that /I'm/ the star. I don't take a back role to anyone."
Just where /did/ one come by such surety and arrogance? It was written across her small, self-assured smile just as surely as it was in her tone. The look she gives to Mune as she derobes and begins to slip towards the masseuse clearly conveys her words before they even manage to come out of her mouth, half-rising out of the tub to place a hand on the edge, the other pointing mildly at Kanami.
"C'mon, you can't really buy into Kani's crock! She's just yanking your leg, you know. Otherwise that'd just make her crazy." She sits back on her heels, arching an eyebrow at the eldest of their trio as if in challenge. "You're not crazy, are you?"
Kanami nods towards Mune. "Yes, someone does not have to be aware of or accept his or her role to perform. And as I indicated roles can change at a moment's notice. Many different performances occur simultaneously. So there may be a play about Datura going on concurrently with the one in which we work with Amuro-sama. And she does not have to believe this to be the case for it to be true." She adds this last on with a sly look at Datura.
Then she hmmms and rolls her shoulders in a shrug again. "Perhaps I am crazy. I certainly do not perceive things in the same manner as others. Perhaps that means I am 'disassociated with reality'. But I believe those who are considered 'insane' may simply have exchanged one version of reality for another. Though our eyes and other senses tell us that things are one way… Who is to say that one who is 'crazy' does not see things as they truly are, and we are merely being lead on by an illusion of how things are. The actors unable to comprehend or accept that they are acting, if you will."
She drums her fingers on the massage table next to her as Mune approaches her. "Well, you can see things your own way. There is no reason you have to accept my words just because I speak them. But at least think the possibility over, please. Alright, Datura-chan?" Then she reaches out to stop Mune from proceeding to bypass the 'line' through the simple expedient of pressing her fingertips on the darker-skinned woman's body right where she touched Datura before. "I am next." She smile sweetly and then turns to the masseuse. "Are you ready, miss?"
