No Tiger, No Dragon, Just a Swallow [Ira, Kasha]

Oh. That felt...that felt pretty intense, actually, and not in a bad way. He liked that, enough so that he had to flex his knuckles a bit as a response. He'd definitely do this again.

"Any chance we could make this a regular thing? I'd hate to just do this once and call it done."

He'd actually be a little disappointed if he couldn't come back for this again. It was real nice, and frankly, he hadn't gotten to do much of anything in the way of relaxing in a pretty long while. Then again, Ira wouldn't have expected it to be relaxing getting stabbed, but maybe the hands of a pretty lady helped.

"Of course, though most people I meet aren't as keen about getting needles stuck into their back."

Kasha said with a small laugh and felt like he had concluded, instead placing his hands along the shoulder blades and carefully massaging her back while being careful to avoid the needles that were along the centre of the lady's back. It was both done to help the whole process but also he had kept that detail in mind about her status as a martial artist. It was important to take care and avoid the body getting damaged through training.

Maybe this was a little forward though, he could stop if she preferred.

"Hey, that sounds to me like most people don't know what they're missing out on, then."

Oh, he definitely didn't mind this part now. Was this part of the whole thing? Well, he had to assume it was, he doubted she'd just be giving him a massage for the hell of it. But man, she knew how to use her hands well, this was absolutely killer.

"I'll have to come by whenever Yugiri stops through here for her visits, then. That's about once a month, unless that's too often for your schedule?"

God, he hoped it wasn't. Even if she weren't so hot, this'd be worth it alone.

"Oh? I suppose once a month isn't too difficult to make happen, you can share your progress and stories if you'd like. Something like this I think is better done over conversation rather than awkward silence."

His mind was a bit distracted in saying that, his hands wandered just a little bit more than he had intended to while massaging her back and ended up a bit closer to under the arms that he intended. Oh dear, a slow retreat while maintaining the guise of the massage and coolly trying to act as though it was part of the process. Hands making their way back to the back.

"Alright, all done."

He said while starting the steady process of plucking the needles from her back.

Hell yeah, score. Ira might even have said something to that effect, if at least a little more collected, were it not for the fact that Kasha's hands moved a bit closer to his chest than he'd actually been expecting. Oh, alright, okay. He was following now. Was that intentional? It had to be, right?

"That sounds good to me, I'll keep you updated on all that. I'm surprised it was so quick though, not that I'd complain."

Well, that wasn't totally true. He'd be down for it to last a while longer, but hey, he could work around this, no worries. Ira was a smooth operator.

"You busy after this? Wouldn't mind taking you out for tea or something as thanks. I know we just came from lunch, but there's gotta be a nice spot to get dessert, right?"

Easy.

"It can be done longer but you're new to it and I'd need to become more acquainted with your body before I'd feel comfortable with more serious applications."

He explained, not thinking about how it could be interpreted. Ignorant even of what exactly was being implied by what he said which was quite rare, he hadn't thought much about it being any kind of advance. Even what boiled down to being asked to have tea together he put down to wanting something to drink after the acupuncture, it was a completely logical thing that someone could want some refreshments after that kind of treatment.

"Hmm? I can make us some tea now if you'd like. Please excuse me and I can go prepare some."

"Oh, alrighty, well that sounds good to me."

Oh, hell yeah. Getting tea made from a pretty lady? Now that was even better than taking her out for it, and he definitely didn't miss the comment about getting acquainted. Was he getting moved on? He was pretty sure, but Ira was still pretty rusty in these things. Fucking around with Ehefra wasn't quite normal, he wouldn't apply that to anyone else.

"Sure thing, take however long you need. I'll be here."

He tied his belt back around his dogi, not wanting to seem too forward. Ah, hm. He should probably tell her the truth, yeah? When she came back.

Did not take long at all to return with a tray, that was a fast boil wasn't it? Kasha did cheat a little bit with his reiatsu to bring the tea to a boil and prepare it. A little glad honestly that when he returned, she had recovered her modesty again and he could gently place the tea down and begin to pour them a cup each.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Just another check to see if she was feeling alright, he did miss a couple of spots and did have a bit of concern in case she had an adverse reaction. No good.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, feeling fine."

Well, that was true, though he did still want to comment about the situation. Taking the cup of tea, he thought about how to word it to this lovely lady, though it wasn't like he'd ever been shy about it before. No reason to start now.

"By the way, uh... Mentioned the whole soul thing, right? Probably should've mentioned I'm a guy, my bad."

Simple and clean, just that easy. She'd probably understand, right? And hey, if she didn't, it was better to get that all out of the way now.

Kasha just listened to her insist that she was fine and then mention that she was formerly a male, his face a composed smile which never seemed to change with the revelation. He just took a sip and cocked his head like it was a little confusing. Not hard to process or stomach but difficult to understand why that would matter to him.

"I see, well. That doesn't sound too strange to me, I suppose I can see how some might find it jarring. People are often surprised when they learn I am as well."

He said it matter-of-factly while taking another sip, maybe the rather flat chest would suddenly make a lot more sense to Ira. While Kasha sipped away and seemed to remember the senbon he had used, a dainty painted hand gently picking them up and putting them to the side to wash later.