4136/A case of tense muscles..

From United Heroes MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
A case of tense muscles..
Date of Scene: 22 March 2018
Location: Moving Heart Yoga, Angel Grove, Starling, CA
Synopsis: Natasha Cranston stops in to get a back massage with a highly regarded masseuse in Starling. The skill level raises a red flag or two.
Cast of Characters: Yin, Shadow




Yin has posed:
While it's a bit out of the ordinary, actual contacts that might know a bit more than the usual tourist pin the best masseuse in Starling here, of all places. And not the middle aged proprietor of the place, either. Ask for her daughter. An unassuming girl that doesn't seem to fit any of the stereotypes that usually hold true, sometimes for actual reasons.

Still, the actual studio has the usual Oriental kitsch air that one expects from a place of it's sort, and the proprietor is happy to make all the relevant arrangements professionally without any surprises.. The building is easy enough to find, and there is plenty of openings in between the usual yoga classes and such.

Shadow has posed:
    Contract negotiations can be tedious at the best of times, but they only get worse when the negotiator has a fondness for petty power plays. The attempt was entirely wasted on Natasha, of course, but all the willpower in the world won't keep your muscles from kinking up from a bad sitting position if you hold it for hours. Fortunately, one of her subordinates who works at the Starling office recommended an excellent masseuse, and it never ceases to amaze how quickly money can expedite an appointment.

    Natasha steps out of the car as it comes to the halt, and nods at the driver. "Thank you, Marvin. That'll be all for now; I'll call when I need a pick-up." As the car drives off, she rings the bell. "Hello? I've an appointment here for 19:30, under the name 'Cranston'..."

Yin has posed:
The woman behind the counter smiles, checks the logs momentarily, then smiles. "Of course! Right this way, Ms. Cranston. Everything is ready for you." She leads you to the private consult room.

The massage room is set up with all the usual tools of the trade, possibly a few too many candles if anything. It is pointedly not set up for a tryst, the massage table being pretty poorly suited for such a thing. The girl inside is wearing comfortable silks, not of the sort that comes open easily. "Oh, hello. Ms..? Cranston, is it? I'm Brooke. A pleasure to meet you." She studies you from head to toe thoughtfully, offering a hand. "Is there anything in particular that is bothering you today? Other than the.. tension in the back, it looks like?"

Shadow has posed:
    "In that case, I'm Natasha," Natasha replies, shaking Brooke's hand with the smooth yet unthreatening grip and warm smile of someone who has had more practice at coming across as warm and unthreatening than they probably wanted, but she's not the first businessperson Brooke has met, and her smile seems more sincere than most. Or better practiced, of course.

    She raises an impresed eyebrow at the observation. "Well spotted. And no, just the back and shoulders. A bit of a cramp."

    ... That's an impressive understatement. Judging by the way she's very carefully not moving her shoulder more than she needs to, Brooke suspects most people would be in screaming agony at this point. A couple of those tendons look like they've been wrenched entirely out of alignment...

Yin has posed:
Brooke nods. "Alright. There is a changing room right through that door; there are various robes and things however you find most comfortable. I'd like to get a closer look at that shoulder. Are you taking any medications?Any other health concerns I should be on a watch for?"

Honestly, she can figure a lot of that out on her own. She does raise an eyebrow ever so slightly at *something* she is seeing with her examination, though she isn't saying anything about it for the moment. Not her place to say anything, presumably.

Shadow has posed:
    "None, so far. I try to live a healthy life when I can." Aside from the occasional bullet fire or fisticuffs with smugglers, of course, but that's hardly a detail for here. Natasha goes through the door and disrobes a bit stiffly, then selects a good sports bra and yoga pants for decency before returning to the parlor.

Yin has posed:
Brooke has stepped out to wait for you to get comfortable, then knocks on the door at the sounds of movement inside. Once allowed in, she steps in and looks you over a bit more carefully. "Alright. Is there anywhere besides the usual I should avoid touching?" She lightly moves your hair out of the way to look at your neck and spine, running her eyes down your back thoughtfully.

To her eyes, the tension and alignment issues are very visible, along with the patterns of exercize and muscle development. Martial artist? Acrobat? Her eyes flick for a moment to your hands to check for calluses or marks from impact. Then she studies the even more subtle aspects.. meditation? Quite a bit of meditation exercizes, and very distinctive ones. Very interesting. She smiles and listens..

Shadow has posed:
    "Not really," Natasha replies, tilting her head to let her hair fall away from her back, although significantly less far than normal -- looks like those kinks are locking her shoulder and upper back muscles into place, like someone who has spent several hours in an entirely uncomfortable sitting position without relief.

    As for the rest of her... More oddness. Or rather, oddly normal -- someone who works out regularly enough to be this fit /should/ have a pretty extensive array of calluses and minor spots from healed abrasions, the basic 'wear and tear' that's unavoidable when you use your body... But Natasha seems to have much fewer of them than one might expect.

    "As I said, I try to keep a healthy lifestyle. So far it seems to be succeeding, with only the occasional exception like today..."

Yin has posed:
Brooke nods. "I can see that. I'm sure you have a few secrets to your success in that regard.." She reaches up and traces along some of the locked muscles, lightly 'reading' them with her fingers, then slowly increases the pressure, working at them carefully with a variety of methods to erase the tension. It's not just about mechanically releasing the tension for her; she also starts working a bit at the subtle levels that you use to sleep so little.

Not that the benefits of carefully working all that pesky lactic acid out of the muscles isn't immensely useful on its own, of course. Nerves are quieted, blood flow increased to the areas, all those processes of healing heightened carefully as she works.

"You must have been sitting for a very long time. Maybe you should invest in some better ergonomics on the chairs wherever you are doing your negotiation? Better for you, specifically, that is."

Shadow has posed:
     "Oh, I do," Natasha replies, sighing happily as some of the tension seeps out of those muscles. "But Philip is an odious little man with a penchant for petty power plays." ... From the context, probably Philip DuFresne, of DuFresne Trucking. They haven't been doing well lately, but from what Brooke might have heard 'odious' is a charming understatement.

    "I admit as underhanded negotiation tactics go it's not a terrible idea; make sure your counterpart's chair is /slightly/ uncomfortable; the longer negotiations go on the more inclined they will be to agree to anything that looks like it might conclude the negotiations so they can get out of it without losing face."

    From where Brooke is standing she can't see the smile that creeps over Natasha's face, but she can /hear/ it in the satisfaction in her voice. "Of course, that presupposes you have the upper hand in the negotiations to begin with and your counterpart needs what you have to offer more than you need them... Ahh, that is /much/ better already..."

Yin has posed:
Brooke nods, "Well, yes, I've worked hard on earning my reputation honestly. Is there any other things you would like me to work on while I am at it? It looks like you do some sort of bodyweight exercizes, so that's good.. Sometimes they leave wrists a bit strained."

She hmms, adjusting to something, making mental notes, and massaging along a couple of back muscles along a pattern you do meditative exercizes with. Unclogging them a bit. It's just unusual enough to seem like a slightly odd back muscle to massage, if you get a lot of massages, but still... it helps with the tension and overall feeling of wellbeing, so maybe she's just that good.

Shadow has posed:
    If Natasha notices anything odd, she doesn't let it show - after all, how much would a businesswoman know about the intricacies of Ki flows? She does let out another happy sigh as she rotates one shoulder, then the other, luxuriating for a moment in the pain-free movement. "Some," she admits, understating the matter by a few orders of magnitude. "Keeping limber is nice, but I've found that stamina exercises are a great boon; having more energy available for *anything* helps a great deal..."

Yin has posed:
Brooke nods. "Martial arts of some sort, I'm guessing.. Meditation.. Maybe something like gymnastics, parkour, capoeira, pencak silat, wushu.. something that has you moving on your hands a lot, anyways?" She moves up to your shoulder lightly to follow the rotation. "It shows in your shoulders and forearms."

She gives your arms another look, thoughtfully, tracing a couple of those odd flows with her eyes. "And in your pulse and breathing rate, for that matter."

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha is entirely too well trained to show any outward concern, but there is a ripple of surprise along her Ki paths that stands out to Brooke as clear as day. "I dabble a bit in my free time. Not as much as I'd like, but there are only so many hours in a day..."

    ... And that wasn't an understatement; it was a blatant lie - possibly the first actual lie she's told Brooke, but the girl is entirely too observant for comfort.

Yin has posed:
Brooke nods. "Well, of course. I mean, it's an excellent way to get some exercise. I recommend it, bodyweight exercises are very healthy ways of building strength. I just know I have had to help a couple of friends work out some wrist strain from that kind of exercizes." She smiles relaxedly. "And it's good to see you are getting enough rest. So many people don't get enough sleep, and it starts to show."

She steps back. "I'm going to step outside for a moment; go ahead, move around a bit and see if there is any spots of tension or adhesion that I might have missed. If everything is good, you can get changed and I will be waiting right outside if you have any other concerns." She doesn't react to the surprise; not really her place to make people tense, after all.

Shadow has posed:
    "Sufficient rest is quite important, Natasha agrees, then waits for Brooke to leave the room before letting out a breath and quickly going through a set of arm exercises to test her range of motion with a smooth precision that many trained martial artists would envy. Finding everything in order, she allows herself a frown. She's had massages before, and even her regular chiropractor isn't this observant.

    Granted, she has... Ways... to ensure the girl will stop wondering about things that aren't for her to Know, but even taking the ethical considerations aside Grandfather would undoubtedly agree that it's unwise in the extreme to distort the perceptions of someone you're trusting to take care of your body.

    On the gripping hand, the girl has no idea who she is, and The Shadow isn't exactly a common phenomenon this far west, and clouding someone's mind just for personal convenience seems like a step too far on a slippery slope. She sighs again. "Thank you, I believe that's much better..."

Yin has posed:
Brooke, outside, smiles. "Very good! Please, feel free to stop in again when you are in the area." She smiles peacefully, very relaxed as she has been the entire time. "And do feel free to let me know if you had any other questions or concerns I might be able to help with. I am an open book." Not completely true, but the sentiment isn't actually a complete lie.

She drifts toward the desk to finish the business part, making hardly any sound and gliding softly from her center like a martial arts master, wasting not the slightest bit of energy. "Now, if I can just have your signature here?"

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha smiles. "I'm sure there's more on your pages than meets the eye," she replies innocuously enough as she follows the girl to the desk, heels clicking on the floor in exact time with Brooke's steps then takes a pen and signs her name - Natasha Margo Cranston - on the form.

    "Thank you for your time; I don't come out here that often myself but I'll be certain to recommend you to anyone who does."

Yin has posed:
Brooke smiles warmly. "Well, of course. So many people are so very complex. It's not really my place to pry, though; right now, all I care about is making sure you are feeling ready to take on the world again."

She smiles softly again, presenting her card to you in an almost exaggeratedly smooth motion. "And I really do hope your negotiations went well. That man can be such a pain to work with sometimes."

Shadow has posed:
    A chuckle. "I've had to deal with worse, in my time," Natasha replies. "The trick appears to be to have something they need and can't force you to yield. Most of the time, not having the automatic upper hand in negotiations pushes them out of their comfort zone and they become uncertain as a result... Of course, that does require /having/ something over them in the first place, which... Probably won't work for everyone. I'm sorry."

Yin has posed:
Brooke nods. "Of course. Different situations call for different tools, as always.. Philip spends far too much time negotiating over far too little. He didn't seem like the kind to keep his eyes on the prize very well, as long as he thinks he is winning some sort of power concession. But I'm sure you noticed that as well." She smiles peacefully. A very peaceful person, really. "Have a wonderful night, Ma'am. I hope tomorrow is a good day for you."

Shadow has posed:
    "And likewise, miss Harris," Natasha replies, giving the young woman another smile before turning to leave, one hand already going for her phone to call her driver as the door closes behind her...