For Sinric

[hot_water]

[OOC: From here.]

Tahno's rooms are gigantic. They're more a collection of suites, an apartment decked out in deep purple and black, with white and silver accents. He selected dark wood furniture with clean lines, with no slats or wicker to catch on clothes or skin.

He leads Sinric through the common room with its own bar to the bedroom with a stone, gas-operated fireplace and a sumptuous bed wreathed in black silk. "Make yerself comfortable," Tahno drawls, letting go of Sinric's hand.

Comments

[hot_water]

Tahno leans his head into Sinric's fingers, thoroughly enjoying the grooming. "Narcissus? Who's that?" the waterbender drawls. "And really? Wow. I hope they gave you a great look at yerself."

[thewidewideworld]

"He was the son of a water god Cephissus. A hunter, proud and beautiful. A spurned lover tricked him into looking into a pool of still water and he wasted away pining for love of his own refection."

He ducks his head a little and doesn't answer.

[hot_water]

"Wow, that's pretty awful," Tahno drawls, reaching up to thread his fingers through Sinric's golden mane, scratching along the scalp. "Remind me not to spurn a lover. We don't got a lotta stories about the children of gods; my world basically has lionturtles and spirits in their myths."

[thewidewideworld]

"The spurned nymph named Echo was ashamed of what she had done and prayed to the goddess of love to unmake here so she would feel shame no more but Aphrodite loved Echo's voice too much so made the nymph disappear until she remains a voice, heard by all and seen by none. So when your voice is reflected back to you, it is Echo you hear."

He smiles and reaches for the last bottle as Tahno scratches him. "I was very much in love with the tales and songs of the old gods when I was a child. I made my master teach me Latin so I could read them for myself."

[hot_water]

Tahno furrows his brow. "That's terrible. Poor Echo. What an awful punishment, y'know?" he drawls, shaking his head in the steam of the shower. "Do ya still love 'em? Or did that fade?"

[thewidewideworld]

"Oh I still do. But loving them grows strange where here one may find oneself walking beside them." His smiles is fond and distant for a moment.

[hot_water]

"Yeah, no kiddin'," Tahno drawls, the corner of his lip quirking at that smile. "Ya ever met any gods here?"

[thewidewideworld]

"I have." He nods, his voice growing soft and lyrical.

"Ganymede was the loveliest born of the race of mortals, and therefore
the gods caught him away to themselves, to be Zeus' wine-pourer,
for the sake of his beauty, so he might be among the immortals."

[hot_water]

Tahno closes his eyes momentarily, reveling in Sinric's gorgeous voice.

"Ganymede?" the waterbender drawls quietly. "I don't think I've met him. Is he really that beautiful?"

[thewidewideworld]

"He is. I was always so drawn to his story for in my heart we were much alike - the property of powerful men, prized for our looks. Although the poetry of legend makes smooth the roughness and cruelty he suffered at Zeus' hands. His master was not so kind as mine was."

[hot_water]

"Huh," Tahno drawls, wiping some water away from his face. "That sucks. Is he a free man now?"

[thewidewideworld]

"He is, and has been for many hundreds of years as far as I uncertain how he gained his freedom. I shall have to ask him some day." He draws Tahno's hair back, spreading the last treatment evenly. "There. All done."

[hot_water]

Tahno catches Sinric's hand in his own, pressing a quick kiss to his knuckles. The waterbender stands, and moves under one of the sprays of hot water fogging up the glass to fully rinse his hair out. "Thanks, man," he drawls, and reaches for the first bottle after completely rinsing. "Yer turn."

[thewidewideworld]

"Sinric, please?" He smiles softly, drawing Tahno into a sweet kiss. "I like the way my name sounds on your tongue."

He moves to rinse his hair, getting the length of it good and wet. He's short enough he doesn't need to crouch but finds a glass wall to lean against. The water draining down his back, over the curve of his heart shaped rear is a rather alluring sight.

[hot_water]

"Awright, Sinric," Tahno purrs, lathering up his hands before scratching Sinric's scalp. Tahno spreads the soap from the androgyne's roots to his tips, carefully threading the waterbender's fingers through his hair. "Yer hair is so soft."

[thewidewideworld]

The purr, and the way Tahno's crawl curls around his name makes him smile. "Thank you."

A purr of his own escapes his lips as Tahno begins to play with his hair. "Thank you. I confess, I'm rather vain about my hair."

[hot_water]

Tahno laughs, guiding Sinric under the spray to help rinse out his hair. "That's somethin' we have in common, really," the waterbender drawls. "And we both look damn good because of it. I've already said this, but yer definitely the prettiest man I've ever seen."

Once he's done rinsing, Tahno picks up the second bottle and begins to lather the shampoo onto Sinric's scalp.

[thewidewideworld]

"And a love of dancing." Sinric smiles, arms folded against the glass. "Thank you. I have often passes as a woman, when need and costume allows. Most people don't look far past a pretty face and a fall of golden hair."

[hot_water]

"That, too. And ya already know I thought ya were a woman at first, so yer obviously doin' somethin' right," Tahno drawls, chuckling. He rubs his hands over the blond tresses, working the soap into them. "How is passin' as a woman useful to ya?"

[thewidewideworld]

"A woman is permitted certain privacies and privileges a man is not. A beautiful woman is admired but oft forgotten, whereas a beautiful eunuch stands out in the memory. And as a woman, my hair can be covered, making me less memorable." He shrugs. "It allows me to be less visible or less recognisable if I wish."

[hot_water]

"I gotcha," Tahno drawls, rinsing out Sinric's hair with waterbending. Tahno grabs the second bottle and starts applying that product to Sinric's hair. "I guess bein' invisible is a good thing sometimes. But people get mad if they find out yer a man, right? That's awful."

[thewidewideworld]

"Sometimes." He shrugs. "For many years I was a slate on which fantasies can be drawn. Not everyone likes it when reality doesn't match their fantasy."

[hot_water]

Tahno nods soberly. "I hear ya," he drawls, reaching for the third bottle. He squirts some of the conditioner into his palms and starts massaging the substance into Sinric's hair. "People get all sorts of weird when yer famous, so I definitely hear ya. A lot of it's just projectin' and fantasizin'; ya can't live up to everyone's expectations, unfortunately."

[thewidewideworld]

"Those who follow you want you to be a particular way? Because of how you must appear in public?"

[hot_water]

Tahno gently scratches the conditioner into Sinric's scalp with blunt nails. "Yeah," the waterbender drawls. "People get hung up on their fantasies, and expect me to act like they think I should in their heads. They don't really get to know the real me, y'know? There's even tradin' cards that list all these random facts about me and my team, like our favorite foods and shit. But it's all window dressin'."