Brandon’s lesson

Erik had thought it wasn’t serious. But when Brandon DM’d him on socials, asking if he wanted to come in and see if he wanted to try being a physio masseur. Erik was shocked.

He has his head on Vi’s thighs as she watched TV in her dorm room, Ari off doing something without the two of them.

He holds his phone up so she can see the exchange.

Erik stares at the underside of Vi’s chin, waiting for her to get to the most recent message. “Are you going to do it?” She asks, looking down at him.

Erik sighs, reaching his arms above his head and wrapping them around her midriff. “I don’t know.”

She tilts her head. “Why?”

He sighs again.

“You’re so dramatic.” She giggles. “It could be fun. Maybe you’ll get to massage a bunch of hot girls.”

“I considered that.” He replies cheekily.

She rolls her eyes and a sheepish expression crosses her face. “I mean… Like… It could be good, for real.”

Erik lets go of her and sits up, studying her face. “What?”

She blushes, her hands in her lap.

“Babe? What’s wrong?”

She licks her lips nervously. “You know I don’t care… about like… Money and stuff right?”

“Ah.” Erik says, already tensing up.

“Erik!” She exclaims, grabbing his hands. “Listen.”

He nods, looking down at their joined hands.

“I don’t care about money. My father isn’t getting to me or anything. So don’t think that I’m worried about that.” She takes a breath. “But, I’m worried about you. You don’t have ANY money. I know your savings are getting really low.”

Erik grimaces, he knows she’s right, he’s been trying to ignore it. The job offer from Maki was ignored by Erik, even when she texted him about it, he ended up making some half ass excuse, not wanting to mix family and employment, realising that he had no interest in working night shifts like that. Maki had shrugged it off, but even she commented on the fact that he must still have heaps of savings left over.

He bit his tongue at the time, but the comment annoyed him. He wasn’t sure why.

Erik reaches up and runs his hand through his hair with frustration. “They’re not great… Laura sends money now and then but…”

She purses her lips, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand. “Finances and stuff, will never be an issue for us that we can’t get past. I don’t want you to feel bad and frustrated, y’know?”

He sighs. “Yeah, I understand.”

He groans, turning his hand and squeezing hers. “I just… I don’t know what I want to do.”

“I know, babe.” She coos reassuringly.

“I got this scholarship and it’s helped heaps, but like… I have no idea what I want to do after grad. And then a part of me doesn’t want to get a job that’s not in my field…”

He groans. “But I don’t have any idea what I want my field to be! I feel like I’ll kill myself if I end up working as a business analyst or some shit for some random corporation.”

She nods, rubbing her thumb on his hand, letting him vent.

“I think I want to own a business or something. But… I don’t know what.”

Vi gives him a sad smile. “I get you babe… I understand. I’m the same way. Sure, I have modelling but who knows if that’s long-term. It could genuinely end at any point.” She rubs his jaw softly. “I think it’ll work out for us, we’re both smart cookies. And, we’re both resilient. But for now, we need to focus on what’s in front of us.”

He nods.

“We have another year and a bit left of uni, I don’t think you’re going to be able to coast off your savings for much longer.” She shrugs. “Maybe you’re really good at massages, and then you can get a job at Spades Sides, at least for a bit.”

He groans and collapses into her lap, Vi reacting with giggles. “As usual, you’re right! I guess I’ll give it a try.”

Brandon stares at Vi, grinning as Erik stands beside her. “I probably should’ve figured out that you meant her when you said you had a volunteer for your first session.” He speaks to Erik as Vi shrugs innocently.

“Would you believe me if I told you it was my idea?” Erik chuckles.

“Nah,” Brandon replies, grinning as he daps up Erik.

“Good instincts, man.” Erik laughs as Vi’s grin only widens.

Brandon leads the two into the massage area, Vi grins as she nods, already taking her position, removing her jacket, shirt, and bra, winking at the two boys as she lies face down on the table and giggles. “I’m reeeeeeeady for my free massage!”

Brandon puts a finger up. “Alright, you two. Before we start, I’m saying it now. This is me being professional. I take this seriously, and I want to actually teach you, Erik.” He waves his hand dismissively. “I need a long term masseuse.”

Erik side-eyes him suspiciously. “That’s what we’re here for? What did you have in mind?”

“Don’t give me that shit, bro,” Brandon says, his lip twitching into a smirk.

“We know!” Vi calls from the table. “Erik said if he’s doing this…” She puts on a low-pitched, mocking voice. “If I’m doing this, I’m fully committing, I’m not going to fuck around, and neither will you!”

She throws her arms up before letting them fall back down, dangling off the massage table. “Hot, topless girl in front of you both and we’re not even going to take advantage of it.”

Brandon chuckles. “Was the swinging your idea or hers?” He asks Erik, walking to grab the massage oil and guidebook.

“I don’t remember, really.” Erik says.

“It was you.” Vi remarks helpfully. “One of the best ideas you’ve ever had, by the way.”

Brandon snorts.

Brandon nods Erik forward, handing him the guide book, he points out specific muscle points, the kind of force and pressure that best loosen target muscles. He demonstrates on Vi after lathering his hands with oil how to feel for tightness and knots. When he finds one on Vi’s upper back, he gets Erik to get some oil on and to press and feel for the knot.

All the while the boys focus and learn, stopping every now and then to cross-reference with the book, Vi’s eyes flutter, she moans, purrs, coos, and just generally makes sounds of approval with every press of masculine hands into her back.

“Oh yeah… This is… the life.” She moans when Brandon lifts her arm, showing Erik how to target the muscle and how it shifts under movement.

“This girl, man” Erik laughs when Brandon kneads out a particularly tough knot in her shoulder blade, much to her approval.

They keep going, focusing mostly on the upper back and the symmetry in the muscles, leaving other areas for other practice sessions if they happen.

Brandon hands Vi’s her shirt and leans on the edge of his desk, crossing his legs at the ankles. “So. What’d you think?”

“Amazing.” Vi moans, her eyes shimmering with delight.

Erik chuckles, wiping his hands off the oil. “It was interesting. More to it than I thought.”

Brandon shrugs, “It’s more just the anatomy of it. Once you got that down, learning the actual techniques is the easy part.” He looks at him, pushing his hands into his pockets. “Reckon you’ll want to shadow me sometime? We can do more sessions like this.” Glancing at Vi. “Your volunteer is getting it for free, of course.”

“Yes!” Vi squeals, Brandon rolling his eyes.

He turns to Erik again. “You in?”

Erik glances at Vi, who watches him in turn, smiling encouragingly.

“It’s up to you. I support you no matter what.’

Her face says it all. Erik nods. “Yeah. Alright. Let’s give it a few more go’s.”

Brandon nods, “Mad. Let’s figure out what days you can come in. Since you’re a trainee, you’ll get hourly minimum wage, and if you finish your in-house course, you’ll be able to start doing supervised sessions.”

Erik is taken aback by the info, Vi rubbing her arms against his arm in celebration. “Wait, I get paid?”

“Yeah, man. We want people to actually stick around and shit.” He says, grabbing a contract. “Supervised sessions sound like I’ll or somewhere will be in the room with you, but it just means you’re not qualified to do it in private like this. You’ll have to use the massage/sauna room.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to be certified.” He shrugs. “Probably, sexual harassment related.”

“Oh, like you do to me!?” Vi asks, fluttering her eyes innocently.

Brandon rolls his eyes.