He wants a bath...and a massage

"W-well," Ace began, scratching his chin thoughtfully, "I guess it has been a while since I took a break."

Venus' eyes lit up and she grinned at him. "So it's a yes then?"

The young man hesitated. His hands fiddled with his sword handle, wrapped in chestnut leather and embossed in enchantment sigils, and his eyes nervously darted back and forth between Venus and towards the doorway. As flash of emotions ran over his face, Ace tensed up and appeared to be debating with himself.

"What? Is something wrong?" Venus asked.

Coughing to cover his embarassment, Ace replied, "No, it's...it's just that I've been on the road for some time now, right? And, uh, I was thinking, you know, that since we're at an inn that, well, maybe, uh maybe, I could get some water to clean up?"

"You want to take a bath?" Venus turned her eyes upwards, thinking. "I could probably call the innkeeper to draw up some water. It might be cold though. Would that do?"

"-and a massage?" He blurted out.

"..."

"Before this, I had been on a week-long hunt, and I'm a bit sore, you know." Ace crossed his arms defensively. "If we're going all the way to Regis, I'd at least like to be comfortable."

Venus slowly exhaled as she calmed down the maddening urge to hit Ace in the face. Don't push your luck, she wanted to tell him, but she reminded herself that it was a small thing what he was asking for, and it would be less complicated then dragging her entire guild into what was basically a hunch. She looked up at him, watching him put on an innocent face, and sighed in resignation.

"Sure." Venus sweetly said, all the while gritting her teeth.

Half an hour and a grumbling innkeeper later, Ace laid down in a small round tub filled up with cold water, his legs and arms hanging over the edge. He had stripped off all of his clothes and had settled into the water with a slight shiver. A smile split his lips though and he visibly relaxed as he sank deeper into the tub, warming the bathwater.

Wanting this to be over quickly, Venus upturned the empty chamberpot and sat on it with Ace's back facing her. She rolled up her sleeves and reached up to his shoulders, placing a firm hand on the thick muscles on either side of his neck. As she began smoothly massaging the area around Ace's shoulders, he sat up from the tub, so that she could be in a more comfortable position.

"Is this good?" Venus said, kneading her thumbs into the flesh near his shoulderblades.

Ace groaned luxuriously as Venus worked her hands, short gasps escaped his lips each time she leaned in to apply more pressure. He turned his head to look at her from over his shoulder and said, "That's good, but could you keep going down? My muscles are more sore over there."

"Down here?"

"A bit lower than that."

She lowered her hands to the small of his back. "Like this?"

"A little more."

"...Here?"

"Just a little lower..." Ace murmured, a sly smile firmly stuck on his face

Looking at her own hands and where she was massaging, Venus realized that if she went any lower than that, it would be less a massage and more like foreplay. She flicked her eyes back up at Ace and saw that he was still staring at her from over his shoulders, waiting for her to do it.