Salon buddies for @favoriteanalyst

[cuttingremark]

It started about a few months ago. Loki needed to relax after making the mistake of spending his winter holidays with his 'family' (which ended in another spectacular fight with Odin that resulted in one broken window and a lost snow globe Loki has thrown through said broken window), but his normal esthetician was booked solid for the next year and couldn't fit him in outside of his own pre-scheduled appointments no matter how much money he offered to throw at her. Wanda was the best in the city, probably the whole country, so it made sense, but there's still the issue of Loki needing something to relieve his tension so he didn't strangle his paralegals. The thought crossed his mind of setting up a tindr profile for a quick fuck, but he isn't in law school anymore and that was just a disaster waiting to happen.



Wanda saves him from making a bad decision by texting him the information for another technician she helped train. She claims he's new, but very talented, which he figures will do in a pinch. The link she sent him takes him to a rather outdated looking webpage for the "TVA Salon and Spa", an older establishment that apparently started in the 50's as a barber shop, but recent made the jump to full salon under new management. Despite the clunky UI, he's able to schedule an appointment for a basic manicure the very next day with the young man Wanda had told him about.

Casey is a nice young man. Not anywhere as skilled as Wanda, but his nails come out looking acceptable with their basic black polish and the hand massage he gets to begin with is utterly divine. He doesn't go into detail about his family problems, but the other gets the gist that the holidays were strained and is more than willing to play the oh-so-important role of listening ear even if his platitudes do ring a little hollow.

When the appointment is over, Casey hands him a card for a free deep conditioning treatment or 30 minute shoulder massage.

"These are really just for family and friends," he explains, "but you really seem like you need something to help you relax." He thinks about declining, but decides it isn't polite and takes the card anyway before handing the young man a $400 tip.

The stern looking woman at the front desk gives him a serious look as Casey nearly passes out in the background. "I'm going to be checking those to make sure they're real."

"But of course, I would expect nothing less." His usual winning smile does nothing to lighten her glare as she rings him out. She asks if he wants to use the card to schedule something today. Why not? It's a charming establishment and he has some free time coming up.

The masseuse the card is good for, Bee, is apparently booked solid for the next month, but the stylist, Mobius, just had a cancellation in the following week that fit perfectly in his schedule.

That appointment was the beginning of the end for Loki.

So in he walks six months later, having ditched his normal high-end stylist for a middle-aged man who looks like he works in a cubicle rather than a up-and-coming salon. It isn't his normally scheduled appointment, but his cases have been crazy and Thor just left for his "journey of self-discovery" aka backpacking across Europe, so all of Odin's attention is now on his youngest.

Joy.

If Loki were the sentimental type, he'd think it a shame that the lobby area of a salon is more comfortable for him than his childhood home.

Comments

[cuttingremark]

"The shower's warm and I just came." Yeah, that's totally it.

"Turn around, I'll get your back for you." Time to change the subject, or at least make it so Mobius can't see the red in his cheeks.

[favoriteanalyst]

"The shower's warm, you just came, and you're blushing." So there. He sees you, Loki. He lets himself turn around, but takes a moment to lean back against Loki and be very smug about it. "I definitely already saw it. Can't hide from me."

[cuttingremark]

"You're terrible." Despite his words, he wraps his arms around Mobius' torso for a brief embrace as he leans back before grabbing a wash cloth and shower gel and getting to work. The soap isn't heavily scented, but there is a light minty note as he starts to lather up Mobius' back and shoulders. He's not great at massages, but he does try to rub any tension out of the muscles under the other's soft flesh.

[favoriteanalyst]

The rest of the shower is pleasant with hands all over until they've had enough of being pruny and should probably get out. Can't stay in there all day. Theoretically.

Then it's blowdrying and styling Loki's hair at least to a casual point. Mobius is content to spend the rest of the morning lounging about in a robe, though he does make a point of picking up all the discarded clothes from the night before just so they can be put in semi-neat piles off the floor.

"Should we just spend the day in? Given last night, I'm not sure I should be showing my face out there."

[cuttingremark]

Loki helps in picking up their suits, getting them on hangers and in bags ready for the drycleaners when they return to the States. At some point he pulls on a pair of sweatpants to keep his legs warm, but otherwise stays in his robe as well. Truly that was the moment he gave up on leaving the room.

"Probably a good idea. Most of the pictures were focused on Odin, but even if people couldn't recognize you alone, they'd probably put it together if you're with me." Room back together, he sits back on the bed, a few pillows cushioning his back against the headboard. Loki pats the bed next to him.

"There are a few English movie channels. Let's find something terrible to watch."

[favoriteanalyst]

"When you suggested that last night, you instead showed me that I'm your dad's public enemy number one."

Not that he necessarily hated where it led to with them cuddling up, but still. Speaking of cuddling up in bed, he crawls up there and tucks himself under the sheets and against Loki. "We can definitely just stay in and watch movies. I'd like you to make sure you're relaxed for the rest of this trip. I didn't mean to make things difficult."

[cuttingremark]

"You say that like it was on purpose!" Loki pulls him close and drops a kiss onto the top of his head. The subtle scent of his shampoo on Mobius makes him smile. There's a bit of arranging to do so they're both comfortable, but it doesn't take long to find a good spot with Loki's arm around Mobius.

"Odin made things difficult, as I thought he would." Loki places a gentle hand under Mobius' chin so he can tilt the other's eyes to meet his. "You did a wonderful thing for me. 'Stress' is the last emotion I could feel right now.'

[favoriteanalyst]

"Still...I wouldn't blame you if you needed to take a little time to decompress or something. This was all...pretty big." And he doesn't just mean Odin. He means the whole boyfriend thing. He means introducing a date to his family. He means having someone he's willing to actually date on an emotional level at all.

"But also we could go out for dinner and possibly cause a stir." Might even be fun.

[cuttingremark]

Loki chuckles. "I feel like we did plenty of decompressing last night. And this morning." Yeah, the boyfriend thing did catch him a little off guard, but in a good way. In a 'oh someone wants me as more than a good fuck' kind of way. Obviously Mobius doesn't know all his baggage, but he saw a bit of it last night and hasn't run screaming yet.

"Now that sounds fun. I know a few good places if you want to make a stir. Or some more low key places."

[favoriteanalyst]

"We can always do more decompressing as time goes on." He leaves a kiss on Loki's cheek.

"Low key for Loki," he says with amusement in his tone. "How about I leave it up to you--if you want us to strut our stuff or be on the down low."

[cuttingremark]

Loki snorts at the pun. It's not the first time he's heard it, but for some reason it's not annoying coming from Mobius.

"We'll see how we feel this evening." Loki turns his head and places a kiss in turn on Mobius' temple. "A relaxing day in sounds nice, though I do feel a bit bad. This is your vacation, after all."

[favoriteanalyst]

"It's definitely been exciting if nothing else. I've eaten some new food, seen somewhere I never thought I would, learned some history, learned some politics, solidified my position as new boyfriend, caused a minor scandal, got the best blowjob of my life..." It hasn't been a waste!

[cuttingremark]

"Glad you've had a good time so far." Loki stops flipping through channels, settling on a rom com about a pop star marrying a random man attending one of her concerts.

"I'm going to have to get better at giving head. Can't have the best blow job of the relationship be the first one."

[favoriteanalyst]

"I can't imagine getting better, but trust that I look forward to it."

He's pretty sure he knows how Loki got so very good, and he wonders if that's something else to talk about. But maybe not directly now. "And I'm sure to get better at just about anything I do to you. So I'm not worried about that."

[cuttingremark]

"I look forward to it" Despite the salacious topic of conversation, Loki doesn't move to initiate more than a chaste kiss. Maybe he'd feel more in the mood later, but at the moment he's content to just enjoy Mobius' company.

"Us being together doesn't go against some kind of hair dresser's code of conduct, does it?" He knows how other professions work. Totally.

[favoriteanalyst]

"I'm not giving you any discounts if that's what you're asking." It's nice to snuggle and gently smooch. It doesn't have to be rowdy raucous all the time. "Not yet anyway."

[cuttingremark]

"Hm, yet? If I'd known discounted hair cuts were on the table, I would have given you a blow job a while ago," Loki teases. This from the man who tips no less than a hundred.

[favoriteanalyst]

"You might get them for free, from me, at an in-home visit if you keep going the way you're going." Being boyfriends. Mostly. "But I might still accept a tip. Or the tip." mobius please

[cuttingremark]

"Just the tip? That doesn't sound very pleasurable for either of us."

[favoriteanalyst]

"You'll get a whole hell of a lot more than the tip soon enough." And that's a promise. Gotta compare to the dildo, after all!

[cuttingremark]

"I'm looking forward to it." Loki scoots down on the bed a bit so he can throw an arm over Mobius' chest and nuzzle into his neck.

[favoriteanalyst]

"Oh--hey there, cutie." He waits for Loki to get himself resettled and slides an arm around his shoulders. "You cozy? Wishing you were being swept away by some international pop star into awkward marriage trap turned real love?"

[cuttingremark]

Loki smiles, the 'cutie' making him blush a little. "Hm, I think I'd rather find a handsome stranger willing to enter into said marriage trap to keep me from crying on stage in front of millions of people."

[favoriteanalyst]

"Maybe you shouldn't have made your planned marriage a huge public concert event. Or, maybe go through with the whole thing in spite of the cheating, and then end it behind closed doors, call the whole thing a publicity stunt." He rubs his hand down Loki's back. "I'm just saying. But, I'm still glad to be your handsome stranger in this imaginary scenario."

[cuttingremark]

"What can I say? I love a spectacle." Loki rolls over so he's laying half on Mobius' chest, smiling up at him. "Maybe I just need a down to earth math teacher to show me what a relationship out of the lime light is like."