cuttingremark: (Default)
cuttingremark ([personal profile] cuttingremark) wrote2021-12-21 11:17 am

Salon buddies for @favoriteanalyst

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 The link she sent him takes him to a rather outdated looking webpage for the "TVA Salon and Spa", an older establishment that apparently started in the 50's as a barber shop, but recent made the jump to full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.
favoriteanalyst: (sometimes all you cando is say goodnight)

[personal profile] favoriteanalyst 2022-05-03 03:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah?" he says with a chuckle. "Are we talking rubbing people down, or rubbing people off? Cuz I think I'm a little old to hop into the hooker game by several decades."
favoriteanalyst: (sometimes all you cando is say goodnight)

[personal profile] favoriteanalyst 2022-05-03 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
His hands work along Loki's hips. "I'm sure it's a lot easier now with the internet. Does it sound bad if I say 'back in my day' about cruising certain corners for a good time?"
favoriteanalyst: (and when you pull yourself out of bed)

[personal profile] favoriteanalyst 2022-05-03 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"Would it be better if I tried to seem hip and with-it for the younger generation? Because that won't go well. I don't understand tiktok in the slightest. But I do understand enthusiastic consent. Might get me brownie points."
favoriteanalyst: (sometimes all you cando is say goodnight)

[personal profile] favoriteanalyst 2022-05-04 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
"I think I'll stick to my dayjob for now. Fewer hoops to jump through." He leans in, ostensibly so he can work at Loki's neck and shoulders when he brushes hair aside, but also: "Are you ticklish?"
favoriteanalyst: (with words we choose not to hear)

[personal profile] favoriteanalyst 2022-05-05 08:50 am (UTC)(link)
"Now you've given me a new curiosity to follow up on. Find all my boyfriend's ticklish spots. It'll involve touching you all over, so I'm pretty sure you won't mind too much."
favoriteanalyst: (there's a fire in my brain)

[personal profile] favoriteanalyst 2022-05-08 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
"Only if you were younger? Not up for it right now?" He leans in and laughs against the nape of Loki's neck. No, obviously neither of them are exactly up for something quite like that at this exact moment. "Still think I won't be able to keep up with you, but I'd give it a fair shot."
favoriteanalyst: (there's a fire in my brain)

[personal profile] favoriteanalyst 2022-05-13 05:28 pm (UTC)(link)
The angle is awkward, so he flops over beside Loki, as done with the rubbing as he thinks he's going to be at the moment, so that they can perchance face each other. Hold hands properly, at a better angle. Better to fall asleep to that way, also. The remaining sheets get pulled up over them, cozy and warm.

"Fine by me. Vigorous things another time. Something we've got plenty of, time."