Angus and Selma spa day (post-accident version)

-if you had an accident while working with Bea

Selma Say, did you wanna come?
player Oh haha, I could *really* use that…

You swallow the last bite of your cookie.

player …Wait, you're serious?
Selma Sure, why not?
Angus But it's only an appointment for two!
Selma They're not gonna check for that. It's only under your name, after all.
So you up for it?
player Hmm, I've never been to a spa before.

You're suddenly aware of the lingering soreness from getting knocked out of the truck the other day. A spa sounds nice, come to think of it.

Selma Oh you're missing out! We've been going there every month or so for a while now. It's fun.
Angus And I could really use it. This month has been tough for me.
Selma We kinda found out we were both going there on accident. It's incredibly relaxing.

Angus suddenly turns toward the kitchen.

Angus Aw cripes, I just remembered… I forgot to put away that big tub of sugar.
player Big tub of sugar?
Angus Yeah. It was delivered today, and now it's just sitting by the back door.
I didn't wanna do anything about on today of all days, you understand, right?
player Yeah, I think so.
So why not leave it there?
Angus It gets damp back there. Needs to be in the pantry.
Ugh, and the thing's heavy.
Selma Lemme help ya.

You briefly consider helping, but your aching muscles tell you "no". Selma looks stronger than you, so you leave her to it.
With a dual grunt, they pick it up and take it into the pantry.
They return to the front, looking ready to go.

Angus So you wanna come with us?
player It does sounds nice.

Angus claps his hand on your shoulder in a friendly way, but you wince.

Angus Oops! Sorry, what's wrong?
player …Oof… it's that accident I had, when I was helping the other day.
Angus Oh yeah, she told me about that. Sounds awful.
Angus I think you're gonna need this.
Selma Alright, let's get going, you two.
Angus Your motorcycle will be okay if we leave it here, right?
Selma Of course, Angus! Don't be such a worry wart!
Angus Right, sorry.

So Angus closes the bakery, and you find yourself carefully climbing into Selma's car, and she drives you and Angus to a isolated cabin at the edge of the woods.
Meanwhile, your body still aches, and the shifting of the car doesn't help.
Selma and Angus don't wait to get started once they arrive.
The first treatment is a facial cleanse, but you're not sure what that is. The owner (and apparently sole employee) rubbed lotion all over your face, and put those cucumber slices over your eyes, like you always saw in cartoons.
Now you're sitting in chairs, waiting to get manicures. To your chagrin, you can't seem to get into a position that's entirely comfortable because of your shoulder.
You've trimmed your claws like everybody else, but you've never done anything else to take care of your hands besides washing them regularly.

Angus …So how was it? Feeling a little better?
player I have to admit, I realize I've never had anyone touch my face like that before. Made me cringe at first.
But then it started feeling real nice.
Angus Oh, good.
Selma He's a real pro, isn't he?
If I weren't paying the guy to do it, I'd maybe date him just for his hands.
Angus Ha, just his hands? I mean, sure, he's got *real* nice hands, but the rest of him? Not so much.
player I dunno, he's good looking enough.
Selma It's what his hands can *do* that interests me.

Angus spits out a laugh.
You blush a bit. You've never been part of a conversation about somebody's looks, and it's making you a little bashful.
Especially since you're sitting in between the two of them.

Angus I'll take Gregg's hands any day.
Selma And I'll bet Gregg's hands take you as well.

The two of them laugh. Now you're really blushing.

Angus Oh sorry, [newname]. Maybe I shouldn't talk about that kinda stuff.
player Uhh…
Selma So how is Gregg these days?
Angus Oof.
Selma "Oof"?
Angus Aggh, poor Gregg. I love him a lot, but he's been trying WAY too hard to make me happy for the holidays.
Selma Oh really?
Angus He's got this crazy idea to throw a party for Longest Night Eve.
I didn't wanna do it, but he seems so eager to do something fun for our friends…
Selma That doesn't sound so bad. I'd come.
Angus It's not that I dislike parties. Just… not *that* kind of party.
Selma Well what kind of party is it?
Angus One of those "ugly sweater" deals. Eggnog, blasting music, all the sparkly decorations out.
Selma Hmm.
player I dunno, that sounds like fun.
Although I don't have any ugly sweaters.
Angus Well, the thing is… it's on top of everything else he's done so far.
He's got all that energy, y'know? But I worry about him pushing himself too far.
He's decorated the apartment since you were last there.
I feel a little bad telling you guys about this, since he wanted it to be a surprise…
…But I want you two to try and help me make him happy.
You *will* come to the party, right?
Selma Oh, totally.
player Sure, I haven't got any plans that night.
Angus Thanks. I appreciate it.

The proprietor of the spa arrives with a number of tools and lotions. He's an otter who seems so immaculately clean, it's almost freaky.

??? Alright, so who's first?

Angus Ok, [newname], you should go first. You deserve it.

Angus turns to the otter.

Angus Take good care of him, alright?
??? Will do.
I didn't want to mention it, but you're totally new here, right?
player Oh, uh…
??? Oh, don't mean to put to put ya on the spot, friend. Just tryin' to be friendly.
Name's Teak, by the way.
player …[newname].
Teak Awesome. Don't worry, all this stuff is meant to help you relax and be healthy.

Teak sets down a bottle of lotion and opens it.

player …Are you the only one working here, by the way?
Teak I am a little "short-handed" around here, haha.

The joke seems to make you more at ease and more self-conscious at the same time, and you're not sure why.

Teak May I?

You nod, unsure why you should refuse.
He takes a glob of the lotion and starts rubbing it on your hands.
It's one of those scrubbing kinds with the tiny mineral particles in it.
Gradually you feel dead skin loosening, making your hands feel refreshed, especially once it's rinsed off.
He does need to raise your hand up to do the job, however, which of course requires your shoulder muscles to move and makes you breathe loudly through your nostrils.
You're not sure if he notices.
Afterwards he uses a claw trimmer and polisher to take the rough edges off.
Once he's done, your claws have never looked better.

Angus You ready for the pedicure now?
player The what??
Angus Pedicure. Is there a problem?
player Uh… I just… No one's ever touched my feet before.
Angus Oh dear.
Teak Understandable. Everyone is a little hesitant the first time.
Selma Dude, we do this all the time, don't worry.
Angus Think of it like a big hug.
player …For my feet?
Angus I mean generally. All of what we're doing here.
Selma You *have* had hugs, right?
Angus Selma! What a ridiculous question! Of course he's/she's/they've had hugs!
player Well actually, my… my mom was never a hugger.
Angus What??
Selma Now it's my turn to say "oh dear".
Teak Oh dear, indeed. Please accept my sympathies!

You blush. You had no idea how weird that was.

Teak I don't mean to embarrass you, but that's actually rather serious.
Hugs are extremely beneficial to your health. A hug releases endorphins to your brain, including oxytocin, and they can also increase dopamine and serotonin levels.
They reduce stress and drop your heart rate!
No wonder you're so tense! I can hardly imagine the number of toxins in your system!

player …Oh. I had no idea.

You ponder this load of new information in silence, while the others wait patiently.

player …Well, now that I think about it, my hands feel so nice that I'm noticing that my feet feel really weird in comparison.
Teak I take it you want the pedicure, then?
Angus I wouldn't want to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with.
player …No no, it's okay. Go ahead.

With that out of the way, Teak smilingly proceeds to tend to your feet in much the same way he did with your hands, which makes them feel almost brand new.
Angus and Selma seem happy that you're being treated so well.
It's their turns after you're done. You almost feel bad for making them wait for you.

Angus I totally feel empathy for you, [newname]. My parents weren't much for hugging, either.
Selma That's an understatement.

Teak works diligently on Angus and Selma's hands and feet, and the way you feel now makes you more aware of your surroundings.
The atmosphere is soothing, and you notice the scented candles elsewhere in the room. Is that cedar or sandalwood? Maybe both?

player This is so weird to me, getting pampered like this…
Selma You totally deserve it.
Angus Well hell, we all deserve it.
Selma Hoo boy, you're right.
Angus Ah, I know that tone of voice.
Lemme guess, more man trouble?
Selma Aw, I don't wanna talk about it…
Teak Something tells me that you do, actually.
Angus C'mon, get it off your chest.
Selma Oh c'mon, it was months ago!
Angus And it's still on your mind?
player Well geez, now I'm curious.
Selma Ok, ok, you've wheedled it out of me.
So there's this guy, right? In the Possum Springs Poetry Society?
Angus Which one?
And is that still a thing?
Selma Not really.
You wouldn't know him. He was new then.
Anyway, so this guy had somehow gotten wind that I was in the group. I dunno how.
I didn't know it then, but he joined just because of me!
Angus …And not because he wrote poetry.
Selma Exactly.
So what does he do? When it's his turn to recite, *he reads a poem all about me.*
Angus Oh goodness.
player Yikes.
Selma And it's *sooo* bad and *sooo* stupid. It's like…
"Selma is cool…"
"Selma is hot…"
"Selma can take me on the spot!"
Angus Ughh!
Selma I almost vomited.
Angus What *did* you do??
Selma I punched him.
In the face.
Angus He deserved it.
Selma Knocked him unconscious, actually.
Sigh. So there I was, standing over him, in the middle of the library lobby, in the middle of the night.
Angus That must've been awkward.
Selma Yeah. The rest of us had to drag him outside and sit him up on a bench, hoping that it would look like he was drunk.
Angus Good riddance.
Selma I don't get it! I mean, I have, maybe, above average confidence in my looks…
…But why do I keep attracting creeps?
I'll go out grocery shopping and guys are hitting on me.
Ain't nobody gonna have me unless they can actually romance me.

Selma sighs.

Selma …But even then, they can fake it sometimes.
Angus Spare me the details on that one. I've heard it before.
player Woah, hold on, I haven't heard it…
Selma Oh hell, [newname], I'll tell you later.
…But the short version is that I'm divorced.
player Yikes, that's a whole can of worms.
Selma Aw, enough of my checkered past. What about you? You got any stories to tell?
player Who, me?
Selma Yeah, you. You ever have relationship troubles?
player Well… I dunno. I've never officially been in a "relationship".
Selma Someone like you? Can't imagine why.

You smirk, appreciating the compliment.

player Aw, it's the age-old story. Too shy, never looked.
Angus That's fine, no shame in that.
player But… I do have a couple things that come to mind. They're in the ballpark, anyway.
Selma I'm all ears.

*choice of two different small stories to tell
	So this teacher tried to seduce me…
	I actually had a crush on this singer…

-singer
Angus I get that. Gregg plays the guitar. That's one of the many reasons I fell for him.
player Oh, but this was a pro singer with a career and everything. Totally out of reach.
Angus Ah, that's a little more… inaccessible.
Selma You're not alone, I had a crush on an author when I was younger. And I all I had was the photo and the "About the Author" bio in one of his books!
player I managed to get a little closer than that.
Selma Ooh. How close are we talking?
player Right, so, he/she/they was/were part of this band called Heliotropica?
They had a regular gig at the boardwalk in my town, and played every evening.
And they had this really cool science fiction gimmick.
Selma That could be either really lame or really awesome.
player Trust me, it was awesome.
So he/she/they was/were the lead singer of the group, and he/she/they was/were drop-dead gorgeous, right?
He/she/they wore this sparkly red jacket and had silver eyeshadow and stuff.
And he/she/they had an amazing voice.
So I was kind of obsessed and went to see their concerts every day that summer.
And I would stand in front of the stage and sort of stare at her.
Angus Hope that wasn't too distracting.
player If it was, he/she/they stayed professional.
Selma So that sounds like you were just a few feet away!
Did anything happen?
player Not really. One day they just stopped playing concerts, and I never saw him/her/them again.
I think they must've broken up.
Selma Ah, the fleeting infatuation of celebrity.
Angus Hmm. I wonder how I'd look in a sparkly red jacket.
Selma I'd like to see that!

Everyone laughs while Teak finishes the pedicures.

-teacher
player It's kind of embarrassing, really…
Selma Uh oh.
Angus Dunno if I like where this is going.
player Oh God, no, it didn't get *that* bad!
But one day out of the blue my English teacher just started hitting on me…!
Y'know, it'd just start by her stopping me when class was over and saying that she wanted to talk to me.
"You've been working so hard…"
"What if I helped tutor after school?"
It wasn't obvious at first, but then when she asked me to come over to her house…
Selma Yeah, red flag.
Angus How old were you, anyway?
player Eighteen.
Angus And the teacher?
player About forty, I think.
Angus Ugh.
Selma Ick.
Angus Well at least it was legal.
Selma What did you do?
player I said no, of course! I'd seen enough movies to recognize that expression!
Only thing was that she persisted. Kept asking me if I needed any "help".
Then after about a month, she just up and raised a leg onto a chair to show it off and asked "Don't you think I'm beautiful?"
Selma Just out of curiosity… *was* she good-looking?
player I… guess? I was so freaked out I never really thought about it.
I just ran out of the room after that, and told the principal.
The next week I had a new teacher.
I'm not sure what happened to her. I hope she wasn't fired, and just moved to a different classroom.
Selma I… almost feel sorry for her?
Angus She couldn't have been very happy if she were that desperate.
player I never thought about it that way.
Honestly, I'd forgotten it had even happened until now.

Everyone sighs while Teak finishes the pedicures.

-
Angus and Selma are obviously relaxed, leaning back languidly in their chairs, with Selma's eyes half closed.
Teak stands, looking satisfied with his work. Everyone's claws look great.

Teak Okay, extremities taken care of!
player I have to admit, I enjoyed that.
Selma Well then you're gonna love what's next…
player Huh? There's more?
Teak My favorite customers ordered a massage?
player Really? A massage?

For some reason you feel less apprehensive about this than before, even though you think you would be.

Teak I believe it would be best if you went first yet again, [newname].
player Oh you don't have to do that. I don't need special treatment…
Teak It's perfectly alright. And I think you *do* need it.
player Why?
Teak I know the signs. You had a nasty fall, didn't you?
player Oh. Yeah.
Angus You should definitely go first, [newname].
Teak Shall we?

Teak points to an adjacent room.
You start to get out of the chair, but your shoulder prevents you.

Teak Let me help you there, friend.

Teak's disarming nature puts you at ease, and he gently lifts you up.
The other room has those massage tables for laying down you've seen on TV, with the holes for your face to stick out.
But before get on them, the three of you are directed to a row of changing rooms.
Oh, right. The whole bath towel bit.
You feel your bashfulness creep up again. At least no one will see you changing, but what if your towel falls down?
Well you can keep your underwear on, anyway.
Once inside, you awkwardly rush out of your clothes and wrap the warm towel around yourself, trying to cover yourself as completely as possible.
You come out, hoping no one remarks on your appearance.
You turn around and see Selma. *in a towel*

Selma How's the view, [newname]?
player W-what?
Selma The springs outside? Out the window?
player …Oh.
Selma What did you think—
player Yeah, it's real pretty.

Selma shrugs.
The three get onto your backs on the tables.

Teak Now try your best to relax and loosen up…

With Teak around, you start to relax again.
He starts on the tendons of your neck.
Teak's hands have an ability to make you feel better, and you slowly feel the soreness fade away. You're glad you decided to come here.
Teak has you flip over to continue on to your back.
You sigh and drift off into aimless thoughts.
A lot of tension melts away as you lie there. Were you really so stressed out by moving to a new town and meeting new people?
All are silent as Teak moves on the other two lying next to you. You look over and watch as Angus receives a similar treatment.
You're not sure how Angus' glasses don't fall off when he's facedown like that.
Your body feels lose and… unclenched, somehow. Your skin feels purified, more breathable.
Angus lazily turns his head to you.

Angus So… how do you feel?
player Great. Thanks.
Angus One last thing. We're gonna just relax in the hot springs.
player Sounds great.

The three of you get slowly and leisurely, and Teak gestures to a door leading outside.
You breathe in the fresh air and take in the sight of the lake and the woods around it. The pine trees are coated in light snow, and the sun shines off of them.
Were there any pine trees anywhere else in town?
You follow the plumes of steam and find the hot springs you've been hearing about. They're surrounded by flat stones and bordered by wooden handrails.
Angus and Selma remove their towels, leaving them in nothing but their underwear, but you don't really care anymore, and you do the same.

Teak Step this way.

Selma is the first to step into the spring, slowly. Angus soon follows.
They both exhale audibly as they sink into the hot water.

Selma Oh yes…
Angus You gotta join us, [newname], you'll love this…

You say nothing, and take a step in. It burns your toes a little bit at first, but you quickly adjust.

player Ooh. Wow.

Gradually you enter the water, going up to your shoulders, and sit on a smooth rock.

player You do this a lot, then…?
Angus Oh yes. Like I said, we've been coming here every other month or so for a while now.
Angus This is like the finale, we can just sit and relax.
Angus I shouldn't stay here forever, though. Too much steam isn't great for my asthma.
player Oh, I didn't know you had asthma.
Angus Fun facts.
player Hmm.

You feel your mental focus drift slightly, as you lean back against the edge of the spring.
You go completely limp.
You just sink into the warm water, and close your eyes, nearly falling asleep.
Occasionally you look over to the others, and see that they're doing the same thing.
Steam coated Angus' glasses. If you could see his eyes before, you certainly couldn't see them now.
You're not sure how much time passes. You merely think about how lovely the nature around you is, and how much better you feel now.
Angus clears his throat.

Angus Alright, I'm reaching my limit…
Selma Aw, do we have to go *now*?
Angus I'd love to stay longer, but…
Selma Yeah, ok.
player Mmf.
Angus Hey [newname], you awake?
player Yeah.
Angus Fun's over, I'm afraid.
player …
…K.

You lift yourself out of the water in very small increments.
Your muscles are so loose you almost feel weak, but not in a bad way? You don't struggle, but you're not exactly feeling powerful, either.
You don't want to leave, and it doesn't look like Angus and Selma want to either, but you feel so good you kind of don't care.
You remove yourself from the spring in something of a haze, and before you're aware of it, you find yourself standing back inside next to Teak.

Teak You look relaxed.
player I am.

You reach out and shake his hand.

player Thanks.
Teak Glad I could help.

Angus thanks him too and says goodbye.

player Thanks for having me come here, guys.
Angus I'm happy you enjoyed it. You look good.
player Thanks. I feel… what's the word?
Selma Rejuvenated?
player That's it, thanks.

You exit the spa and look around- everything seems a little different.
You kind of regret not being able to stay this way, and dread having everyday stress and things like air pollution taking this feeling away.
But at least for now you're feeling better than you have for a long time.
The drive back to the bakery is peaceful, and you stare out the window, noticing things like the varying shades of the overcast sky that you wouldn't normally notice.
Angus is smiling the whole trip, and still is when you arrive, seemingly happy to have helped taken care of someone in need.

Angus Have a good rest of the day, [newname]!
player I will, thanks!

You say goodbye to them both and hop on your motorcycle, almost feeling like you're floating.
You return home, not a care in the world for the time being, and eat a late lunch.