#hello welcome to sage’s therapy hour

[h0neylevi]

The reason I always love the stoic character with the off-putting, grumpy personality who has gone through a lot and has a lot of trauma is because they always end up finding their one person who chooses to see the good in them and never gives up until they get them to lower their guard a little. It gives me hope that loners can make friends if people just try.

People don’t bother in real life.

[crowtrinkets]

New Words

Asra and the Apprentice (during their rehabilitation) take a day trip. The events leave the Apprentice feeling insecure of their speech problems. At this point, the Apprentice can speak only a few words and can walk but does so with a cane. This is the said fic prompt that was keeping me awake at night lol.

Quick warning: Minor assault scene but nothing major or graphic

Word Count:  4560

AsraXGen Neutral Apprentice/Reader 

My eyes flutter open as the sun shines through the window, shielding my eyes from the bright warm light, I sit up. I can hear Asra idly humming in the other room. He must’ve woken up early cause he knew how excited I am. Last night Asra asked me if I wanted to go to the beach. Although I could not physically voice my excitement I enthusiastically nodded telling him I would very much like to go. Ever since I awoke to Asra and Faust not too long ago, nearing a year, give or take, I have struggled to do basic tasks. Since then I have learned to walk, although I use a cane to keep me balanced. And I can speak a few words but I’m still struggling. Asra will read to me some days so I can expand my vocabulary until I can read and speak for myself. It's not easy but I’m eager to learn. I reach over and grab my cane to help me stand, Asra walks in and gives me a smile.

“Well good morning,”

“Hello,” I respond. I can pronounce good, but morning is what always gets me, so we opted that hello can be a place holder for many words. Good morning, hey look over here, welcome back and even goodbye sometimes. I remove the kettle from the stove and carefully pour the hot water into the cups preparing the morning tea Asra and I always have. Once I was strong enough to hold the kettle Asra was always conveniently away when I woke, so that I was the one to make the tea. We both grab our cups and Asra puts out his arm so I can steady myself as we walk to the table. Sitting down I take in the aroma of my drink.

“Tea,” I mumble to myself as I raise the cup to take a sip. Although my vocabulary is short I try to say the few words I can as often as possible as a way to practice.

“So are you sure you still want to go to the beach? The sand might be tricky for you to walk on,” Asra looks at me over the rim of his cup. Although he’s already dressed I can tell he would willingly change back into regular clothes and stay home.

“Asra,” I give him a glare. I spend the majority of my time upstairs alone and engaging in “physical therapy” as Asra calls it. It's boring and I hate it, I want to see more of the city but I can't leave without Asra. If I were to get lost I wouldn’t even be able to ask someone for directions.

“Okay, okay. Beach today it is,” He gives me a quick smile before looking into his cup smile disappearing into the empty mug. I scrunch my brows in worry but before I can call his name, getting his attention he starts. “I’m going to grab some things to bring with us, you go ahead and get dressed,” he then stands and leaves to find some beach-worthy supplies. After putting our cups in the sink, I grab my beach clothes and change behind the partition in the corner. Our home above the shop is small but Asra makes sure I have the privacy I need. Once I'm dressed I put on my cover-up and do up the buttons. I poke my head around the partition but my vision is blocked by.. straw? I hear Asra let out a giggle.

“I got you a hat, it’s a sunny day and we can't do with you getting a sunburn,” I fix the hat so it’s sitting properly on my head and give Asra a look. I’ve never burned while going out, although whether it is due to the fact that I simply don't burn or Asra mothering me I will never know. Asra picks up a bag and I can see a few items poking out. A blanket, a canteen, and what looks like to be some sandwiches. He probably prepared them while I was still asleep.

“Ready to go?” Asra gives me a smile. To which I respond with a nod.

—- As my apprentice and I steadily make our way down the stairs I can't help the impending nervousness that boils in me. Their hands are placed on both my shoulders as I walk in front of them. Their motor skills have improved immensely but walking is still sometimes a struggle for them. We sometimes go to the market but we can only ever be out for about an hour. This is why I make them stay home and do exercises to build their strength. But I could tell being home all day was getting to them. Large crowds make them nervous but one can only spend so long alone especially when they can barely speak or read for entertainment. My nerves begin to grow until I hear their quiet voice in my ear.

“Asra,” I look over my shoulder at them, flushing slightly when I realized we’ve reached the end of the stairs and have been standing there for an awkward amount of time.

“Ah sorry, I was a little lost in thought” I move out of the way so they can walk ahead of me out the door. I follow behind silently.

“Friend okay?” Faust pokes her head from my bag and looks up at me. I give her a short nod and turn around to lock the door of our shop.

“Ok, time to find a gondola,” I turn to walk toward the town square where most of the gondola drivers park but I feel a hand grip my arm stopping me in my tracks.

“Walk?” My apprentice gives me a confused look. I thought I told them last night but I guess it slipped my mind.

“Well, walking on sand is hard enough and I didn't want you to tire yourself out before we got there so taking a gondola most of the way makes sense,” they scrunch their eyebrows and I see their bottom lip poke out slightly. They’re pouting, I could so easily tease them but opt not to.

“Walk!” They wave their cane in the air slightly, signifying they can walk just fine with their cane. But that doesn’t convince me otherwise, I worry they’ll get too tired and we’ll have to take a gondola anyways. I rub my hand on the back on my neck and think for a second.

“How about we take a ride there, but on the way back we can walk, sound good?” They scrunch their nose as they think about my proposition, making a grunted thinking noise before they huff in finality. They give me a distinguished nod acting as though they were not just pouting a second ago.

“Ok, sounds good to me,” they give me a smile and we walk towards the town square. I find a gondola man and drop a few miscellaneous shiny items in their hand, then requesting they take us to the East Docs. The ride is peaceful and quiet, Faust makes her way around my shoulders so she can watch the sights go by just as my apprentice is. Their wide eyes scanning everything we pass by with awe. The East Docs and beach areas are used the most so the lingering ash from the Lazaret was cleaned up, unlike Ash Beach. The east beaches are small but people usually stay away because it's so close to the south end. Hopefully, my apprentice and I can enjoy a peaceful day alone.

Once we reach our destination and exit the gondola my apprentice's face lights up, I rarely see their genuine smile, and when I do it's always a treat. We approach the shore and I scan the area. There are only a few people here, perfect beach day scenario. I see my apprentice step onto the sand and wobble a little, leaning on their cane for stability and I reach out and grab their arm to help. They give me an embarrassed look, it takes every muscle in my body not to make an I told you so face. We back onto the cobblestone and I place my bag down, removing Faust from my shoulders and placing her onto my apprentice's shoulder. Both of them tilt their heads in confusion. I crouch down slightly my back facing my apprentice.

“Get on, I’ll carry you,” I hear a short squeak come from their mouth but before long I feel them climb onto my back. Arms around my neck and legs around my sides, I place my hands on their legs to hold them up. Once I know they're secure I stand up straight feeling them cling to me for dear life, retrieving my bag I waltz out onto the sand carrying my oh-so-precious cargo. —- The last thing I expected out of today was to be on Asra's back. I also did not expect the sand to be so slippery and full of rocks making it hard to balance let alone walk on. I was silently praying thanks that Asra offered to carry me, maybe for more reason than just the one. I'm used to being in such close quarters with him but being on his back I’m realizing how good he smells. He smells like the tea we had this morning and sage with a hint of cinnamon. It’s almost addicting. I poke my head out from his right and I look around. We’re actually at the beach! My heart flutters in excitement as we near closer to the shore.

“Getting excited are we?” I suck in my breath flushing, oh dear, Asra must be able to feel my heart thumping on his back. I nod slowly, the brim of my hat dancing on top of Asra's fluffy curls. He stops walking and looks around. “This spot seems good.” He crouches down again allowing me to climb off his back, his scent leaving with him. I angle my cane to help me standstill as I observe the shore. Asra reaches into his bag and pulls out the blanket, spreading it out onto the ground. Taking my hand he helps me sit and promptly plops himself down next to me. We both let out a sigh as we look out onto the horizon. Asra reaches into his bag and pulls out two sandwiches handing one to me. I put my cane behind us and open my sandwich taking a bite. We sit in silence eating and drinking in our view of the Vesuvian shores. After swallowing my last bite, I lay down on the blanket and stretch my arms above my head. My hand swipes over something other than sand though. I grab it to get a better look, it's a seashell. Or at least part of one, its broken in half but it’s still beautiful regardless. The brown stripes running across remind me of a ribbon I saw once in the market place.

“Found a seashell?” Asra leans over observing my find. I nod and hand it to him. “Yknow we can go look for some more, ahh I don't know if I can carry you and look for seashells at the same time though,” I flush at the thought, I can imagine how ridiculous it would look. “I am also not fond of leaving you alone to go look for some myself...” Asra trails off when an idea strikes me.

“Faust,” I say looking at her as she pokes her head from the sand. Asra looks to her and then me and nods.

“Alright,” he pulls Faust from the sand and holds her up to his face so she can look at him while he speaks. “Ok Faust, I'm giving you an important task, stay here with MC while I look for seashells, protect them from harm,” I chuckle at Asra's theatrics as he hands Faust to me. What could possibly be dangerous about a beach? Asra gets up and jogs down to the shore and I wave as he leaves.

Once Asra leaves I undo my cover-up to let the sun hit my skin, setting it to the side and watching Faust turn it into her bed. I begin to scan the beach, there aren't many people here. I see a small family, two parents, and two children. They run about the shore squealing with excitement. I find myself thinking about family and whether I have one when I feel a headache creep up on me. I shake my head trying to will the pain away. Asra taught me to meditate when I feel a headache coming but sometimes they get too intense and I need Asra's help, and he’s not here right now. I look around the beach again trying to distract my thoughts until my eyes fall upon an island in the distance. I’ve heard people talk about this island, the name escapes me but I know people are scared of it. I can't remember why though. I continue to stare at this island, feeling utterly enamored with it, almost like I can't take my eyes off of it. My headache starts to slowly crawl up the nape of my neck but I can't manage to look away.

“Hey! I'm talking to you!” The voice breaks me from my trance and I look up at the man standing above me. I don’t recognize him. He’s standing very close to me, and he doesn’t seem to be dressed for the beach so what is he doing here?

“H-hello,” I stutter out. He has a nasty look on his face. Something about this man makes me uncomfortable.

“So you can talk, What's a pretty thing like you doing alone here?” He bends down slightly leaning over me even more. My heart starts to pound as I realize, he wants to talk with me. But I can't, I start to frantically look around for Asra until I see him. He’s further down the beach leaning in the water digging in the sand.

“Asra,” I try to shout but my voice is hoarse and quiet.

“Asra?” The man follows my eyes and sees Asra in the distance. “Oh, what is he your boyfriend? Well, he's not a very good one for leaving you all alone,” the man crouches down to my level getting closer to me. “Why don't you ditch him and come with me?” I lean away from the man and slowly shake my head. “What you’re too good for me or something?” The man's voice starts to become more hostile as he leans closer to me. I continue to lean away trying to will my voice into appearing, if I could speak I would tell this man to leave, but I can't and he isn't leaving me alone. I need help. Suddenly he grips my shoulder.

“C’mon can't you speak or something? Don't you know you have to answer someone when they ask you a question?” His grip on my shoulder becomes tighter and it starts to hurt the panic in me starts to swell and I act suddenly.

“No!” I scream and shove him away from me sending him onto his back. The man quickly scrambles to his feet and looks down at me once again. His face is red and his breathing is harsh and heaving.

“Little shit!” In that moment he kicks sand into my face. I start spluttering wiping the sand from my eyes. I feel something cool and silky run over my leg and I hear a scream. I manage to open my eyes and see the man thrashing at Faust who is wrapped around the man's leg, squeezing. My heart starts to race, this man could hurt Faust, my friend, and more importantly Asra's friend. I grab my cane from behind me and sit upon my knees swinging my cane at the man nailing him in the side.

“NO!” I yell once again, I’ve never said that word but my fear trumped any other emotions at that moment. The man falls onto the ground.

—- The waves are cool as they wash over my legs. I’ve managed to find quite a few seashells I'm sure my apprentice will love. I pick up a purple one and place it in my pocket. I look around at the ground again and see possibly the biggest seashell I've seen so far. It's similar to the one they found, white with brown stripes. I'm sure they’d love a complete version. I lean down to grab it but the wave beats me to it bringing it away with the current. At that moment I think I hear something.

“NO!” I stop in my tracks. That wasn’t who I thought it was... was it? No, it wasn’t MC they haven’t been able to pronounce their own name let alone “no”. When they get annoyed they usually say my name in an annoyed tone. I look back at the sand trying to find the shell the wave washed away but then I hear Faust’s voice.

“Friend! Help!” I whip my head around and scan for our spot and I see it. My dear, shy, friendly apprentice, swinging their cane? Onto a man? Are they beating a man up? Panic swells in me and I race up the beach. I can hear them yelling and sobbing “no” as they whack the screaming man senseless, Faust unravels from the man's leg and approaches me, I grab her placing her on my shoulders, and approach the scene.

“Hey, hey!” I grab their cane mid-swing and they flinch facing me. The moment their eyes meet mine however they relax, their eyes red from crying and their breath heaving from swinging. I ignore the man groaning on the ground and keep my apprentice's attention. “What happened,” tears swell their eyes and their voice comes out croaking.

“Faust.... Asra” they point to the man's leg and then point out to where I was standing. Their breathing is heavy and their voice is hoarse. My heart aches to see them so distressed. They grab their shoulder mimic someone tightening their grip. They then grab sand and point to their face with their other hand. I don't know what happened but I think I understand, I hand Faust back to them and look at the man who has now recovered and stands. I glare at him and he stumbles back slightly.

“Don’t you know when someone says no it means no? Get out of here before I call the attention of the guards,” there are no guards in sight but the notion strikes fear in the man who leaves without a word. I crouch down and catch my apprentice by the hand, the moment we meet eyes the tears start flowing, I pull them into an embrace and rub their back shushing comforts into their ear. I watch the man approach the street and flick magic his way, causing him to trip into a large burly man walking in the street. I think he still needs to learn his lesson. I look back at my apprentice pulling away before witnessing the man's unruly fate. They sniffle and look down at Faust who is wrapped around their hand.

“Faust,” they give her chin scratches and look up at me.

“You’re safe now, well maybe you were never in danger, who knew you could swing that cane so hard, maybe you don't need as much physical therapy as much as I thought you did” a snort comes out of them and they try to hide their laughter behind their hand. “Let's go home now” my apprentice nods back at me grabbing my hand as I help them to their feet.

—- Asra folds up the blanket and packs our belongings as I button my coverup. I recount the events that just happened. I may have been able to defend myself but this never would’ve happened if I could just tell that man to piss off. I feel the lump in my throat return. Squeezing the handle of my cane in my hand as I try to bite back my tears.

“All packed up” Asra's voice catches me off guard. He lightly places his hand on my arm and gives me a warm smile. “Hey, you didn't do anything wrong, that man had it coming it was unfortunate he had to face the wrath of MC the mighty warrior equipped with a cane and a fearless snake," Faust pokes her head out from my should and bleps her tongue out at me. I smile at Asra's encouraging words, but I don’t think he understands why I'm really upset. He leans down again so I can climb onto his back and he walks back to the streets setting me down once were on stable ground. Faust climbs from my shoulders and onto Asra's as I walk close to the docs looking for a gondola.

“Hey, I said we could walk home didn't I?” Asra smiles at me reminding me of our deal from this morning. I nod and follow him towards our shop. Our trek back home is quiet, it’s usually quiet due to my lack of speech ability, but it’s especially quiet as we walk along the cobblestone streets. The afternoon sun still illuminates the streets but it slowly falls behind the buildings as we go through the city.

“So you learned a new word today,” Asra catches my attention. Yea I guess I did, and with this new word comes me repeating it whenever possible so it sticks in my brain. I take a deep breath and stop in my tracks. Asra gives me a confused look.

“NOOO-” I yell as loud it as I can. My new word. Asra jumps and puts his hand over my mouth trying to stifle his laughter”

“Mc, please! People are gonna think you're being attacked” he whispers, laughing between words.

“Asra,” I muffle under his hand, poking him in the shoulder. We then hear feet rushing towards us.

“Guards!” Asra picks me uplifting me by the legs, practically throwing me over his shoulder, and my arms find his shoulders, anchoring me in place. He takes off running both of us giggling. Asra runs behind a building and sets me down, peeking around the corner to make sure we weren't followed. I don't understand why he ran, he simply could've explained the situation but I guess his mischievous nature got the best of him. He laughs between breaths. Turning to face me Asra puts his hands on his hips to scold me but his smiles betrays his stern persona.

“Why would you do that? You really are just attracting trouble wherever you go,” Asra's smile is warm. But he’s right. My inability to speak has now become a danger. If Asra could use magic to make me speak I would request it in an instant. But this is something I had to do for myself. I have to be determined and try my hardest. I fiddle with a loose button on my coverup, trying not to recount the panic that swelled in me because I couldn't ask the man to leave. Asra is now giving me a concerned look, I can see the sadness behind his eyes when he looks at me like that.

“I was only kidding MC, I don't think your THAT much of a trouble maker," his attempt at a joke makes the corners of my mouth upturn ever so slightly. "hey how about we get something to eat, maybe soooome” my heart flutters, is he gonna say what I think he is. He taps a finger to his chin pretending to ponder, smirking at the look I give him. “Pumpkin bread?” I nearly jump, nodding so quickly my head may roll off my shoulders. “Well then,” Asra puts his arm out for me to take “shall we?” I grab his arm and we walk toward the marketplace. —- My apprentice and I waltz through our neighborhood arms linked together, and I’m able to carry their weight and keep them balanced, so they rest their cane’s handle on their arm. I would be lying if I didn’t admit I was utterly terrified when I saw the event that took place. I also would be lying if I said I wasn’t proud that they defended themself, especially Faust. When I left them alone I exaggerated my instructions to her but she knew there was a sense of seriousness in my speech. We approach the stand of our favorite baker.

“Well if it isn't Asra and- oh you look a little worse for wear,” I look at our appearance, I guess we do look a little disheveled after our day, scaring off creeps and running from guards. Especially my friend on my arm, sand coating parts of their skin from earlier in the day. Their face still a little puffy from all their crying.

“I think we’re deserving of some tea and pumpkin bread,” the baker gives me a knowing look and turns to fetch us our treats, my apprentice lets go on my arm and steadies their stance with their cane.

“Tea,” they nod and walk over to their usual seat. I sit on the stairs next to their stool. The baker approaches us with two cups and hands us our own respective drinks. I take a sniff of the warm brew. It smells of berries and mint. Taking a long sip I feel my whole body relax. I see my apprentice let the stiffness of their body ease from the corner of my eye as well. The baker returns with two loaves of our favorite pumpkin bread and leans on a table looking us up and down.

“Seems you visited the beaches? Fun day?” My apprentice tenses once again. Taking a slow bite of their bread and nodding slowly. I quickly think of ways to change the subject.

“Yes, ahh yes I actually found quite a few seashells if you’d like to see,” I stand and reach into my pockets pulling out all the shells I collected from the beach and placing them on the table for the baker to peruse. We converse back and forth trying to determine which shell belongs to which sea creature. I can see my apprentice from the corner of my eye, they continue to eat their bread in silence looking down. I can tell they don’t want to be asked about our day. I won't dare ask them to tell me what exactly happened today, but I feel that they are shaken up about more than just what happened. That's when I hear it though. Their small voice uttering something. The baker and I turn towards them in awe as they attempt to speak.

“Puh... pump... kin brrr... brrread,” they look up at us beaming eyes misty. Then they open their mouth again. “Thhh... hank.... yyy- yyyou” I look over at the baker, we come here often so he knows of my apprentice's situation, he wipes a stray tear from his eye and smiles back at them.

“You are very welcome,” the warmness in my heart flutters. Seeing them improve fills me with pride, and it brings me even more joy to see them smile, my dear, kind, friendly apprentice.

[emmerrr]

if your'e still taking prompts. how about a pynch au with adam as a massage therapist and ronan as regular and they chat during their appointments ft. adam freaking out about ronan's tattoo and back muscles and ronan freaking out about adam's hands until adam is just like.....here's my personal number i'll do it for free.

I’m so sorry this took so long thank you for your patience! also I have never done a trc au before so how dare you drag me out of my comfort zone lmao. I tried, I hope it’s okay!

also this is the last prompt in my inbox, high five for getting shit done! let’s just ignore the two that I had to apologise for not being able to do (again I’m sorry to those anons!). I think if I offer up prompts again I might have to get people to pick from a list or something so that it’ll be something I know I can do and no one ends up disappointed. you live and learn. anywho, onto the prompt. this was meant to be shorter but it got away from me because, hello, of course it did, it’s me and my lack of self-control. so I’ve just posted the first scene here but the whole thing is on ao3 here.

(disclaimer: I know nothing about massage therapy or how muscles work and I did zero research so please forgive me, I am but a humble, lazy fic writer).

-

“Adam, your two o’ clock’s here. Shall I send him in?”, Henry’s voice crackles through the intercom, startling Adam out of a daydream.

Adam’s just returned from his lunch-break following back-to-back appointments since 8am, and he’s got another packed afternoon in store for him despite the fact that what he’d really like to do is go home and sleep for a thousand years.

If only.

He sighs, then clicks the button on the intercom. “Sure, Henry. Send him on through.”

“You got it, boss.”

In the remaining minute or so he has, Adam pulls up the appointment details and runs through it briefly just to remind himself. It’s a first-timer, a Ronan Lynch, complaining of back discomfort. Other than a date-of-birth (he’s just a few months younger than Adam), that’s about all the information Adam has on his newest patient; an incomplete file even by Henry’s lax standards.

Knuckles rapping on the door-frame draw Adam’s attention and he looks up, then momentarily freezes at the specimen crowding his doorway. The man he’s faced with is tall and broad-shouldered and surly looking but in a hot way, his hair shaved short, dressed entirely in black from the beat-up leather jacket to the intimidating boots. Adam realises his jaw has slackened and fallen open, no doubt making him look like a gormless idiot, so he quickly pulls himself together.

He fixes his best patient smile in place. “Mr. Lynch, is it?”

The man grunts and steps into Adam’s office. “Ronan,” he says.

“Ronan,” Adam amends, and he stands up and holds his hand out towards him. “I’m Adam Parrish, I’ll be your massage therapist for today.”

Ronan eyes Adam’s outstretched hand for just a little too long to be comfortable, but then he does begrudgingly shake it. Adam gestures to the chair opposite his desk and Ronan sits down and crosses his arms. Huffily. Adam’s smile starts to slip; a disgruntled patient first thing after lunch seems like a bad omen for a long and arduous afternoon.

Adam sits at his desk and glances at his computer where Ronan’s file is still open on the screen. “I’m a bit lacking on your details, I’m afraid,” he says. “I’d just like to check a few things with you if that’s okay?”

Ronan shrugs which irks Adam, but he takes it as permission to ask anyway. “The problem’s just listed as ‘back discomfort’ here, but are there any outlying circumstances I should be aware of?”

“Like what,” Ronan says.

“Like is it being caused by an injury, for example, be it recent or old.”

“No.”

“Okay…” Adam types this into the file. “Is the pain constant, or just sometimes?”

“It’s not constant. But it’s often.”

“What do you do, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I run a farm.”

“Oh, right, okay. Lots of heavy lifting then, I reckon.”

“You reckon right,” Ronan says dryly. He’s not looking at Adam, but rather letting his gaze dart around the room, taking everything in. He keeps darting glances at the massage table, something akin to suspicion in his gaze. It’s a little bit endearing, actually.

“You’re, uh, you’re supposed to lift with your legs, you know,” Adam can’t resist saying.

“Oh really?” Ronan says sarcastically, but there is the tiniest hint of a smile on his face and he locks his eyes on Adam’s for the first time since entering the office. “They teach you that in massage therapy school?”

“They do actually,” Adam replies matter-of-factly, rewarded with Ronan’s brief snort of laughter.

“Hey, is this place even like, fucking legit?” Ronan asks abruptly.

“What do you mean by that?” Adam says, although he’s pretty sure he knows where Ronan’s doubt is coming from.

“I dunno, it sort of seems all… new agey and shit.”

“It is ‘new agey and shit’,” Adam says, air-quoting with as much derision as he can muster. The place is run by psychics after all; tarot readings and all-sorts go on here. But also, acupuncture, there’s a spa, and massage, which is where Adam comes in. “You don’t need to be worried though. I’m a certified massage therapist. I’ll even show you my certificate and everything.”

Ronan regards him evenly but then shrugs. “Nah, man, I’ll take your word for it.”

 “Thanks for that glowing display of support,” Adam says with a magnanimous smile. “Alright, one more question. What made you book an appointment?”

“My friend made me,” Ronan says, looking like a petulant child with his arms still crossed. “I’m here under duress.”

Adam laughs lightly. “Okay, well—hang on, wait…” he trails off because this is starting to sound familiar. “You’re not Gansey’s friend, are you? Richard Gansey?”

“So he’s mentioned me,” Ronan replies, sounding resigned.

“Yeah, like six months ago! He said he had a friend who was a farmer with a bad back and that he was trying to get him to come and see me.”

Ronan smiles wryly and does jazz-hands. “And here I am.”

Adam shared a couple of classes with Gansey in college and managed to strike up a friendship that had endured long past graduation. Despite life pulling them in different directions, they still make the effort to meet up every month or so to catch up in person, and it was one of these occasions that Gansey had mentioned his farmer friend. Now, Adam shakes his head at Ronan. Based on the limited information he has and everything he’s assuming from the two minutes since Ronan’s been in his office, he reckons that it’s been six months because that is literally how long Gansey took to convince Ronan to come. He’s probably only here now because his pain has worsened. Not to mention that he’s probably in more pain than he says he is.

All in all, it’s a good thing he’s here. Adam is very good at what he does.

“Alright then, Ronan. Take your jacket and shirt off and lie down on the massage table for me?”

It looks like it physically pains him to do so, but Ronan starts to do as he’s asked, albeit with plenty of grumbling under his breath. Adam returns his attention to his computer so that Ronan doesn’t feel scrutinised and only looks back over when Ronan has made himself comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as he can get.

Adam gets to his feet and heads over and is unable to stop the slightly awed, “Oh!” that falls from his mouth.

“What?” Ronan asks, a little muffled thanks to his face currently being in the face-hole of the massage table.

“Your tattoo,” Adam says. “It’s beautiful.”

“… Thanks,” Ronan mutters, and Adam can’t see his face but thinks he sounds a bit guarded; perhaps the tattoo is a touchy subject. It covers the entire expanse of Ronan’s back, creeping up his neck and over his shoulders. It’s all swirling vines and claws and beaks and flowers, and things Adam’s not sure he even has a name for. He thinks he could look at it for hours and not get bored. Then he remembers that he actually has a job to do, and forces his attention into doing that job.

“Try and relax for me,” Adam says.

“I’m perfectly fucking rela—Jesus fuck, Parrish, give a guy some warning!” Ronan exclaims when Adam first touches him, flinching so hard that it almost makes Adam jump.

Adam’s half-exasperated, half-amused by the theatrics. “Me telling you to relax was your warning. What did you think was going to happen?”

“Yeah, alright. You just took me by surprise.” He sighs. “Okay, go.”

Adam rests his hands flat on Ronan’s back near his shoulder-blades to acclimatise him to Adam’s touch. Gradually, the tension Ronan’s holding starts to loosen, and Adam gets to work.

He doesn’t say much; just works away at the knots seizing in Ronan’s muscles, and there’s a lot of them. Occasionally he asks Ronan a question about how he’s feeling, if it’s uncomfortable or painful, and Ronan grunts a response. But on the whole it’s quiet. Adam can usually tell when a patient wants conversation and when they’re just counting down the minutes until it’s over and Ronan definitely falls into the latter category. At least for now.

When the session is over, Adam steps back while Ronan puts his top back on, surreptitiously getting one last glance at that glorious tattoo and the very nice back it sits on.

“How was that?” Adam asks.

“It wasn’t terrible,” Ronan allows, which Adam is happy to take as a win.

“Did you want to book another appointment? Regular treatment would do wonders for you. There’s only so much I can do in one session, particularly as you obviously lead a very physical life.”

Ronan raises his eyebrows at that and smirks, and Adam prays his ears aren’t turning pink. He didn’t mean to imply any innuendo so he’s just gonna slide straight on past like nothing happened.

After a moment Ronan finally replies, “I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

“A wise decision,” Adam says sagely, then leads Ronan out of his office and down to the welcome desk, where Henry is ‘busy’ playing solitaire on his computer. He looks up at their approach and smiles widely. “Henry, could you book Mr. Lynch in for next week, please?”

“Absolutely,” Henry says, and there’s a knowing edge to his voice that Adam doesn’t trust for a second. Henry taps away on his appointments spreadsheet and hums thoughtfully. “Next Thursday at…3? Any good?”

“That works,” Ronan says, and he’s gruff and grumpy again.

Henry writes the details down on a card and hands it to Ronan. “Then I guess we’ll see you next week, Mr. Lynch.”

“I guess you will.” Ronan gives Adam one last look, then he nods and walks out the door.

“I like him,” Henry says when Ronan’s gone. “He’s stoic.”

“He’s something alright,” Adam says absently, and Henry waggles his eyebrows.

“Think you’ve got yourself a new regular?”

“Fuck me, I hope so.”

“Adam Parrish!” Henry says delightedly. “I thought you were a professional.”

“I am a professional,” Adam says, and he plasters on a smile, feeling lighter than he has all day. “Send in my 2:30 please, Henry.”

Henry salutes. “You got it, boss.”

“And stop calling me that.”

read the rest on ao3 :)

[cyclingpacificthoughts]

The Kindness of Strangers

Distance Cycled: 412km (256miles) Distance Climbed: 4,282m (14,049ft)

Joe and I have been blown away by the friendliness and hospitality of those we’ve met in British Columbia. Perhaps we’re used to the coldness of Londoners and the eyes down, avoid all conversation mentality of public transport there. 

We found almost everyone to be extremely welcoming, willing to strike up a conversation or just say hello without becoming overly intrusive. If however you do engage you can find yourself discussing diverse topics from politics to a British favourite; the weather.

Perhaps we look slightly lost or disheveled and people take pity, perhaps it has something to do with our Alzheimer’s Society cycling tops, or more likely, perhaps people are just really nice when you stop and take the time to talk to them. It also helps that Joe is much more inclined than I to just ask the nearest person while I’m trying to make sense of my Garmin or map. This usually results in a range of good advice to extreme generosity.

A big thank you to Bill and Shelly, Rosemary, Barry and Phyllis, Sam and Kathy, Tim and Diana, for their help and all the other people who stoped to talk or offer encouragement/advice.

Tuesday October 3rd 2017 Tour Day 4 Cycle Day 1: Vancouver to Porpoise Bay

Our introduction to Canada couldn’t have got off to a better start. Through pure chance (and the fact that their house was walking distance to our bike shop) we spent the first 3 nights in Vancouver at Bill and Shelly’s AirBnB. One of the nicest couples you could meet, upon discovering that we required an extra evening than originally planed to take in some bike mechanic lessons, they extended their own spare bedroom to us as the basement apartment was booked. They also extended an invited to dinner that evening (incredible lamb burgers), the perfect last super before disembarking. Our luck continued as this meant we met Sam, a neighbour who now spends most of his time on Denman Island, but happened to be in town. He almost immediately offered a place to stay should we make the small detour off Vancouver Island.

The Last Supper: Bill, Sam, and Shelly.

Not done, the following morning Shelly cooked us breakfast to see us on our way, including some homemade Kombucha, a South Korean fermented drink, both delicious and healthy! Perhaps a pop up in London to follow…

Setting off there was some adjustment to getting used to the weight of all the gear hanging off the bikes, which at first felt like our nimble bikes had turned into oil tankers.

First day smiles.

We’d not even made it out of Vancouver when at Prospect Point, just prior to crossing Lions Gate bridge we stoped for a quick photo opp. Here we got chatting to a British woman named Rosemary Angil. It turned out that her mother in law had recently died having suffered from Alzheimer’s. She asked for our details and when we next had Wi-Fi discovered she’d made a significant donation. Thank you Rosemary!

A post shared by Kit MacInnes-Manby (@kitty_magic) on Oct 4, 2017 at 8:06pm PDT

Prospect Point - Leaving Vancouver.

As a brief aside, a big thank you to all of you who have also donated, I’ll be thanking you all in person when I get the chance.

Spirits high we set off and enjoyed a scenic ride though West Vancouver, stumbling across Gleneagles Golf Course along the way up to Horseshoe Bay.

Much easier to get a tee time here.

Having arrived 7 minutes too late for the midday ferry, with bright sunshine and glorious bay views we begrudgingly settled into a burger and pint to toast our first 1% of the trip.

The 2.15 ferry was waiting, at the dock another cyclist told us where to wait. We waited, and waited some more, when 2.13 struck, we decide to double check… Turns out we were in the wrong loading bay and had just missed it again! 4.30 was the next one, which while annoying didn’t appear too bad as the sun was still shining and the park looked appealing.

This extended delay also gave me the opportunity to talk to two backpackers who spend their time crossing the country for work. They were selling dried sage, lavender, and other herbs which I exchanged for the cost of a ferry ticket so they could get home. He told me something about the spirituality of what I was doing and it would help take my energy with me… …I’m not sure about all that but it has kept my clothes smelling nice and fresh so I take that as a win!

BC - Many ferries, which are ideal at breaking up rides and meeting new people.

Finally on the ferry and off the other side we faced a not too daunting 25km ride to Porpoise Bay. As is typical of a ferry exit we were met with an immediate and steep climb, however I’ve thus found that this serves the purpose of warming up the legs again. The final stretch seemed fine until we got to Sechelt just as the sun was setting.

Which while beautiful meant cycling the last few km in the dark. Secondly we both began to “bonk” as we clearly hadn’t been fuelling ourselves enough. This resulted in a somewhat unpleasant short in distance but long in mind final 30mins.

Things got worse as having successfully got the tent up in the dark, with dinner on the go, a park ranger turned up and informed us that we were not in the designated camping area. This designated area was a whopping 25m from where we were. Despite not a single other person being there (nor did we see one before we set off) we were forced to decamp and move. All in all not the best end to our first day on the road.

Wednesday October 4th 2017 Tour Day 5 Cycle Day 2: Porpoise Bay to Lang Bay

Another beautiful morning and Joe’s porridge later we set off continuing on the aptly named “Sunshine Coast”.

The views from Porpoise Bay.

We set off with the initial goal of Powel River but it turns out the Sunshine Coast while sunny, is rather lumpy. Joe quickly established himself as KOM taking all the mountain points, dancing up hills like a mountain goat. We made it to Madeira Park at which point we were both thinking that we may have been slightly naive in how easy it would be to cycle fully loaded bikes 2000 miles.

Alarm bells should have been ringing when my check in luggage was 20kg (without my rather considerable camera gear as carry on). Add to this the 14kg bikes (the price of robustness) and my own weight and you’re looking at somewhere between 110-120kg, or one Ed “Chunk” Monkley that I’ve got to lug up every hill!

Ed in his natural habitat.

(I’ve since weighed myself at a truck stop which came out at 300lbs equating to 136kg - however this was probably rounded to the nearest 50lbs)

The slogan quickly became what goes down must go up. As much as it was fun to carry large momentum down hills (and at times break the speed limit) it was almost always not worth it for the inevitable hill shortly afterwards.

It is also where we named out bikes. My steed has been dubbed Shirly the Surly, as I ask her at the bottom of each hill “Shirly, you can’t be serious”. Joe has named his Susan, as he’s “cuzin on suzin”.

Madeira Park offered a delicious pizza from a guy who had sacked off his consulting job that took him all over North America, to make pizza in this small and scenic corner of the world. With slightly tempered ambitions of Saltery Bay instead of Powel River we set off.

Pizza 🍕

It was on the Ferry from Earls Cove to Saltery Bay that we got chatting to Phyllis. When we told her what we were up to she told us about her own travels in Europe, including one evening spent in a park with her friend and a Scott (complete with Kilt) after their bags were stollen holding passports and traveler’s cheques. Having experienced her own share of stranger’s kindness along the way she insisted on putting us up.

Joe and I duly obliged and arrived to meet Phyllis and her husband Barry, where we were treated to our own lodge! After a quick swim in the bay to ease our aching legs we whiled away the evening hours over a few beers with our hosts before retiring to the lodge. Joe initially only making it as far as the sofa for bed.

Ice therapy.

Barry and Phyllis.

Thursday October 5th 2017 Tour Day 6 Cycle Day 3: Lang Bay to Denman Island (Part 1 | Part 2)

Joe whipped up some more pancakes for breakfast and after saying our goodbyes, feeling greatly refreshed we set our sites on Denman Island and our invitation to Sam’s. We were treated to some of the most scenic riding so far as the trees thinned out on the way to Powell River.

With about an hour to kill Joe popped into a secondhand bookstore (he picked up something roman as he’s predisposed to do) and walked out with another $5 donation to the cause. I made a brief trip to the bike shop as I’d adjusted my gears terribly and hadn’t been able to access many of them since Earl’s Cove. A quick pit stop at a local recommendation; Base Camp Coffee and it was onto the ferry.

Somewhere around here we reached our most northern point and the true start of our journey south. One would be tempted to think that it is all down hill from here. One would be wrong.

Knowing that Sam was out until late we took a bit of time to explore the coast line of Comox and stumbled upon another coffee stop (fuel of the cyclist) at Grind where we found an epic whey protein, peanut butter, banana milkshake which served as an excellent lunch and another fine view.

A casual and yet more scenic ride down to Denman Island ensued and ended by encountering a salmon roll while waiting for the ferry (think sausage roll). Sadly I would miss the following day’s offering of salmon wellington!

Felling somewhat tired we were pleased to discover a local vineyard en route and having never even heard of BC wine thought it rude not to.

Corlan Vineyard has been running for about 10 years now and has some delicious wines. Not that you can go out and buy any as it’s exclusively sold at the farm shop. We tried the red Marechal Foch (French / American hybrid) and the white Ortega. Sadly the blackberry and Sigerrebe wines were sold out but Pat the owner allowed us to go and pick some of the remaining blackberries from this year’s harvest to taste. I had to taste quite a few to make sure each one was as tasty as the last.

A bottle of red purchased it was on to Sam’s and we arrived to a fairy light lit wood cabin. Sam’s wife Kathy was just putting the finishing touches on some freshly made pizzas, topped with local produce, some of which came from their own garden. It’s tough to beat a welcome like that.

Sam and Kathy

Friday October 6th 2017 Tour Day 7 Cycle Day 4: Denman Island to Chemainus River Campsite

Following another great evening we made an early start for our longest ride yet - 140km.

Perhaps over confident from the previous day’s riding and the last 4 days good weather we set ourselves the ambition of Ladysmith or as far south as we could get. The first signs were encouraging as we fairly deleted kilometres, after 2h30 seeing off 60km along pleasurable flat costal roads. Stoping in a (don’t judge) McDonalds for a quick coffee and some wifi at Parksville we looked back with pride and thought we’d smash the next 60km in similar fashion. Oh hubris.

The following 60km were nothing like the first. The costal route gave way to highway 19 with no obvious alternative. The first rain of the trip descended and we spend what seemed like an age going up gradual gradients on small highway shoulders with 18 wheelers for company.

Highways - Fun.

Nanaimo has become a name etched in infamy for us as it seemed to stretch on forever and Ladysmith seemed to be forever just the other side. Some bike paths did appear but they were either so hilly or perturbed by tree routes as to be impractical. So much so that my tent decided it had had enough and got off the ride with my shoe subsequently attempting suicide to stop the torment.

Goodbye cruel world.

Ladysmith eventually arrived, food and warmth on the agenda. Wigwam Chinese seemed perfect, as it was the first restaurant we found.

Large quantities of Chinese later, with it still fairly early in the day, feeling much better for ourselves we pressed on south to Chemainus Campsite, offering much needed warm showers, a camp fire and what is becoming Joe’s trip speciality; cheesy pasta mixed with whatever we’ve managed to find that day.

Saturday October 7th 2017 Tour Day 8 Cycle Day 5: Chemainus Campsite to Victoria

Looking forward to our first rest day in Victoria it was a short ride to the Salt Spring Island ferry. The local coffee stop provided the next chance meeting. Tim, an absolute legend, who in his 71st year is still peddling around when he can. We talked the perils of leaving your bike unattended, the virtues of a helmet mirror (which we’ve finally purchased in Portland), and the joys of touring in general. Tim has cycled all over the North America and Europe, including two trips down the North Pacific Coast! What’s more he is a resident of one of the US’ best cycle spots; the San Juan Islands. Once Tim found out we were headed that way he insisted on having us to stay, another awesome act of generosity.

Fellow tourer and awesome human Tim.

Salt Spring Island itself is a lovely ride. Quiet roads, rolling hills and plenty of interesting stops. However It was described to me as the Hamptons of Vancouver so not without its downsides. This was confirmed at the local Saturday market where someone attempted to sell us kale crisps at $9/100g…

Checking out the local market.

Another ferry the other side into Swartz Bay to pick up the Lochside trail (the Scotts get everywhere) all the way into Victoria.

This essentially ended our British Columbia riding. BC had been a blast but also eye opening as to the scale of what we were taking on. I had expected this part of the trip to feel more like being out in the wilderness, however the roads and other infrastructure were excellent, which while convenient, was slightly disappointing (only very slightly). I guess I have to hand it to the Canadian government for managing to tame such rugged terrain, coming from BT I know we can’t even get decent broadband to some parts of London let alone the Outer Hebrides.

And Finally

A rest day in the BC capital Victoria, then on to San Juan and Washington State, tune in next time to find out more.