Cassius' Shop of Jeweled Wonders

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius swam back and pulled himself up onto the beach, laying under the sun as he rested for a moment. It had been wrenching to leave Kota, but he knew he couldn't leave the shop unattended for too long.

He started his shift to human form, finally, though it took him longer than normal and left him gasping in pain and sweating heavily. He simply laid there, curled up on the sand while his body shivered in reaction to the pain. By the time he managed to get up, he noticed that it was already getting dark and knew he wouldn't be opening the shop today anyway.

So he simply staggered inside and rinsed himself off then dried off quickly before dropping into his bed, not bothering with clothing of any kind since his skin felt like it had been gone over with sandpaper. His body was still protesting the shift, at times making him groan with the pain. Needless to say, he didn't get much sleep.

When daylight finally found him again, he managed to get himself up and dressed in a simple silk robe, since it was the only thing he could handle against his still-sensitive skin right now, and got downstairs to make himself some coffee.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius gave a soft sigh as Kota rubbed some of the oil into his cheek then his arm as he leaned back against the counter, raising his other hand to caress his cheek gently, "I honestly didn't notice that I'd left it until you mentioned it. And I am tired but I'll be fine," he said softly, not wanting him to worry so much.

Truthfully, though, he was leaning against the counter because his legs were still giving him fits from his last shift. He gently pulled Kota in and held him for a quiet moment, "I'm glad your walk down here was nice... Thankfully the climate on the island is usually that way, despite the occasional storm that moves through..." he added, pressing a light kiss to Kota's temple before releasing him to take the bottle of oil with a small smile.

"I'll take this upstairs and rub it in. I'll be back down shortly. You can open up the shop if you want to," he suggested, hoping that it would distract Kota enough that he wouldn't see him stumbling through the house. But in the next moment, his possible distraction was a moot point as his legs gave out from under him, forcing him to grab the counter to stay upright. He hissed softly at the pain as the muscles in his legs and back protested again and breathed through the pain slowly, the bottle of oil clattering to the ground, without breaking strangely enough.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius dropped into his chair instead of sitting in it, then had to smile at Kota's words to him, "Alright, alright. I give in. You're in charge, Kota. To be honest, it's nothing that major. Sometimes my body just protests shifting to human form a bit more firmly than usual. It's not as bad if I spend more time in my mere form than in this one, but I've dealt with it before easily," he explained carefully, not wanting Kota to worry so much.

He gave a heavy sigh, though, as he started to massage the oil into his lower legs, knowing that Kota would be able to feel the muscles clenching and jumping from time to time. He was just lucky that no one had wanted to kill him when he'd shifted yesterday. He'd been as vulnerable on the beach as a newborn babe for hours.

As much as he appreciated Kota rubbing the oil into his skin, he knew he'd have to take it over for the rest of his body or the poor man would start blushing again but he didn't say anything just yet.

"Before you open the shop, Kota, would you mind asking one of the boys outside to get us something to eat? They'll know what to get, they've done it before. They usually get something extra for doing it for me so the deal works out nicely. I'm on a barter system with a few of the villagers so they only have to go get the food," he knew he had to eat. It would help with the muscle cramps.

He hadn't eaten anything since Kota had made him breakfast but didn't want to worry him by saying so. Plus, it would be a useful distraction for Kota at the moment...  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

After Kota left, Cassius stripped out of his robe and finished rubbing the oil into his skin. He had to do it slowly though, having to work around his muscle spasms. But he finally finished it and set the bottle aside as he put his robe back on and settled himself in his chair again. Since he simply couldn't sit and do nothing, he put together a couple of bracelets; one with hematite stones set with garnets, the other with various colors of fluorite stones.

By then, he heard the shop door open and a small boy's voice announcing that he'd brought over lunch and carried it into the kitchen area to put it on the table. He recognized the boy's voice and smiled, knowing he'd give Kota the same cheery wave he always did, one hand holding what had to be a sticky bun.

He could smell that lunch was most likely slices of rare roast beef, a thick brown gravy, freshly mashed sweet potatoes liberally spiced with cinnamon and butter, fresh yeast rolls, and some ale to wash it all down with. It likely came from Rex's Tavern, that one being the only one in town who passed out sticky buns to the children running errands.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Of course, the boy ran straight to Rex. The big burly barkeep moving with surprising ease as he entered the shop, grabbed the unconscious man up by his collar and tossed him outside to one of his assistants to take away. Then he got himself through the other doorway and noticed Cassius sitting in his chair.

"Heard you got a friend watchin' the shop today and he had a bit of trouble. Came by to see what I could do. Fool's on his way up to the castle now. But the boy was worried 'bout your friend," he said simply as he stroked his beard thoughtfully.

That news had Cassius scrambling up and heading into the kitchen on unsteady legs where he made a fuss over Kota getting hurt as he pulled bandages from one of the cabinets and started carefully wrapping his hands again, "Kota... Next time let the fool have the piece... They're all spelled against theft anyway... He wouldn't have gotten past the door..." he explained as he sat down at the table, "I should have told you that..." he hated that he hadn't done so and pressed his forehead against the backs of Kota's hands.

Rex followed and had a grin over Cassius' fussing and moved to put a large hand on Kota's shoulder in a way that was supposed to be soothing, but managed to stagger the Alichino, "Ah don't fuss so, Cass... Your man here took care of the idiot long enough for young Tim to use his rock on him. You two just close up shop today anyway and take care of each other. I'll send dinner over later on. It's 'bout time you found someone to settle with Cass!" he said with a hearty laugh as he left the building.  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius looked up in time to see Kota's smile and noted the burns on his face with a pained sound of his own. He got up and pulled some special burn cream from his first aid cabinet that Desha had made for him and returned to the chair at the table to put some of the soothing cream on the burns on Kota's face.

"Don't mind Rex. He's a big teddy bear. He runs the tavern down closer to the harbor. If he's accepted you like he has, you won't have to worry about anyone in the village being mean to you in any way. No one wants to get him upset," he said softly, trying to put a little humor into the situation but failing horribly with how worried he was over him getting hurt at all.

Truthfully, Cassius hadn't had any problems in the shop before now. Well, except that one time... But he didn't think that one counted...

He gently caressed Kota's uninjured cheek, "I'm sorry you were hurt, Kota... It was probably someone new to the island... We rarely have much crime here... The villagers tend to look out for each other..." he said softly, hating that such a thing had happened...

To him, Kota was everything. The man was sweet and kind, beautiful beyond words, tender and shy... He didn't understand how anyone could wish him harm at all...  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius gave a soft laugh in return, "It's alright, love... Now we'd better do as Rex said and close up the shop. He'll have dinner sent in by the back door when it's time. But for now, let's just close up the shop and I'll get started on lunch," he suggested softly.

He knew he needed to eat and Kota needed to relax a bit. But he also knew that later, when Kota was asleep, he'd do his best to heal his injuries. Before they went to bed, though, he had to think virtuous thoughts with them both not at their best. That meant eating his lunch then doing a bit of work and possibly showing Kota how to make the jewelery.

He rather thought they'd both enjoy that last one. And it would be something Kota could do even with his hands injured...  

[Red Gypsy]

Vihata

Cassius followed and picked up the onyx fox, putting it back in its place with his own frown over it, knowing that his shields on all the onyx pieces and stones in the building should have been able to protect Kota from the piece hurting him. But he cleared his frown and held a hand out to Kota with a smile.

"Come on. While I'm eating, you can figure out the best place for the painting. I'll hang it this evening wherever you think best for it. I thought about teaching you to make the smaller jewelery pieces, if you'd like to learn. It's something you can do even with your hands like that..." he offered softly as he lead Kota back into his living area, silently recasting the stronger shielding spell on the onyx stones in the building.

He let Kota lead him into the kitchen to the table to eat, then did due diligence to the meal, leaving some of it in case Kota wanted to try any of it.