Familiar faces

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora was humming happily, she seemed to always be happy to whomever met her. She was opening the windows in her shop, letting in the fresh air  while she tied back her long black hair with a ribbon. There was a skip in her step as she went and put a kettle in the fireplace to heat it up before going to grab a step stood to put against a shelf. 

She had a basket in her arm that she would be placing ingredients in, just a little hum still leaving the small woman as she hopped down and turned to her work bench. Her flowing skirts moved easily around her legs as she set the basket down and worked on making the loose leaf tea for a customer.

As she was, she heard the bell ding, "Hello welcome to the Moon Flower," she called out warmly as she ground the herbs in the bowl. The shop would smell pleasantly of herbs and have that warm cozy feeling about it, welcoming anyone and everyone inside it. Giving the person a moment to look around, "Anything I can help you with?"

[Dante Vance]

It had been a good week. A hard week, but a good one nonetheless. In what was perhaps a spark of inspiration after his promotion to Captain, Dante had been training twice as hard. As it turns out, his body wasn't quite as spry as some of the twenty-something-year-olds under his command. Truthfully, that came as a surprise to him. Then again, it had been quite some time since he'd really pushed his limits, so it was his belief that he just needed to readjust to that sort of work. For now, however, he was sore and bordering on cranky.

As he stepped into the shop, he was greeted by a cheerful voice. He stopped just inside the door, hands crammed into the pockets of his dark green pants as blue eyes scanned the shop. The young woman that had greeted him spoke up again and he turned to her with his usual expressionless gaze. "I need something for muscle pain and I hear you offer the best natural remedies." The statement was deadpan as his green eyes made another pass over the shop.

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora didn't mind the tone but the voice rang rather familiar with her as she placed the container aside as she looked at him and gave a sweet smile, "Why thank you and I do yes but I'll need you to tell me the nature of your muscle pain and the general location and pain level. Low, moderate or, severe please," she told him as she was picking up another basket to walk around.

The small woman stopped a bit in her tracks, she recognized this soldier, he had let her go. He was someone who knew what she was on accident and he didn't pursue her further. Did he know who she was now? Or did he forget who she was? Her heart thudded in her chest now as she looked at him but shook off the strange feeling she had and gave him a sweet smile, ready to help him no matter what.

The young woman also knew she wasn't going to charge much of anything for this, he protected her when it could have cost her everything and if this was how she could thank him then she would.

[Dante Vance]

Dante didn't often make a mental note of the mystics he let live. It was better that way. Safer for them too. If he were found out and interrogated, he'd not remember them, so he wouldn't be able to recall them and risk giving them away. They were people, too, and it was the right thing to save people, mystic or not.

The girl had a sweet smile, and while something about her did seem familiar, Dante hardly seemed to notice as she approached, telling him she'd need a bit more information. A 'hm' of a laugh escaped him, the sound humorless as a hand was removed from his pocket to brush back his dark hair. "It's an all-over body pain, from excessive training." He told her with a nod. "The soreness is fairly moderate." The gruff words rumbled from his chest.

It was when she stopped in her tracks that he lifted a brow at her, the gesture looking slightly off against the empty expression he so often wore. But then she was smiling again and he dismissed her reaction.

[Pandora Valis]

There was a slight nervousness inside her at seeing this man again, one mistake she had made with a poisonous plant that he had seen but he managed to help cover her. It was the one mistake she had made and had not repeated it in the slightest because it was a real worry that she could be in trouble for what she was, something she had no control over.

"Oh I know that pain and at least it isn't severe it's a good thing you came before it got to that point," she told him with a nod as she would walk around him taking a mental note of his weight and build to be able to properly dose him and help him, "Do you take soaking baths at all? Or better question will you?" she inquired curiously. "Also are you allergic to anything or is there smells that irritating your head or nose?"

She was trying to be the professional she was but from how he looked at her, he didn't recognize her. Maybe he had a memory issue but was that truly a bad thing in the long run of it all if his mind wasn't perfect? That just meant she was even more safe and didn't have to worry about being found out. That rose the question of though of what would happen if he chose to use that information against her and she felt a pit in her stomach over it. Taking a little breathe, she would make herself relax some.

[Dante Vance]

The heaviness of the room was all to obvious. The nervous body language from the shop owner was nearly enough to pique Dante's curiosity, but he tried to let it slide past. Perhaps the young woman was easily intimidated. Perhaps men, in general, made her nervous. Maybe it went even deeper than that. He tried not to dwell on it, but the longer the interaction went on, the more he felt that something was off - that maybe she was hiding something.

It was again pushed to the back of his mind as she spoke up and he nodded in agreement with her. Another round of questions was leaving her lips and again, he was nodding. "If it will help, I will." He told her simply. He didn't mind a long, hot bath. It usually was enough to remedy any aches he'd acquired from his training, but nothing had ever been added to the water to aid in the reduction of his pains. More questions were directed towards him and this time, he took a moment to ponder, though the blank expression may have made it seem that he was ignoring her.

"Lavender." He said after a short moment. "Not an allergy, but it is rather irritating to the senses." He gave a single nod as she began to move about the small shop again. She was definitely nervous, and if it wasn't obvious by her slightly stiff body language, the way she took a calming breath certainly was. He was beginning to think that it had something to do with m rather than anything or anyone else in particular. After all, the longer this encounter went on, the more familiar she seemed. It was almost irritating that he couldn't put his finger on why or how.

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora gave a small nod as she mentally noted what he said, "Alright so nothing with lavender; honestly that will do nothing for what aches you so I have no reason to give it to you," she told him with a little bit of a smile. Quietly she was kicking herself as she knew she should be calmer, he had been kind and helped her so why was she a worried nit right now?

"Alright, what else have you done to try and help ease away the soreness? Or was just bathing it?" she inquired of him as she found herself again and would go over to a shelf and picked up a container and would sniff it quickly before placing it in her hand. She would need a few things to help and then an oil.

"I would like to apply an oil onto your skin to see how you react to it and see if it helps as well if that is alright; it'll just be on your arm and we can go from there as well to see if it works for you to add to your daily routine," she told him as she would pick up a few more things, faltering just a little again but she was quick to pick up the pace and get herself going again as she set the items down on her counter.

[Dante Vance]

Dante nodded in a quick agreement to her words before she continued to throw questions his way. It was almost irritating, but without asking, she couldn't be able to fully help him the way he needed to be helped. So, taking a slow, inconspicuous breath, he calmed himself. He hated questions on a normal day. A barrage from the shop owner - who he'd sought out to aid his aches and pains and who was just doing her job - shouldn't get under his skin quite so bad.

Again he nodded. "Yes. Only baths here and there. They are few and far between." He admitted, steely eyes landing on her again as he watched her move about. As she went back grabbing this and than, most of which Dante was clueless to it's contents or uses, she was speaking again and he pursed his lips for a brief moment. The thought of this woman touching him at all, even if just to see if something she had would help, made him tense. It wasn't the thought of a stranger touching him more than it was that her own apparent unease was putting him edge. He grumbled quietly before nodding only once, giving her permission to do whatever it was she needed.

Dante moved towards the counter, placing large hands atop the flat surface, heavy gaze focused on the shop owner as he watched her carefully. Standing closer to her, she looked even more familiar. His brows furrowed slightly, breaking his usual expressionless gaze before he was putting the emotionless mask back on.

[Pandora Valis]

Pandora nodded at that, only baths. Not enough to ease muscle aches and pains at all. Taking a little breath, she was putting herself back into work mode. That mode was the safest really and she was happy for it as she pulled out a few vials from behind her counter and set them on the flat surface.

For a moment she saw that furrow on his face; did he remember her? She remembered him easily since he kept her secret safe and silent.

“Alright, this one that I’m making, it will have a mix of a warming that fades to a cooling effect but should help. If you feel nothing after a few minutes, then I’ll change it to something else, okay?” Pandora informed him as she would reach for one arm. If he didn’t stop her, she’d tug the sleeve up (if he was wearing long sleeves) to expose his bicep. Adding some of the oil to her fingers, she rubbed them together and then massaged it into his arm. Her fingers didn’t add that much pressure but they were enough to let the oil penetrant and absorbed into his skin.

When she finished, she pulled out a small hand towel to clean her hands, looking up at him now expectantly to tell her what he was feeling.

[Dante Vance]

Dante listened to her explain the concoction before she was pushing a sleeve up and applying the oily substance to his skin. The Captain nodded his understanding as he watched her hands carefully, waiting to feel anything as the skin began to tingle slightly.

It took a moment before he was feeling the sensation that she'd described. Green eyes returned to her face, only just now realizing she was expecting him to speak up. "It feels warm." His voice carried on a low rumble. "Slowly beginning to cool, just as you said." He told her. "It seems to be doing the job of easing the pain. He couldn't say for certain whether or not he liked the way it felt yet, but he could say that the soreness in that particular area was now numbed.

He looked to his arm then back to her and it was only then that the familiarity he sensed about her hit him. If he didn't have a chronic scowl by default, his expression may have looked almost menacing. "Why did you come back here?" He asked her unprovoked.