"The oil is a little cold, but my hands are warm..."
☆

This time when Ben approached that unassuming front door, he kind of knew what he was to expect on the other side. He thought that with this knowledge, he would be more mentally prepared but it seemed to have had an adverse effect. 

Since Tully had informed Ben of the need to be administered more massages, Ben had been working overtime at the local gym….especially on his traps, on the possibility that Tully may require a shirtless Ben for any reason. 

The door opened and again there stood the man. The feeling Ben got when seeing Tully, was growing more intense each time he saw him. "Come on in." He beckons Ben inside. 

Ben sees the same white slippers by the door and proceeds to exchange his own to put them on. He then notices the different smell permeating his nostrils. "Your house smells different from before." Ben comments, inhaling the scent, which seemed to remind him of the colour purple. 

"I hope you like it. I am going to try a more intense approach with you today Ben, to assist your relaxation." Tully replies, smiling as he heads to the room in which they had been in before. 

"What do you mean by intense?" Ben asks warily. If any kind of halucigens were involved then he would have to leave, no matter how alluring Tully was. Ben was not one to give up his mind completely.

"Well…" Tully opens the door to reveal the room they were in before, but it looks rather different. A concertina screen, a deep mustard, decorated with exotic birds stood in one corner. The sound of panpipes, which reminded Ben instantly of the busker by the tube station, was playing discreetly in the background and there, in the centre of the room was a table...a massage table, with a small trolley next to it with different bottles on it.

"Shit." Ben curses under his breath. This was happening. A proper touchy feely massage. No over the clothes!

"Pardon me?" Tully looks at Ben, not quite catching his word. 

Ben huffs out a breath. "Sorry, I said shit... It's good shit though I promise." Ben grins with embarrassment. 

"Ok...well I'm glad it's positive and you told me too. Your honesty is surfacing already!" Tully laughs. "Maybe the lavender candles are working."

"Maybe they are." Ben joins in with the laughter. 

Tully now places a hand on the small of Ben's back, guiding him forwards. "Just pop behind that screen over there to get changed. There's everything you'll need behind the screen."

Ben finds his feet moving towards the decorated birds. He then feels the hand leave his back. The sensation of the hand leaving him, is soon replaced by seeing a lack of anything behind the screen, well...except for a fluffy white towel, draped on a chair. "So, uh, you want me naked then?" He says nervously, letting out an awkward laugh. 

"Not completely Ben. You can keep your underwear and slippers on if you'd like." Tully's voice replies from over the screen. 

Ben again swallows down his apprehensive nerves. "You weren't joking when you said intense, were you?" Now so relieved of his extra gym sessions. 

"Is it too much? We can just meditate if you want…"

"No, it's fine." Ben cuts him off. "Completely fine." In the back of his mind, Ben had imagined this type of scenario but never thought it would actually happen. He couldn't pass up the opportunity to have this man's hands all over his naked body, apart from a towel. Even if it was only in the name of therapy.

Soon, Ben reamerges, adorned in just the towel around his midriff, covering his boxers, still wearing his slippers. "So, shall I lay on my front or back?" 

Tully looks up to see Ben, bare from the waist up. He widens his eyes a little at the sight. "You are...athletic." He says, eyes not straying from the muscled flesh. 

Ben looks down at his body, taking in each pectoral. "Uh, just the gym really." He says before looking back up. He notices Tully still staring at his chest. The corner of Ben's mouth tugs at a smile. "Uhum.'' he clears his throat, bringing Tully's gaze back to him. "So, front or back?" 

"Front." Tully replies as if returning to planet earth. So Ben proceeds to get in place, deciding to ditch the slippers in the end as they fall off his feet as they hang slightly off the end. His face finds a custom made hole in the massage table and he plants his face in it. "You don't mind if Jojo watches, do you?"

"What?" Ben suddenly lifts his head up and scans the room. 

"My cat Jojo." Tully says smiling as Ben now focuses on a feline sitting on a corner cushion, giving off what Ben thought were jealous eyes. 

"Oh, I thought you meant…"

"A person?" Tully laughs. This isn't that kind of massage, you need to go to bella's spa for that kind of therapy." 

Ben joins in once again with nervous laughter, as he again settles into position. He wouldn't trade whoever Bella was for Tully, not a chance. He now braces himself for getting intensely relaxed. 

"The oil is a little cold, but my hands are warm…"