Evara looked at him, biting her lower lip. The strange taste of food showed that he really was blessed, and this made her hesitate. She whimpered, but she turned her head back around, burying her face in her folded arms.
"Okay," she muffled into her arm. "I trust you. Get it out."
Sol smiled. "Good girl."
He resumed the work. At first, his movements were clumsy, purely amateurish mimicry. But as he worked, he began to feel the rhythm of her body. He felt where the muscles were hard as stone and focused there, grinding his thumbs in slow, deliberate circles.
"Breathe," he instructed.
Evara let out a long, shuddering exhale.
And then, the magic happened.
Under his relentless pressure, the first knot in her shoulder gave way. The muscle suddenly went slack, softening like wax under a flame.
Evara let out a sound that was entirely different from her earlier cry.
"Ohhh..."
