For The Sake of Revenge

III~Chapter 4: The Hardships of the Inevitable.

I was naked, waxing my legs. Ivar was due to come soon. It was a sight he was used to; seeing me groom myself. He even let me do it to him. He learned to sit still during sugaring when he realized it was not as unpainful as I made it seem. I had years of practice. Ivar never even thought about grooming past cutting his hair and washing himself. 

Now he let me sugar his back and pubes, much to my delight. He even let me put a facemask on him when I was doing it. I had already prepared a tumeric facemask. It stained a little. It wouldn't be noticeable on me but the stain would be noticeable on pale Ivar. So I made an oatmeal facemask for him. 

"Grooming yourself, wife?" Ivar's voice brought me back to the present, just as I managed to pull my last painful strip. I hissed. That was it for my limbs. 

"I have a facemask prepared for you if you like," I offered, crossing my legs and quickly stirring the bowl a little more. Ivar smirked at me and limped to the bed, sitting next to me. Up close, the blue in his eyes seemed brighter.

"Are you in any pain?" I asked him, feeling sympathetic. Usually when he was limping and when his skin seemed to be more transluscent, it meant that he was in pain. I dearly wished I could relieve him. 

"A little, mine astin," Ivar grabbed a breast and brought me closer, kissing me on the lips. He smacked the back of my hip and gently deposited his head on my lap. "Do what you will."

I gently cleaned his face with a clean, wet wascloth, drying it and then applying the face mask, occasionally kissing him on the mouth. After that, I helped him take off his clothes, carefull not to get any of the face mask on his clothes, setting them aside. Now we were both completely naked. I applied the tumeric facemask on my face.

"Why is yours different?" Ivar asked, observing me. 

"Because my skin is different than yours," I murmured. "Mine is darker and can get inflammed. Yours is pale and dry. What works for me does not work for you. Besides, what I have on stains."

I proceeded to apply some on my belly and on my nether regions. "You need to apply the rest of yours all over your body as well, Ivar. We both need care all over."

"You know best, my wife." Ivar obeyed. Two years ago, it would have been strange for us to be like this. Now, this is the norm. And it was good. It almost made me forget about my loneliness. I was only lonely because I had none of my own family with me. But I had Ivar, Millicent, and my brothers-in-law. Sort of like a compensation. My only assurance is that my family is safe, and unaware that the daughter they have now is not the same daughter that they had before. Not that I know anything about that. I had much to be grateful for, even if I hardly knew anything about it.

"Tell me more about your life, your childhood," Ivar finally murmured. He was laying on the bed, eagle-spread, grimacing slightly. Usually, this is the time I would give him a massage to his legs. He dearly needed it. Natural pain remedies were only so effective. Opium was something I had strongly advised him against. I told him that it caused some serious side-effects and explaining addiction to him, a concept that was too wild to even be considered in this time, was taxing. Eventually I pointed out some behaviours of those who were addicted to opium, their visciousness, their loss in judgement, and their craziness. He seemed to be effectively deterred. So now he endured. But I didn't want him to endure. I wanted his relief.

I grabbed some willow bark and tumeric oil, gently pouring some in my hands and sweeping it across his legs, beginning my nightly massage routine. Even when he wasn't in pain, I massaged him. When it was a particularly sore day, I took my time. His legs were a little disclolored form the tumeric oil, but otherwise, it was a therapy that Ivar tolerated well and even favoured.