fh_trips | Nihi Sumba, Sumba Island, Indonesia, Friday Day

One last indulgence before going back to Maryland in February: Tailored to indulge each one of your senses, the Spa Safari™ at Nihioka is a one of a kind experience not to be missed. The day begins just after sunrise with a 90-minute optional trek through rolling hills, expansive rice fields, and a traditional Sumbanese village. After the trek, cold towels and fresh coconut await you before arriving at your dining area cantilevered over a private natural cove, where a full breakfast is served. After breakfast your spa therapist will show you to your private cliffside Bale (bah-lay). Once settled, you may choose to enjoy a swim in the ocean or simply dive right in to your selection of treatments, which range from body wraps and scrubs to 90-minute massages and an organic facial. Ultimately the day is centered on you: your wants and your needs at whatever pace truly allows you to unwind. Guests are driven in open-air vehicles back to the resort as the sun sets, having experienced both adventure and serenity in equal measure.

Now, that just after sunrise bit was not at all Irene's favorite -- not to mention how little it turned out she enjoyed the prospect of trekking.

But the cold towels and breakfast and entire day focused on her made up for it in spades, and if anyone needed Irene, you'd probably have to raise your voice to be heard over the sound of her obvious bliss once they started on treatments.

It was a good thing that Summer did get back fairly early, because this was exactly the sort of thing that she needed right now, please and thank you, definitely worth the repeated emotional trauma that using her portal gun caused at every glowing pink press of a button.

Jon wasn't asleep anyway, so he figured he might as well do this. It sounded nice and low-key, anyway.

Unfortunately, he got fidgety at the whole "being cared for" part of it. Being the center of everything (when it wasn't being tortured or experiencing fear) was just jarring.

"All right, babes?" Irene called, her tone deceptively light when she checked in on Jon between treatments.

Considering both how carefully she tread when it came to touch with Jon and known issues involving lotions and whatnot, she was actually quite proud to see him participating in something so -- self-focused.

He was doing his best! And had possibly not considered what was involved, no.

"I, um. I'm trying. Is there...I'm hoping there's something without any...fluids." The massage ought to be okay as long as their hands weren't cold, if they could do it without oils, maybe? "Maybe just the hair treatment. Or, um, the wrap doesn't sound too...well, slippery."

"Maybe the scrub?" Irene suggested, biting her lower lip in concern as she considered that -- well, moisturizers typically followed scrubby sorts of things. "Probably a bit more of a solid, that. And I'd wager the wrap might be nice as long as you're not worried about feeling confined."

That would be her larger concern, that claustrophobia might rear its ugly head while he was swathed in banana leaves or whatever.

"I thought about the scrub, but there's moisturizer after," Jon said. "The wrap...that should be fine. Just so long as my face is free and I can breathe. Um. I think. Blankets at night are fine and...and sometimes I like wrapping up in them." Unless he came out of a nightmare of the Buried, but he was unlikely to fall asleep here.

"Unless you have a different suggestion?"

"This all sounds promising," Irene assured him. "Hair seems like a safe idea, too. I'd steer away from facials, and -- maybe if you do massage, see if they can have you sit up?"

A massage table didn't exactly seem non-triggering, for someone who needed his face free.

"And maybe I'll see if they can set me up nearby." Just because it was nice to have your friends near, and not at all because Irene would happily go full British Karen on his behalf if anything seemed amiss.

"Why - oh." Thank you, Beholding, for dumping that knowledge on him. "Right, so, um. Hair and a wrap. I can...I can do this."

Hopefully. Because be real, if he was already panicking about something and Irene went full Karen on his behalf, he might end up crying all over her.

"You can," Irene assured him, and she would totally be there if there were tears later. "Just make sure to communicate with them. The staff, I'm sure, wants nothing more than for you to enjoy yourself."

If only because traumatized people didn't tip well, perhaps.

"They did say they could take it slowly whatever I wanted, so." Jon nodded. "And it's very open here. And I can keep my eyes open." He took a deep breath and let it out. "Maybe...would it...if it wouldn't be too much to ask...do you think..." Use your words, Jon. "I think it might be easier if I had someone to talk to. Only if it won't interfere with your own relaxing."

"Not in the slightest," Irene promised airily. And even if it did -- she'd done this many times before, and this was a free holiday. She could pull some of her attention away from a seaweed wrap for Jon's sake. "Keep your mind a little distracted, yeah?"

Jon nodded. "Keep me grounded. Remind me where I am." He managed a smile. "Thank you."

For a full day of pampering, Tahani would deign to leave her villa.

The body wrap was especially divine. Was she sending boastful selfies to Alexis? Of course she was.

(But not to Posh. Posh had been here.)

The spa was pretty much a no-brainer for Shunsui, who didn't even have to worry about the early departure time, since he never bothered sleeping that night, anyway. One hardly needed to wake up for something if they'd been up the whole time, occupied as he was in his own varied pursuits of one pleasure or another.

(He would more than make up for it here and there, to be sure).

Charlie? Was having a spa day. Oh yes! A little pampering was just exactly the perfect way to spend her last full day here! And yes, she did the 90 minute optional trek to earn her relaxation!

The things Ignis could enjoy that didn't involve food were few and far between, and the whole concept of self-care was a newly discovered thing that, with no other real purpose in life anymore, he was a bit more willing to embrace. It did feel a bit odd, at times, but, for the most part, he could easily see himself getting more used to things like this...

After a tiny bit of encouragement from Summer, Stark had opted to go to the spa for the day. He'd even gone on the optional trek beforehand to work off a little excess energy (and to make himself feel more like he deserved to have someone take care of him).

He had to tell the spa therapist that no, he didn't want any facial treatments and then that he'd be leaving the mask on for the duration. They seemed a bit confused but were happy enough to comply.

He was a little nervous at the idea of being so vulnerable in front of a stranger but he was working through that and the spa therapist was patient and made suggestions.

He might try a wrap. Or a scrub. Certainly a massage.

Nihi Sumba, Sumba Island, Indonesia, Friday Day

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