NudieUnicorn
Super-Earth
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2020
space On weekdays, Annalise Bautista liked to reward herself for getting her commissions done early by allowing herself a trip to the Banya. Otherwise she only went on Sunday mornings when it was less crowded. When getting ready to head to the Banya, she liked to wash her hair at home, first, as she could relax in her own shower more than the impersonal public shower stalls at the Banya. Her short hair still damp, she would leave her ear-pods at home and take only her smart-bracelet with her as she walked the three blocks to Eureka Banya, in the fashionable residential neighbourhood of Gable City affectionately nicknamed the "Cage Strip", which was a long row of new housing where, for some reason, they had thought it a good idea to install new trees in front of the newly constructed apartments and row-houses with little cages around the scrawny trunks, making it look more like San Francisco in the 1940s than Gable City in the 2040s.
space Padding barefoot up to the door to the Banya, she smiled and waved to Gustav, the doorman as he pulled open the clear glass door for her. Amy, the desk clerk on duty recognized her straight off as well, and was already keying up her usual order - access to the pools and saunas (the basic package), plus (for an additional fee) a massage and professional depilation. Besides her pubes, she really didn't need it, but it was always nice to feel really smooth everywhere, Anna felt. Plus she had earned it. She had gotten a month's worth of commissions finished, prototyped and launched to her clients in just a week and a half. Her biggest problem, recently, was getting more commissions, not getting them out. Sooner, rather than later, she would have to start taking on real engineering work, not just 3-D printable design solutions for random clients. But those thoughts were for future Anna to deal with, right now, she had water and steam to think about, and then a massage. She'd worry about the value and utilization of her professional time in her professional time - this was personal time.
space She went down stairs to the locker rooms, thumbed a locker with her identity, and stowed her smart-bracelet in said locker, a locker that was big enough, and designed for, storing clothes and a purse or maybe even backpack. Her smart bracelet was water-proof, but it also had a camera built in, and nothing with a camera was allowed in the Banya proper, as there were no clothes or swimsuits allowed in there either. This was because some people, who didn't want their naked bodies showing up on-line, didn't like the idea of having their pictures taken in that state. The thought always brought an amused grin to Anna's face.
space She grabbed a towel from a neatly folded pile to hang on a hook in the main floor of the Banya, where the hot and cold pools, as well as the showers, were located. Past the locker room, she entered onto the far left side of the main room, and to her immediate right were the shower stalls. She rinsed off briefly, to be police, though she had already thoroughly washed at home, and then went straight for the cold plunge at the far right hand side of the room, near the door to the saunas.
space Normally people went for hot water first, and then the cold, but Anna loved the cold pools, and started and ended each session with nice frigid dip. There was a little cascade feeding a constant stream of ice cold water into this pool, with real ice having formed around the little waterfall. She dove straight in, feet first, her whole body seizing and clenching down against her bones... her senses bleeding out into the cool, flowing water... sinking down under the water, eyes closed, fingers in her ears... for several long moments... Gasping for air, she breached the surface of the water and rubbed the water out of her eyes. She lingered a moment, then trod up the steps of the plunge pool.
space The main floor of the Banya was well lit and the floor was covered with a rubber drainage matting that felt rough on her bare feet, but did the job of stopping people from slipping on wet tile. There were several wooden benches free standing in the middle of the floor with potted plants in concrete planters between them. Opposite from the showers, on the other side of the benches, were the hot pools. Between the hot pools and the cold plunge, were the hooks for towels, and she wiped the cold water off with her towel. Acclimating for a moment to the ambient air temperature...
space Then she headed to these hot pools. There were a few older patrons sitting and chatting on the wooden benches (as per usual), and she could easily picture Russian mafia types having their clandestine meetings on such benches in old 20th century movies. In fact, she did hear Russian being spoken by the old timers from time to time, but that was only natural. Banyas were fixture in Russian culture, and the United States was a melting pot of cultures, if nothing else.
space Of the three hot pools in this section of the Banya, they were all pretty small, marked with signs that said "MAX CAPACITY 5 PERSONS), but all were currently empty. She climbed the steps to one, and took a tentative step into the warm water - hot by comparison to her recent plunge. She hurried down the stairs, into the water, and immersed herself completely, floating in the warm water before bobbing upward and swimming over to the low underwater bench along the back wall of the hot pool. She sat herself down... and relaxed, eyes half closed, soaking in the warmth... it was several minutes before someone else entered the pool...
space Padding barefoot up to the door to the Banya, she smiled and waved to Gustav, the doorman as he pulled open the clear glass door for her. Amy, the desk clerk on duty recognized her straight off as well, and was already keying up her usual order - access to the pools and saunas (the basic package), plus (for an additional fee) a massage and professional depilation. Besides her pubes, she really didn't need it, but it was always nice to feel really smooth everywhere, Anna felt. Plus she had earned it. She had gotten a month's worth of commissions finished, prototyped and launched to her clients in just a week and a half. Her biggest problem, recently, was getting more commissions, not getting them out. Sooner, rather than later, she would have to start taking on real engineering work, not just 3-D printable design solutions for random clients. But those thoughts were for future Anna to deal with, right now, she had water and steam to think about, and then a massage. She'd worry about the value and utilization of her professional time in her professional time - this was personal time.
space She went down stairs to the locker rooms, thumbed a locker with her identity, and stowed her smart-bracelet in said locker, a locker that was big enough, and designed for, storing clothes and a purse or maybe even backpack. Her smart bracelet was water-proof, but it also had a camera built in, and nothing with a camera was allowed in the Banya proper, as there were no clothes or swimsuits allowed in there either. This was because some people, who didn't want their naked bodies showing up on-line, didn't like the idea of having their pictures taken in that state. The thought always brought an amused grin to Anna's face.
space She grabbed a towel from a neatly folded pile to hang on a hook in the main floor of the Banya, where the hot and cold pools, as well as the showers, were located. Past the locker room, she entered onto the far left side of the main room, and to her immediate right were the shower stalls. She rinsed off briefly, to be police, though she had already thoroughly washed at home, and then went straight for the cold plunge at the far right hand side of the room, near the door to the saunas.
space Normally people went for hot water first, and then the cold, but Anna loved the cold pools, and started and ended each session with nice frigid dip. There was a little cascade feeding a constant stream of ice cold water into this pool, with real ice having formed around the little waterfall. She dove straight in, feet first, her whole body seizing and clenching down against her bones... her senses bleeding out into the cool, flowing water... sinking down under the water, eyes closed, fingers in her ears... for several long moments... Gasping for air, she breached the surface of the water and rubbed the water out of her eyes. She lingered a moment, then trod up the steps of the plunge pool.
space The main floor of the Banya was well lit and the floor was covered with a rubber drainage matting that felt rough on her bare feet, but did the job of stopping people from slipping on wet tile. There were several wooden benches free standing in the middle of the floor with potted plants in concrete planters between them. Opposite from the showers, on the other side of the benches, were the hot pools. Between the hot pools and the cold plunge, were the hooks for towels, and she wiped the cold water off with her towel. Acclimating for a moment to the ambient air temperature...
space Then she headed to these hot pools. There were a few older patrons sitting and chatting on the wooden benches (as per usual), and she could easily picture Russian mafia types having their clandestine meetings on such benches in old 20th century movies. In fact, she did hear Russian being spoken by the old timers from time to time, but that was only natural. Banyas were fixture in Russian culture, and the United States was a melting pot of cultures, if nothing else.
space Of the three hot pools in this section of the Banya, they were all pretty small, marked with signs that said "MAX CAPACITY 5 PERSONS), but all were currently empty. She climbed the steps to one, and took a tentative step into the warm water - hot by comparison to her recent plunge. She hurried down the stairs, into the water, and immersed herself completely, floating in the warm water before bobbing upward and swimming over to the low underwater bench along the back wall of the hot pool. She sat herself down... and relaxed, eyes half closed, soaking in the warmth... it was several minutes before someone else entered the pool...
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