Intimidation took all different forms. Even implicit emotional threats could be used. Chris was totally cowed by it. The others looked really frustrated as well. They were all standing close to him. It was pretty clear that they wanted to get physical with him in one way or another, but David was not trying to reciprocate it. He just did not want to have sex with the peaches. Or anything close to it. If he was being honest, he was still a bit traumatized from what he saw and did in that Devil realm. Deep down, even though he knew that they were harmless, the peaches scared him. As a young man, he did not know how to deal with that in an honest or healthy way. As far as he knew, he could just ignore it and push the feelings away. He went to bed before the rest of them. He laid in bed and waited for the sun to come up. Chris tried to sneak in at some point, but David just sat up and Chris ran to his own bed. They did have a full day starting in the morning. In fact, there was a full week of work ahead of them. It did wonders for progressing their careers though. There were only a few sales to go.
As novices we were expected to make things to a certain standard of quality. We also needed to have some good sales. If we did not do that, we could be demoted back down to apprentice. Because we had all of the skill points allocated to be good at it, we were overqualified for the level we were at. All of the sales and quality tests led to a promotion after a certain point of time. Being a journeyman was the goal. At that point, you could travel and open up your own forge. The quality of our goods was really great. We also had some good skills at selling. We were all pretty strong willed in conversation and interactions with others. If the average customer did not have the full amount of money needed to pay for the goods, they did not get them. We never let them haggle the price lower. We did not try to raise the price higher than what it was worth either. David just thought that it was simply unfair to do. "Ripping people off is wrong." he said to the peaches. Because they all wanted to please him, they agreed and did not cheat the other customers. That made them all pretty popular.
Joking around with other novices was not an option. With all of the work that was given to the forge, the master was just as busy. He was making weapons, metal pieces for saddles and ornaments for furniture. It was a high level of craftmanship. When that week was over, Alec and Alex approached David. The lanky and husky males were both smiling. David always thought that both of them had nice ponytails. Alec's braided high pony, and Alex's had a low pony were styles that he would have like to try if he was not scared of what his classmates and teachers at school would say. "You look really tired, Joe." Alex said with a sympathetic face. There really was a bit of muscle fatigue from all the heat and strain from bending all the time. The heavy lifting did not help either. Alec said "I think we can help you with it." That got David to look at them skeptically. "Really? What do you think is going to help me out with being tired?" he asked. They both had cheesy grins on their faces. "A massage!" they said in unison. David just rolled his eyes at it. He then though about it. David was really tired.
Keeping a neutral face, he said "After work, I guess we can try it out for a bit." David could not remember the last time he got a massage. It had to have been a few years since then. His mom was doing him a favor after he hurt his back lifting the heavy cardboard boxes in the attic for her. They gasped and smiled wide. "Really, Joe!?" Alec said in surprise. "You really mean it!?" Alex demanded from him. David nodded. He was in for it now. There was no way he could take it back. "Yeah. If you want to do it, we can. I'll lay on my bed and you can massage me." he said. They looked ecstatic. Just as David was going to leave them, he stopped and turned back to them. They smiled at him and waited for him to speak. He still had his reservations. "Do you guys even know how to give a massage though!? If you use your full strength, you can really hurt me. You have to be careful." he asked. That was a very legitimate concern he had. They both nodded their heads. David was going to have to trust them. They still had time left in the day. David was not really looking for it. They did not look gentle.
