Phovos wasn’t expecting anyone to knock at her door, not at what Phovos was assumed was late at night, but no, there was someone gently knocking on her door. But before Phovos unlocked the myriad of locks and sliders that kept her door bolted shut, she decided to peer through the little looking hole, to see who was there. To Phovos’s surprise, it was one of her fellow Thantir Decay Lords. And not Tenuk, who would regularly come to Phovos’s room asking her if she wanted to join Tenuk and Elksia in their… fun.
Nope, the Decay Lord in question was Akah, who was awkwardly waiting there, holding a basket of stuff. Phovos couldn’t quite see what, mostly because Akah was also rather oddly wearing a cloak. She’d seen Akah wearing a cloak a few times, especially when they first arrived in Phantai territories, and also when they went to the space mall, and he only ever seemed to wear it when he felt uneasy or was lacking in confidence.
With a sigh, Phovos decided to let Akah in. But she couldn’t be bothered to unlock everything, so she just made a shimmering portal through the door. Which clearly caught Akah off guard.
“Oh, hello.”
“Come in.”
“Okay.”
Phovos pulled Akah into her room, then sealed the portal shut behind her. Akah was a bit taller than Phovos, but he looked embarrassed, almost ashamed to be there. Unlike everyone else, Phovos at least had some idea how to deal with Lanex, as she had dealt with a few of them back when she ran the city of Palaestra, back when they were mortal.
“So, why are you here?” Phovos asked.
Akah didn’t answer at first. He fished something out of his basket and showed it to Phovos.
“Can I brush your fur?”
Phovos crossed her arms and tutted with suspicion. “Alright, who set you up to do this?”
“Uh, no one did. I came here of my own volition.”
“Was it Eksi?”
Akah frowned. “No. I am being brutally honest. I am here because I want to be here and I want to brush your fur.”
Phovos blinked, then stared at Akah some more. “Eksi sent you.”
“He did not! I swear! I just want to brush your hair and your fur! For my own, strange, personal reasons. Eksi doesn’t even know I’m here, I asked him to play action figures with Tahvra so I could talk to you for a bit, because Tahvra’s being clingy.”
“Why is he being clingy?”
Akah tutted. “He’s annoyed that I’ve been helping Kal with the new Thantir base and he’s not allowed to come along because it’s still technically a secret. That’s beside the point. I wanted to come and talk to you and brush your fur.”
“Why? You’re kind, but you’re not normally THIS kind!” Phovos argued. “I feel like you want something from me. Tenuk keeps on trying and I told him no. Elksia has been trying too. Eksi stopped hinting at things when he got his friends-with-benefits stuff with Loopblade. I’m not interested in you or in romance in general.”
Akah frowned some more, then crossed his arms too, clicking and mimicking Phovos’s anger. “I am not sexually interested in you, if that is what you think. Lanexian intercourse is NOT something I want to go through again with ANYONE, not even another Lanex, let alone you!”
Phovos paused, then blinked some more. “Is sex with a Lanex really that bad?”
Akah nodded, then sighed. “Unfortunately. I’ll… I’ll be honest, I’m not here for totally selfless reasons though. It needs… some explaining. Do you mind if I sit down? I also brought drinks, I know you like cola.”
Phovos hesitated, then relented. Akah pulled two cans of sugar-free cola from his basket and handed one to Phovos. It was delightfully cold, the perfect temperature.
“Alright. Out with it.”
“Okay… I’ll make this clear from the start, I am not attracted to you in any way. I don’t get sexually attracted to anyone, not even other Lanex. Never have done. But, like all normal, mortal beings who reproduce sexually, I get urges. I manage those urges the same way a lot of male Lanex do… did, via something we called ‘tingles’.”
“Is this something sexual?” Phovos interrupted. “Because I don’t want to-”
“It’s not sexual!” Akah protested. “It’s literally just a way to make a cool, pleasurable shudder run down your back when you do or feel or watch certain stimuli! For most male Lanex, it’s generally something like having a massage or playing with slime or hearing someone eating and enjoying food or something, and, because most of us were slaves who couldn’t access this stuff, we’d just watch videos of other people enjoying these things! I swear, it’s not a sexual thing, it’s just a pleasurable experience we use as an alternative to sexual pleasure.”
“You get off to ASMR?” Phovos suddenly asked.
“It…” Akah fell silent. “That tingling feeling has an actual name?”
Phovos nodded. “It’s called an autonomous sensory meridian response. Some Ksithans get it too, but it’s triggered by whispering or eating. Personally, I get the opposite sensation, I have misphonia and I get genuinely pissed off and angry if someone whispers at me or eats too loudly. But… what does all of this have to do with brushing my fur?”
Akah sighed, then straightened himself out again. He felt pretty stupid. “Lanex don’t have hair. Most Nexian races didn’t have hair. But the Allanex did, and I used to spend my one hour of slave-free time watching female Allanex brush their hair on a tiny screen to induce tingles. I just though that, maybe, if I brushed your fur, I’d get something similar, but you’d also get the pleasure of having your hair brushed as well. Because I know Eksi used to come by and brush your hair and he stopped back when that Krohniak guy attacked and no one has really pampered you since.”
“You’ve been wanting to ask for a while.”
“I have, yes. But I’m a stupid old mountain tribe Lanex with hardly any social skills, and you’re the Raptor, the deadliest Ksithan ever. I don’t know how to approach you and I didn’t want you to feel embarrassed or angry or anything. Even though I’ve failed that part miserably.”
Phovos snorted, then relented. “You totally did. But, well, I do like having my hair brushed. I suppose I can’t say no to your offer. Even if it’s a bit weird that you get ASMR stuff from that despite not having hair.”
With a little smile, Phovos sat on the bed and turned her back on Akah, untying the short ponytail she was wearing. Akah wondered for a moment if this was some sort of trap and Phovos was about to eviscerate him or something. Granted, doing so would be tricky, Akah had little exposed flesh, but he was still overly cautious. Eventually, he sat down behind Phovos and did as he originally intended, gently pulling his hairbrush through Phovos’s tattered mane.
“You need to brush your mane more often. It’s very knotty.”
“I know.”
“Why don’t you?”
“Eh. I’ve always had problems looking after myself.”
“Understandable. I’m willing to help with the hair brushing at least, if you want.”
Phovos didn’t answer. She found it weird how friendly Akah was being. But really, all Akah had been, the entire time, was friendly. Despite how out of his depth and how alone he was.
“It must suck, being the weird one around here.”
Akah shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t mind. I know there are beings like me out there, somewhere, even if they’re not Lanex. I spend more time worrying about you and Elkay.”
“I’m a Life Goddess, there are loads of them out there.”
“Not nice ones like you though.”
Phovos smiled. “I… I appreciate that. Thank you for your kindness, Akah. You are way, way too nice.”
Akah shrugged once more, then continued to brush Phovos’s mane. “Thank you, but I’m just being myself. That being said, thank you for letting me brush your fur. This is quite relaxing.”
“Heh, definitely…”