There was a knock on Tanos’s door. A knock that made Tanos jump in surprise, because he wasn’t expecting it. Admittedly, Tanos had gone to his room to sleep off some alcohol, after completely getting his ass kicked in a drinking game. It turned out, Phovoula being a Voidborn meant she couldn’t actually get drunk, and she’d only confessed to that after Saahro, Thassalin and Tanos had all tapped out. Nyssi was still going strong, but she couldn’t compete against the two Phovoses, and Life Goddess Phovos only gave up because she was getting bored and wanted to drink something else.
Tanos was still pretty drunk, and although he’d taken Nyssi’s advice and drank a lot of water, he wasn’t feeling great. Another knock though did persuade Tanos to get out of bed. He put a pair of white shorts on, then opened the door.
“Oh, hi, Akah!” Tanos smiled. “You okay?”
Akah was wearing normal fabric clothes today. Well, he was wearing a cloak. Tanos had seen Akah wearing a cloak a handful of times, and Nyssi had hinted that Akah wore that cloak whenever he was feeling uneasy or lacking in confidence. But Akah was also carrying a small bag.
“I am alright, I think. May I come in? And may I ask something… weird?”
“How weird are we talking?” Tanos asked back. “Honestly, I’m pretty damn drunk right now.”
“Uh… kinda weird. And it has to do about the two Phovoses.”
“Oh. Well, uh, come in, I guess?”
Tanos stepped back and let Akah in, closing the door behind him. At first though, Akah just stood by the door, looking anxious.
“I… have a little explaining to do. Some context.”
Tanos sat on his bed. Akah still remained by the door. “What sort of context?”
“Well… before you new Decaylings arrived here, every so often, I would offer to brush Phovos’s mane. She’s always struggled to maintain her mane and enjoyed having her mane brushed, and I always enjoyed just brushing stuff. But now Phovos has Phovoula and they’re girlfriends, I… I kinda haven’t been able to ask to brush Phovos’s mane, because the Life Goddess and the Voidborn brush each others’ hair.”
“So you don’t really have anyone’s hair to brush, so you want to brush my fur?”
“Basically, yes. But I don’t know if Spasts brush their fur or not.”
Tanos thought for a moment. “I mean, yeah, we do. I generally keep my mane, collar and tail brushed though, the rest of me, I just quickly comb out the rest of me whenever I start to shed too much.”
Akah paused. “You shed like, like a cat or a dog?”
“Mhm. It’s a bit tedious but I don’t need to do it much. And showering regularly helps keep my shedding to a minimum.”
“I see… But would you want someone to brush your, uh, fluffier bits?”
“I mean… sure, I guess. I’ve not really let anyone brush my hair, but I’ve turned myself into a cat sometimes and let Ret pet me to calm himself down. And I do like being pet.”
Akah hesitated a little. “But brushing isn’t the same as petting.”
“It basically is.”
“So… can I brush your hair, or fur, or whatever?”
Tanos smiled. “Yeah, sure!”
“Really?”
“Yes, I just said yes.”
Tanos grabbed the chair from his desk, and put it next to the bed. “You can sit on the bed, and I’ll sit on the chair and you can brush me. Do you need a hair brush?”
Akah reached into his little bag. “Actually, I already brought one. Borrowed it from Phovos. But do you want me to use your stuff?”
“Nah, any brush will do.”
“Alright…” Akah reached into his bag again. He pulled out two cans of drink, a full-sugar energy drink for Tanos and a can of diet soda for himself. Before he sat down on the bed, he placed a bowl on Tanos’s desk and poured a bag of crisps into it. Next to the bowl, Akah put down some ice cream.
“Oh, you brought snacks?”
Akah sat down on the bed, with Tanos in front of him on his chair. “Yes, as that’s the tradition. But I’m still not quite sure what you can and can’t eat so I brought the ice cream too.”
Tanos smiled a bit more. “I mean, technically, I can eat almost anything though, but you guessed right that I prefer sugary stuff. Back at home, most Spasts ate honey or sugar, often plain if they were in a hurry. Kayel introduced me to energy drinks and, funnily enough, they actually cover all the things I need. Sugar, caffeine and vitamins.”
“Huh…”
Akah thought for a moment, fell silent, then decided to just start brushing Tanos. Both of them ended up trailing off, lost in thought. Tanos was very much enjoying the brushing, and he wondered why having someone else brush his fur was better and more relaxing than him doing it himself.
“Hey Akah?” Tanos asked after a while.
“Yes?”
“Why is there a tradition of you brushing Life Goddess Phovos’s hair?”
Akah shrugged. “Eksi originally offered to brush Phovos’s hair when they were Decaylings because she was super stressed. Then at some point, when we were staying with the Phantai, another Decay Lord sect, Galyn brushed Phovos’s hair a lot, and also acted as a bit of a body guard for her. Then I offered for a bit, and then, when you all arrived, Phovos and Phovoula both kinda fell in love and started brushing each others’ fur.”
Tanos shrugged as well. “That’s kinda weird but I get it. Also I admitted earlier that I turn into a cat and let Ret pet me.”
“Is there a reason for that?”
“Keeps Ret calm. He and Kuta, they… there’s a thing they do if something threatens someone they care about. It’s called Defensive Stance and it’s kinda like… a burning rage to destroy all threats. Ret is kinda prone to it, but he’s actually been completely fine since we’ve been here. The me-being-a-cat thing helps a lot.”
“Ah… That’s pretty interesting actually.”
“It is, but it’s also kinda terrifying. Either way though, I am massively enjoying this.”
“Really?” Akah asked.
Tanos grinned. “Oh, totally.”