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 Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:01 am
A kiss and good-natured hair ruffling was not what Jove was hoping for, judging by the little "mrr" sound he uttered, and the frown that made it's way onto his face before the boil turned around again. Both ears drooped stubbornly. This couldn't have been the first time Ren had played with his ear like that, could it? Surely not.
Something occurred to him then as he thought on it, a memory resurfacing from long before the traumatizing field trip, and he was about to act on it when he felt the cool conditioner landing on his head. His good ear immediately perked straight up with delight, and even his lame ear twitched, tail wagging quickly just a couple times between Ren's legs. Yes, that meant there would be more ear rubbing!
He tilted his head up to scent the air quickly as he waited for the next round of ear rubbing, pleased at the scent of the conditioner. It and the shampoo, and the soap all smelled so familiar to the little pup, and he briefly wondered how much it of it would stick to him after the bath.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:44 pm
Jove's ears had flopped down, and Ren ran a hand over the soft, damp fur, gently flitting his fingers up and down. He attempted to push one ear up, but it just fell back down. He pushed it up again. Up, down, up down, until he gave up, instead leaning forward and biting one of Jove's ears (his uninjured one) and tugging lightly on it. Ren had used to do the same thing with Medieval; it was both a sign of affectionate and one of protection. He could feel the soft swish of the boil's tail against his legs, and Ren lathered his hands up with the conditioner.
"You okay down there?" he asked the puppy, and this time he worked slowly, working the conditioner into the thick strands, his fingers pressing into Jove's scalp. His movements were careful and experienced, massaging his hands through the younger boil's teal colored locks. Ren closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of soap, simply losing himself in the moment, forgetting about the world around him. Right now it was just he and his little brother, both of them trying to take care of the other, give each other something to take their minds off of the rest of the world.
After a while he realized that he had spent the past five minutes straight just soaping up Jove's hair, and, slightly flustered, Ren pulled his hands away, giving a weak little laugh.
"Sorry," he said, and dumped a cup of water over the boil's head.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:14 pm
The longer Ren played with his ears, the more stubbornly they flattened downward, until the pup squealed at the ear bite. It was not a behaviour he was used to, not at all!
After a minute he nodded, and once again relaxed into the head rubbing. That was more like it. Biting was certainly not his thing, but did that head rubbing ever feel good... It was a peaceful moment for both of them, Jove made not a single noise in protest as he sank lower and lower into the water. If Ren had waited any longer to rinse his hair, the pup would have been snorkelling.
Sensing it was done for real this time, Jove once again leaned forward and splashed water up onto his head, just to be sure it was all rinsed. He was really only getting more bubbles splashed around, but it seemed to make him happy.
With all his cleaning done, Jove scrambled around to face Ren fully intending to repay the favour. Or at least he tried to. The towel wrapped around his waist had come undone, and caused him to slip forward and faceplant against Ren's chest with about as much grace as his earlier fall.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:19 pm
Apparently his washing Jove's hair had done the trick; the boil was beginning to act like himself again - slowly, only faintly, with small hints of his former self, but it was there, and it was like a breath of fresh air, like he was glimpsing something familiar and warm. The water was soothing against Ren's skin, comforting his aches and pains, though the pain in his heart was not so easily fixed. It would still hurt for weeks to come, but it was beginning to feel better even now.
Jove was moving around now, like he was trying to turn to face him, and Ren lifted his arms, attempting to move allow the other to shift positions. Except, A.) They were in a large bathtub that was both slippery and wet, and B.) Despite the fact that it was large, there were two of them and it was a little cozy. Jove's feet slipped and Ren found himself with a squirming, gasping boil against his chest.
"Are you all right?" Ren's arms slipped around the other boil's waist, hoisting him upwards. The towel was twisted around his skinny legs, untied and tangled, and Ren tugged at it, attempting to free him. "Quit - moving - around - "
With one final tug, he managed to snap the soaked towel away, heaving it to rest over the side of the bathtub. Ren's good hand went to rest against the puppy's side, his injured hand held against his stomach.
"You really need to stop falling, by the way."
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:03 pm
Jove didn't answer Ren's question, but instead lay still as the towel was untangled from his legs. There was certainly a time every now and again when it was good to take Ren's advice, and this was one of them. His struggling had pulled something in his side, and he had to take a couple deep breaths until the twinge subsided.
The pain was a sobering reminder that things were not as simple and carefree as they seemed. Jove's little body felt tired all of a sudden.
He gave a little whine and cradled his arm against his stomach, but in the end it didn't deter him in his goal once he felt himself recovered from the fall. With a stubborn expression he scrambled up until he straddled Ren's stomach, easily able to reach for the shampoo without any fear of slipping in the water. He flipped the bottle open with one hand and unceremoniously dumped a good amount onto his brother's head.
This was a good idea, he thought to himself, resting one hand on Ren's shoulder and using his good arm to rub the shampoo into his hair. A very good idea. Sure the process of getting there was a little shaky, but still.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:01 pm
Ren's expression turned from vaguely amused to concern as soon as he realized that Jove was flinching. Worriedly Ren reached a hand up, touching the side of Jove's face. "Freckles?" he said, brows drawing together. "Are you all right?"
He must have done something to his side, Ren thought, glancing downwards. His fingers slid downwards, moving from Jove's face to his shoulder, under his arm and down his side, skimming over the dark, purplish bruises that spread across his ribcage. He bit his lower lip, but was dragged out his internal musings as Jove shifted again, his skinny legs on either side of Ren as he sat in his lap.
"What are you - " Ren started to say, but abruptly snapped his mouth shut when he felt the shampoo on his head. And then Jove's fingers were scrubbing into his hair and Ren forgot entirely what he was going to say. An unintentional purr thrummed through him, loud and echoing in the spacious bathroom, and Ren's face flushed a brilliant red as his eyes flickered upwards to meet Jove's, though he didn't say anything.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:48 pm
"Rrrrr!" Jove growled back, mimicking the deep purr in a softer, higher octave.
Judging by the look on Ren's face it was a pleased noise, and Jove was quite inclined to continue clumsily rubbing the soap into his hair single handed. Ren's hair was hard to wash though, trying to get the shampoo down through to the ends of his hair was giving Jove a challenge in his one-armed state.
He was glad this got Ren's mind off those bruises. He could tell when Ren was thinking about his marks, the worried and contemplative look alongside the downward glance were telltale signs the pup couldn't miss. And it made him feel like hiding under a bed. He wasn't afraid of the gryphon by any means, the exploratory fingers on his side was gentle and light as a feather. Almost ticklish. But since their trip he had been more self-conscious about the marks than he had ever been in the past.
Jove's tail wagged as he rubbed one of Ren's ears, trying to elicit another purr from his friend. At least in that regard he was shameless, he completely ignored Ren's glance and vibrant blush, and leaned forward to better reach all of the gryphon's hair.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:28 am
Ren absently linked his fingers behind Jove's back, his arms resting loosely around the other boil as Jove worked the shampoo one-handed through his hair. It had been a long time since he had anyone touch his hair like this, and it was both embarrassing and pleasant simultaneously.
"Stop that..." he said, though his protest was weak as Ren closed his eyes, Jove's fingers soothing on his ears now. The purr thrummed louder, the sound echoing and reverberating off of the tiled walls of the bathroom, and Ren's fingers tightened a little around Jove. How long had it been since he had let someone treat him for a change? Gabrian had a habit of pampering him constantly - or at least trying to, but even then Ren rarely let anyone see him like this. His three best friends and his little brother were about it, and even that made him blush furiously, the rumbling purr feeling as loud as a siren.
"Meanie," Ren mumbled, but there was no real annoyance to his voice as he leaned his body forward, resting his chin over Jove's shoulder and closing his eyes. He was already starting to feel better; not perfect, never perfect, and nowhere near normal, but better. And better was good; it was progress, it was a start, it was something.
At the very least, it made Ren feel good.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:59 am
Jove's little, pink tongue stuck out with concentration, completely ignoring his brother's protests. It was hard work doing all of that with only one hand. And Ren wasn't making it any easier by leaning forward.
The pup let his bad arm drop, his hand sliding from Ren's shoulder down to his chest where he could really feel the purring. He almost wished he could make that sort of noise too. It was such a deep, resonating rumble, nothing like the pup's own whimpers and sighs. Maybe if Jove sounded more... grown up while showing how pleased he was with something, he wouldn't be so stubborn and scowly all the time.
Finally he reached down and began to scoop water up in his hand, and dump it over Ren's hair, making a poor attempt to wash out the soap. And he was getting them both wetter, with the way the gryphon leaned on him. After every other handful of water he would shake his head slightly, ear twitching, trying to get the water off his own face.
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:25 pm
Ren reached his hand up, reaching for Jove's where it was pressed against his chest. "Trying to feel my heartbeat?" he asked lightly. Then he added "Or are you trying to feel my purring?"
It was still embarrassing, but after a while, Ren just ignored his reservations and gave into it, letting out a deep sigh. One ear flicked as he felt water trickling down his neck; Jove was using his hand to pour water atop his head to rinse out the soap.
"That's going to take a little too long, Freckles," Ren said, and without any warning leaned forward, gently pushing Jove away, almost headbutting the other boil in the chest as he dunked his head underwater. After a quick second he pulled it back up again and shook his head, spraying water everywhere and causing his hair to stick wetly to his forehead. Ren swept it away from his face with his good hand, blinking rapidly to get rid of the water he could feel clinging to his eyelashes.
"There," he said, really headbutting Jove now, nuzzling his face affectionately against the side of the puppy's neck. "All clean."
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Posted: Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:26 pm
The pup didn't seem inclined to repeat the treatment with conditioner, his good arm was tired, and he doubted he could lift his bad one high enough to do the job. Ren would just have to do it himself. He shook his own head once more to get the water off, If Ren could make a mess of everything like that, he could work on his own hair.
Jove quickly realized there was no spite to those thoughts, he felt more balanced at that moment than he had since their return, like he was finally anchored to something sane again. It must have been his brother's easygoing playfulness. Jove had been so trapped in his own insecurities that he hadn't realized how much he missed Ren, and all the chattering and spontaneous displays of affection the gryphon was childishly fond of. Both of them had been different since their return, so the bath seemed like a meeting of old friends who hadn't seen each other in ages.
His tail wagged, and then he climbed off the gryphon in favour of hunting for the soap, with which he began to methodically clean his body. Starting with his fingers he rubbed the cleansing suds over his hands, and all the way down one arm before leaning back against the side of the tub to do the other arm. It felt so nice to get clean in a warm bath...
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 9:48 am
It felt...nice. Taking this bath with Jove had so far succeeded in making - or rather, allowing Ren to feel at least a fraction of how he had felt before the whole incident, before he had been stabbed through the hand, before he had broken it, fallen down an elevator shaft, seen a ghoul get run through by a blade...
...before he had died. It was a small thing, a brief moment in time, but this time it was just him and his little brother. The two of them, doing something silly, something goofy, relaxing, something that didn't take a whole lot of energy, nor thought, but something that was both warm and soothing to the both of them. Something that they both needed.
Ren reached around, slipping the soap from Jove's small fingers. "Hold on," he said, and set the bar on the side of the tub, sliding his hands to Jove's waist. The fingers of his right hand gave a twinge, aching slightly, but he ignored it, instead lifting Jove up and turning him around so that the boil was sitting with his back to him. Ren picked up the soap again.
"You're never going to get clean if you do it that slowly," he said, and rubbed the soap across Jove's back, between the sharp angles of his shoulder blades.
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 2:52 pm
Jove frowned, trying to make a grab for the soap before Ren moved it out of his reach. How was he supposed to get clean if he had no soap! He tried to grab it again just as Ren turned him around, but his bad arm wouldn't extend far enough, and his good arm couldn't reach. And next thing he knew, Ren had it again.
He made a single motion to turn back around and face the gryphon, but he had learned his lesson the first time. The only reason he was now once again facing away from the older boil was because Ren had orchestrated the movement. Scrambling around would only cause more awkwardness than it would solve. He twisted in place though, until he could look his friend in the eye. It was a very pointed "I will want that back..." look.
Jove huffed and stared straight ahead while Ren started washing his back. And then... it seemed like the back rub was in fact a very good use of the soap.
"Mrrr..." The little pup made a quiet noise, and slowly leaned forward until the length of his back was completely stretched out. Unfortunately his height made it impossible to stretch out like that without completely submerging his scrawny back. His tail curled up and forward in quite a spitz-like manner, looking very sad in it's drenched state.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 8:05 am
"Nope," said Ren, holding the soap out of Jove's reach. "Mine."
Using his good hand, he began the movements again, covering the entirety of his little brother's skinny back with soap suds. It made his own wings flutter slightly, heavy with water, pressing against his back, the feathers itching slightly. He could feel one feather in particular brushing across one of the scars, and Ren's expression grew quieter, closing his eyes briefly, his movements halting slightly. After a second he opened them again, noticing that Jove had stretched out, almost completely submerging himself in the water now.
"Hold up there, Freckles," Ren said, his voice low and gentle. "I can't finish washing if you're underwater."
He slipped his arm under Jove, under his waist, and pulled him up again, the puppy's tail flitting wet and bedraggled against his legs. Ren kept his arm where it was, leaning against his brother, closing his eyes again.
"Don't go anywhere, okay?" he said quietly, unexpectedly serious. "I don't want to lose you; you're mine too, you know."
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 2:23 pm
The pup let out another little noise, almost a protest. Couldn't Ren just rub his back under water? Where it was warm and comfortable and whatnot? Couldn't he just clean himself later? Unlike his friend, he could splash around in the water all day and not get all wrinkly and cold, so there was no sense of urgency to say cleaning first, play later.
Ren was incorrigible with regards to his strange behaviours, so Jove was more or less resigned to sitting up. He did, however, shoot a funny look at Ren over his shoulder. He couldn't go anywhere even if he wanted to, not with the gryphon holding onto him and leaning against his back.
The pup would have just brushed it off, except Ren's last comment gave him a strange feeling in his chest. It sounded so right...
He might not have remembered it, but once upon a time he had belonged to someone, and all the love and longing from that distant past welled up in his little ghostly heart with such suddenness it caught him completely off guard. He wanted to be right there with Ren so much it very nearly hurt.
Jove let out a squeaky, unsettled yawn, and shifted to hug Ren's arm. Why did he have to go talking about that stuff all of a sudden?
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