Drying her was an arduous task at the least, her loose fur getting everywhere and the damp smell lingered long after she seemed to be fully dry. Kain had done his best to brush her, but after the third time he was immobilized by explosive sneezes, Mika had to take over. While he struggled to dry his watering eyes, she unraveled the tangled nest her hair had become and swept herself clean of most of her remaining winter coat. With that done, she cleaned the brush only to hand it back to him with her head turned to hide her flushed cheeks.
"Could you do the rest? Twisting is..." She fell silent, her mouth twisting in embarrassment, but he could understand why she was reluctant. Her injuries still plagued her and had made simply brushing her hair a herculean task of its own, let alone twisting to reach behind her. With a small sense of trepidation, Kain took her tail in hand and slowly ran the brush across the damp fur, nervous about pulling it by accident. Apparently he needn't have worried, as Mika quietly told him that it wouldn't fall off if he brushed it properly. He could feel the heat in his face as he bent over her then, which allowed him to notice exactly the moment that her back began to arch. The change was surprisingly subtle, a straightening of her shoulders, her hips shifting slightly, movements so minute he would never have seen them had he not been so intent on watching what his hands were doing.
Another sweep of the brush and it became more pronounced, by the third pass he realized it was when the brush passed over the base of the tail itself, the completed motion actually relaxing Mika instead of creating more of the subtle tension. When he could no longer continue to brush her tail without it seeming suspicious he set the brush aside and reached out to touch where the fur began to thin near her spine. The only signs that Mika noticed was the faintest huffing sound she made, and how her ears flicked back toward him as if to simply listen. Heartened by this, he began to scratch the base of her tail in earnest, and sure enough her spine arched and her tail stuck out straight behind her almost as if she'd been petrified. Fascinated by this response, it wasn't until he'd noticed the way her breathing had grown ragged, coming out in heavy huffs or how she gripped her knee that he realized her reaction might not be entirely appropriate. Jerking his hand back as if scalded, apologies spilled out of his mouth until he realized the look Mika was giving him was actually one of disappointment.
"Why did you stop?" Her tone of voice was almost plaintive, and it ground his words to a stuttered stop, leaving Kain standing there and staring down at her dumbly. He found that he honestly had no answer for that, feeling as if his face were burning brightly as he pressed a fist to his mouth.
part 4/??? cw: wet animeeple fur everywhere, kain being a huge dumb
with her head turned to hide her flushed cheeks.
"Could you do the rest? Twisting is..." She fell silent, her mouth twisting in embarrassment, but he could understand why she was reluctant. Her injuries still plagued her and had made simply brushing her hair a herculean task of its own, let alone twisting to reach behind her. With a small sense of trepidation, Kain took her tail in hand and slowly ran the brush across the damp fur, nervous about pulling it by accident. Apparently he needn't have worried, as Mika quietly told him that it wouldn't fall off if he brushed it properly. He could feel the heat in his face as he bent over her then, which allowed him to notice exactly the moment that her back began to arch. The change was surprisingly subtle, a straightening of her shoulders, her hips shifting slightly, movements so minute he would never have seen them had he not been so intent on watching what his hands were doing.
Another sweep of the brush and it became more pronounced, by the third pass he realized it was when the brush passed over the base of the tail itself, the completed motion actually relaxing Mika instead of creating more of the subtle tension. When he could no longer continue to brush her tail without it seeming suspicious he set the brush aside and reached out to touch where the fur began to thin near her spine. The only signs that Mika noticed was the faintest huffing sound she made, and how her ears flicked back toward him as if to simply listen. Heartened by this, he began to scratch the base of her tail in earnest, and sure enough her spine arched and her tail stuck out straight behind her almost as if she'd been petrified. Fascinated by this response, it wasn't until he'd noticed the way her breathing had grown ragged, coming out in heavy huffs or how she gripped her knee that he realized her reaction might not be entirely appropriate. Jerking his hand back as if scalded, apologies spilled out of his mouth until he realized the look Mika was giving him was actually one of disappointment.
"Why did you stop?" Her tone of voice was almost plaintive, and it ground his words to a stuttered stop, leaving Kain standing there and staring down at her dumbly. He found that he honestly had no answer for that, feeling as if his face were burning brightly as he pressed a fist to his mouth.