Work Text:
Morning Frost prided himself in his observant nature, and the most recent object of his interest was Grickos hair. His hair was a dirty blonde, the strands long and thick, frequently getting in his face when they traveled.
In the sunlight, the strands turned into molten gold despite their dark tone. He initially hadn’t thought much of his companions hair until he began noticing just how many of the strands ended in or on his own things.
In his robes, on his bed roll, in between pages of his books, and even in his own pelt, the strands visually sticking out amongst his white fur.
The next thing he noticed was how much shaggier it had gotten since Frost began travelling with him and Hootsie. The once shoulder length mane was now much more unkept and overgrown. Frost knew that it wasn’t intentional if the time Gricko spent on his nightly ritual of brushing it out was anything to go by.
Yet, the daily chasing after his daughter and the rarity of finding clean streams of water meant that his hair upkeep was kept to a minimum. For that reason it was frequent to find the Grimgrin with his hair tied up in a pony tail or in the occasional bun.
The goblin would of course deny up and down that his hair was a big point of care for himself if he were to be questioned.
After a particularly rough couple of days trekking through a mountain strip they found that no amount of brushing could remove the thick layer of grime in any of their hair. Frost could tell the goblin was rather displeased by that, and it was for that reason that Frost decided to subtly suggest a wash day.
that’s how he found himself knee deep in a wide stream not too far off of the path they had been on.
He sat on a large stone, his tail flicking as he observed Gricko wrestle his owlbear cub into the water. His bad habit of putting everyone’s needs before his own was apparent in the way he beelined to leave his daughter squeaky clean, despite the fact that she would most definitely run off to roll in the dirt in a few hours time.
After about an hour of watching the father daughter pair in amusement, Frost finally decided to step in, towering over Gricko.
“You’re wasting daylight for your own bathing, she’s clean enough,”
He chided in his monotone voice, finally giving the owlbear the opportunity to zoom off, shaking excess water from her pelt as she went. Gricko glanced up at Frost, his eyes darting from his daughter to the Tabaxi above him.
“I suppose you’re right frosty- it’s just so easy to lose track of time when you have kids,”
He bemoaned. Gricko stood up from the weird crouched position he had been in to wrestle Hootsie and stretched dramatically.
“So what made you willingly seek out water?”
Gricko asked as he turned with a shit eating grin on his face.
“I couldn’t comfortably get to the grime under my fur,”
He lied easily.
Thankfully the other didn’t push on his answer, despite knowing they’d been in dirtier conditions for much longer before.
Instead, Gricko began walking along the river bank dragging his feet to find certain slippery patches before digging his fingers into the ground, and finally pulling out a handful of clay, liberally applying it to his face and hair with glee.
He came back to sit next to Frost, laying back on the rock to let the sun dry the clay on his body, his lithe green figure making it hard for Frost to look anywhere else but him.
The two began to make small talk until the material began cracking along his face everytime he spoke, which was his indication to sink into the cool water, his fingers making quick work of scrubbing the clay away, and away with it the grime that had piled onto him.
Frost decided to dip in after him, the water much more shallow for him than it was for the goblin.
He shivered a bit at the cool water rushing over his fur, using his fingers to gently brush any debris and filth away. He leaned back, letting himself momentarily sink into the water, his ears twitching as the only sound he could hear was rapid rushing and gurgling.
After a bit of mindful meditating beneath the water, he sat back up, his eyes instinctively moving to find his best friend.
Sure enough, he was a few feet away, sitting on the large stone once more, visibly trying to hack at his wet hair with a dagger.
“Gricko?”
Blue eyes snapped to him as the goblin jumped, having forgotten he wasn’t alone, a sheepish smile crossing his face.
“Just tryna get a quick trim, I didn’t realize how many split ends I had”
Frost responded before he could even think.
“I could help with that, I mean if you want
Me to, of course”
The two stared at each other. One surprised at the offer and one surprised to have given it.
“That would be awfully nice of you, thank you Frosty”
Gricko finally responded as he shook out the small bits he HAD managed to cut into the water. Frost stood up, walking up behind Gricko and taking a seat, his soaked tail lazily waving as it dried against the stone.
With gentle hands, he began to brush out his wet hair, lightly bundling up the blonde locks to squeeze as much water out, taking his time to detangle it without tugging at the others scalp.
His fingers tugged out the leftover clay in the back of his scalp where he couldn’t reach quite well, and took out any small twigs and leaves that had found their way into his hair with the movement of the water. A soft sigh emitted from the goblin as he leaned back more comfortably, his tired and rigid form slowly beginning to unwind.
After his hair was sufficiently brushed out and damp, but not soaking, Frosty began to methodically slice of the ends with the sharpest part of his claws, angling the black nails outwards to avoid any chance of accidentally cutting the other.
While most would probably be wary of the massive tabaxi slicing away near their nape with his nails, Gricko was dozing off, eyes closed and a goofy smile upon his face.
The slow moving clouds parted above them causing the warm light to catch the hair in frost’s hands as he maneuvered it, making it glow.
He continues playing with the now clean, well groomed strands long after he’s finished cutting it, enjoying the sensation of the delicate hair sliding between his fingers.
Grooming was an intimate process for Tabaxis. A process that he had unconsciously deprived himself due to his general aversion of other people.
Now, with his companion sleeping lightly in between his knees, he found himself wishing that he’d found a way to do this sooner.
Their peace didn’t last long as Hootsie bounded back, zooming into the water and taking a big leap, a large splash of water coming over the two of them and leaving them soaked once more.
Golden eyes followed the startled goblin as he stood up and began to chase after his daughter, trying to not laugh as he switching between scolding her and praising her for her adorable mischief.
Frost quietly mourned the sudden loss of body heat pressing against him, and hoped it would not be too long before he was able to tangle his fingers into Grickos hair once more.