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Tighnari sighed, looking at himself in the mirror.
It was....a normal day, he supposed. He always started his schedule with waking up, taking a bath, and applying whatever oils/mixtures he had to add to his ears and tail.
Right now, he was on step three, and was having a little trouble reaching his tail today.
Prior to today, he and Cyno had beaten.....a lot of Treasure Hoarders and dismantled a lot of Withering Zones, nevertheless he was really tired...and sore.
And tired and sore bones didn't help when it came to cleaning his tail.
He huffed, ears drooping a little bit; he was still so tired and still really sore, and he really didn't want to deal with his tail right now; he had barely combed it (calling it combing was generous) there were still many knots, and it was all puffed up and barely dried.
Luckily, his best friend, Cyno had spent the night, and had woken up to spot Tighnari standing idly in front of his mirror.
"Careful Tighnari, if you keep on standing in front of the mirror like that, you might develop reflections of grandeur," he greeted, yawning quietly.
Tighnari groaned, his ear twitching in annoyance.
"You see, it’s a play on 'delusions of grandeur'—but since you’re looking into a mirror, I substituted 'delusions' with 'reflections.' Because mirrors... reflect. Get-"
"I don't need you to explain the joke, Cyno."
Cyno squinted, blinking a few times, before noticing the disheveled state Tighnari was in.
Tighnari was never disheveled.
Especially with his tail.
"Why's your tail all poofed up?"
"Why do you think?"
"I don't know, please tail me."
Tighnari groaned, glaring at his friend.
"Not funny."
"You don't get it? Well, you see-"
"Don't explain it either please."
"Fine. Well, do you need help?"
Nari blinked owlishly at Cyno, startled.
"....What?"
"Need help. Doing whatever it is you need to do to your tail. I've seen you do it a handful of times, I can help! I promise I'll be gentle! Besides...I've always wanted to touch it~"
"Pshh, fine. Just, be gentle and no jokes. Here, apply it very carefully, it's a waterproof oil designed to keep my tail smooth and decent."
Tighnari lay on the bed, humming as Cyno carefully took his tail between his hands and started doing as he was instructed, and Nari closed his eyes quietly; he never knew his friend could be so gentle....and it did feel kind of good~
"Nari, your tail is super soft! If softness were a crime, you'd be serving a fluff sentence."
Tighnari proceeded to slap Cyno with his tail, huffing in unamusement, while Cyno stared at him, deadpan, but with the unmistakebale beginning's of a small smile.
“It’s a play on words,” he said, voice steady. “You see, ‘fluff’ refers to both the texture of your tail and the slang term for something light or trivial. By saying you’d be serving a ‘fluff sentence,’ I’m implying that your softness is criminally excessive, and the punishment would be appropriately fluffy. It’s a pun. Tailored justice.”
Tighnari just groaned, burying his face in his hands, while Cyno, satisfied, continued with his work.
It was then he heard a quiet rumbling noise.
"Nari, are you purring?"
Tighnari jolted up, the humming noise stopping immediately.
"I-what-NO!" he sputtered, flustered.
"Uh-huh. Sure you weren't."
"I wasn't!"
“Ah. So you’re in de-purr-nial.”
"Cyno, no."
He blinked. “It’s a compound pun. ‘Denial’ becomes ‘de-purr-nial’—a state of refusing to acknowledge one’s own purring. It’s a rare condition. Very fluffy. Highly contagious.”
"I hate you."
"Well I love you. And you clearly love me, because you were purring."
"Ughhhh.."
The rest of their quiet session passes by, the comfortable silence filled with Nari's purrs (he still denies he's purring but we all know otherwise) and Cyno's occasional quiet jokes.
"Alright, I'm done."
Nari rolls over on the bed, getting up and stretching.
"Thanks Cyno...it was much faster than how I normally do it.....could you~"
"Do it for you again?"
"....Yeah, thank you."
He paused. “Of course. You could say I’m... swift tail enforcement.”
Tighnari stared at him, thoroughly unimpressed.
“It’s a pun. ‘Swift’ refers to speed, and ‘tail enforcement’ is a fabricated term implying I specialize in tail-related assistance. It’s not recognized by the Akademiya. Yet.”
Finally, Nari puffs out a laugh, and Cyno grins, satisfied with himself.
"You're lucky I love you, otherwise I would have strangled you by now."
"I love you too Nari. "