Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 78: brought to you by shampoo, the best kind of poo

Today on "The Chubby Poke'mon Master": brothers fight, friends makeup, luscious hair products are used, hobbit hole build ups are daydreamed, and a calming night commences, albeit not a happy one since some sad idiot just died.

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Aetius frowned slightly. "Then I'll say nothing."

"The world doesn't turn at Captain's word, Aetius. Her health is more important than..."

"Than tradition? Than the Clan? What's next: giving her the blankets and raising the children away from the valley? How about letting centuries of culture shrivel to nothing... would that please you, Vincent?" His voice got quieter and more gravelly until he sounded like Batman.

"It's a simple mineral soak, Aetius, if our way of life is in danger from a soak, then it deserves to perish." Vincent raised an eyebrow at him, then deliberately looked past him to Neara. "Thank you for bringing the basket."

Neara held out the basket obediently, the fragrance coming from it almost like patchouli and leather. "You're welcome." She kept her eyes away from Shay. "If she needs anything..."

"I will get it for her. Thank you, again." Vincent nodded towards the cave opening.

"What's in the basket?" Shay's small voice echoed around the chamber, sounding possibly more pathetic and lonely than she intended.

"I've noticed you like touching your hair; these products will help keep it shiny and soft." He pulled out a small bottle made from a shell and capped with a chunk of cork. He sat down behind her and gently lowered his legs to either side of her.

"This is not..." Aetius began.

"What this isn't is up for debate, Aetius." Vincent's voice sounded pleasant with a dangerous hiss.

"You get the affections of a female once and..."

"I seem to remember Father doing the same for you."

"And look where it got him." Aetius's voice stayed quiet, the echoes of the cave barely picking it up. "Dead. Most of our Clan, dead. Most of our family, dead. Mother walked away, disowned us."

"The things people do for love are intricate and complex... be glad she doesn't look for crystals or emeralds or..."

"Or what? We already lost Joseph to her and--"

"She didn't ask for that!" Neara butted in, her sudden volume deafening in the growling argument between the brothers. "She didn't ask for anything! She just wanted him to leave her alone!"

"And do you speak for your friend, Neara?" Aetius turned to her, a fleshy robot with no beating heart.

"Well, no, but I know she doesn't ask for things like that. Her mates have 4 stripes each, do you honestly think that she'd ask crystals from a no-stripe when they could give her all she wanted?" Her voice stuttered, but remained angry.

"And you..."

"Do you speak for the Clan?" Vincent interrupted, his toes clenched on the smooth stone on either side of Shay. "Does your voice rule the valley? Until it does, I am not required to seek your approval..."

"It was your foolishness that got you into the mess in the first place. You knew she had a snake mate and you didn't think, after a year together, they would have children? That Joseph was joking when he said they had ten? You saw the daughters, Vincent, you saw the children, and you were so focused on her, you forgot to defend her babies." He bit his lip and squared his shoulders; he'd been leaning towards his brother. "I can't blame her for lashing out in defense of her young... I blame her for Joseph, though, for the death of another member of our Clan. It's bad enough Theo..."