"you have so much tension in your head, don't you?" adrianus murmured as he pressed his fingertips into shark's scalp. "just let me massage all of those thoughts away..."

they couldn't help but lean into it. they could feel the touch all the way through to their brain.

"that's it... you know that you need this, don't you?"

"this time, i really do..." they muttered.

"you poor thing..." he cooed. "but it's good, that you've come to me... you should always come to me, when you're having too many thoughts... too much tension in your head... you know i'll always take care of it..."

it was just the right balance of caring and reassuring, and potentially kind of creepy and sinister.

the massaging was nice, too, his long fingers carefully rubbing and pressing and stroking. the thoughts getting worked out of them like knots in their muscles, all the tension in their head feeling like it was coming out of their mouth with every breath.

"i can feel you relaxing..." adrianus said softly. "you're doing so well... so good at letting go, even when you felt so stiff and tight just a moment ago... you give in so quickly, don't you?"

"well, like, i mean... right now, it's just like... y'know." they were aware they were barely communicating anything, but they didn't want to bother elaborating.

it was enough to get a quiet chuckle from adrianus. "i know..." he said, the same way you might respond to a cat who's meowing at you. "you just needed it that badly, didn't you? mm... you should really come to me a bit sooner... before you get like this in the first place... shouldn't you? you need more sessions, don't you? you need me to help you with all of those excess thoughts... before they fill your little head... and become uncomfortable..."

"i really should..." they mumbled. "it's just hard..."

"i know you're trying to take care of yourself... you just need a little bit of help..." the massaging felt sweet and gentle, his voice becoming more of a whisper near their ear. "i'll just have to give you a few more helpful suggestions... a few reminders... maybe a bit more training... i'm sure you won't mind that, will you?"

they were melting. "sounds good..."

"what a good boy... i'll be sure you don't tire yourself out like this again... at least not anytime soon... and i'd better limit your capacity to think for a while to give you a chance to recharge, too..."

it was fine with them. their brain was mush already, anyway.