Yama started to give up combing his hair as his hair looked no different from ten minutes ago - a messy, untidy snarl of hair which was comparable to the best of a bird's. Frustrated, he threw the comb on top of the dresser and howled towards the ceiling, finally taking his eye off the ancient mirror. He did not know why he would get so impatient; throughout the years he served on Arcadia as her Captain, he had never been annoyed or irritated by the silly deeds of his crew members. He refuse to believe it. He had been mild for decades, and now he got angry because of his hair!
He forced himself to get back to work after another long cry. He looked at the figure in the mirror again and froze. His eye widened in recognition but he dared not look back, fearing that if he did, his lover whom he had been dreaming to see for years.
'Harlock?' Yama breathed. 'Is that you?'
The former Captain of Arcadia held out his hand and said nothing.
Just like what he had done when he still walked with a physical form.
The younger male picked up the comb and slowly gave it to Harlock. Unlike how Yama had treated his hair, he smoothed out the locks of his hair on by one with patience, using his seemingly-there fingers instead of the comb most of the time.
Yama lost track of time as he continued to stare at his long-dead lover in the mirror. After the one just when he found his husband in the mirror, they had not locked gazes anymore with Harlock focusing on Yama's hair.
The Captain of Arcadia found himself falling asleep as the ghost (or whatever he was) did his hair. He wanted to stay awake, but he could not. He stubbornly battled against the tug of sleep for a while and failed miserably.
He dreamt of a life he could never have, a life of peace and without worries. He worked in a conservatory as a botanist, with Harlock visiting him daily and sometimes allowed to stay and help with his work. And when Yama returned late at night, Harlock would be sleeping on the sofa and immediately woke up to make dinner for his husband. The food was not fancy, but to Yama, having his husband with him was already enough.
But dreams were dreams, and one could not stay in that world for a long time. Yama slowly opened his eye, trying to search for Harlock with his blurry vision but there was not a single clue of his arrival except for the comb placed on the dresser.
Yama stared at it until he fell asleep again.