HAIR
Main Characters: Rafe Ander Summary: Their first argument was about David's hair.
Fodder: Invasion America
Genre: General
Pairings: N/A
Rating: E
Does it contain spoilers?: Yes
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The first time Rafe had a serious argument with Rita after Cale left, it was about David's hair, and they both had an honest to goodness reason for it.
Rita had been content to let it grow while he was young. She thrilled on it, and it was a bonding experience to do her children's hair. A few minutes a day with each of them and a hairbrush to reenforce and strengthen the bond between mother and child in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with the mental strength the kids had or Rita's lack thereof.
Without the ability to touch their minds, it was physical contact that was necessary for the task.
Rafe had watched her; tucked on the swing she and the kids would come out to watch the sunset and play in the yard, and as stars began to twinkle in she'd run soft bristles through even softer hair. Amy first, because she was less keen to tangle it, then David would be next, always climbing into her lap without much prompting. Rita sang to them as she worked, a haunting melody Cale had taught her, mixing history with myth. Rafe knew it by necessity, as it was about the House of Oosha, but still, Rita sang it well. Properly.
Nevertheless, David was six when his mother announced he required a haircut. Rafe had vehemently protested.
His disagreement was simple; Tyrusian children did not cut their hair. It was left down to grow until they came of age and were wed, at which point it was drawn either back or up. Widows wore their hair short for the Hundred Days of Mourning, and then continued to do so if they had children. It marked their place in society. The occasional widower wore it too, assuming they survived the death of their Kia, until they were prepared to move on. The widow with no children grew her hair back out.
Rafe wore his hair short out of necessity now days. He was a deputy, and long hair in Earth Law Enforcement drew unwanted attention.
Rita's argument was better, however. Human boys did not wear their hair long. It drew unwanted attention. Furthermore, long hair in Kindergarten would only prompt children to tease David, which might result in him lashing out mentally, which would draw further unwanted attention.
Rita won. Rafe didn't have any talismen to make that a moot point.
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With Tyrusians, hair was everything.
So when Rafe stepped onto Suta's ship, it was not that surprising that his hair was short. He was a widower, after all; Suta had served with the man himself, and had known that he'd been married, and had been one of the few Rafe had told that she was gone. Besides, Rafe's boy Valen never spoke of his mother, and there had been plenty of chances since he'd stepped aboard from the Rita's Dream.
What had caught everybody's heart in their throat, however, was when the young Prince stepped on board, and his pale skin made his short dark locks even more prominent then they might have been otherwise. The suffering expression he wore meant it was recent, and they were torn between offering their apologies for his loss and requesting Rafe's aid.
Asking for help with Charles came first, because it was necessary they stop it or there wouldn't be a world here anymore; that didn't stop Suta from catching Rafe alone during the trip.
"Yes Suta?"
Suta sent a long look at where the Prince had kidnapped a spot by his own son and was watching Keir fly the ship. Keir himself looked thrilled to be explaining the wonders of piloting to anybody.
Rafe made a quiet noise, "He'll be fine. He's lost his whole life recently. He'll be better once we get his sister back."And then, incomprehensibly, Suta swore that Rafe said something about warning her about this back when she first cut his hair.