His wife was away on a trip, planned weeks ahead of time, and still, he felt unprepared. Hannah was torn about leaving her two-year-old daughter home, but she needed to make the trip without Kaia. Loki assured her he would take care of their daughter. Affronted by her skepticism, he now understood why.
His daughter's bright blue eyes gazed at him questioningly and went back to splashing in the short tub for her nightly bath. He had an early morning meeting and missed the morning routine, and thankfully the nurse his wife appointed to their daughter got her through the morning without any problems. Now that he was out of council meetings he ventured to care for his daughter, only to find that she needed a bath.
She seemed unaware of Loki's growing anxiety as he delicately cleaned his daughter, having to shed quite a few layers of clothes and still managing to get water on every article. Eventually, he just tossed his tunic off and bathed her without his shirt on. His wife would undoubtedly find his predicament funny and would be laughing should she have been there. Thankfully, not, but he was aware this wouldn't be the last time he would have to do this.
With a creased brow, he managed to lift her up without too many protests from his daughter. He was acutely aware that she was quite slippery, and worried that he'd lose his grip and she would fall face first into the tub. Thankfully, his daughter was a sport and stayed still as he washed everything.
Her hair was one of the last parts he washed and was amazed by how much hair his little girl had. She had his hair; black, thick, and impossibly curly. His hair was treated with oils that kept them tame, but his wife has woken up to his errant hair sticking up when they were away for private time. A good night of fucking and Hannah's fingers combing and pulling his hair caused quite a few instances that even he had to laugh at.
Despite the oils, her hair tangled as soon as his hands touched the tips. The more he tried running his fingers through her hair he was met with more resistance which caused his daughter to whine and cry when he kept at it. He looked at her worriedly anytime she protested, and his mind was a never-ending cycle of "is she okay?" and "how am I supposed to do this?"
He wasn't incompetent. He'd done this when she was much smaller, but she had less hair to contend with then. He tried to remember how Hannah did it but realized he wasn't really paying attention to her careful ministrations. Then he thought it might've been the mother's touch, his mother had certainly succeeded in taming both his and Thor's wild hair when they were younger.
With renewed confidence, he tried again. But, again, he failed. His daughter began to grow frustrated, just as he was, but her ire was directed towards him, and the more he fought with her hair, the less she became manageable. He was tempted to call in a nurse but didn't want to leave his daughter alone in the tub.
Instead, he just dumped water on her head, careful to keep the water from her eyes and ensuring that all the soap was off her. Beside the tub was a large fluffy towel that he thankfully thought of before starting this, and wrapped her in it and held her to him.
Taking her to the fireplace in his room, he sat down on the floor. He had her stand to dry her off, then went about fluffing her hair. In hindsight, was probably not the best idea, considering he didn't do a good job while she was in the tub. When he pulled the towel away, her hair was a tangled mass of curls atop her head, in no discernable fashion and seemed to be even more tangled now than it was when she was in the tub.
He checked the towel to be sure it wasn't enchanted for this type of problem that now faced him, but finding that it was just a simple towel, he groaned in frustration. His own idiocy led him to this. His daughter didn't seem to care, and she happily played in the towel and basked in her nakedness. He imagined she got that from him too, as he liked to prance around his room naked much to the delight of his wife before their daughter came along. He still liked to sleep naked, but Hannah reminded him that he would have to be dressed for when Kaia got older and would come in their room unexpectedly. For now, though, he was just glad that his daughter wasn't crying or screaming at him.
She was slightly chubby, her stomach sticking out, arms with rolls on them and impossibly adorable cherub cheeks. He saw his wife in his daughter, and his heartfelt a pang knowing that she wasn't here with him. An innocent moment is never wasted on her, and she would have been gazing at them longingly as he attempted to care for their daughter.
Still, she would've been better at managing Kaia's hair better than Loki would be. He chided himself, his daughter had his same hair, why couldn't he just do what he did with his own?
From the table near them was a brush that he often saw his wife use on Kaia's hair. Soft bristles that he'd seen glide through the black strands that now seemed unlikely to even get out all the knots and tangles that he saw.
Ensuring that his daughter was entertained enough for him to venture into the mess before him, he began. He had no intentions of allowing his daughter to get sick on his hands, he would never hear the end of it from Hannah. Despite loving her, and having the immense power of his own, his woman slightly terrified him when she was especially angry at him. He was determined to see this through.
At first, it seemed that he was getting through the strands, but after looking at his handiwork he realized he was only brushing the top layer. It matted everything underneath and he tried to be cautious to press down harder to get the under layers. His daughter tried squirming out of his reach, clearly not enjoying the treatment her head was getting. Loki then attempted to entertain his daughter with some magic tricks, things that he could keep materialized while he concentrated on her hair.
Why was curly hair so difficult? He huffed, brows knitting together and his lips forming a thin line. Why couldn't he do it? He winced when his daughter made an especially high-pitched squeak. He felt like he had been making progress, but again, the delicate strands were untamable.
He wanted to throw the brush into the fire, but that would cause more problems than solve them. Mostly, he just didn't want the flames to come at his daughter. He wanted to keep her calm, knowing she didn't think too much about her missing mother so long as she was focused on something. If he started a cry fest because he couldn't brush her hair, she wouldn't ever calm down because she would scream for a mother that wouldn't be home until the next day.
"Why must your hair be so difficult," Loki whined. His daughter turned to look at him. Her head cocked to the side and then attempted to sit up. She grunted getting up on her knees and hands holding her weight as she tried moving her feet under her to stand. Loki was curious where she would go, and he had the terrifying thought she would go running out of the room completely naked and hair everywhere, showing the whole of Asgard his ineptitude in dressing and brushing his daughter.
His fears were unfounded though, as she came directly to him and fell in his lap, her head with its matted hair, and her short chubby arms resting on his bare chest. His frustrations drained out of him, and he smiled warmly. He kissed the top of his daughter's head, knowing that despite his incapability in some aspects of caring for her, she still loved him. Loki simply enjoyed having his daughter in his arms and forgot about having to brush her hair.
"What is this?" He heard Hannah's voice somewhere near him. She didn't sound distraught, or angry, just curious. He opened one eye, he was sitting in one of the armchairs by the fireplace, the fire having gone out sometime in the night. His daughter wrapped in the towel he dried her with and curled into him with her head resting in the middle of his chest. He looked back to his wife.
"Her hair is incredibly hard to tame," Loki told her. A smile broke out on her face, and covering her mouth she attempted to not make a smile as she laughed, shaking her head at him.
"Just get on the bed you two, I missed you both." Loki smiled, feeling quite the same way. His daughter was dead asleep and easily snuggled under the covers of their large bed, crawling in after her and feeling the effects of sleeping in an armchair all night. His wife shed her cloak and a few garments until she was in her underdress and joined them.
"You didn't wash her hair, did you?" she asked, eyebrow raised. Loki felt his cheeks burn.
"I managed just fine," Loki defended. Hannah pulled the covers over them, reaching her hand over to run her fingers through Kaia's hair. Her fingers somehow magically ran through them without any trouble.
"There's still soap," Hannah said. On her fingers was soap residue, putting them in front of Loki's face. He blushed again.
"Oh," he said.
"Oh, indeed," Hannah laughed. "I can only imagine what you went through just to accomplish this. We'll fix it when she wakes up."
"It's a lot harder than it looks," Loki said.
"I know, Loki," Hannah said.