I hope you don't mind I'm turning this into a one-shot series :) they're fun to write when ideas come to mind aren't they?
Thank you to Guest, Destiny and sunflower peach for your lovely reviews on Puppy Love!
And a big warm thank you to all of you that have read, favourited and added this story to your alerts! You are all wonderful people! xxx
I hope this new one-shot also lives up to your expectations :D
"Come on you stupi-gah!"
Jay snagged his hairbrush on another knot for the umpteenth time while trying to de-tangle his unruly brown locks.
"Stupid curls why do you always have to-" His brush snagged another knot once again, causing Jay to give a sudden yelp of pain. "Alright that's it!" Having had enough, he threw the brush down in anger and stomped out of his room towards the shared bathroom.
Jays angry stomps and grumbles didn't go unnoticed as he passed a certain nindroids bedroom..
"Jay?" Zane asked, looking up at Jay through his open door whilst sitting cross-legged on his bed reading. "Is there something wrong?"
"Oh! Nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?" At this point Jay was wildly gesticulating "I'm just gonna grab a razor and shave my entire head so my stupid hair will finally learn its lesson!" After his mild tantrum, Jay continued his preamble down the hall toward the bathroom.
Having gone wide-eyed at Jays rant, Zane immediately snapped his book closed and set it down before padding after Jay.
"Jay wait!" Zane caught up to Jay and placed a hand on his shoulder to halt his movement.
Jay stopped and turned, perplexed as to why Zane would want to follow him for such a task.
"Why on earth would you want to shave off all your hair?" Zane asked, though mildly shocked at the idea.
Jay's anger came rushing back "because I'm sick of fighting with it to brush it!" He grabbed and pulled on fistfuls of his hair to prove his point, "If I shave it off it'll be much easier to manage!" He crossed his arms gruffly.
Zane raised an eyebrow at Jay and replied In his usual calm way "Will it? Did you ever stop and think that you might actually miss it?"
Jay's previous anger completely dissipated as he took in Zane's words. He'd never thought about it before. It just seemed the simplest solution at the time.
He cast his eyes downward as he replied, rubbing his neck while doing so, feeling rather sheepish "I….I-guess I… didn't really think about it." Though this then raised an interesting point: "Wait a minute, why would you of all people bring that up?" Jay asked with a puzzled look.
To emphasise his point, Zane simply raised his other hand and tapped twice on his titanium hair, producing a tinny clanging sound.
A quiet "oh" from Jay was all it took for Zane to know that he now understood.
"Because I miss mine Jay. Yours would at least grow back, whereas mine never will."
Jay now stared at the floor, ashamed at himself for his earlier outburst.
A sad smile made its way onto Zane's face as he whispered "Come Jay." And without another word, Jay allowed Zane to lead him into his bedroom.
Zane brought over a small blue cushion from somewhere in his room and sat it on the floor beside his bed. "Have a seat brother." He asked Jay gently, gesturing to the cushion.
Jay wordlessly and obediently planted himself on said cushion and leaned back against Zane's bed.
By this point, Zane was rummaging through the drawers of his bedside cabinet, obviously searching for something.
Jay however didn't have a clue as to why he was here "Uh Zane? What're you-"
He was cut off by a triumphant "Aha!" from Zane, when he produced his prize:
An ordinary white-handled hairbrush.
Jay only furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
Prize in hand, Zane climbed onto his bed and sat directly behind Jays head.
"Now, let us see what we can do about this little mess shall we?" And with that, Zane began gently and methodically teasing out the various knots and tangles in Jays hair.
"You have certainly let your hair grow out brother. You kept it short for so long, why the sudden change?" Zane asked gently as he continued de-tangling.
Taking a moment to think about his answer, Jay, while still trying to keep still while Zane gently tugged at his hair, replied softly "I never really thought about it I guess." Jay began fiddling with a corner of the cushion, "we've been so pre-occupied with following leads on Master Wu that I just kinda..forgot to get it cut."
Zane simply hummed in response to show he'd heard, then dutifully continued.
Several minutes of comfortable silence fell between the two before Jay realised there wasn't any pain. Zane was taking the handfuls of knots into his fist and teasing them out from there, eliminating the usual pain Jay felt from tugging at his hair, almost pulling it from his scalp.
As Zane continued, Jay's curiosity was growing, and finally he felt the need to ask "So um, why do you keep that Zane?"
Zane paused temporarily to hold up his hairbrush "Oh, this? It's the one I used to use before." He answered innocently before continuing his administrations.
Jay didn't need to ask what "before" meant.
And although he didn't want to drag up painful memories, his curiosity was killing him "but then, why have you kept it if you can't use it?"
Pausing slightly to think on his answer, Zane slowed down on brushing as he hesitantly answered "I suppose I still keep it for sentimental value. I find it is always the little things you miss once you realise you will never get them back."
He continued de-tangling while Jay chewed on that thought. The idea of shaving his head was a dumb one now he thought about it.
He thought about how often his father would ruffle his hair whenever Jay did a good job with helping out on whatever machine his dad was building at the time.
He thought about how often his mother would stroke his hair when he was sick or scared. It made him feel safe and always helped calm him down.
He thought about how often he'd fall asleep on the couch, and would sometimes catch Cole placing a blanket on him before tenderly brushing away the hair from his eyes.
He thought about how often Kai would grab him in a head-lock and roughly dig his knuckles into his hair when he was feeling playful.
He thought about how often Lloyd would help pat down his hair after the static from his own electricity made it stand on end, always chuckling at Jay's expense while doing so.
He thought about how his heart would always give a thundering shudder right before melting into goo whenever Nya ran her fingers through his hair.
Now that Jay's hair was longer and thicker, it only gave Nya more to play with, sometimes deliberately playing with his hair just to get that same adorable reaction from him every time.
And Jay be darned if he didn't love every second of it.
Zane was right.
Jay took his hair for granted. Having realised how much he would miss out on if he did shave it off. Sure it would grow back, but it would take quite a while, and even then you could never guarantee it would grow back the same way.
And let's face it, a bald head would not suit him.
Jay's train of thought was cut short as Zane declared he was finished de-tangling.
Reaching a hand to feel through his hair, Jay found it was indeed knot free. He smiled at Zane. "Man that feels much better, thanks Zane!" Jay began to stand up when Zane gently grabbed his sleeve, "Wait Jay, would you mind if I…?" Jay paused while still crouched, and turned to find Zane's head bowed slightly in embarrassment. He gestured to the hairbrush beside him, as if trying to silently ask for permission…
He didn't need to.
Jay knew exactly what Zane wanted to do.
And he was more than happy to let him.
Smiling warmly at Zane, Jay nodded, then sat back down and leaned back once again, his hair practically in Zane's lap.
Zane grinned, then eagerly picked up his beloved hairbrush once again, but this time began slowly and tenderly stroking the brush through Jays hair.
Now that there were no knots or tangles, Zane found Jay's hair was actually quite soft. It reminded him of his own back when he had his own hair.
How he missed this.
It was something so simple but he missed it.
This particular brush was Zane's favourite for a reason. It had bristles all the way around, each tipped off with a tiny bead to protect ones scalp from the sharp bristle ends.
It was a simple hairbrush, but when Zane was able to use it, it always felt nice to him.
And he hoped it felt nice for Jay as well.
To Jay, it felt wonderful.
Each stroke produced a tingling sensation on his scalp. Then when Zane used it to brush the wild curls directly down the back of his neck, it made him shudder, sending a wave of shivers travelling down his spine, and he couldn't help but let a soft audible breath escape his lips.
This didn't go unnoticed.
Encouraged, Zane happily continued, relishing in Jay's reactions. Jay even shifted to get more comfortable as he leaned his head back a little further, as if to give Zane further access.
Several more minutes passed as Zane continued gently brushing Jay's hair. It was the most comfortable silence he'd ever known in Jay's presence, each enjoying the other's company, and each enjoying what the other was doing.
Leaning over slightly, Zane found Jay's eyes were closed, a blissful smile gracing his face.
Was he asleep? Zane didn't know, either way he continued tenderly brushing his brother's thick locks. It made him happy to know he was the one responsible for making his brother feel this good.
Zane could no longer brush his own hair, this much was true, a simple task that he missed dearly.
But looking down at Jay, Zane realised that if he could make his brothers feel this way because of something he himself could no longer do,
He couldn't ask for anything more.
