Careless Hair
Part Six in the Foolish Games series.
"To her surprise she felt strong hands kneading her scalp right there. No one had washed her hair with such care in years. She loved having her hair washed. It was the best part of getting her hair professionally done. But this was . . .this was different." Excerpt from "Acts of Devotion Series: Beginning of the End: Meeting Again"
Willow squirmed on the floor.
"I'm gonna mess up this part."
"I know," she said, making a face her lover couldn't see. "But if I could just have a mirror?"
Oz leaned down, shifting all his weight to his right thigh and elbow. "Don't trust me?"
"Of course!" Willow flushed. "Of course I trust you. It's just that . . .no one's ever done my hair before?"
"Not even your Mom?" he asked, sitting over her once more.
She made another face he couldn't see. "Mom considers going to the hairdresser a waste of time and a new headband as the fashion find of the month."
"Friends?"
"Jesse and Xander play with my hair? I don't think putting gum in it counts. Or ants in Xander's case."
"And these were your two best friends," Oz deadpanned. Because Devon was so much better at twice whatever age you Xander and Jesse had been.
Willow turned, looking up at him. "We were five!"
A gentle nudge had her facing the right way. "Um, Buffy? Cordy? Some random girl you played with outside one day and never saw again?"
"Nope, no way, and never happened."
"Hmm, that's a shame. Random friendships are always interesting." They were silent for a moment. "You should let Buffy do something with your hair. I think she'd appreciate it."
Willow furrowed a brow. "Appreciate having her brush all gunked up with my hair?"
"I was thinking more on the lines of normalcy."
"Oh. I'll think about it."
"Here."
Willow was momentarily surprised silent. "Huh? What?"
Oz handed her the hand mirror again. "All done. You can look now. Go check it out in the bathroom. If you don't like it, it comes out easy enough." Course it had been a pain to put in, but he didn't mention that.
Rising swiftly Willow scampered off into the bathroom. "Oh, wow! Wow! Oz, where'd you learn how to braid?"
He watched her admire his handiwork from the open door. "Got a friend, Black girl, who used to live here. She sings. She used to wear her hair like that. Before she cut it off. Anyway, we're on the road one night, just off a gig and really hyper but really bored too so she asks me to help her take out her braids. We're still bored so I asked her if she could put braids in my hair. It was longer then. And yellower. She taught me how to braid while she did it. Didn't really last. We couldn't scrounge up enough rubber bands. That was a very weird night, the next gig. She cut all her hair off that night. And Devon was sober. On purpose."
Finger to his chin, Oz was momentarily lost in thought before catching himself in the double reflection of Willow's handheld mirror and the bathroom mirror. "Anyway, thought you might want to, you know, try something different."
Gingerly Willow touched the maze of red cornrows on her head. She could see her scalp. Willow giggled. "It's definitely different."
"Don't like?"
"Wait till I show Buffy! Huh? Oh, no! It's different in a cool, I-gotta-get-used-to-it kinda way. Thanks, Oz," she threw a hug around him.
"Now I know I have a camera around her somewhere," he murmured into her neck.
Willow giggled.
Finis
