Felix lets Ingrid practice different hairstyles on him.

(Hair) Hair. Yay. And Sylvain, because apparently, I can't write Felix without also writing him. I can live with that.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Hairstyling

"Try to sit still, Felix," Ingrid tells him for what feels like the millionth time within an hour. She's tugging on a particularly stubborn knot she found in his hair and is not very gentle in untangling it. She's sitting on a chair in Felix's room, while he's sitting on the floor in front of her.

"I'm trying!" Felix protests, wincing as she tugs at the knot again. "You're not making it easy!"

"Maybe it would be easier if you took your hair down once in a while, instead of keeping it in that bun all the time!" Ingrid tells him, but at least tries to be a bit gentler after that.

"Yeah, Felix, listen to Ingrid," Sylvain feels the need to intervene. "She's gonna make you look really pretty."

Easy for him to say, since he's just lazing around the room doing whatever he wants and giving his unwanted comments about the different styles Ingrid shapes Felix's hair into. He wasn't even invited to begin with, he just overheard Ingrid and Felix talking and invited himself along.

"Shut up, idiot," Felix grumbles at the redhead. "Why couldn't you practice on Sylvain instead?" He asks Ingrid. "He seems eager enough."

"Because his hair is too short to do anything with," is Ingrid's reply. "And Dimitri's not here, before you suggest him."

"What about the other women? Wouldn't they be better to practice your braiding skills on?" Felix asks. "They have longer hair than I do, too."

Besides, hasn't Ingrid been doing all kinds of haircare and makeup practice with them, already? Wouldn't it be better to continue with them? He remembers Ingrid with different hairstyles after spending an evening with Annette and Mercedes, asking the rest of the house what they think about it.

"They're out to town today," Ingrid informs him, finally putting down the comb, apparently having gotten all the tangles out.

Apparently there really isn't anyone else who can help her practice her hair-care skills, unless she was to try someone from another house. He doesn't even bother suggesting Ashe or Dedue, since they both had hair shorter than Sylvain. The professor is also busy today, even he knows that much.

"Fine, whatever," he grumbles, settling in for what's probably going to be a couple of hours of Ingrid fiddling with his hair, and Sylvain making unwanted comments about the whole thing. He tries to make himself comfortable, leaning back against Ingrid's hands with a sigh.

"You can play with my hair if you'd like?" Sylvain offers, then lays down on the floor with his head in Felix's lap before he has a chance to say anything.

Having nothing better to do at the moment, Felix decides to take up on that offer. It's not like he doesn't know how to do hair, having not exactly short hair himself.

He lifts a hand and puts it on Sylvain's head, gently running his fingers through the red hair, looking on as it seems to gleam in the candlelight. It shimmers and shifts in colours, as if it is also on fire. It's also very soft and nice to touch. It's not something he'd admit out loud, but Sylvain has really nice hair...

He feels Ingrid gently pulling on his hair as she starts braiding it in a familiar pattern. Apparently, she wants to start with something familiar before moving on to something new. For the lack of anything better to do, he starts mimicking what Ingrid is doing to his hair, to Sylvain's hair. It doesn't work very well, so he ends up untangling, smoothing out and starting over several times.

Sylvain doesn't seem to mind, considering how he sighs happily, makes himself more comfortable and wraps his arms around Felix's waist. Thankfully, and surprisingly, he stays quiet the entire time.

During the next couple of hours, Ingrid produces hairstyle after hairstyle, re-does them about ten times before she's happy with how they turn out, with Sylvain giving his unwanted opinion on every one of them.

Felix really can come up with at least ten better things he could be doing right now, like training, but decides to try to see this as training in patience, focus and waiting. He knows very well that's something he could still do better in.

After a few hours of this, it's finally time for dinner. Felix is sitting with two small braids in his hair, the rest in a low ponytail – he's not sure where Ingrid was going with this one – when Ingrid's stomach growls something fierce, making all three of them startle.

"I guess it's time for dinner?" She offers, trying to get over her embarrassment.

"Sounds like it," Felix agrees, pushing Sylvain of off his lap, getting up and stretching his stiff legs and back. He feels his hair, and the braids Ingrid put in it. "You go ahead, I'll have to take these out of my hair before I go anywhere."

"Alright," Ingrid agrees. "But don't take too long." With that, she's out the door.

"We'll save you a seat, don't worry," Sylvain tells him, winking as he steps toward the door to follow Ingrid. His hair is messier than usual from where Felix has been messing with it.

"Oh, by the way, Felix?" Sylvain adds just as he's about to step out the door.

"What?"

"You really are pretty with your hair like that!" He says with a grin and a wink.

"If you weren't on the other side of the room," Felix growls, glaring at the infuriating redhead, "I would punch you."

"I know!" Sylvain laughs. "Why do you think I'm over here?" He adds with a shrug before disappearing out the door.

"Sylvain..." Felix grumbles as he pulls his hair free and combs it down before following the redhead. He's just asking for trouble, that idiot.