Day Two: Teasing

Teasing: to gently pull or comb into separate strands

Hak watched Yona quietly. Yoon had taken the four dragons on a treasure hunt for dinner, leaving him and the princess to finish setting up camp. Even with just the two of them, though, the work had been finished rather quickly. Yona had decided to take a bath in the nearby river, and now sat on a boulder combing her hair with her fingers. As he watched, they encountered a snag and the princess hummed in disapproval.

Hak stood and made his way over. She looked up when his shadow blocked the light.

"Hak?" she asked, fingers now working away at the knot.

"Do you need help?" He nodded at her hair, then moved behind her to allow the light through again.

"Mmm… maybe. When it was still short, I had no need for a brush or comb. But now that it's growing out… well, I suppose I could always cut it again."

"Jae-ha and Kija both have a brush you could borrow," Hak suggested. His fingers twitched at his side. "I'd say ask Zeno, but I've never seen him with one and with his rat's nest of a head, I doubt he even knows how to use one."

Yona laughed, then yelped as the movement made her pull her own hair. Hak laid his hand on hers to still it, then blinked down at it. When did he…?

"For now, I could comb it," he heard himself say aloud. Inside his head, he cursed himself. Baka! She'll never - Not when Soo-won used to -

"That'd be great! I can't see it without a mirror, so it's been a little difficult."

Hak blinked down at the red head. "Sorry?" he asked.

"It's still wet from my bath, and even though it's longer it's still nowhere near as long as it used to be, so your fingers should do the trick."

"Right…" he said slowly. "I can -"

Yona moved her hand away, leaving just his own resting on her hair. He stared down at it. The setting sun caused her hair to light up like fire between his fingers. Slowly, he crooked his fingers forward and slid his hand down. His index finger caught in a knot first. Bending forward, he started picking it apart.

By the time Yoon and the dragons returned, Yona was fast asleep on her rock as Hak gently slid his fingers through her hair.