Anna woke up to a faint but rhythmic tugging on her hair. It felt odd. she should probably feel more panicked but she was still sleepy.

"Wha-?" she mumbled, trying to roll over but was stopped.

"Don't! I'm nearly finished!" came the voice of her...boyfriend? Partner? Callen, whatever he was to her.

They'd fallen asleep, tangled together, last night. Eventually, she thought with a sleepy grin.

OK, his response explained nothing. The tugging feeling intensified. It wasn't sore, just weird.

Anna rubbed at her eyes and asked again, "What?" No answer, just a frustrated huff. "Callen what are you-"

"Shh. I'm just braiding your hair," he told her matter-of-factly.

She blinked, feeling somewhat dumbfounded. He was what?

"You braid hair?"

That probably came out quite insulting sounding but she had just woken up.

"I don't know," he admitted, his fingers still moving incessantly.

She resisted the urge to turn around and give him an incredulous look.

"So, you are attempting it on my hair?"

She felt him shrug behind him and could almost feel his careless smirk as he replied, "Well, I can braid rope. How much different can it be?"

"Very," Anna informed him. "I am not into the ship rope look."

"It would look good on you," he said teasingly.

Rolling her eyes, Anna shifted slightly, feeling a cramp roll through her. She'd been in one position for too long.

"Are you nearly finished?" she hoped she didn't sound too impatient; it was just that her leg was falling asleep.

"Mm hmm," he replied absent-mindedly.

She thought that he was on the last bit, she hadn't felt any more tugging on her hair so he'd got past her scalp.

"Do you have a hair tie thing?" he asked.

"Yes," she told him, bending her arm behind her so he could retrieve it from her wrist.

Usually, she didn't have one on hand, preferring to leave her hair down. They'd come to his place straight after a case of hers so her hair was already tied back. Not that that lasted long after they crossed the threshold...

She felt the deft twists of his wrist as he stretched the hair band over her hair and secured the braid.

"Ta da," he said in a deadpan voice, flicking the braid over her shoulder.

It felt solid and heavy. Taking the opportunity, Anna stretched all her limbs before picking herself off the floor. Well, Callen's bed but same thing really. They were both practically at the same level. There was a mirror around here somewhere she recalled. Ah, it was over there. It was simple but ornate and it actually showed your entire head. There was a fleeting thought at who put it up because it certainly wasn't Callen.

She inspected the braid in the mirror. Surprisingly, it was actually very well done. He'd started the braid at the nape of her neck, probably because she had been sleeping when he started, and continued until he had run out of hair. It was smooth and neat as well as being fairly even though shed put the slight bumps due to the position she'd been lying in. It didn't exactly make braiding easy to do.

"I like it," she pronounced, turning around to smile at him.

The nearly undetectable anxious look cleared from his face.

"You do?" he checked.

Anna nodded in response and ran her fingers down it; it was incredibly taut. How he managed that without yanking her head about was beyond her. Quite impressive actually considering the mess it must have been in after last night's...activities. Ahem.

"It's great," she reiterated and then smiled slyly at him. "You could go into business with those skills."

"Braiding hair? I don't think simple braids are a viable hairdressing career," he said wryly but looking proud of himself.

"If you knew others... waterfall, French, Dutch, fishtail, four strand. Plenty of options if you want to French, Dutch broaden your horizons."

She was only half joking; the braid was that good. And she'd hardly felt a thing despite lying across a mattress (literally).

Callen was still giving her a blank stare that he'd directed at her when she started listing the different types of braids.

"There's no way any of those are a thing," he said in an unconvincing tone, shaking his head doubtfully. "You're making fun."

Anna raised an eyebrow, "You haven't head of French braids?"

He shook his head.

"Should I?" he shot back.

"Kensi wears her hair in one when she's in the field a lot of times," she pointed out.

Another blank look from Callen. Anna sighed.

"It's the one that looks like it's attached to her head."

"Ohhh," he said as his face dawned in comprehension. "It has a name?"

This time she was the one shaking her head in disbelief.

"It's a good thing you're cute," she told him, stepping over to kiss him on the tip of his nose.

He pulled a funny cross-eyed look, making her giggle. Her stomach growled.

"I think you need fed," he teased, reaching across to tug her braid affectionately.

"Yes please," she said quickly, suddenly feeling just how hungry she actually was.

They did burn a lot of calories last night. They needed to be replaced.

Callen just smirked at her and waved her hands in an exaggerated flourish towards his kitchen.

"One can have lucky charms or...uh, bread."

"You don't sound too convinced about that."

"Not entirely sure about the state of the bread," he admitted, checking out the cupboard. "Yep," he said with a grimace, holding a packet of bread between his fingers. "Mouldy."

"Lucky charms it is," Anna said decisively, screwing her face up in disgust when she caught a glimpse of just how mouldy the bread was.

"It's way at the back of the top shelf," Callen directed as he tossed the bread.

It was a good thing she was tall; she didn't have to jump to see the contents of said shelf.

"Why?" she asked, stretching to retrieve it.

She shook the box. It was half full.

"So, Sam can't find it," Callen explained.

"What?"

"He threw my last box out," he added with a trace of a pout. "Said no partner of his was going to eat such sugary crap."

"So, he binned it?"

"Uh huh, so I just come up with better hiding spots."