jaxihammer

my brain is a carousel and Sam Reich is in control

171 posts

Braiding

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“Why did I agree to this?”

“Beats me!” Eiffel said with a smile. “But you did!”

Minkowski groaned. “I regret it already.” It was her room. This was probably against some protocol or another, something about keeping professional relationships professional.

Eiffel chuckled, patting the space in front of him and crossing his legs. “Come on, Rapunzel.”

“Maybe I should just shave it all off.”

He laughed. “And you call me dramatic. Trust me, I’m actually not bad at this. Scout’s honour.”

She huffed, but sat in front of him.

“That’s the spirit!”

Minkowski turned to glare at him, but he only grinned back.

At least if he messed up her hair, she could do the same right back.

The first touch of his fingers untangling her hair made her jump. How long had it been since someone had touched her? It must have been longer than she’d thought.

Eiffel gently worked out the larger knots with his fingers, noting how she shivered at the touch. He understood that feeling. Instead of commenting, he grabbed the brush, carefully running it through her hair and smoothing it out.

Okay, so it felt really nice to have someone brush her hair. “You are good at this.”

Eiffel smiled. “No need to sound so surprised.” He paused. “Okay, maybe there’s a little reason.”

Minkowski smirked. She’d softened on her Communications Officer over the last few months. Started letting his jokes get to her, teasing him back on occasion. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but… they felt like friends, now.

That was a nice feeling.

He put the brush down next to them and started gathering her hair into one long strand. Unfortunately for her, doing so meant that his nails brushed the back of her neck, drawing out a twitch and a gasp and oh right, she was ticklish there.

And she’s just allowed her friend and head of mischief full access. Great.

“You okay?” Eiffel asked, his hands stilling.

Minkowski cleared her throat. “Fine, fine.”

“If you say so.” He shrugged, going back to his task.

The second time he accidentally touched her neck, Eiffel started to get suspicious. He could understand once, it was a surprise. But why did she flinch again?

The third time was a test. He let his fingers wiggle a little as they passed just above her shoulder, and yep, that was definitely a muffled squeal.

He grinned. So Commander Badass was ticklish. Cute.

Shit. He knew. He definitely knew what he was doing, because he started doing it more. Every overlapping strand of hair was accompanied with a fingertip trailing across her neck and making her squirm or hiccup or squeak, smiling wider with every attempt. She should stop him.

She should stop him.

A finger wiggled playfully just under her jaw, and she barely muffled a snort behind one hand, twitching forward instinctively and grinning like crazy.

Eiffel chuckled. “Hey, I can’t work if you’re all the way over there.” He teased, but didn’t follow. He had a feeling that if he pushed too hard she’d put a stop to this, and that was the last thing he wanted. This was fun.

It was very tempting to curl up into a ball or run away. Minkowski knew she was smiling, surprised to find how relaxed she felt beyond that giddy tension. She leaned back, fighting not to scrunch up her shoulders.

In the interest of not getting his ass kicked, Eiffel didn’t tease. Much. He sang a quick, “Thank you!” and went right back to braiding. And maybe sneaking in a quick tickle every few seconds. Hey, it wasn’t like she was stopping him.

It was really hard not to scrunch up her neck, but she managed. Just about. She wrapped one arm around her middle and scrunched her eyes closed, struggling not to laugh. This was- it was silly, and yeah, normally that was something she was categorically against, but…

Okay, fine, she was kind of having fun.

Nails scratched just under her ear, drawing out a hicuppy laugh and making her crush the other hand over her mouth. Eiffel laughed silently.

“Umm, what are you doing?”

“Oh, hey Hera.” Eiffel said, looking up at the nearest camera. “We’re having a bit of a slumber party; the Commander’s hair was getting kind of out of control.”

“No, not that, I mean-” His fingers danced over the side of her neck, and she flinched. “That! What is that?”

Minkowski cringed. Really? She couldn’t even respond without laughing right now. Did Hera seriously not get it?

Eiffel chuckled and did it again, noting that her ears had gotten flushed. “What? My hand just slipped.”

Hera groaned. “You’re doing something! Tell me!”

He winked at the camera. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m not doing aaaanything. Right, Commander?”

“Mm-hm!” She managed to squeak, face burning.

Hera huffed, and Eiffel mouthed, “Later.” At the camera. He felt a little bad for leaving her in the dark, but hey, he was almost done.

“Aaaand, done!” He neatly tied up the end of the braid, and because he might never get the chance again, playfully wiggled the end of it against her neck.

There was a loud squeak, and the next thing he knew, his commanding officer had flopped over sideways, both hands smushed over her face and her shoulders locked around her ears. Eiffel chuckled. “You okay there?”

Minkowski glowered at him between her fingers, grateful that her giddy smile was thoroughly hidden.

Hera laughed. At least they were having fun. “Seriously, what’s going on?”

Eiffel smirked. “Well-”

He was cut off by a gentle punch in the arm. Minkowski sat up, still grinning, with a sly spark in her eye and the brush in her hand. “Your turn.”

Oh crap. He laughed nervously. “You don’t have to do that, it’s all good.”

She shifted back and crossed her legs, patting the spot in front of her. “I insist.”

He was so dead.

Cautiously, Eiffel sat down, already half turtled and biting down nervous giggles. He jumped when the brush was dragged through his messy hair.

Then she dropped the brush and dug her fingers into his ribs, making him shriek loudly and fold in half like a cheap lawn chair.

Minkowski grinned, vibrating her fingers into his ribcage. “You okay there?” She asked, amused by his wild cackling.

Huh. Now that she thought of it, she wasn’t sure she’d heard him properly laugh before. Weird, for such an upbeat person. He was certainly laughing now, snorting and cackling and squealing in a way that maybe she should have found obnoxious.

Eiffel kicked his feet and squirmed frantically, trying very hard not to wriggle out of Minkowski’s evil grip while laughing his head off. It was hard; she was unsurprisingly ruthless. “Mercy!” He squealed, twisting ineffectively. “Mehehercy!”

Minkowski rolled her eyes at his dramatics, letting one hand drift to squeeze at his stomach, drawing out a series of snorts. “Weren’t you just telling Hera what’s happening?”

“Noooo!” He whined, curling up as best he could.

Short nails scratched at his neck, and he burst into giggles, shoulders scrunching. “Oh, I think you were.” She teased.

Eiffel felt like he was melting. This was so unfair; he hadn’t been even half this mean! He slapped at her hands weakly, slumping forwards and laughing helplessly.

Minkowski chuckled, worming her hands under his arms and earning a shriek. “Well?”

“Yes, I’m not entirely sure what’s so funny right now.” Hera said, sounding a little smug.

Eiffel wheezed, his smile wide and helpless. Minkowski seemed to notice his need for air and eased off a little, fingers playing gently at his ribs and keeping him jumpy. He couldn’t stop giggling. This was the most fun he’d ever had on the Hephaestus.

He was certainly taking his time catching his breath. She scratched gently at his stomach, and Eiffel yelped and flopped over onto his front. “Okay! Okahahay! It- it tickles, plehehease!”

“Ohhhh, I see!” Hera said teasingly.

Minkowski mercifully retracted her hands. “Why didn’t you say so?”

He wanted to swear at her but was too busy giggling his head off. His limbs had gone all floppy and his brain was pleasantly fuzzy from laughing so much. A hand brushed his hair back and he flinched violently.

Minkowski chuckled. “It’s okay, you’re done.” She said, going back to his hair. “But someone has to do something about this rat’s nest.”

Oh. He relaxed. Should probably get up to make this easier, but he was very comfortable in this boneless, giddy state, and Minkowski was only making it worse by gently brushing his hair. It was calming. He wasn’t going to get up unless someone made him.

It was certainly a lot faster to braid someone’s hair when you weren’t also tickling them to death, Minkowski reflected with a soft smile. Eiffel seemed to have given up on being a human being for now and decided his time was better spent as a jellyfish. It was kind of nice, seeing him this happy.

“All done!” She said, and because she was feeling evil, brushed the end of the braid around his neck, earning a giggly squeal and getting him to squirm onto his back.

Eiffel glared playfully, still grinning. “You’re ruthless.”

She shrugged. “Eh, we already knew that.”

He chuckled and sat up. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

“I have tried.” She said with a smirk. “Yet somehow you always wind up there.”

“At what point do you admit that you don’t have a good side?”

She punched him gently in the shoulder, and Eiffel grinned. He was sort of tempted to poke at her, try to figure out if she had other weak spots. Another part of him didn’t want to push the line. It was nice being able to have little hair braiding parties that left them both smiling and a little giggly. The last thing he wanted was to ruin it.

Minkowski ran her braid through her hand. Huh. “You actually did a good job.”

Eiffel put a hand over his heart. “Commander. That was almost a compliment!”

She rolled her eyes. “It took you long enough.”

“All part of the process.” He grinned. “Happy to help out any time.”

The thought had that giddy feeling in her stomach resurfacing and her lips twitching. She bit the inside of her lip. “I’ll keep you posted.”

Eiffel tried to hide his surprise, but nothing would keep the massive grin from forming. “Great.”

It was great. It really was.

Maybe next time, he’d figure out her other weak spots.