Sor (OC) - Tumblr Posts
Strands
Augusnippets Day 2: platonic bathing | hair care | makeup
Word count: 500
Trigger warnings: none
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"Are you done yet?"
A nearly-inaudible, long sigh came from behind Brier, before Karmic said, “Say that again, and I’ll cut your throat instead of cutting your hair.”
“Young lady, do not make me turn this car around!” Brier said, dropping her voice low, then giggled. “That’s what you sound like right now.”
“Young lady, do not make me stab your carotid with these scissors,” Karmic immediately deadpanned back. Said scissors made a snick-snick noise, slicing through more of Brier’s hair.
“Ha, see—? Oh no, shh, shh, I’m sorry, Sor, sorry, sorry, rest your tired eyes,” Brier sang, fingers running over Sor’s fur. The touch of magic in her words made the cat settle down again, his eyes sliding closed. Brier hummed a few aimless notes, slowly stroking down the length of Sor’s spine, before she reached out from under her protective cape for the half-made straw sandal she’d abandoned to placate Sor.
“You—” A yawn interrupted Karmic’s sentence—it was silent, but Brier could hear his jaw creak, could picture the one eye Karmic always kept open when he yawned. “You’ve done that … three times now? You’re putting me to sleep, dirthead. You’ll end up lopsided and laughed at because you enforced naptime on your hairstylist.”
“I can’t help it!” Brier whispered, starting to weave a careful distance from where Sor was dozing across her lap. “Don’t move while a cat is on your lap or you’re the worst human in the world, that’s the rule. You know that, that’s why you put him there to begin with.”
“It’s for your own good,” Karmic said, unrepentant. “Every time I thought about your sheer amount of split ends, I fantasized about freezing you into a giant block of ice except for your head and giving you a haircut. You got off easy.”
“I guess I did,” Brier sighed. “Honestly, who can blame me? He’s trapped me, but he’s the cutest trap in the world.”
“Correct answer.” The tug of the clips in her hair released, and a comb glided over her scalp without meeting any resistance. “Okay, now I’m done.”
“Yaaay!” Brier quietly cheered, now having the freedom to turn her head. Karmic was leaning back a little to inspect his work—his face was as severe as ever, but there was a softness to the corners of his eyes, and a jaunty, almost triumphant trill had risen out of the quiet, mellow tune his emotions had become.
“Thank you!” she continued. She tilted her head, and said, “Is there something you want help with for your hair?”
A beat, as Karmic went still, both in body and emotions. Then he huffed, the meditative tune coming back, and as he turned in the direction of their broom closet, he said, “I think Sor’s got you occupied at the moment.”
As he walked away, Brier smiled, eyes catching on the tufts of hair on the floor. After all, she’d learned how to listen for the ‘later’ implied, how he’d never said no.
Another Good Day
Augusnippets day 8: reunion | found family | friends
Word count: 500
Trigger warnings: none
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“Honey, we’re ho-ome!” Brier trills, and doesn’t dodge the cloth snapped at the back of her head.
“Who are you talking to, there’s no one inside,” Yolotli grumbles, probably rolling their eyes. They start trundling forward; Brier steps aside in a practiced motion so her toes don’t get crushed.
“Maybe I’m talking to the house, Li-li! It’s my baby, I built it with my own two hands!” Brier says, stepping in after Yolotli. Rui, Piri, and Tal trudge quietly in her wake, with Karmic bringing up the rear guard—always so protective, especially of the young lives living under their roof.
“And I designed, wired, and warded it with my own two hands,” Yolotli deadpans, reaching under their chair for the bag there and depositing it on the dinner table as they go past it. “I am this house’s genetic donor just as much as you are.”
“And I furbished and powered this house with my own two hands,” Karmic drawls, gently settling Sor into a cat hammock. “My goodness, Brier, stop hogging all the credit of this designer baby for yourself.”
“Is that how babies work?” Ruika says, apparently still with enough energy to have interest in their conversation, instead of immediately flopping into his bed. Tal, at least, is going that direction—beelining for the shower first, though; good, his body would thank him for it later.
“Nice try, firefly,” Sym says, somehow managing to talk clearly around the bag handles in her mouth. She spits them out once she’d dragged the bag next to Yolotli’s, and continues: “None of these three are going to feel comfortable explaining that to you until you’re at least thirteen, so you’re in for a wait.”
Ruika’s eyes glisten, bottom lip wobbling tragically.
Sym only snorts. “Not even if you make that face, Rui.”
Ruika’s attempt to make his face even sadder is interrupted by Karmic casually ruffling his hair as he passes by. “You can improve your ‘woe is me’ face while you’re doing cooldown stretches,” Karmic says. “Follow along with what Piri’s doing.”
Piri glances up from the pretzel-like contortion she’s pulled her body into, and grins. “It’ll be fun, Ruika!” she chirps. “I don’t bite. Well, I don’t bite friends.”
Ruika stares at her for a long moment, then slowly turns to Karmic and very seriously says, “I think I might die.”
Brier bursts into giggles at that. “You don’t have to follow her completely!” she says, taking out another stack of containers from the picnic basket and setting them in the sink. “Just go as best as you can! You already did cooldowns at the park—this is just to kill time until you get your turn in the shower.”
Ruika pulls a face, but heaves a great sigh and edges around Piri’s toothy smile at his approach, plopping down and eyeing how she’s twisted herself with some trepidation.
Brier turns away, hides her dopey expression as she starts running the water. As the house sings of warmth, she hums along.