This Individual Fic Rating: PG-13; naked bishies in the bathes; hair, lots of hair...
Blue Forest Banshee Part 68
The bathhouse was an open-air arrangement built of wood and stone on several levels, and fed by a mountain stream. It wrapped around trees and boulders with steps that went between levels at seemingly random intervals. I saw nothing to indicate separate areas for males and females.
Most of the tubs were constructed below floor level; some were of ancient wood, others of smooth river rocks. Wooden benches lined the perimeters with buckets neatly stacked nearby and brushes hanging from pegs on the railings. Pull showers were tucked into each level. Potted greenery abounded, from spider plants to ferns to spindly rubber trees and stubby palms. From the slatted overheads hung lush fuchsias in bright shades of pink and purple. Flowering vines climbed the uprights and wended their way across the overheads.
Teal led the way to a medium-sized tub and Duo began gathering the accouterments. I stepped forward to help, but Teal stopped me.
"Heero," he said softly, and I had to lean in close to hear him. "Would you do me a great favor and bathe Dael for me? I... need a few minutes with Duo. Privately."
I blinked. "Of course, Teal," I said immediately. "I'm honored that you trust me." I took the child from him, and she immediately latched onto my collar, peering over my shoulder at the tub and chattering excitedly.
He nuzzled her gently. "I think you probably know what you're doing. I wouldn't ask like this, but I think Duo's learned to be slippery and I need to talk to him without distractions."
I have not thought of Duo as 'slippery', but I nodded anyway. I have known Duo only a matter of months; Teal does have a prior claim. He pointed out the shallow wooden basin used for bathing babies and I moved away as he went to corner his cousin.
Dael loved the water. She paddled, splashed, and squealed while I shampooed her shaggy auburn hair and bathed the rest of her. The basin had a carved railing that kept her from getting her face near the water, but allowed her to play with the floating toys.
It's been several years since I bathed a baby; I'd forgotten how delighted they can be when confronted by a few inches of water. By the time I had finished and wrapped her in a towel to dry, I was nearly as soaked as she was. A fenced play area resided nearby; thoroughly dried off and diapered (Teal used disposable diapers) I tucked her into it with a bottle and took myself over to the tub where Teal and Duo were soaking with their heads together in conversation.
Duo looked somewhat subdued, his cheekbones slightly flushed, his bright eyes lowered. Teal's lips moved next to his ear, and I found myself smiling as I slipped under the pull shower to lather up and shampoo my hair. Banshees don't show their age easily; at first glance, Teal could have been sixteen or sixty with his fair looks and glowing ash blond hair, as well as the hard, lean body. Only his eyes, and the fine lines at their corners, suggested otherwise.
If anyone else had been sitting so close and conversing so seriously while naked in a bath with my Banshee, I might have suffered just a touch of jealousy. Just a touch, mind you.
And when Duo turned suddenly to wrap his arms around Teal's neck, clinging to him for several long minutes, while Teal returned the embrace wholeheartedly, that tiny, nonexistent twinge of jealousy might have narrowed my gaze and fed a soft rumbling in my chest.
But of course, it was only Teal, his aunt's consort, his cousin's father. No earthly need for me to get my knickers in a twist over it. So I didn't.
Really.
"Do I need to book you a room?" I smirked as I stepped down into the tub.
Duo came away from Teal with a sharp intake of breath, almost a sob, and sprawled back with an aggressively casual air. He didn't look at me, and I knew he had been either crying or on the verge of.
Teal smiled at me, though. "I don't think that's necessary," he demurred, his own eyes suspiciously damp. "More hot water?"
"I'm fine." It seemed we were both waiting on Duo's recovery; I attempted a bit of small talk. "This is a very appealing bath; comfortable, relaxing. Does it date to the founding of the colony?"
"Soon after," Teal confirmed, joining me in the act of giving Duo time. "This colony is about 350 years old; it's an off-shoot of a slightly older one in Virginia. Politics, you know," he said with a shrug.
"The founders must have come on the first ships from Great Britain." An interesting thought. Banshees are native to the emerald majesty of Eire, but like many other Magical Creatures, they have migrated from the lands of their birth.
Teal grinned at that. "Actually, a group of about sixty had a falling-out with their Clan in the Old Country, and chartered a ship of their own to come here." He touched Duo's shoulder lightly. "Every so often we get that wild urge to leap off the cliff, never mind what's below. And then, a couple of generations later, there was another split, resulting in this colony."
"Only one?"
"From that colony; yes. There are several other Clans in North America, although none west of the Rockies. It's not as green out there; you know? And we do love the green," he sighed.
"Have you ever visited Eire?"
Duo was nearly recovered, having rinsed his face of whatever emotional signs might have remained. He listened intently to Teal's words, resolutely not looking my way. He may have washed away any tears, but the pale flush still colored his cheekbones. Surely not shyness; we've shared the bathes often enough at the Castle. Maybe... Maybe he wasn't sure of being here...
"Oh, a number of times." Teal answered my question. "My mother is from Merry Brook, one of the Three Clans. She was a wanderer; came here on a whim, met my father and stayed, off and on, until he died. Then she went home."
And he would leave here and go to his mother's Clan. To visit, I wondered, or to stay?
"And I stayed for Shar... And for Danc and Caz, too." He brushed the backs of his fingers along Duo's jawline. "And for this one... Duo and Caz were... the little brothers I'd always wanted."
Duo blushed darkly then, and said softly, "For a while, I almost thought you were my father. Didn't I call you Da when I was really little?"
Teal grinned. "For a while you called every male Da, until Caz got you to use cousin instead. I think you were about four, then; maybe three."
Duo shook his head, grinning nervously. "That's so embarrassing! Not knowing my father."
"'It's a wise child as knows its own father,'" Teal quoted before I had a chance. "That's why we have matriarchies. No doubt about who your mother is."
Duo's mood seemed to take another downward turn; Teal glanced at me, then back at Duo.
"So, my angel; has this fine handsome Wyvern ever had the blessed opportunity to braid a Banshee's hair?" he queried lightly, a touch of his mother's Clan in the rolling of his 'R's.
Duo "gleep"ed - that's the only description I can give - and gulped.
"Teal!" he cried. "That's- I don't- He-" And then it was mostly indignant sputtering.
The blond Banshee questioned me with a raised brow, and I nodded.
"I've had many opportunities to braid Duo's hair," I admitted watching Duo nearly combust on the other side of the tub. I didn't get it - obviously there was more to braiding hair for those two than just braiding hair, but I was in the dark. I don't remember any hair references being made by my parents, and certainly, the IchiBan had never mentioned any.
"It must be a bother, having it so long in that world," Teal murmured. "Has it not been cut out there?"
"No," Duo admitted reluctantly after a moment of struggle. "Shar cut it a few days before..."
"And never since, in all these years," Teal whispered. "Don't you feel it's about time, angel? It certainly seems so to me..."
Duo looked at him, almost looked at me, then stared off into the distance for several very long minutes, turning something in his mind. I waited silently, not moving, barely breathing, while Duo weighed what was obviously a very major decision for him, even if it was just hair.
"You really think?" he whispered after an interminable time. "You know these things..."
Teal sighed softly. "I think it's a silly old romantic custom that got wrapped up in a lot of superstitious nonsense that eventually came to mean more than the original. But yes, angel; I know these things, just as you do, though you'll never in a thousand years admit it to yourself."
Duo blinked and looked at his cousin. He swallowed, then said faintly, "I think I just did..."
Teal chuckled. "Well, then; get on with it, darlin'!"
Duo had made up his mind during that cryptic conversation, climbing to his feet and reaching for the comb. "You'll have to help."
"Of course."
Standing on the deck beside the tub, both of them looked very attractive and very purposeful. I believe I've already admitted my appreciation for the male form. Both of the Banshees are just... beautiful. I sat back, to enjoy whatever they were doing, with what was surely a very silly look on my face.
Duo snorted at his kinsman, the first return of his usual humor that I had seen since our arrival.
"And if you're wrong, Teal, you owe me so big..."
"I am never wrong," declared the blond Banshee haughtily. "And besides, Shar saw it even in the photos you sent, it's that bloody obvious!"
Eyes suddenly wide as saucers, Duo opened his mouth to reply, then snapped it shut again. He turned his back to Teal and said faintly, "Just comb."
Teal stroked the wide-toothed comb through Duo's curtain of auburn satin, still smirking. "You have to ask, you know," he said. "He won't be able to guess."
"I know, I know," Duo muttered and his glance flicked my way. "Just that simple, huh?"
"Yep. Just that simple."
"He's a Wyvern, you know."
"So?"
Now I was very curious. Obviously, whatever was going on involved me. I put up my hand and waited to be noticed. Teal gave me a stern look.
"Not yet, Heero; we'll tell you when it's time."
And he winked at me.
O~kay...
Duo was, by that time, a shade of red I would have thought impossible for Banshee flesh to attain. He stared at me, purple eyes so wide, they took up half his face.
Teal nudged him then, stepping back.
Duo swallowed, cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
Nothing came out. He looked at Teal; Teal nodded his encouragement.
"Bloody blast," whispered my Banshee. Then; "Heerowillyoucutmyhair?"
I blinked. "What?"
"Heerowillyoucutmyhairplease?"
I got it that time; barely.
"You want me... to cut your hair...?"
Damn. Was that all? All the looks and mutters and significant sighs had led up to... a haircut?
"Please?"
I had to bite down on a laugh; the look in Duo's eyes did not warrant a laugh at this moment.
"Of course, Duo," I murmured, standing. "If you think you can trust me?"
His already remarkable blush deepened even further. His lashes fluttered down, hiding his eyes. "I do..."
I looked at Teal. He handed me a pair of shears that looked more appropriate for hedge clipping, and then sat down, running the comb again through the last few feet of Duo's hair.
"How much, angel?" he asked softly.
"Maybe... maybe a little above my knees...?"
"Perfect..."
With the comb, he marked a place. I knelt on the wooden deck.
"Just below the comb, Heero. Don't try to do it all in one cut, but don't worry if it's a little uneven at first. You can go back and catch the tag ends." And he closed his hand around the bottom of Duo's hair to catch what was cut.
I've never cut anyone's hair before. Well, beside my own, in a pinch. But it felt... right... that I would cut my Banshee's hair. The thought now, of anyone else doing it made me want to growl. My Banshee, my privilege.
I ran the open blades of the shears slowly across the line Teal had set, watching the long strands of silk fall away, to be caught in Teal's hands. For a first cut, it was remarkably even. I had only a few missed strands to go back for. Teal smoothed the auburn bundle, snapping an elastic band at each end.
"Do you know the tradition of cutting a Banshee's hair, Heero?" asked the blond Banshee as he folded the bundle of Duo's burnished hair and handed it to me.
I shook my head, oddly honored to have that thick sheaf of hair lying in my hands. It was... warm. I wanted to... pet it. I blinked. What an odd feeling!
"The legend is that only a parent or a beloved companion can safely cut a Banshee's hair. For anyone else to do so will drain the Banshee's life-force away, leaving only a miserable wailing wraith behind."
I blinked at him. "What?!" He said it so smoothly, so matter-of-factly, that he might have been relating the weather forecast.
Duo had stepped away to the shower to rinse away any loose hair.
Teal got to his feet and offered me his hand when I knelt there gaping at him. "Of course, that's just nonsense. A fine example of how myths grow up to choke off perfectly ordinary traditions, until all that's left is the superstition."
"I heard that!" called Duo. "How do you know it isn't true?"
"Because," replied Teal blandly, "I've had my hair cut dozens of times by stylists, both Human and Wizard. I don't look like a soulless wraith, now do I?"
I just looked at him. "It can't be that... simple," I murmured after a moment. Dammit, that shining sheaf of hair in my hands was absolutely not just the remnants of a quick haircut! It felt... alive...
Teal touched my shoulder, dropping his voice to a husky whisper. "It is... and it isn't. You don't have to love a Banshee to cut his hair, but he must love you, for you to feel what you're feeling right now." A quick wink, while I stared at him stupidly. "But you already knew that, Heero; didn't you?"
He moved away then, leaving me standing there trying to gather my wits and banish the sensation of having given him a guided tour of the inside of my own head.
"Heero...?"
I shook my head slightly and came back to the here and now to find Duo standing in front of me. He had wrapped a towel around his hips and offered me the same. I laid the bundle of his hair over my shoulder, where I would swear it purred, and accepted the towel.
"Would you braid my hair?" he asked softly, and I jumped at the chance to have something familiar, something solid to do.
Midway through that exercise, I heard an eerie, almost ethereal drone note skirling through the trees. A second note, slightly higher, joined it a moment later. My hands stilled of their own accord, and Duo caught his breath.
I looked at Teal where he was dressing his daughter.
"It is the dawn," he said softly.
TBC...
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