𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐟 || ʟᴏ'ᴀᴋ

012

Se'aeylwa

He looks down expectantly, waiting for my response as I stare up at him, mouth agape. I guess he took my words to heart, he was trying to apologise with his actions. I closed my mouth, smiling a closed lipped smile as I nodded my head.

"Sure, go ahead" I say shyly. He walks out of my field of view as I sit on an elevated rock, Tuk sits on the floor, between my knees as Lo'ak stands behind me. I momentarily stop unbraiding Tuk's hair as I feel his gentle fingers along my scalp, all I want to do is lean towards his touch as he lightly begins to hold sections, but I don't. Bringing my mind back to the task at hand. I ruffle a hand through Tuk's natural hair. Un-braided it falls to the bottom of her chin as she shakes her head wildly, happy that she no longer had tightly woven braids.

I chuckled, placing two hands to her cheeks, steadying her head as she giggles. I pluck a pearl from her outstretch hand as I begin to separate her hair, I tightly weave the jewel into her hair as she sits unmoving, wanted her hair to look the best. I quickly rotate between her hand containing shells and pearls and her hair, expertly intertwining the two.

It doesn't take long as I reach the bottom of all of her newly done hair. Lo'ak's touch was so gentle I barely realised he was still working on my own. Once I thought about it, I felt my hair being styled, he was silent, something not usually seen from Lo'ak in the mornings. He was concentrating.

"All done Tuk!" I exclaim to the young girl, she cheers in delight as she rushes to the waters edge, admiring her hair.

"Teyam! Look at my hair!" She squeals twirling around. He chuckles at his younger sister before seating himself in front of me. Neteyam's hair would take much longer than his sister's. I sighed as my hands went up to tweak at his scalp, checking for overgrown roots. My hand slides to the top of his shoulder blades as I begin to unwind the tightly done braids. I feel a sharp sting at the top of my head as I mutter a small 'ow'. 

"Sorry" Lo'ak murmurs, his touch becoming gentle once more. My fingers work expertly, quickly beginning to see Neteyam's natural hair. I sit there for a while, solely concentrating as conversations whizzed passed, changing and stopping all together. 

I was finally able to unravel all of his hair as his hand reached upwards, stroking a hand through his locks. Once his hand goes down I inch myself a little closer so I can see over the tall boy's head, I reach for my satchel, pulling out a dull tooth, which I section his hair with. I flick parts over one another, swiftly finishing braids in no time. The braiding wasn't the most timely part, undoing what used to be there was. 

As soon as I finish Neteyam's hair I give him a soft nudge with one of my knees. I wouldn't be surprised if he had accidentally fell asleep. He stretches, showing a big yawn as he shakes his head, ridding the tiredness from his mind. 

"Thankyou" He says, nodding his head in respect. As soon as he stands and moves away from me a large hand slides under my chin and lightly pulls it upwards. My chin is held to the sky as he parts one of the last sections, going from the very start of my hair line. Lo'ak's brows furrow in concentration, the hairs on his face moving like they have a mind of their own.