Imagines - The Hobbit

Cultural Misunderstanding : A Hair Cut

Imagine: Alex's hair has grown to where it is now below her waist. Whilst cleaning up at a river, she cuts her hair. Let's just say...the dwarves seemed to be horrified. Que a major cultural misunderstanding!!

Alex's P.O.V

That's it. I've had it!! It had been a long and crazy month and a half since I had joined the company in order to help them reclaim the dwarves long lost home from the clutches of the fire breathing dragon, Smaug. During that time, of course, the my hair had grown to a substantial and somewhat bothersome leangth. When I had first joined the group, my mixture of brown and blonde ended at the middle of my back, but now, it had grown well past my waist. To keep it out of my way, I had tried a multiple of things to hold it back: tying it up into a ponytail and messy bun, pinning the loose strands up in order for them to stay in place, etc. But as my hair got knotted around the metal buckle on my bag - which I had thrown over my shoulder - for the hundredth time that day, I knew it was time to do something once and for all; my hair was tied up, yet it was still getting tangled and attached to things!! After Thorin had finally called for everyone to set up camp for the night whilst Kili and Fili were ordered to go out and hunt for their dinner as we had maybe about an hour and a half before the sun would set, I easily found a free spot on the ground nearby the fire that Bofur was working on; I quickly offered to help him, even asking if I could try as it had been a long few years since I had started a fire without a pack of matches. Grinning at my eagerness, the friendly dwarf handed over the bar of flint and his small metal knife as he instructed my as to what to do; I, after re-tying my hair back for safety, nodded as I did as I was told, striking the bar with the knife which created the needed sparks. Aiming the sparks for the timber that Bofur had collected, I continued till a flame began to grow; I handed back the knife and bar of flint to the dwarf knelt beside me before I leaned forwards, gently blowing against the baby flame which helped it to increase even further. Before I could carefully move the burning timber into the collected twigs and peiced of wood surrounded by rocks, however, I suddenly felt a long strand of hair become loosen and fall in front of my eyes, far to close the fire; Bofur quickly reacted as he reached forward and took the timber from the my hands, finishing the job as I patted the section of hair to make sure it hadn't caught on fire. "That was a close one lass" Bofur teased, earning a sigh as I agreed "I never noticed till now how much your hair has grown" he admitted as he looked at my long hair hair, stating how it was beautiful. I did like my hair, dispite the annoying and distracting length, but I couldn't say I agreed with his last statement "if it were clean and not covered in dirt and leaves, I'd gladly agree with you".

As our job had been completed and neither of the dwarf princes had returned with their hunted animal, an idea came to mind, only I needed to get permission from a certain someone; I rose from my place beside the now roaring fire and began to make my way over towards the leader of the company who was sat on a bolder beside Dwalin, Balin and Gandalf, sharpening his weapons. "Thorin??" I called out once I was only a few feet away, earning all four traveller's attention; the king looked up from his sword, silently urging me to continue "is it alright if I go back to that river we passed five minutes from here??" I asked. Thinking about my request, Thorin questioned as to why I wished to go back, to which I explained I merely wished to freshen up; this earned my a strong eye roll "what?? A human like you can't handle some mud and dirt??" his voice was stained with annoyance and bitterness as he made the unwanted comment. Never the less, I held back a depressive sigh as, honestly, did I really expect any other reply from the harsh dwarf. Ever since I had met the company, Thorin had merely grown more irritated and burdened by my presence, even though I had done many good and helpful things for his friends; they had each indicated as such, even Bifur and Dwalin who sent me the odd awkward smile whenever I did something remotely good - even if it earned my a short lecture from their king. Rolling my eyes, I spoke up "since it's been over three weeks since the last time I was able to clean up and finally have an opportunity to do so again, I thought it would be wise to do so" I explained calmly, adding how I merely wished to be respectful by getting his permission as he was in fact our leader; Thorin, slightly taken back by my calm statement, finally just decided to nod at my request, ordering me to be quick about it and if I weren't back within twenty minutes, he'd be sending someone to drag me back - decent or not. Feeling nothing more had to say, I quickly turned and hurried away, grabbing my bag as I raced away in the direction of where I recalled the river to be. Finding the water source within record time, I scanned the area to make sure I was alone and that there was no hidden dangers before I quickly stripped out of my clothes before using the small cloth and bar of soap I had in my bag to begin ridding myself of the mud, dirt and dry blood from a small wound I had received a week ago on my stomach; it wasn't a difficult task as I was finished within a few minutes before my body was as clean as it could be, allowing me to move onto the part I as dreading - the hair!! I was thankful that it was a relatively warm day or else I would have been freezing from the cold water. Using the comb Bofur had given me upon learning I didn't have one - he had four of them - I began to process of untangling all of the leaves and bits of wood from my long locks whilst sitting in the water, making sure to keep an eye out for any threats. I kept my sword at the very edge of the river bank, within arms reach for just in case.