Braids

( Feyre POV )

"Head straight, Rhysand." 

It was a warm summer afternoon as I sat on the edge of our large bed, Rhys perched on the floor in between my spread legs. Our sheets and throws had been scattered in a pile on the floor near the side of our bed as we both became irritated with them as the nights gradually got hotter and stickier, or as hot as they could get here in the Night Court. I was lucky to not be in the Summer Court at this time.

After all my times of begging, I had finally managed to success in my mate allowing me to braid his hair. I had wanted to do it since the first time I had touched his hair, and now here we were. Though on my part, I had to basically offer my mate sex to get him to agree to this, something that he acknowledged shamelessly, the prick. 

"Just as a disclaimer, darling, I'm not showing this to anyone," Rhys said in a smooth voice.

A small smile formed on my face as I tugged on a separated section of blue-black hair, pulling his head back toward me. "You're going to look so pretty by the end of this that you'll be wanting to flaunt yourself off in front of Cassian and Azriel," I snorted.

Rhys pinched my leg, making me kick his in return. "Need I remind you darling that High Lords don't tend to make an official habit of looking pretty."

Coming from the most pretty of them all  I mused into his mind, dark laughter echoing in return. 

I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer to me. "I love you."

He leaned into my touch. "You're being awfully affectionate today darling. Are you feeling alright?"

"You know," I flatly said as I finished with one braid, tying it off at the end and starting on the other side, "It's common courtesy to reply with I love you when someone tells you they love you."

"But what if they don't?" Rhys replied. 

"Don't what?"

"What if they don't love you?" Laughter in every syllable.

"You're a stupid prick," I hissed, making to shove him away when I realised that I was holding his head by an unfinished braid, which just made Rhys laugh even harder. 

When Rhys' laughter had died down he confessed softly, "You know that I love you."

Even now, after all this time, my heart turned somersaults at the words. I hummed in response, patting his cheek. "Have you ever thought about growing a beard?"

Rhys scoffed. "I don't intend to hide any of my glowing beauty. What happened to Rhysand is the most handsome High Lord ?"

I couldn't help but laugh as I finished the second braid, tugging at it before playfully shoving him on his shoulder. "Rhysand is also the most arrogant High Lord."

"That is also very true," Rhys laughed, uncoiling to his feet. He dropped a kiss to the top of my head before sauntering over towards the mirror, turning his head every which way to inspect his reflection from each angle. 

He finally turned to face me, striking a pose. "Well? How do I look?"

"You're ridiculous," I said while laughing, getting up from the bed and stretching, heading for the bathing room. "I'm going to bathe. It's so bloody hot." 

Rhys stopped me, gently grabbing my arm as I passed him. "Hm. Allow me to return the favour." 

I looked up at his face, inches from mine. "You're not serious."

"I am." He led me to the bed, sitting down in the space that I had been occupying only seconds before and gesturing for me to sit between his legs. 

I put a hand on my hip. "Is there anything you can't do?" I questioned, remembering the time he had helped pin up my hair as we prepared to go to the Hewn City. 

Rhys laughed, smoothly pulling me down in front of him. "What can I say? Rhysand is flawless."

"Is there any particular reason why you're reminiscing about those horrendous phrases that I was forced to write?" I asked as he began to brush his fingers through my hair. 

Rhys didn't answer, parting my hair. I could imagine the look of concentration on his face, his brow creased, his violet eyes gazing with unrelenting focus. 

I patted his knee. "So tell me, how did you learn to braid hair?"

Rhys was silent for a minute before speaking. "I would braid my sister's hair. She would always run away when my mother tried to do her hair. She was a wild and reckless soul, my sister." My mate's voice was full of lingering pain and sorrow, and it broke my heart to hear that. It had been centuries since he had lost them, and while he had come to accept the fact that they were gone during that time, it still did not sit right in his heart. He hadn't gained the closure that he deserved in order to be able to reflect back on their lives without it destroying the defence that he had slowly; carefully been building up over the many years. 

I did the only thing that I could, which was to comfort him, wrapping my arms around his leg and hugging my face to his knee. One day, I would paint them for him to keep them alive and joyous in his memory. 

"They would be so proud of you, Rhysand," I murmured into his knee. 

"Would they?"

There it was. The doubting himself, the self-loathing, blaming himself for someone that was by no means his fault, in any way or form. He had spent months trying to rid myself of the very same thing after he had rescued me from the Spring Court but he didn't care if it slowly broke him apart, piece by piece.

"You are brave, Rhys. You are strong, selfless and kind. You are beautiful, through and through and you're also one hell of a stupid prick if you can't see that. I never had the honour of meeting your family, but I don't need to have met them to know that they were amazing people and so full of life, and that they loved you so much and that wherever they are now, they have seen you grow into the male you are today and they still do." I don't know if he needed to hear those words, but I needed to say them to him.

I didn't realise how long we had been talking for as I felt Rhys tying up the end of my hair, as he leaned forward to gently caress my cheek with his knuckles. 

"Thank you," he murmured hoarsely. 

The two simple words made my anger flare even more. "You don't need to ever thank me for telling you the truth. It's what you deserve," I said in a firm and honest tone. 

He pressed a kiss to my cheek, his lips lingering as he asked softly, "Would you like to admire my handiwork?"

I rubbed his knee soothingly as I got up from the ground, making my way over to the mirror. My hair had been done in one even french braid down the middle of my head and across my shoulders and back. "It's beautiful," I stated. 

"Hang on," Rhys said, getting up from the bed and approaching me. "I forgot the finishing touch," and he snapped his fingers. 

Curious, I turned my head to inspect what he had done to see small flowers woven into the various strands of the braid. They were stunning, some pink, some yellow, some white. 

My mate wrapped his arms around me from behind, careful of my hair. I leaned back into his chest as he rested his chin on my shoulder, kissing the side of my neck. "I look ridiculous," he finally remarked. 

I smirked, humming in agreement. 

We stayed like that for a while, comfortable in the other's embrace, silently watching each other in the reflection of the mirror, until Rhys pushed away from me, heading for the door. 

"As promised, I'll pose my new look for our family."

I laughed. "How about some make up for my pretty mate?"

Rhys' footsteps became considerably quicker as he left through the door, calling over his shoulder, "In your dreams, darling."

I stayed standing in the room, listening to his cat-soft footsteps become quieter as he stalked down the padded hallway. One day.

We'll see  came the purred reply into my mind, and I could imagine the confident smirk that Rhys wore on his face right now. 

I shook my head, laughing to myself as I flicked my braid over my shoulder and left the room to join my mate and family downstairs, where I could already hear a howl from a certain someone. 

"What the fuck did you do?!"

***

Alright guys. How did you like that?

I swear Aelin braided Rowan's hair in TOG, or at least talked about it and that gave me this idea. 

I hope you guys enjoyed and stay tuned because I do have more ideas! 

Love you guys!

Ayesha xoxox