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[cache_coeur]

INBOX

”Allô, mon amie! Je ne suis pas disponible pour le moment, mais laissez-moi un message et je vous rapellerai dès que possible! À bientôt!”

CODING

Comments

[maellum]

You mean to spice up my ponytail?

[She may play around with fashion a little more here, dabble in make up thanks to Sophie, but hair is still beyond her.]

[cache_coeur]

It doesn’t have to be just a ponytail.

[Says the woman who usually starts the day with a decently arranged bun and ends it with her hair practically loose.]

[maellum]

I think I'd get a headache from a bun.

[Concentrated weight and all that.]

Sophie curled my hair but I can't imagine sitting down and doing that every day.

[cache_coeur]

If you sleep with it in braids it should give you some decent curls in the morning.

[She runs her fingers through Maelle’s hair and sections it into two. She’ll pull the rest back first, and then tackle the bangs.]

[maellum]

Would you help me braid my hair? I can never get the sections even.

[Because she lacks the patience to section her hair neatly. Maybe that's the real problem here.]

[cache_coeur]

Of course, of course.

[It’s hard to see the back of your own head, anyway. Sciel starts braiding, starting right from the top, gathering more hair in gradually.]

It takes so much practice, it took me forever to learn how to braid my own hair.

[maellum]

Gustave used to be pretty good at braids, believe it or not.

[Maelle stays as still as she can even if she wants a drink of her soda. Patience!]

Emma, too. They took better care of my hair than I did. I at least make sure to brush it out, now.

[cache_coeur]

[“Used to be.” That’s certainly a thought; all that unruly red hair getting snagged in the joints of a mechanical finger.]

Well, you may be all grown up, but who doesn’t love an opportunity to baby you?

[She works her way down to the nape of the neck.]

Both of them have such curly hair, they were meant to be your guardians.

[maellum]

You and Gustave really need other hobbies besides babying me.

[Maelle doesn't sound upset about it at all. Things she used to scoff at she embraces now--fussing with her hair, house rules, chores.]

[cache_coeur]

We have plenty of hobbies! I go dancing and he tinkers at his workbench until his spine is shaped like a shrimp.

[She ties off the one braid.]

[maellum]

And then when he gets up it sounds like firecrackers. Maybe you need to drag him out more.

[Dancing is probably better for his back!]

[cache_coeur]

[She laughs.]

That’s because he doesn’t stretch enough. But you’re right, I should. It’s funny, dancing here though. Just two people and music. It’d be better if we could convince more people to come.

[maellum]

There's Lune. You might be able to convince her.

[... and Verso, who would certainly like to dance, but Maelle knows better than to suggest that.]

[cache_coeur]

[Sciel pauses, only partly because she’s moving to braid the other side, and then develops a wicked little grin.]

And maybe I can make them dance together.

[maellum]

[Maelle lifts a brow at her through the reflection of the mirror.]

Sounds like a diabolical plan, Sciel.

[cache_coeur]

[Mock serious:] Truly fiendish, I know.

[A little more serious:] I saw them dancing at the ball, you know. They looked so pretty.

[maellum]

... did they? Pretty, or pretty close?

[Sciel, you just planted a seed.]

[cache_coeur]

Both!

[Not that she was close enough to gave a good eye on what they talked about, but dancing is always a good sign.]

It was a nice change from seeing them bicker over research!

[maellum]

[The wheels are audibly turning in Maelle's head.]

Gustave appreciates some friendly bickering, I think.

[cache_coeur]

Oh, he does. [And Lune, she thinks, might get off on it.] It's just not the kind of passion that's fun to watch.