Backposted prompt
Original post here.
The hairbrush tugged through her hair until it was smooth as silk, lying down her back in soft waves. She could do this herself--it wasn't as though she couldn't find the hair on top of her own head--but he liked to do it for her.
That was one thing she had always known about Shizuka-kun: that he liked to do things for the one he loved, even if they could do for themselves. Perhaps especially then.
And because she did not mind, and knew where the gesture came from, she let him brush her hair for her.
"Will you read me a story before bed?" she asked, and he ran the fingers of one hand tenderly down the side of her face. They tickled her ear.
"Sure," he said, and she could hear the clink of the hairbrush set on the vanity table. "Which one do you want?"
"One about a family," she said, as she stood and made her way carefully to the Western-style bed. It was nice and big, and she didn't have to find it with her toes. Shizuka-kun had told her the coverlet and pillows were done in shades of gold, similar to the color of her hair. She took his word for it.
"All right," Shizuka-kun said, and she heard him moving around the room even as she settled herself in bed. She felt him climb in beside her, and she moved closer, finding his shoulder with the ease of long practice.
"Will it be one you learned when you were at the shop?" She never said 'Kimihiro-kun' anymore than he said 'Watanuki'--some wounds went deep and were long in healing, and theirs were simply not there yet.
"No," he said. His heartbeat was a steady throb beneath her ear. "One my grandfather told me."
"You could tell me about him," she said, smiling. "I understand he was a lot like you."
"Hm," Shizuka-kun said, and gathered himself to begin a story.