29-Jun-2005
Notes: Okay, this was inspired by a pic I did (it's in the fanart section and my DA gallery if you're curious - I'll probably put it in my GWA album tomorrow night) and a bit of random thought about the symbolism of Duo's hair. Not particularly original, I know. But it's the first serious GW plotbunny to bite me in ages, so... ;)
Warnings: Not a one. Well, except the usual no beta and probably not enough editing thing. ;)
He's never said he loved me. Not even once. Oh, he's here, and I have no doubt if I was ever in trouble he'd do everything in his considerable power to get me out of it - but those words have never crossed his lips.
He shows it in other ways, in the way that he makes me dinner when I come home after a rough day, in the way that he doesn't mind tossing my laundry in with his own even though he hates doing laundry with a passion overridden only by his near-obsession with personal hygiene. By these things, I know that he loves me.
More importantly - he trusts me. And this too I know through the subtleties of his actions. The way that he'll nap in public if I'm there to watch over him, the way that he is willing to be quiet and speak of philosophical matters and his closely-guarded past, in the way that he curls up against me as we watch vids.
Most importantly, I know that he loves and trusts me because of his hair. He never lets it down in public. Even when he seems to be totally relaxed and joking around, his braid remains, a visual symbol of the mental armor he always wears.
Only when we are alone does he let it down, let it flow unhindered, and even then it is rare - for all its beauty it can be awkward to leave loose, it is too often caught on things or sat upon. He'd never dare leave it loose while we're making love, for example, although he will bind it back into a simple ponytail which is almost as good.
But when it's loose... I never had a fetish for hair. I thought it was silly, inefficient, and impractical to have such a long, easily grabbed target draped along behind him. And it is all those things - but it is lovely when it's loose, because when his braid is undone so are his defenses.
Duo Maxwell doesn't "do" vulnerable. He doesn't talk about mushy emotional stuff. He's all man and he'll kick your ass for suggesting he's anything else. He's more full of shit than an entire sewage system.
But when he lets you see past that - he, like his hair, is beautiful.
The End
(:./rt/subtle)
