Unintended Courtship

Mornings were becoming routine in the teapot now, with Kaeya easing awake and getting himself ready, Coryn following behind after a few moments. Of course, “getting ready” was a lot simpler than it would’ve been in Mondstadt, considering they’d slept mostly clothed.

This morning, however, Kaeya reached for the hairbrush only for Coryn to gently stop his arm. The knight chuckled as he glanced over at the younger man. “Did you want to use the hairbrush first, darling?”

“Oh, um, no, I was just…I...can I brush your hair this morning?” Coryn’s voice was still touched with sleep, but the blush that flickered on his features showed that he was awake enough to process the fact that his request was unusual.

Kaeya’s exposed blue eye blinked in surprise. He’d remembered the stories from Khaenri’ah, and was about to point out the heaviness of the request, before realizing that Coryn wouldn’t have even known the gravity of it. Of course he wouldn’t, and especially not of what was essentially a Khaenri’an courtship ritual; from what Coryn had told him about Earth, it was likely that people like him didn’t put so much weight on their hair.

“I suppose, but only if you let me return the favor, love,” Kaeya finally replied, allowing himself to settle back into the safety of a teasing tone.

“...if you don’t mind what a fucking mop it can be, sure.” Coryn took the hairbrush, and Kaeya could feel the younger man’s hand grace the back of his neck as he brought Kaeya’s long hair behind him. “Your hair’s...a lot smoother than I thought it’d be. Wow.”

Kaeya closed his eyes as he felt the brush practically breeze through his hair, Coryn’s slow and gentle movements making him silently thank whoever or whatever gave his boyfriend such a brilliant idea. “It certainly helps when I have to join the Knights on such short notice…”

“Yeah, I’d imagine. It...it feels nice.” The brush eased to catch a couple of stray locks, smoothly bringing them in with the rest of Kaeya’s hair. “I could do this all day…”

“You could, if you’d like.” Kaeya opened his eye, watching Coryn’s features flush red in the reflection of the mirror.

“I-I was just saying that…!” A couple of passes through with the brush later, and Coryn was carefully tying Kaeya’s hair with the thin band that he’d tended to use. “...there.”

Kaeya brought the ponytail over his shoulder, allowing it to fall as it normally did: just to the left of his “boob window” (as he’d heard Coryn and Alex call it). “I certainly wouldn’t mind being spoiled like that for the whole day...but now it’s your turn, dear.”

---

Coryn sighed as he passed the hairbrush to Kaeya. “There’s a reason I take longer than you in getting ready in the mornings…”

“And you know I don’t mind it a bit.” The older man eased behind him, before he saw Kaeya’s expression in the mirror turn...thoughtful? “Oh, just a few tangles here and there…”

“You make it sound like it’s just that.”

“And you make it sound like you’re at war with your own head, dear.” Despite his words, Kaeya’s tone was light, before Coryn felt the hairbrush meet his hair. “You really need to be kinder to yourself, you know. Hair included.”

Despite hearing similar advice so far in Teyvat, Coryn found himself actually thinking over it as Kaeya brushed through his hair. That is, until he felt a slight chill, causing him to flinch. “H-hey!”

“Relax, I just used a little Cryo...just enough for it to melt quickly.” With that, Kaeya seemed to detangle a knot that Coryn had known was there with barely any effort. “I’m not about to freeze your entire head, I promise.”

“Still cold…”

“Can’t be any colder than I am, and you still choose to sleep in the same bed as me.”

“...I mean, I kind of expect you to be cold when we’re in bed. I don’t expect you to use Cryo when brushing my hair…”

Kaeya chuckled, and Coryn could see that blue eye flick to meet his own in the mirror’s reflection. “It’s only going to be a little here and there, I’d expect. Your hair’s so thick and soft, it’s almost a shock I didn’t ask to do this.”

Another hint of Cryo struck Coryn’s hair, but this time, he didn’t flinch. “It’s thick enough to be a pain in the ass, but...I can agree on ‘soft’.”

“Well, that’s progress.” It didn’t take long before one of Kaeya’s hands grabbed the gray cord that tied Coryn’s braid. “And the last thing is your braid…”

Coryn allowed himself to relax as he felt Kaeya’s hands deftly weave some of his hair into that now-familiar braid behind his left ear. When it was finished and tied, Coryn glanced at his reflection before looking up at Kaeya. “You made that whole thing seem easy…”

“As I said, you act like you’re at war with your own head.” Kaeya pressed a kiss to Coryn’s forehead. “If you’re gentle with your hair, then I’m sure it’ll be gentle for you in return.”

“Can we do this more often? It was...it was nice.”

“Of course, darling. Anything for you.”