you make a nightly ritual of it, unbraiding tao's hair -- running your fingers through it from roots to ends, her sitting on the floor next to her bed with her back leant up against the front of your legs, a book propped in her lap.
"you've got such long, beautiful hair -- it'd be a shame not to take care of it."
"hn. sure. do what you'd like."
the night is a stationary thing; the world outside a shadow, or a memory, the moonlight drifts in on swallow-tail wings.
"mm... you really should do a hair mask once in a while, all this bleaching isn't good for your ends."
you run the ivory comb through her long, endless tresses, assessing her roots.
"and your roots really are starting to come back in."
tao hums, flipping a page in her book.
"and maybe tomorrow, we can try that cool twisty braid that's trending on insta."
"mm."
you run the comb through her hair a couple more times, taking care not to pull on the ends, gathering the strands into your palm before letting it fall slack.
tao flips another page. when your fingers go still, she leans back, letting her head drop into your lap, her eyes falling shut, a long breath seeping from her. a rare moment of unguarded trust. you prop your palms on the bed and let her rest.
like this, time dares to take a breath with you, slowing till the clock on the wall no longer remembers the hours, till the distant promise of sunrise is nothing more than a bygone dream. here, there's only you and her and the faint hint of tobacco, your breaths and hers, haunting the air like smoke.
"bed time," you say, reaching down to smooth a finger along her forehead. tao's eyes flutter open. she doesn't move, only stares up at you for a long moment before lifting her head, letting the book slip shut in her lap.
shes pushes up off the floor to lift the covers, waiting.
"you coming?"
you smile, crawling in, pressing close to the wall as tao shuffles in after you. the light clicks off and the night is no longer so static. it sways like the ocean's tide, hushed beneath a calm summer sky.
tao shifts, and you inch closer. she rests an arm around your waist, your face pressing into her chest.
"night." she says. her hair is a silver spill across the pillows.
you smile, letting your eyes fall shut.
"night, tao."
