OCtober day 2: Offering
Today’s Rannatober piece is again prompted by @grumpy-jedi from beyond the Tumblrverse: From the platonic prompts list, one giving the other a makeover for Vi and Audie. And apparently the Vi/Anselm breakup era is all I want to write about now, because post-breakup is always a great time for an impulse makeover, right? So this ficlet is shortly after yesterday’s; Vi is about 13-14 and Audie is 10-11, and Vi is preparing to leave calpulli school (15 is when they graduate and enter a trade) and start training earlier than usual at the temple, due to the breakup situation and all.
Also on AO3.
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The feral grin with which Audie twirled the scissors didn’t help. Violet knew her sister was only showing off, hoping to make her laugh. She appreciated the gesture: laughter had been in short supply lately, and it really would help ease the transition. Nor did she worry that Audie would let the scissors slip, as uncanny as her skills with sharp things were, even just a couple of years into calpulli school.
But did she have to look so very gleeful about this?
Audie, ever perceptive and protective of Violet’s moods, somehow noticed this one -- perhaps she’d winced -- and held the scissors still again. “You sure about this, Violetty?” she asked.
Violet nodded, not before giving it another moment’s thought. “It’s just hair, Audie.”
Audie laid the scissors on the bedside table and picked up a brush. “A lot of hair,” she clarified, beginning to work through Violet’s curls. “Which you’ve always been so proud of.”
Violet’s fur ruffled, but the stroke of the brush was calming. “Too proud, probably. Best not to bring all that with me into temple training.” A moment’s silence acknowledged how much more than hair was implied in all that. “Besides, I think Anselm was always prouder of it than I was. Especially the fancy updos. Saints, I am so tired of all that time spent making it look just right.”
Audie nodded, and though the brush strokes grew neither faster nor harder, there was something more deliberate about them for a moment. “There’s always the option of simpler braids. No need for scissors.”
Violet shook her head, making Audie’s brush pause briefly. “No. Maybe after a while, when it grows back. But right now, I just want it gone.”
“Gone it is, then,” Audie grinned, collecting the scissors again and exchanging the brush for a wide comb. “A sacrifice on Eothas’ altar, golden as the sunlight itself, his new acolyte exchanging her beauty for the glory of the sun.”
“Someone’s been paying attention in poetry lessons,” Violet giggled.
“Yeah, maybe.” Audie combed out a length of hair, so near Violet’s scalp she fancied she could feel the warmth of her sister’s palm hovering there. “Really I think it’s just from Lottie going around reading from that new book of hers at everyone. Vailian sonnets? Really, what was Cousin Adi thinking? They’re all so formal and repetitive, you can’t help but get it stuck in your head.” With a trio of snips, the first locks fell to the floor. Violet’s throat constricted -- but then relaxed. It was, after all, just hair. She would leave it behind along with the years of growing it out -- years that had no place on the road that lay before her now.