Azalea

Note: A good-sized portion of this tale has been sucked into "Affection"
Azalea
(Parental Instinct: One)
2017 February 23
Anchorage, AK, United States
Mako closes her eyes and smiles as Hermann gently cards more of her hair into his hand and twists it into a braid with his long, nimble fingers while she sits in his desk chair in his quarters. She may not be looking forward to the boring official dinner party Sensei invited her to attend that evening, but having a new hairstyle to go with her best green dress allows her to face the prospect with something that could pass for enthusiasm.
She has only lived with Sensei for a year, but she trusts his judgment implicitly. So if Sensei says the nervous mathematician will do a good job braiding her hair, she will let him do so even though she harbors serious doubts about the fashion sense of a young man who dresses in old-fashioned, battered clothes.
When he finishes his work and secures the braid with an elastic hair tie, Mako feels a bit nervous. What if she looks silly in front of all of those important people? Her fear evaporates when Hermann leads her to the bathroom and passes her a small mirror and helps her align it so she can examine her hair in the larger mirror over the sink. Her hair has been swept up into a simple, elegant, perfect French Braid.
"Is there anything you would like me to change, Miss Mori?" Hermann asks quietly.
She vehemently shakes her head{ 'no'}. "It is perfect," she says, a little awed.
"Do you have a pretty clip or pin to hold your hair?" he asks.
She responds in the negative.
"Well, if you're going to a fancy party, you'll need one. Let's see if I can find something around here that will suit."
He thinks for a moment and retrieves a stack of origami paper from a drawer of his desk.
Mako follows chooses a rich royal blue when he prompts her to pick the color that will look best with her dress.
He nods, takes the paper from her fingers, and neatly creates an origami flower. "An azalea," he says as she examines it. He holds it over the hair tie and studies its effect. "It still needs something," he mumbles. "It's not lovely enough for you."
Mako blushes.
Hermann excuses himself and steps into the bathroom and closes the door behind himself.
Mako hears him rummaging about for a bit before he returns clutching a small spray of coppery feathers.
"How does the color of these look with your dress and the flower?" he asks.
"Beautiful," she answers.
Hermann smiles and arranges the feathers in a neat fan which he glues to the back of the paper flower.
"Gottlieb-hakase, why do you have feathers in your bathroom?" Mako asks shyly.
"Ah," he says, looking a bit sheepish. "These are ... a bit of a good luck charm. I stored them in the cabinet for safekeeping."
Mako gapes at him and he smiles back kindly.
"Don't worry. These aren't all I have. I can afford to share them with you."
He rummages in another drawer and removes a needle and spool of thread. He bites off a short length and threads the needle. "There," he says as he tacks the ornament to the hair tie. "No other lady at the party will be wearing one of these."
Mako grins and runs back to the bathroom to check her appearance. Between the braid and the new decoration, she feels like a young lady for the first time in a long while.
[「Thank you very much,」 she says, bowing deeply.]
Hermann returns the bow and says, "You're welcome, Miss Mori. Now, I believe the Marshal is waiting for you upstairs."
Mako bows again, smiles, and walks out, finally looking forward to the party.
Category:Hermann
Category:Hermann (ficlet)
Category:Mako
Category:Mako (ficlet)
Category:Mako is adopted
Category:Hermann has wings
Category:2017 February 23
Category:Parental Instinct storyline
Category:Ficlet
Category:Pages in need of tags
Category:Ficlets with tweaks