The Mimic

164

"Ow. Y/n that h-"

"Shh! This is the best part of the song!"

Whilst everyone else was busy working on the final touches to the mission, Thor and y/n were sat in the kitchen. Natasha had planned on going to investigate, but once she was met with a mixture of music, pained noises and laughter erupting from the kitchen, she had decided to leave them alone. It was obvious by the tone of y/n's voice that she wasn't angry, she was just curious as to what was so painful for Thor.

If anyone had actually stepped into the kitchen, they would've been met with a pretty sweet sight. Different combs, brushes, and hair products were strewn out across the counter, and small clumps of Thor's hair littered the ground. Y/n was sat cross-legged on the counter, and Thor was sat on one of the stools below her. Thor had a little towel wrapped around his shoulders, and his hair was clipped up in several random areas to allow y/n to work layer by layer. It was almost as if they had turned the kitchen into a makeshift hair salon.

Y/n was the one that had proposed the idea to Thor about working through his hair. She wanted to do something, anything, to help him feel a little more comfortable and relaxed. She didn't judge him for his hair, nor did she judge him for anything else. Y/n understood the struggle to get out of bed, and how self-care and self-hygiene was typically pushed to the side. She was just lucky that she had the farm to work on every day, and from what it sounded like, Thor had nothing. No responsibilities, nothing to keep him pushing forward. He only had his mind, and y/n knew how much of a dangerous place that could be.

Thor had been very explicit when it came to what he wanted and what he didn't want. He wanted to keep the length of his hair, and he wanted to keep his beard. Of course that led to y/n needing to reason with him because parts of his hair were pretty badly matted, but he was still desperate to keep it as long as possible. So, y/n complied. What would've been an easy shave had turned into a much longer, much more painful job. But it was what Thor wanted, and y/n wasn't going to argue with that.

Through many broken combs (and several Beyoncé albums), y/n managed to work through all of the matting and knots in Thor's hair. She hummed along to the song as she worked some replenishing oil into Thor's scalp and hair, trying to be as gentle as possible. She knew how much pain he had probably been in during that dematting process, she'd been through it several times during her time in Hydra. She had no idea why they didn't just shave her head, it would've been far easier - but they were all about complete anonymity, and a bald person was much easier to point out in a crowd, apparently.

"What do you want again? Asgardian braids?" Y/n asked curiously as she continued to massage different products through his hair. She hummed softly when she earned a nod from Thor, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to figure out the best way to do it. "I'm not sure how good I'll be..." She murmured, leaning to the side to wipe her hands on a spare towel to get rid of the product caking her palms. "Nat taught me a bunch of different braids when we all used to live in the compound, and I used to have to braid the kids' hair in Wakanda, but it's been a while."

Thor hummed as he listened to y/n. His eyes were closed in pure relaxation, a small smile playing at his lips. "Oh, it's not too hard!" He exclaimed quickly. "Natasha's braids are far more complicated than anything I'd have done to my hair. You see, my mother used to sprinkle a few braids into my hair, and it would just make everything feel a little cooler." He grinned, running a hand through his now knot-free beard.

He was so, so grateful for everything that y/n had done for him. He'd felt far too ashamed to ask for help with his hair, yet y/n simply swooped in and did it anyways, almost as if she'd read his mind. It was amazing. Yes, the de-matting process was very painful, but with the music in the background and y/n quietly singing along, it almost made it feel as if everything was normal again. As if everyone was still living together in the compound, and it was just a typical day. That was why he had his eyes closed. Pretending it was just a normal day felt so much nicer than coming back to reality.

"How about we do..." Y/n paused, frowning in thought as she bit down onto the tip of her thumb. Her face seemed to light up when she finally figured out what to do, sitting up a little straighter in excitement. "How about we do a little half-up, half-down moment? And I'll sprinkle a few braids in there?" She asked curiously, glancing around to find as many hair ties as possible. However, before Thor could respond, the most amazing idea popped into y/n's mind. "Thor. You have to let me braid your beard! It's long enough! I could do one brain going down the centre! It'd be so cool!"

Thor couldn't help but laugh at y/n's excitement. It was such a stupid idea, yet it sounded so fun. His beard was definitely long enough, and he could always take it out if he didn't like it, yeah, it sounded good. "Fine, fine. But only if you don't do it too tight." He grinned, listening to y/n cheer to herself as she quickly begun to make a start on his hair.

It was a long, tedious process, but both y/n and Thor seemed to be loving it. It was so soothing for the both of them. Y/n didn't mind that her hands were aching or cramping up, and Thor didn't really seem to mind if she pulled too tight. The music had been turned up even louder than it already was, and, despite not knowing many of the songs, Thor always sung when it came to the chorus.

When y/n was halfway through working on Thor's half-up, half-down updo, Natasha turned up in the doorway of the kitchen. A fond smile appeared on her face at the sight, tilting her head to the side to rest on the doorway. The pair had been in the kitchen for a few hours now, but neither of them had seemed to even notice. It was nice. But, Nat was unfortunately there to rain on their parade. She didn't want to. She didn't want to at all. But she had no choice.

Nat cleared her throat to get their attention, tucking her hands into her pockets as she glanced at the wide-eyed pair. "Sorry to interrupt, but there's a final mission meeting in twenty minutes." She said with a sympathetic smile. "This one can't be skipped. You'll be told what stone you're going to get, and where you're going for it."