See Me for Me

That Sinking Feeling

Rupert woke up while it was still completely dark. "Ugh," he groaned, rolling over and instinctively trying to reach for a duvet to pull over his head.

"Fitz," Amir called softly. "Are you awake?"

He hummed.

"It's your turn to take watch."

Rupert took a long breath and stretched. "Yeah, just let me wake up first."

"You slept well?" Amir asked.

"Mm hm. Nothing tried to kill us yet?"

The prince laughed softly. "Not yet."

"That's good." Rupert sat up, and he could immediately feel the sheer amount of dried leaves and twigs that had gotten stuck in his hair. He groaned, reaching up to try to straighten that out.

He picked all the little bits of forest out of it after a minute, but now he was very aware of the amount of hair on his head in the first place (of course his mother never let him cut it-- he had done that exactly once before, when he was nine, and Lavinia made it very clear that he could never do it again). But if he couldn't get rid of it, he needed at least to figure out a way to get it out of the way.

He started running his fingers through it, gathering it all towards the back of his head. But he pretty quickly realized he didn't have anything on him that he could use to tie it back. He groaned again and let it fall on his back.

Amir glanced sideways at him, the slightest hints of amusement on his face. "Everything alright?"

"My hair," Rupert said with a sigh, as if that explained everything.

"What about it?"

"It's just in my way, but i don't have anything to tie it back."

"Just braid it," Amir said, like that should be an easy fix. And maybe it could've been, if it weren't for one crucial detail.

Rupert just looked at the prince.

Amir stared back. "What?" he asked, but a second later, he seemed to understand. He raised an eyebrow. "You don't know how to braid your hair?"

He shook his head. 

Amir breathed out a small laugh. "How do you not know how to braid hair, if you have that much of it?" 

Rupert shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed. "If it were up to me, I wouldn't have this much of it," he said before he could really think about it. 

"What do you mean?" the prince asked. "Isn't it up to you?" 

Rupert looked at Amir, suddenly remembering that he was supposed to be sticking with his cover story-- that he had been living alone in this forest for years. "Uh--" he started, thinking quickly of a way to modify it. "Yeah, I guess I just never really thought about it since I ran away. My mother never let me cut it, back when I was still living with her." 

Amir frowned. "Well, it seems like your mother's not here to tell you what to do anymore. Maybe it's time for you to make that decision for yourself." 

"Yeah, maybe," Rupert said, though he was hesitant. He thought about what Lavinia might say when he returned. The fact that he had left without telling her was bad enough, but if he came back with his hair cut off as well, he knew she would completely lose it. 

Amir seemed to sense his hesitation. "Or I could braid it for you, for now. Just to keep it out of your way." 

Rupert hadn't been expecting the prince to make that offer, but to his own surprise, he nodded. Amir had an unreadable expression on his face-- maybe that was because of the limited lighting, or maybe Rupert just didn't understand why the prince was starting to look almost fond of him. Rupert kept running his fingers through his hair, taking more time to pick out the stubborn bits of leaves and twigs that were still clinging to him.