Pirates of the Caribbean Oneshots

Braiding

Rowan sighed in frustration, brushing her hair out of her eyes again.
It wouldn't stay put, despite her clumsy attempt at a braid to keep it out of her way.

"What's up Ro?" her father asked, glancing up from the book he was reading in his armchair.

"My hair won't stay out of my eyes," she replied. "And Mum isn't here to fix it for me."

Teague watched her for a few seconds.
"Go get me a brush and something to tie your hair with," he said, setting his book on the arm of the chair, pages down to keep his place.

Rowan disappeared, coming back after a moment with the things he'd asked for.

She sat cross-legged on the floor in front of her father, who began to brush out her hair.

Soon it fell down her back like a wave of black silk, smooth and tangle-free.

"Proper Teague hair, black as ink."

His fingers gently gathered it back, then split it into three sections at the top of her head.

"Aunty Hazel's hair isn't black," Rowan said after a moment.

"No it isn't," Teague agreed. "Me dad's hair was the same colour as Hazel's is."

Rowan shifted in curiosity, but didn't ask the question that was dancing on the tip of her tongue. She knew not to, knew it would make her dad cross.

So she sat quietly, though wondered why her father's hands were so far up her head. Her mum never started fixing her hair at the top of her head.

Teague let his hands move easily, adding hair every time he crossed a side section of the plait over the middle one, slightly surprised he still remembered how to do it.

************************************

"Please Eddie?" Áine had begged, her dark tresses hanging damp over her shoulders. "Please. Ma smacked me when I asked her."

"Sit down."
He gestured for his little sister to sit on the end of his bed as he took the comb from her.

Seething at the thought of their mother having smacked Áine for simply wanting her hair plaited before bed, he kissed his little sister's head before starting to comb.

She winced as the teeth snagged on tangles, and he apologised every time, occasionally untangling with his fingers to spare her the tug of the comb.

Once all the knots were gone, he split it into three as best as he could, knowing from watching Hazel do her own hair that this was how one plaited.

"Left over middle, right over middle, left over again," he muttered to himself.

Áine sat very still until he'd finished his clumsy braid and tied the end.

Then she hugged him, which surprised him immensely as she wasn't usually physically affectionate.

After that, Áine had never asked their mother to do her hair again. She came to her brother or sister instead, and gradually with a few pointers from Hazel, Teague became, to his own surprise, quite skilled at plaiting hair.

************************************
Rowan stayed still as her father worked, though needed reminding when her mother came home.

Roxanne Sparrow paused halfway to the kettle, one eyebrow lifting in surprise.

"Am I really seeing Captain Teague, revered Keeper of the Pirate Code, sitting braiding hair?"

A laugh escaped her lips before she looked closer, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Holy shit, you're good. Much better than me. Where the hell did you learn to do that?"

"I have two sisters an' a mother who always had something better to do than plait her daughters hairs, so Hazel and me used to take it in turns to do Áine's," he explained, tying off the end of Rowan's plait.

"That's you, up ye get Ro."

Rowan hugged him before darting off.

Teague stood up, crossing his arms and eyeing his wife sternly.
"Likely nobody would believe you, but if you mention this to anyone, I will kill ye. I have a reputation to maintain."

"Oh, I know."

The glint in Roxanne's eyes was far from reassuring.

Teague cursed under his breath; he'd just given her blackmail material.