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Sabine groaned as she stared at her latest piece. The colors were wrong and the lines felt off. Frustrated, she threw her paintbrush at the wall, it bounced off with a clatter and fell to the ground. Grumbling, she walked to pick it up and took it the wash it off. She paused in her cleaning at a sudden knock on the door. “Who is it?” “It's Kanan, I have your lunch. I thought you might want to eat, but not interrupting your project. The teen crossed the room to open the door. Kanan stood there with a plate with a sandwich and two mugs.
“Thank you,” she smiled and took the plate and one of the mugs. “Do you mind if I come in?” “Sure, maybe you can tell me what's wrong?” Kanan laughed as he stepped in, “I doubt it, I'm not an artist.” Sabine rolled her eyes and settled on her bed, gesturing at the painting before tearing into her sandwich. Kanan settled cross-legged on the floor. He hummed lightly, “I do love the colors, what is frustrating you?”
Sabine gestured again, “That's the thing, I feel like I'm missing something, but when I tried to sketch more in, it looked too crowded!” Kanan nodded, “Maybe take a break? I find that helps sometimes. Then you can come back to it with a fresh view.”
She considered it. Taking a break would probably help, but she wanted to finish it so she could start a new one. “Fine, but only if you let me braid your hair.” She did not expect Kanan to reach pack and pull his usual ponytail out. “Nice, here sit.” She tossed down one of the throw pillows and Kanan moved to sit down. As she started combing his hair back she finally asked one of the questions that had been bugging her, “Why do you keep your hair long? I mean most guys don't and er…” she trailed off. “Ah, don't worry about it. I did cut it short when I was younger, but I missed having longer hair. I never wanted it back to shoulder length, but I do like this, perhaps a little longer.” He chuckled, “Probably partly because I used to pull on my braid when I was nervous.” Sabine laughed, “So you tugged your own hair? What else did you do? Bite your nails?” Kanan huffed in faux annoyance, “I'll have you know I always took good care of my nails.” Sabine laughed, when she first came on board a few months ago she had felt tense, always worried that she had been wrong (again). That she had trusted the wrong people (again).
She started a four strand braid, starting at the top of Kanan’s head. “Since we are asking deep and personal hair questions, why do you dye yours?” “After I left the Academy, I wanted to restate myself as my own person. I decided to cut my hair shorter and dye it to defy Imperial dress code and blandness.” She could see Kanan grin, “I like that. You deserve to be yourself.” Sabine grinned back, even though the older human couldn't see it. She tied off the braid with his band. “There, all done!” Reaching back, he ran his fingers over the braid. “Thank you, I like it.” He moved to stand up, but she grabbed his arm. He paused and turned to look at her. “Thank you, for everything. I feel safe here and I want you to know I appreciate you and Hera taking me in.”
Kanan smiled, mismatched teal eyes warm, “You're welcome, I'm glad you're here too.” He gathered the dishes and she turned back to the painting, before splashing in teal flowers. She was free and happy, with good companions.