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Isabela was passing by the door to the bathroom when she overheard a voice on the other side. Unsure of what she was hearing she pressed her ear to the door, she didn’t have her cousin’s gift after all. She couldn’t make out everything but she was able to label the voice to her tío Bruno.
She raised her hand to gently knock on the door, “tío, are you alright in there?” There was a brief pause before she heard his reply. “Just fine-Diego Lo juro por Dios!” Isabela furrowed her brow at the subtle voice change. “Can I come in?” “No-yes!” Opting to pick the latter choice she slowly opened the door. Her hand flew to her mouth as she attempted to cover the laugh trying to escape.
“Hey, Isa.” Bruno greeted. The girl didn’t quite know what to make of the visual in front of her. The seer was in his usual maroon shirt while his ruana hung on one of the towel racks. In one hand he held a pair of scissors, in the other was, well the first hand. Every time Bruno made a move with the object, his other arm wrestled the blades away. His hair was messily pinned up with a variety of ties and clips. Some strands fell from their section over his eyes which he blew out of his face with an annoyed huff.
“Bruno, what are you doing?” Isabela placed her hands on her hips. “I’m trying to cut my hair but Diego won’t let me,” Bruno replied. ‘...’ “I am not going to cut it too short!” “Because your definition of a trim is nothing at all and I don’t want to be walking around with something dumb.” “Yes they are, man-buns are stupid Diego.” “We share the same body! How would you pull it off better than me?”
Clearly, Isabela was missing something. “Uh, tío, or tíos?” Bruno glanced at his niece. “Mind filling me in on what’s going on here?” The momentary distraction caused the right hand to win over the left and knock the scissors onto the counter. Bruno sighed crossing his arms and fully turning to Isabela. “My hair is getting too long so I need to cut it. Diego doesn’t trust me to keep it long enough so it can be tied back. But I’m tired of getting it in my face and picking hair out of my mouth.” Bruno glanced back at the unused scissors. “Do you have any idea how long it took me just to hold those?” Isabela shook her head. “Ten minutes.”
Now the girl couldn’t contain her laughter. “You’ve been fighting yourself over hair length?” “Myeah.” Bruno shrugged. “Come on,” Isabela held out her hand. “You should have just come to me, I’ve been dealing with long hair enough to know how to work with it.” The seer glanced at her hand but made no move to take it. “You’re not going to do anything crazy right? I don’t want a whole head of orange.” “I won’t do anything you’re not comfortable with.” The girl wiggled her fingers as an invite. “Fine.” Bruno agreed as he was led to Isabela’s room.
Long gone was the pastel pink and purple of Isabela’s old room. Now she had a more natural landscape. If any of Bruno’s fairytales were real, this would be a perfect enchanted forest replica.
Tall fruit trees made up an orchard in the back of the room that seemed to go on forever. There were a few rock formations that were covered in moss and ivy, with bits of wildflowers sprouting at the top. A small pond was off to the side with lily pads and floating lanterns. A few frogs and other small animals were hiding in the grass on the edge or swimming in the water. To the left was Isabela’s living space.
Blue and purple tiles made up the floor and slowly turned to grass and met at the pond’s edge. Large stain-glass windows arced around the corner, giving the room a nice natural light. A dresser was in front of one window with a small bookshelf sitting on top. Her bed was the same as before, with vines suspending it at the height she wished. Next to it sat a green folding screen with gold flowers decorating the surface. The vanity was the last piece of furniture in the room. Isabela guided her uncle to sit while the girl rummaged around in the drawers.
“Alright let’s start with the length,” Isabela stated as she found the items she was looking for. “Long enough for a ponytail but you don’t want it falling in your face right?” Bruno nodded as he laid back in the chair.
Isabela got to work combing through the tangled hair and cutting where necessary. Diego didn’t exactly make it easy, making the woman second-guess with his comments and flinching so often. When she was done she grouped the hair in her hand and had the seer approve the length. The alter was satisfied but Bruno shook his head out to prove the locks still fell too close to his face.
“I can braid the front,” Isabela suggested. She took the bangs in her hands and held them at the sides of his head. “If I braid this into the sides then your hair will stay out of your face whether it’s up or down.” “I think that would be fine.” Bruno nodded as he turned his head to imagine the final result.
As Isabela grouped the hair, she combed her fingers deeper and discovered strands of white peppered into the black locks. She lifted the seer’s hair higher and saw nearly the whole bottom layer was different shades of grey and white. “Tíos, what’s this? You getting old on us?” She tried to joke. Bruno flushed at the comment but not for the light-hearted banter. “No, it’s, it’s from my gift.” It took a moment then it seemed to click for Isabela. “Have you been altering time?” Bruno gave a slow nod. “Whenever I reverse it, a little of my energy is taken away. I just choose to age my hair rather than something else.” Isabela hummed but didn’t say anything more. The subject of Bruno’s time manipulation was always an uncomfortable topic for him.
“I could dye it for you.” Her eyes lit up at the prospect. “Dye it what?” Bruno asked with a skeptical brow. “Any color you want.” She smiled. “You could be boring and just do black to match but I think a different color would look very good as braids.”
Isabela went over to the vanity drawers again and pulled out assorted colored jars. As a new hobby, the girl would mix pollen dust and flowers to make new pigments. The paint could be used in her hair or for traditional art, usually the former.
“You could do blue and match Mirabel, or red to contrast your ruana, I think a yellow may be a bit much but it would pop…” She continued. “Those are very bright,” Bruno commented as he looked through the jars. “Si, but I can always darken them, it’s the lighter colors that are hard to change.” “I’d be fine with a dark emerald.” Isabella shuffled around her green jars “oooh, yes! And I could fade it in so it looks natural with your dark hair.” “Just don’t go too crazy.” Bruno rubbed his arm. “I get enough weird looks in town.” “Just the braids, I promise.” Isabela held up her hand.
The girl got to work gathering bits of white on the sides of Bruno’s head. She scooped up some green dye and ran her hands through the streaks. Once she was done with one section she pinned the hair so it wouldn’t run into the black. When the dye finished its work Isabela washed out the excess and dried it. With the new colored hair, she quickly braided the strands so they stayed in place. The final touch was joining them into the short ponytail.
The color was a subtle change, complimenting the seer’s dark hair and green eyes. It would look lighter in the sun but even outside it wouldn’t be too dramatic.
“There we go.” Isabela smiled as she set her materials down. “I can officially add you to my growing list of family clients.” Bruno chuckled and moved his head around in the mirror. “It looks great Isa, have you thought about doing this in town?” Isabela hummed, “oh I don’t know, it’s just a hobby of mine. I don’t think I’d like to do anything serious.” “That’s fair, I just think it would be a surefire way to talk to more women.” Bruno winked. “Tío stop!” Isabela sputtered as she shoved the man out of her room.
“You know for a guy who doesn’t care about relationships, you seem to butt into them a lot.” The woman sassed. “It’s not that I don’t care, it’s that I don’t want to be in one,” Bruno replied. “And second of all, it’s my job as your uncle to give you a hard time. Just ask your pá.”