bakerstreet | ( picture prompt meme )

[ Hanamaru pouts slightly at the comment. She's not trying to butter her up! That was perfectly sincere! But she nods vigorously at the suggestion. ]

Something like the cover of our single. [ Thinking in the same direction, more or less- ] Since we are called Azalea, something flower-themed would only make sense, zura.

[ She nods and all but beams at that. Actually, scratch that, she is actively beaming when she shifts a bit to give Kanan better reach to her hair. Aside of that, though, she sits as still as a statue, stature straight and hands in her lap, looking like she's about to burst out into excited "I'm ready!!" any minute now. Like she's Spongebob or something. ]

Your hair is longest out of all of us, isn't? I think only Riko-chan's hair is nearly as long. Hmmm, isn't it difficult to have so much hair when you go underwater? It must get really heavy!

[Gathering a handful of locks above Hanamaru's right ear, she starts twisting it into the beginnings of a braid. The motions are practiced, almost on a delicate sort of autopilot -- while she doesn't often have the chance to use them on Hanamaru, and there usually is no need, she's picked up a trick or two by osmosis over the years. Hanging around Dia, Mari and Chika does that.]

I've grown it out since a time when I was shorter than this table, so I'm used to the weight. By now, I reckon I'd feel weird if my head suddenly turns lighter after a haircut. [Which is part of the reason why she doesn't see any point in one, nothing beyond the typical trims and treatments for maintenance. Habit.

She presses her fingertips to the spot between Hanamaru's shoulders, laughing again, poking gently.] Hey, relax. We're just getting started.

[Gotta admit, the sight of Hanamaru as basically the very picture of bated breath is cute, and the expectation in her eyes is something she hopes to meet. But staying tense throughout the entire period will be quite tiring.] Want to hear a story?

That long? That's very impressive, zura!

[ She pouts a little bit at the gentle prod, but doesn't argue; her posture does relax, visible with the slight slump of her shoulders.

This is nice, Hanamaru finds. Being indulged in small ways like this is nice, but a quiet, relaxing moment with just the two of them, too. Maru doesn't often get the chance to interact with Kanan, somehow, even as they're part of the same subunit, so she hasn't gotten much of the chance to know her or talk to her one-on-one.

Alongside that, making friends hasn't always come naturally to Maru, and with her largely friendless childhood she isn't exactly experienced with socializing. The natural flow of conversation is a relief, as a result.

Perhaps it's Kanan herself and her calm, laid-back nature, but there is something very calming about the atmosphere they've build up here together, and Kanan's simple comment to relax is taken to heart. ]

A story? [ Maru looks at Kanan curiously from the corner of her eye. ] What sort of story? [ She won't lie, she is interested- and excited. ]

[Kanan's expression becomes approving as she watches the taut stillness ease away, though she doesn't realize it herself, and Hanamaru probably didn't catch it with her back turned, either.]

There's a beginning, [-- and her hands continue at the project before them,] a middle, and an end. Bit silly of a story, in my opinion.

[That she has Hanamaru's attention tells her she is on the right track. Hanamaru enjoys her books, everyone knows; she'd inferred from the authors' names and the occasional glimpse of dust jackets a preference for fiction. Looks like the guess was correct.] Did you know Chika used to have long hair herself?

[Yes, it's a story about their dear leader.]

[ Oho! A story about Chika? Now that's interesting. Though Hanamaru doesn't turn her head back to Kanan so as not to get in the way of her project, and Kanan can't see her surprised expression, curiosity is plainly written in her tone of voice. ]

Chika-chan did? [ Yes, Kanan absolutely caught her attention there. Out of all of Aqours, Hanamaru knows very very few from before; aside of Ruby, who she was friends with, Yoshiko, who she hasn't seen for a long time, she knows Dia out of association with Ruby, but that's it. As a result, there isn't much she knows about the others still; definitely not about Chika. Getting to know more about their mysterious leader is definitely an opportunity she can't pass up. ]

Kanan-chan, have the two of you known each other for a long time?

[She internally debates some wisecrack like "perhaps before this table even existed," and soon decides against making it. The funniness in the gag has run its course.]

From when we were wearing diapers, actually. [Meaning, she has loads of ~~ammo~~ stories to ruin the mystery and any resulting (uncalled-for) aura surrounding Chika to Hanamaru's mind.

Chika would pitch a fit to find out what she is doing here, but it's nothing her birth sisters won't do. The whole point of being Chika's longtime friend is sharing silly stories about her. Planet Normal or no, Chika gets up to so much story-worthy nonsense.]

See, around the time she was in preschool, there was a...fad? A trend? For girls to have long hair. Everyone was doing it. Did your preschool have the same trend?

[ :O !!!!! ] Woah! That long? To have someone you know that well sounds really nice, zura...

[ With no siblings and only the vaguest approximation of a childhood friend who she hasn't seen since they were both in preschool, the idea of having people in your life who know you well and long enough to have ammo and/or blackmail material on you is fairly glamorous to Maru's eyes. ]

Hmm... [ Good question. Was there? It's not like if there were trends or fads she'd be familiar with them. Neither her or her parents, who, given that we're talking about preschoolers here, would be more responsible for how she wears her hair than her. ] Maru does remember something like that. A lot of the girls in our preschool had very long hair for a time... ah, Maru didn't, though. At least, it wasn't that much longer than now. Yoshiko-chan didn't either.

Edited 2017-01-09 09:06 (UTC)

[While Kanan's hands remain busy -- close to half done with the braid -- she briefly stops talking to mull over the new information.] I guess some things will catch on, no matter where and when.

[Or maybe ideas of good hairstyles for preschoolers are common to different parents...? Eh, whatever.]

Her dog was smaller back then. Well, I say that, but the proportion of Chika to dog has been rather consistent as they both grew up. [Shiitake as a "small" dog was only so in terms of age.] And he wasn't out of his teething phase, so he kept chewing on stuff. We said he was acting more like a cat.

One day, I went to walk her to school and got the shock of my life... [Trailing off for dramatic effect.] Her dog was biting a clump of her hair and she didn't notice at all.

[ Maru can't help it. She bursts out in giggles at the mental image- trying very hard to contain herself, of course, and trying even harder to not move as to not get in the way of Kanan's handiwork. It mostly works? Sort of?

In between the giggling, she manages to wheeze out: ] How did she not notice that?

Like how I can put your hair in dreads and you won't spot it? [EYEBROW WAGGLE. Plus a flippant wink tossed at Hanamaru's reflection. ミ☆] You'd have to ask her for the answer.

[Dreads are an empty threat, the 'do she was working on is just a tiered fishtail. Another time...!]

The damage wasn't that nasty, but she still ended up with an obvious hole in the middle. She skipped school that day, and her mom cut off a big part to make the ends even. From then on, if anybody questioned the new look, her go-to response was that shorter hair is easier to keep.

[ gasp!! ] Maru isn't sure what a 'dreads' it, but surely you wouldn't, Kanan-chan? [ said a fair bit too lightly to sound entirely serious, but it's hard to tell whether she took that threat at face value or not ]

I see, I see! Hmmmm, say, you think Chika-chan will ever try wearing long hair again? Who knows what might have changed since then.

Wouldn't I? They'll suit you. [Add Dia's rapping and the supposedly "electronic" quality to Kanan's vocals and AZALEA's image shall be ~~utterly ruined~~ reinvented brand new.

Don't tempt her.]

Chika, though...she doesn't have much purpose or motivation anymore to grow her hair out. I'd say she's used to the way she looks now, too.

Oh -- [The proverbial lightbulb-going-off moment.] What if we let her try something new? A wig for styling, for example?

[ Puffing her cheeks and pouting. ] Kanan-chaaaan. [ :T ]

Edited 2017-01-12 09:05 (UTC)

Ah! Wig styling? For her to wear them, or simply for the styling itself?

[Under any other circumstances, she'd laugh and pat Hanamaru's head noncommittally. With her hands occupied, she has to settle for making funny faces, knowing full well Hanamaru can see them.]

Why not both? She can wear the wig, and also try new hairstyles using it. If she doesn't like how it turns out, at least her real hair stays unchanged.

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