Indeed, Hatame soon found out that this was no quick process. It might have been quicker with a brush, but even then, Sakkata had a lot of hair, and he could easily see how it could take the hours she said it did. Especially doing it on her own. Having only his hands to disentangle her hair with, it was a bit more difficult, and he had to be a lot more cautious not to snag a knot. But, lucky for Sakkata, Hatame was a Gryphon, and one of their lesser known qualities was the ability to be amazingly gentle.
To some, it might be a surprising quality. After all, Gryphons were equipped with some pretty lethal parts: claws, talons, a sharp, hooked beak that could easily crush and sever bone. But, if you thought about it, it only made sense. Because of the way they were built, they had to take a lot of precautions, learn a lot of self control, and know their own strength inside and out so as not to inadvertantly injure themselves or others. They generally learned very early on about the importance of knowing their own strength; even gryphlets, cuddly as they were, had a beak that could easily chomp down to the bone.
Even as a human, even if he unwittingly identified with his human side more now, this trait carried over. It didn't ease his concerns or level of concentration, though; the last thing he wanted to do was tear out a clump of her hair, even with her reassurance. And he knew how important hair was to Drygans. As for all the connotations and specifics...well, all he really knew was the the more white, the more power, that the Chosenâ€"Sakkataâ€"was the only one with pure white hair, and that "control"â€"well, nevermind that thought, not a good thought to remember. That was about it. He didn't know power was lost with cutting it...nor did he have any idea that Sakkata had never let anyone else touch her hair.
If he had known that...it might have thrown him for a bit of a loop.
Hatame listened as Sakkata spoke, and then nodded, even though she couldn't see him, at her question. That was true...it would likely be a while. He wasn't even yet halfway done. "Ah, good point. Still got a ways to go here...not that I mind!" he added quickly. He was actually finding it quite fun, really, even with that strange awkwardness that triggered an uncharateristic level of quietness in him. But that could easily be mistaken as concentration. Maybe.
Well, maybe to someone who didn't know him, and didn't know how gabby he was.
Letting go of her hair, he settled down on the groundâ€"hey, here was as good as anywhere else in this areaâ€"and waited for her to seat herself before he went back to carefully taming her hair. "So...have any preferences with the braid style?" he asked at length, starting to work her hair into smaller, individual sections that would be easier to manage. He continued on seriously, "Well, you have some choices here! We've got your standard braid, regular braid, and...normal braid. Hard decision, huh? Take you time. You've got plenty of it."
Hey, he was no beautician! But anyone knew how to at least braid. Even him. As for the complicated stuff he'd seen some people wear...forget about it.
