Warning: Two men in a private shower together. Two men spending hours on hair care. Oh noes teh gay.
Warning: I like to think I'm funny. Goujun likes to thinks he is not.
Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki Gaiden.

A dragon's hair, even when he was in man-form so that it was thought of as hair and not fur, was not suited to growing long.

Though thick, the individual strands were exceedingly fine, much finer than the finest hair of kami or human or youkai, as fine as the downy undercoat of the mammals most prized for their fur, almost as fine as the threads of a spider's web or a silkworm's precious cocoon.

It was excessively tedious to care for.

Left unbound, it not only tended to tangle, but to mat if grown longer than a few inches. If grown a little longer still, it would soon break before it could grow any more, unless carefully tended and kept braided.

Goujun sometimes found it ridiculously ironic that millenia of tradition required each Dragon King to wear a thick, heavy, tail analogy of his own hair reaching to his waist. A symbol of the burdens of responsibility was one thing, but wasting hours being responsible for what was only meant to be a symbol made little practical sense, and Goujun was a pragmatist, or so he liked to think of himself.

Except for once a month, he kept his long hair braided even while sleeping or bathing, undoing it only when it became loose and untidy to quickly braid it again. Once a month, when he could arrange a few hours for it in his schedule, he required certain extra, unofficial duties from his field marshal, and he would unbind his hair to have Tenpou wash it thoroughly while joining Goujun in his shower.

Because of the tendancy of the fine, fur-like strands to mat together, it could not simply be piled on his head and scrubbed and kneaded with handfuls of suds, as pictured in a ridiculous illustration for a shampoo advertisment he had seen in one of Tenpou's magazines. (Did that really work for humans?) Instead he had Tenpou work the gentle soap through his hair with a large-toothed comb, never rushing, carefully working out each stubborn new tangle on the way down, until Tenpou was kneeling in the hot splashing water. Of course, Goujun did not protest when Tenpou insisted on attending to other parts of the Dragon King's body while he was down there on his knees anyway.

After washing, it was necessary to condition his hair to keep it strong and sleek and minimize tangling, and to keep it from attacking him (and Tenpou) with near-lethal voltages of static electricity when it was dry. Goujun found that a lightly-scented, lightweight, plant-derived oil worked best, generously massaged down through his wet hair by Tenpou, then the excess allowed to rinse away. Coincidently, Goujun also found that a lightly-scented, light-weight, plant-derived oil worked best elsewhere as well, when he raised Tenpou to his feet again and turned him against the wall, so that Goujun could bury his face and hands in Tenpou's own wet hair in turn, while also burying himself in Tenpou in other ways.

Once they finished cleaning their bodies (again) and emerged from the shower, Goujun would have Tenpou towel-dry his hair: only squeezing gently, as rubbing or twisting would tangle and break it. This left it quite wet and heavy still, so while it air-dried they had to find other ways to pass the time. This was usually done naked on Goujun's bed, which only made practical sense since the bedroom was adjacent to the bathroom and Goujun's clothing would only get soaked while his hair was still so wet, and Tenpou saw no reason to wear anything while his commander was required by necessity's dictates to remain naked.

Later, when Goujun's hair was finally almost dry, Tenpou could begin working on the tangles that had once again asserted themselves, despite how careful they always tried to be while it was drying. Occasionally Tenpou would have to slick his fingers with a bit of the oil to help slip the comb through a particularly tenacious knot. Occasionally he would also slip his oiled fingers elsewhere while they were slick, since Goujun would be lying on his front anyway at this point, to better relax while giving Tenpou full access to his hair.

Eventually the subsequent finer-toothed combs would slide easily through Goujun's hair without pulling or snagging, and Tenpou would divide it into precise sections and bind it into a tight, heavy braid once more, the symbol of the weight of responsibility. They would both get dressed and Tenpou would leave, his unofficial duties fulfilled for another month.

Sometimes, despite the indisputable tedium of the hours of hard work his long hair required, Goujun wished he had the time to care for it so thoroughly more often.

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Written 9 April 2005