Chapter Text
Guillermo was Nandor’s familiar, which meant he had some… unpleasant duties, but there were a few things he genuinely enjoyed. One of these things was doing Nandor’s hair. It was strangely relaxing to comb through the vampire’s long dark locks, and occasionally Guillermo would allow himself a moment of indulgence and tuck a strand of Nandor’s hair behind his ear under the pretense of gathering it back to be brushed. Guillermo always felt a pang of disappointment when he was finished and had to step away, although he never admitted that to himself. In fact, he obstinately refused to consider the implications behind the levels of serotonin he got from combing his fingers through Nandor’s hair- he filed it away in the corner of his brain labeled Do Not Think About, along with the way his heart sped up whenever Nandor said his name, and the spark of something warm he felt when he held Nandor’s hand as he helped him into his coffin. He liked Nandor a normal amount, he reminded himself, and anything more than that would only complicate matters in a way he didn’t need and couldn’t deal with.
On this particular night, Nandor was behaving differently than usual. He was tense, fidgeting with a hair tie as Guillermo brushed out his hair slowly. As Guillermo finished and began to step away, Nandor spoke up.
“Guillermo?” he asked hesitantly. “I would like to try something different tonight.”
Confused, Guillermo replied. “What do you mean, Master?”
“I would like you to braid my hair.”
“Of course, Master,” Guillermo said softly, trying a little too hard to mask the surge of panic that had suddenly shot through him. There is no reason to be nervous, he thought to himself as he gathered Nandor’s hair into his hands and divided it into three strands. There is no reason to freak out just because his hair is soft and smells like the cinnamon hair oil you put in it and you’ve basically been given permission to run your fingers through it and he’s leaning into your touch and Oh God Nandor was leaning into his touch. Guillermo had been twining the three strands of hair together, weaving the braid down Nandor’s scalp and towards the nape of his neck, and he hadn’t noticed that Nandor had tilted his head back slightly so that Guillermo’s fingers were pressed up against the skin of his neck. Guillermo swallowed and continued to braid, trying very hard to slow down his heartbeats. His efforts towards the latter were met with little success, as Nandor kept sighing and humming quietly with what sounded suspiciously like contentment.
After a disappointingly short amount of time, the braid was finished, and Guillermo stepped back to examine his handiwork. Nandor’s hair was swept back from his face, and the braid fell gracefully over one shoulder. A few wisps of hair had escaped the braid and were floating around his temples. He was breathtakingly beautiful, Guillermo realized with a start. Nope nope nope. He quickly filed that thought away in the Do Not Think About file. Nandor reached a hand up to feel the braid and nodded with approval.
“It is a good braid, Guillermo,” Nandor said with a grin. “You are a good braider. It is a pity I cannot see myself.”
“Oh!” Guillermo fumbled in his pocket, taking out his phone. “Do you- can I take a picture of you?”
Nandor nodded, and Guillermo snapped a few pictures before showing them to Nandor. The vampire’s face lit up with delight. “Thank you, Guillermo,” he said happily. “I would like for you to braid my hair every day from now on.”
Guillermo’s heart jumped at the prospect of doing this every day. “O-of course, Master!” he said with a little too much excitement. Nandor grinned at him again, this time with what might be described as shyness, and Guillermo’s heart did all kinds of backflips in his chest.
Fuck.