John sat down behind Alex, running his fingers through his friend's unbound hair.
It was terribly knotted and matted with filth and grease from weeks without proper washing.
Alex's shoulders relaxed, betraying how much he was enjoying this. It was the only sign of pleasure he would let himself show, the only sign that showed how much he loved having his hair touched.
Though Alex's pride would never let him admit it, John doubted Alex had had his hair touched in a very long time.
The immigrant hadn't revealed much about his past, but John could tell that it hadn't been easy.
"You have beautiful hair." John said, twirling the russet strands around his finger.
John had always loved red hair. The way its russet tones turned fiery in the sunlight, the rich pigment that always stood out in a crowd.
"I do?" Alex said incredulously. "I've never thought about it before."
Alexander Hamilton didn't find much about himself beautiful, John had noted. The way he covered himself with his arms while washing, the way he always kept his coat completely buttoned no matter his warm it was, the sad smile he gave his reflection on the rare occasions he looked in a mirror.
"It really is beautiful."
John separated Alex's mass of hair into three separate sections and began carefully braiding them together.
The incredible thickness of Alex's hair made it quite nice to braid, though he supposed that the fact that it was completely filthy made the task much more difficult. John couldn't judge him, though. The entire army was in dire need of a shower.
Alex sighed deeply. John could tell that he liked this, liked this very much.
"What are you doing to my hair?" Alex asked, though John knew that it really didn't matter to him what he was doing. As long as he could feel John touching his hair he didn't care if he was using it as a bath towel.
"I'm braiding it." John said. "It'll keep it out of our face."
Alex hummed thoughtfully, keeping himself still while John continued the braid. Once he was done, he tied it off with a ribbon and sat back to admire his handiwork.
"Is it done?" Alex asked, turning around to face John.
"Yeah. It is " John said. "Now that your hair's out of the way, I can finally see that beautiful face of yours."
"I have a beautiful face?"
"Yes, my Alex. You do."
