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As soon as Harmonia finishes brushing her hair, Atlas rearranges it. She pulls it forward, covering her face. The weight of the hair and the soft curls against her skin are comforting. Familiar. Safe.
Unfortunately, her mum doesn’t agree. “Bug, you shouldn’t do that. You’re gonna get hurt ‘cause you won’t be able to see something in your way.”
Atlas vehemently shakes her head, a slight smile tugging at her lips as her hair bounces around. Harmonia raises a hand to brush through his own hair as they sigh.
“Fine, just, tuck it behind your ears if you start running around, okay?” Harmonia says, voice soft as ever.
“{Yes, mum.}”
Atlas should’ve listened; she really should have. But Artemis had surprised her, running up and not so gently tapping her shoulder as he yelled out that Atlas was ‘it’ before running off out of the open backdoor.
Now she lays on her stomach, halfway through the backdoor, sniffling as she tries to stop herself from crying. Her foot had caught on the lip of the doorframe, sending her crashing to the ground before their game had even really begun.
Artemis hovers above her, nervously fidgeting with his hands as his wings flare out and then retract, over and over.
It feels like hours before he finally calms.
“(Apollo!)” he shouts suddenly, relief evident in his voice, “(Um, Atlas fell…)”
“[I can see that,]” Apollo responds, voice cold even as he kneels down to look at Atlas. He tilts her chin up, eyes narrowing as he examines her, yet his voice is notably softer when he asks, “[Are you hurt?]”
Shakily, Atlas nods. The tears threatening to fall sting at her eyes even more with the motion.
Apollo hums, tapping his fingers against his knee for a moment, before he takes a hold of Atlas’ shoulders and manhandles her until she’s sitting; propped up by the side of the house. His hand comes to cup his chin as he looks her over.
“[Your nose is bleeding. I think you scraped your chin, too.]”
At that, Atlas’ tears finally start to fall.
“[No, it’s– you’re fine, it’s okay, I’m just going to go and]”– Apollo’s stammering is cut off when Atlas sobs even louder before wrapping a hand around his wrist. “[Atlas you can’t– I need to go or I can’t help you.]”
Atlas’ grip remains firm, even as she sobs and Apollo attempts to pry her hands away.
“(I can get mum. And you can stay here, with Atlas?)” Artemis speaks up while Apollo is still trying to convince Atlas to let go.
“[...Okay.]”
Artemis scurries off, leaving Apollo and Atlas alone. Every now and then, he twitches, his hands itching to do something to help. Instead he just curls around Atlas, protectively, carding a hand through her hair and trying his best to not move any of her curls away from her face.
When Artemis returns with their mum, she immediately scoops Atlas into her arms, cooing soft reassurances into her ear. They carry her to the bathroom, setting her down on the toilet lid and holding some toilet paper to her nose, tilting her head back. Once he’s satisfied Atlas’ nosebleed has been taken care of, he carefully wipes down her face, clearing the blood and dirt away.
Apollo and Artemis crowd around them in the small bathroom, not leaving Atlas’ side even as Artemis shies away from explaining how it happened. Atlas doesn’t blame him for it, she knows their mum wouldn’t either; but the idea never seems to click, for him.
“I should just wrap you up in bubble wrap and call it a day,” Harmonia jokes after yet another accident. Atlas had walked into a wall while trying to follow behind her brothers, having misjudged where the doorway was. The sound of Atlas’ head colliding with the wall had been so loud Harmonia had immediately ran to them, walking in just as Apollo had started playing ‘doctor’ as he attempted to examine Atlas for injuries.
Luckily there was no blood this time, just a bump on the head. That didn’t stop Atlas from clinging to Harmonia for the rest of the night.
It hurts. It hurts even as her mum coos at her and brushes through the tangles so slowly he’s barely moving at all.
This is the worst. Forced to sit still while Harmonia tugs at her scalp, arranging her hair in a ponytail she doesn’t need nor want. Any protests Atlas could have made had died in her throat, simply following along no matter how reluctant she was.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, their hands stop moving. No hair falls to cover her face, it’s all safely tucked away in a fluffy ponytail; it pulls at her scalp and pain shoots across her head. Harmonia pulls away for a second, before returning with a mirror. Holding the mirror up to Atlas’ face, he smiles patiently as Atlas looks in the mirror.
Her face looks so bare. Exposed. Two wide eyes looking out at herself.
“Do you like it?” Harmonia asks when Atlas does nothing but stand, frozen, staring at her own face.
What is she supposed to say to that? She can’t say she doesn’t like it, that’d be rude. But she can’t stand the thought of having to be like this any longer. It’s horrible. It’s bad, it’s gross. No one should be able to see her.
As her thoughts spiral, tears begin to well up in her eyes.
Harmonia tuts, “Aw, hey you’re okay, love. Do you want it out?”
The tears finally start to spill down her cheeks as Atlas gives a shaky nod.
“Alright, c’mere. It’s okay,” Harmonia reassures as she carefully pulls the hairband out, before gently ruffling Atlas’ hair until it’s back to how it usually sits, almost entirely covering her face. “Sorry, bug. We’ll find something else, okay?”
Slumping forward, Atlas practically falls into Harmonia. Why do they even need to do this? There’s nothing wrong with Atlas wanting to remain unseen. Arguing her case feels like it would take far too much energy, along with being pointless {and mum always works so hard to keep them all happy, does she really need more stress?} so she resigns herself to staying silent.
Staring into the mirror, the knot in Atlas’ chest unfurls slightly as she sees her hair masking her face. It’s not much, but it’s the best she can do.
The TV blares in the background as Atlas sits on the floor, leaning her back against the couch as she watches Apollo and Artemis play with their legos. Apollo is building some sort of castle, it seems. Meanwhile, Artemis looks to be exclusively searching for whatever piece Apollo might need next; claiming it for himself before Apollo could, and sticking it onto the mass of bricks he had collected.
There didn’t seem to be any purpose to what Artemis was building, and he knew it. Apollo knew it too, by the way he kept glaring at the thing. However, he didn’t call it out, for some reason or another. Maybe he just didn’t want to give Artemis the satisfaction.
“Hey, bug, I gotcha something,” Harmonia calls out to Atlas, drawing her attention away from her brothers. Immediately, she jumps to her feet and runs over to her mum. There’s something in his hands.
What is it?
Hair falls over her face as Atlas cranes her neck, trying to get a look at what her mum is holding. It’s hopeless, unfortunately. Whatever it is, she can’t see it at all. Pouting, Atlas shifts back to looking at her mum’s face, now lit up in a smile, slightly giggling at Atlas’ attempts at peeking.
“Hold your hands out for me, love?”
Atlas complies immediately, cupping her hands together in front of herself. In her excitement, she can’t help the way she bounces on her toes for a second, wings gently fluttering behind her.
With a flourish, Harmonia places the mystery item in Atlas’ hands, revealing it to be a hair clip; pink, with a bright yellow star attached to it. Her mum always gets her star-themed stuff, ever since she was little– not that she’s complaining. It’s cute. She likes it.
“I thought it would be good for you, since your hair always falls in front of your eyes. It’s a shame to hide such a sweet little face, yeah?” As he talks, they reach a hand up to ruffle Atlas’ hair, before tucking some of it behind her ear.
It only takes a second for Atlas to move her head slightly, and her hair yet again falls to cover her face.
“Do you want me to put it in for you?”
Atlas quickly nods her head, swaying in place for a moment when she stops– maybe that was a bit too fast, she feels dizzy now. “{Please?}” she adds.
“Of course, bug, it’ll just be a second. Can I have the clip, please?” Harmonia holds his hand out, and Atlas doesn’t hesitate before handing him the hair clip.
Harmonia thanks her, before gently brushing her hair back, holding it in place as he slides the clip into her hair. It clicks as Harmonia snaps it shut, and she pulls away from Atlas. Now, only half of her face is covered by hair, giving her full vision in one eye, yet still able to feel the comforting weight of her hair shielding her from the world.
“How does that feel, bug? Is it good?”
Tilting her head from side to side, feeling the way her hair shifts, Atlas takes a moment before she responds. Finally, she speaks.
“{‘S good, thanks!}” Atlas smiles at Harmonia, practically beaming, her way of showing how appreciative she is despite how quiet her voice always sounds.
“That’s great! Do you wanna go look in the mirror?”
Harmonia’s hand wraps around Atlas’ {warm, comforting, safe} as he leads her to the mirror hanging in the hall.
Once they’re standing in front of the mirror, Atlas speaks up again, “{Mum? Can you…}” she trails off, fear swallowing the latter half of her question. Luckily, Harmonia can put the pieces together.
“Ah, yeah of course, love. C’mere.” Harmonia places her hands under Atlas’ armpits before lifting her up and settling her against their hip. He’s so warm, Atlas can’t help but nuzzle into his neck as soon as they have her settled in their arms. Harmonia laughs as Atlas does so, the sound light and airy, like a song. It’s nice. She almost forgets why they’re even here, entirely content to get comfy in her mum’s arms.
Gently, Harmonia bumps their head against Atlas’, and she remembers why they’re here. As she looks up, she whispers an apology, though it’s quickly shushed away.
Finally, she can see herself. A single eye peering out as she examines the sight in front of her. The clip sits proudly in her hair; it’s easy to focus on it, instead of her face. She grins at the sight, thanking her mum yet again.
“I’m glad you like it, my star.”