Horus had just learned to do an updo with long hair by playing with the cat nextdoors hair and he was so excited now! He smiled happily as he sat ont he roof of the salon that he lived at. He had a nice part of the roof that he had built a little home in a water closet up there. He watched the humans and the few cats walk around the side walk below him as he swung his feet and wondered if he would get to meet anyone today.
---
Impulse's life had changed dramatically: he'd gone from being uncertain about his relationship with Marshall (honest fears, true, but he was ashamed of them) to having kids with him. Holding his hand tightly was his five-year-old daughter, fondly called Poptart so often that he couldn't even remember what Gwin had originally named her. He smiled broadly as they walked, his confidence higher than it had ever been before--he was a father, busy all the time, but he adored it. He wore scruffy clothes with finger-paint stains on them, a holey hoodie, and his hair, for once, wasn't laced in rainbows. He hadn't had the time!
---
Poptart (who was really named Albion) loved poptarts, especially the red ones. Daddy called them 'strawberry'...but they were very pretty, so she loved them. She held Daddy's hand tightly as they weaved through the crowd, her ice-green eyes wide and her silver hair, long and slightly curling at the tips, flowed along behind her, although it was a bit tangled. She wore a patch-adorned skirt that Momma had made for her, as well as a baby-t with a smiling rainbow on it. She looked around, her eyes fixing on a boy on the roof. "Daddy!" She pointed vivaciously, bouncing up and down. "I wan'a go up-stairs!"
---
Horus spotted a white head moving through the crowd. but he was sure that the last time he had seen that male there had been Rainbows in his pretty white hair. He smiled seeing the child at his hand and purred. She was awfully small and cute! He waved at her as she pointed up where he was and he pointed to the side where some boxes were stacked next to the building that came up to a ladder to get to the roof. He loved playing with little kids and he loved her hair and wanted to play with that too!
---
Impulse glanced down at Pop, then up at the boy who was suddenly waving at them, and he raised a brow. Did he know him? He looked familiar, but it'd been awhile since he'd been out and about. He glanced to the ladder, then to Poptart, who was -not- going up that ladder, oh hell no. "Sorry, Popbaby," he murmured, patting her fair hair. He motioned to the girl and shook his head, motioning for the boy to join them on the ground.
---
Poptart frowned. Daddy didn't typically tell her no, so she was a little spoiled. "Wan'a go UPSTAIRS!" she howled in a high-pitched shriek that made people glance their way. Her father's face turned red, but she didn't seem bothered by this. She stamped her little booties on the ground and flattened her ears against her head, tail thrashing angrily. Oh, she could throw tantrums, allright.
---
Impulse watched the girl helplessly, not knowing whether to scold her or shh her quietly. And damn if she wasn't drawing attention. His face burned and he ended up pulling her into him, even as she beat harmlessly on his chest with little fists. As the boy--he recognized as Horus--drew near, Impulse smiled a little. "I do," he said softly, ears pulling back, embarrassed by his daughter's display. "Three of 'em...and a boyfriend who's gotten over his fear of germs. Which is a good thing too." He smiled. "This is Poptart. Poppie, look." He pulled her back so she was facing the other cat. "This is Daddy's friend, Horus."
---
Poptart, with tears glimmering in her eyes, turned and looked boldly at the other cat. Her own ears perked up, thin tail flicking forwards, and she stepped away from Impulse with her hand outstretched, reaching for his hair. "You look like a princess," she said with a small smile, never having been told that boys were princes, and girls princesses. "Pretty!"
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Horus smiled at her and got closer so she could touch his hair. "Its nice to meet you. There are some days where i feel like a princess but i haven't had anyone to spoil me latly. It makes me sad really." he said as he looked at Impuls. "Well thats more then i want i think. I dunno its something i'll have to talk to my partner about if i ever find a boy for me." he said with a smile. He was still kinda young so he didn't have a boyfriend, though he had seen some males who turned him on quite a bit.
---
Impulse couldn't hide a grin as he watched his daughter boldly speak with a stranger; she definitely was Gwin's daughter, allright. At her age, he'd been too shy a kitten to even speak to his barnmate, let alone a complete stranger. He touched Horus's shoulder gently, offering a smile. "Just keep looking; you'll find the perfect boy for you. I never thought I'd actually...hell, be anything to anyone. Just a stray off the streets with no collar. Now?" He touched his now-calm daughter atop her head, running his fingers through her curls. "I'm happy."
---
Poptart grinned and flicked her tail to-and-fro. "Pretty hair like mine!" She tugged on her own curls, pulling out of Impulse's reach and then strutting triumphantly. "I want colors. Colors!" She spun in a circle, then pointed to the rainbow smiling on her shirt. She looked up at Horus with wide, imploring eyes. "Please?"
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Horus smiled at her and looked at her father. "You don't color her hair? Your dad colored mine and i tried really hard to get the colors right to keep up on it right my self since i couldnt find your father again. I want him to fix it up thoguh and show me more so if you would like to come inside the salon here then maybe your father can fix both of our hair and teach me a thing or two what do you think?" he asked her with a smile as he looked at her and winked wanting to learn about dying hair really bad.
---
Impulse stifled a giggle with the back of his hand at Horus's hopeful expression, then down at Poptart's awestruck one. "Hey, keeping up with three kittens is hard work; I hardly have enough time to dye my own hair," he laughed softly. Glancing down at his daughter, he wrapped an arm around her and hugged her. She squirmed then laughed. "Alright. Why not? You have stuff at the salon?" He tipped his head to one side--his own hair was getting too long. "Perhaps we'll do a trade: give Poppie and me new haircuts, and I'll show you how to dye."
---
Poptart beamed up at Horus, letting go of her Daddy's arm to cling to the new boy. "Rainbows!" she announced happily, her ears perked up and she bounced around.
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Horus smiled happily and nodded. "Yes! We'll have to go in the roof. So i dont know if you want her to hold onto your back of if you think that she cant climb it her self. The best way to get in is from the vent on the top." he said with a smile as he looked at her. "you just think of the best haircut you want so that i can give it to you inside!" he said with a smile.
--
Impulse's smile faltered as he glanced towards the roof, then down at Poptart. God, Marsh would kill him if their kitten fell off or something... He glanced up at Horus, suddenly nervous. Getting up would be one thing..but going down? "Poppie?" He knelt down beside Poptart. "C'mere." She did. "Wrap your arms around Daddy's neck and don't let go. We're piggyback riding. Don't let go," he warned again, then began to climb the ladder quickly.
---
Poptart fastened her arms around her Daddy's neck, gripping his shirt tightly as they rose up. Instead of being frightened, she squealed in delight, looking at the view. Stuff was so far away!! "Wowwww," she said, looking over her shoulder at Horus. "C'mon princess!" she called out, almost forgetting and letting go but Impulse's sharp 'hold on' made her fasten her arms once more.
---
Horus smiled at her and purred as she followed. "I'll stand at the bottom incase she falls i'll catch her." he said as he purred. He liked that she called him princess, now to just find a boy to call him princess. He watched them walk up the ladder and when he was good and on the roof he climbed up to the roof via the ladder him self now.
---
Impulse scrambled away from the edge and lowered his daughter down, though he didn't let her out of his grip. He looked to Horus, nodding. "Alright, lead the way," he said. Poptart grinned and teetered closer to the edge, as close as she could. "Biiiig world," she murmured, then laughed, as if she was the funniest cat in the world.
---
Horus smiled at him and nodded as he walked over to a vent. "This slides down and then it levels out over the chairs. So after you slide down just walk a little bit and i'll leave the grate off so you just have to hop down. I'll go first." he said as he jumped into the vent and slid down like a slide and walked through the vent and opened the grate before jumping down to the chair. "Come on down when your ready."
---
"OOOOH! I wanna turn!" Poptart spun to face her Daddy, eyes big and hopeful. Impulse winced--how could he resist that face?--and pinched her cheek. "Okay, she's coming down. Don't let her fall," he said worriedly, setting her down on the vent. "Ready, Poppie? One... Two... Three." It was the hardest thing he ever had to do, letting her drop out of his arms. Fear lurched in his throat as he hovered, worriedly, at the top of the vent. "Got her?" He was almost breathless.
---
Horus heard her laughing all the way down the slide and then walk to the edge of the vent. He caught her when she came down and he smiled. "Whos the princess now?" he asked as he hugged her and set her intot he chair. "Yes i got her! come on down." he said with a smile as he leaped from the chair ontot he counter and moved over to his hidden stash of tools his size and smiled. "Did you think about how you want your hair cut?"
---
Impulse's breath left him in a woosh and he slid down after them, hugging Poptart as he landed and went over to her. She giggled and squirmed, but he didn't care. He looked to Horus, a newfound respect in his eyes. "Thank you." Then to Poptart, almost chiding: "Don't get it cut too short, girly. Your mom'll have a freakout!"
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Poptart grinned at this. "Freakout," she repeated, then looked at Horus. "Curly and maybe thiiiis short." She held her hands up to her shoulders and wiggled them. "And rainbow! Like my shirt!" She jabbed herself in the chest and nodded.
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Horus smiled at her and nodded. "Ok sounds good! Do you want it that short when its curled? Cause if its straight and i curl it it will look a little shorter then that. Or i can cut it a little longer and when its curled it will sit there. Do you want bangs? Long ones? short ones? Ones that frame your face? Ohhhh or choppy ones that are all crazy and not even." he said with a smile as he gave her ideas as he leaped into the human size hair sink. "I'll need to wash it though so if you wanna come up here we'll wash your hair real fast." he said with a smile as he turned on the water just a little bit so she could put her head under it. He held a towel for her to wrapp around her shoulders so she didn't get wet.
---
Impulse plopped down a few feet away in a chair, watching the boy and his daughter interact--he had to admit, they were cute and Horus seemed to be great with kids. It made his heart swell with pride to know that little calico kitten came from him, and his love... And that his family had grown so much in the past few years. Now he had a sister (even if she was temperamental at times!) and three kittens, a loving mate and a best friend he wouldn't trade for the world. And Sassy, of course, but that was a package deal.
---
"Ummmm." She placed a finger on her lips, pondering, even though she had no idea what he'd really just asked her. "Make me a princess!" she finally decided, feeling the way the water flowed around her long, silver hair and liking it--not too warm, but not cold either. She snuggled into the towel and smiled up at him--trusting and not seeming to be worried about where her father was through all of this. "Rainbows!"
---
Horus smiled at her. "Princess huh? Well do you want it long still?" he asked with a smile. He looked at Impulse. "You going to dye her hair too? You'll want to die it before i cut it. Same with yours." He said with a smile as he washed her hair. "I'll dry it all for you and give her some bangs though while you wash your hair." he said with a smile. "Rainbows got it." he said with a smile as he wrapped a new towel around her clean hair and helped her out of the tub and to the place his station was at, was barrowing, and started drying her hair.
---
Impulse stood and stretched, then began to rummage through the drawers, finding several small jars of dye and putting them on the countertop. As Horus began to dry Poptart's hair, Impulse washed his own, relishing in the feel of the hot water pounding his scalp and ears. Grabbing a towel, he dried his mane of silver hair and then headed back over to the pair of felines.
---
Poptart smiled a big smile at the mirror as Horus dried her hair with a blow-dryer, reveling in the heat. "Warm!" she announced brightly, wiggling in the seat, her long tail flicking back and forth. When her hair was dry, she reached up and patted its smoothness, then settled back, looking over her shoulder at her father, who was at her side.
---
"Would you like me to blow dry your hair too?" he asked with a smile. He would wash his hair too since he wanted Impulse to fix his streaks cause he had failed at it when he had attempted to do it himself. "And will your lover and her mother get upset if i take off too much? she said princess so i was going to just make it cute and princess like but i want to make sure i know where to stop." he said with a smile.
---
Impulse smiled at the boy, tipping his head to the side. "I can get it, no worries! I do this all the time at home." He nodded. "Hey, don't worry--it's hair. It always grows back. Just don't give her a..." He paused, then spelled it out, "M-o-w-h-a-w-k. My sister has one and..it's just a little severe, that's all." He chuckled. "Have at it!" Reaching for the blow-dryer, he turned it on and began to dry his own hair.
---
Horus smiled at him and nodded. "Got it! You ready little poptart?" he asked with a smile as he brushed out her hair and then got out his sissors. "Be still now i don't want to cut you." he said as he set about cutting her hair. He took 3 inches off the bottom and then gave her bangs that framed her face nicely. She looked really cute andhe stood back and smiled at it beforehe gave her some layers into her hair. "There all done! Ready for dye!" he said with a smile. "I'll style it after your dad is done dyeing it.
---
Poptart stayed perfectly still while he cut, the blade of the scissors going 'snip snip' in her ear. She took even breaths, eyes locked on her reflection as the boy cut off her long silver hair. But she wasn't sad, she was excited.
---
Once he'd finished, Impulse ran his hands through her now-shortened hair and admired it; "Good job, Horus," he said with a grin. "Much cleaner than I would've done! Go ahead and wash your hair and I'll get to work." He began to separate his daughter's hair, clipping it up several different times. Pulling down one strand, he opened up a jar of purple dye and began to spread it across the strand. Once saturated, he let it fall down carefully and picked up a bright, vivid blue. One by one, he worked through the rainbow. "Now stay still, okay baby girl? Let it sit."
---
Horus smiled. "I'm glad you both like it! I cant wait to show you all how it looks when im done and i can style it!" he said with a smile as he went to the sink and washed up his hair. He smiled excited to learn some more today and show off his own skills. He smiled as he finished his hair. He walked out and blowdried his hair as he smiled. "Cant wait to see the way it all turns out." he said as he smiled and fixed up his hair happily. "Ready for mine or should i help you with yours to learn?" he said with a smile.
---
Impulse grinned at the boy's excitement; it was contageous. Hell, he hadn't dyed hair in a while -- neither him nor Gwin had really had TIME - but getting back into it was fun, exhilarating! He motioned to the chair. "I'll give you a step-by-step on yours, you can follow me in the mirror, than I'll let you experiment on my hair," he said with a smile. "That work? If so, what colors are you wanting in your hair and where? Streaks, chunks? Or shall you be like lil' Poppie and want rainbows?" He grinned.
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Horus smiled happily and sat. "Mmmm i think that i'd like Teal again with some purple in there. I love rainbows and all but it doesn't go with my normal style of clothes." He said with a smile.
---
"Alright," Impulse said easily, grabbing the two pots of dye. "Okay. I've never really...instructed anyone before. But I'll give it my best!" He took a small, slightly shaky breath at being put under pressure -- he'd gotten better with his new family, but with strangers, sometimes he freaked a little bit. But he had to be brave for Poptart, who was sitting like an angel. "First, we're gonna clip the sections up..." Which he did, picking a thick band of hair, and two thinner bands as well, pinning them up. He picked up the teal. "I'll use my fingers to spread the dye around and saturate the strands like this..." Once the teal was evenly applied, he gently laid it down, careful not to let it touch the boy's face. He washed his hands and did the same with the purple, instructing the entire way. "Now we let it sit for twenty minutes. You stay still while I wash out Poppie's hair and we'll see what it looks like!"
---
Poptart wiggled as her Daddy came near, leading her carefully over to the wash area. She rested her head in the sink as the warm water was tested, then sprayed gently into her now-short hair. She wiggled in excitement as he conditioned it, then wrapped a blue towel around her head. She hopped back up into her seet and peered into the mirror as he towel-dried her hair, the rainbows dark but evident against her bright silver locks. "EE!" she squealed her approval, which made Impulse laugh.
---
Horus smiled as he watched and listened, remembering it all. He would be doing it to Impulses hair soon. He watched him go wash out Poptars hair and smiled when she came back and giggled over it all. She was cute like that. "It looks grat with your hair! I'll fix it all up and blow dry it when im done with my hair." he said with a smile as he waited happily.
---
After the time was up, Impulse helped Horus over to rinse out the dye; making sure the water wasn't too hot or cold, he took care to rinse it all out, then wrapped his head in a towel. "I'm excited to see how it comes out; but then again, I get excited with every hair job I do," he laughed softly. Poptart curled up in the chair she'd gotten her hair colored in and looked at the little hand-mirror, admiring the way the colors gleamed in her pale hair. Impulse noted her with a smile, then began to blow-dry Horus's hair. Once it was dry, he grinned. "You picked good colors. They look good on you." He looked at the mirror, touching Horus's hair and then touching his own, undyed strands of silver. "Ready to experiment on mine? No pressure, remember--dye will always fade and hair will always grow out."
---
Horus smiled happily as he watched it dry. "Oh its wonderful! I love it alot thank you!" he ran some moose and gel through it to get it styled and then nodded as he flipped the tips out with a smirk. "Yup! Want it rainbow like Poptars or something else?" he asked with a smile as he put a glove on and started seperating the hair after checking all the dyes to get them in order of how he wanted them.
---
Impulse spied the pots of dye, then looked at himself in the mirror. His baby-blue eyes were tired but mischievious. Hmm. "Okay. This is probably going to be a little difficult, but about half-way down, dye it baby-blue, the color of my eyes; then, the tips should be black. If you can pull that off, you could probably pull off anything streak-wise! Then we've gotta jet; Marshie'll wonder where the heck we got abducted to," he laughed.
---
Horus smiled at him and nodded. "Ok yes heres the blue." he said as he measured out the hair and then started doing that he asked. He ran the blue and then left about an inch at the bottom. when all of it was done blue he took the black, got a new glove, and started doing the tips of it all black careful not to smudge them in too much. "Ok i think i got it all." he said checking it all out. He smiled at it. "Ok sit and i'm going to fix up Poptarts hair." he said as he moved over to poptart. He started blowdrying what wasn't already dried and then set about styling it and curling it.
---
Impulse sat still, watching his daughter as she kicked out both feet and lounged almost lazily while Horus did her hair. Her jade-green eyes were getting heavy --she'd had a long day -- but she struggled to stay awake while the other cat styled her hair. She smiled, though her lips made an o as she yawned and Impulse yearned to cuddle her in his arms, but he waited patiently; this was the blessing of fatherhood--carrying your child home... She looked more like Gwin color-wise, but damn if she wasn't his daughter through and through.
---
Horus smiled at her as he finished. "All done little tired one. Your mom is going to be jealous of your hair i think." he said with a smile as he wrapped a towel around her. "Rest while we wash your daddys hair and i trim it a little." he said with a smile as he walked over and let Impulse wash his hair, he could do it himself atlest, and then blew it dry and trimmed up the longer bits and anything else that Impulse asked for. "There. Does it look ok?" he asked with a smile hoping that Impulse liked his hair.
---
Impulse grinned as his reflection changed from tired, worn silver to a brilliant display of blues and blacks. He ran both hands through it, cupping the fine strands against his face and grinned. "It's beautiful," he said with a breathy voice, happy. He looked to Poptart, who was now curled in a ball snoozing. "They both are. I hope you like yours as much as we--and I speak for both of us--like ours." He stood and gave Horus a one-armed hug. "If you ever need anything else, you can find us in the Ruins... One of us will be there. And I must say; I'm sure Pop'll wanna come back to have touchups. I could get Khloe to bring her to see you sometimes?" He gathered up his sleeping daughter in his arms, cuddling her close to his chest. "Gwin will be pleased. And I think Marsh will to." He grinned secretly.
---
Horus smiled at them and helped them out of the building. "Oh i'd love to help everyone out with their hair! Just stop by i'm always around this area someplace. Don't know if i would go out so far as the ruins cause i'm not the best fighter." runs hands over his faint scars. "But if i find myself out there i'll stop by." he said with a smile as he waved them off. "Tell them all i said hi!" he said with a smile as he fluffed his hair happily. Hed have to go show it off now.
[FIN]
Free Collars Kingdom Guild
