Ace wandered out of the bathroom in good spirits, one towel wrapped around
his waist as he scrubbed another through his hair. At his entrance into
the large bedroom Zina had perked up from the section of bed she had commandeered
upon Ace's departure. The large panther hopped down and strolled over,
rubbing expansively against Ace's still damp legs.
"Hey, cut that out," Ace complained, trying to shove her away as large
clumps of shed panther fur stuck to his legs. Zina loved to use him as
her own personal grooming post whenever the chance arrived.
"Zina, stop that," Ace ordered as the large cat gave him a smug meow and
ambled on back to the bed, where she hopped up, curling back up in a ball
as Ace tried, unsuccessful, to free himself of the black cat hair sticking
to his legs.
"Furry little.." he muttered under his breath. Panthers! Ace sighed and
gave up. The black hair would fall off once his skin dried. It damn well
better. If not, his legs were going to be itchy the rest of the day. And
he didn't have time for another shower. Not that Zina wouldn't hesitate
to try that stunt a second time as well.
Casting a small glare at Zina -who only returned it with a lazy yawn- Ace
headed over to the dresser and hunted up a comb to sort out the damp mop
of black hair with it's three white strips. Ace chuckled at the sight of
himself in the mirror. When wet, the white stripes had a tendency to blend
into the black, all of it become a wild mess, making it a fit rival for
Cosmo's own red mop.
"Not for long," he laughed softly as he found the comb at last. Buried
underneath his wallet and half a dozen rogue scraps of paper he'd freed
from his pockets the night before. He started to draw the comb through
his hair, then stopped.
And looked.
Hard.
Ace frowned and leaned a little closer, eyes narrowing as he stared into
the mirror.
What.. was that? And where had it come from?
Ace glared.
-That- did not belong there! No way, no how. Not there. Not today, not
tomorrow, not even ten years from now!
He stared harder, as if he could will it away. Alter the apparition that
had taken shape very much without his permission. Like heck if he would
have allowed that to happen if he knew about it. But, stare as he might,
the scene did not change. There it stood. Clear as day and proud as a peacock.
A gray hair.
Like hell! He was too young for this. Ace put the comb down and glared
at the offending gray hair. The white strip he had been born with, and
its two matching counterparts his magic had gifted him with, he could tolerate.
But this.. this.. intruder?
Nope. No chance in hell.
And just how had it gotten there in the first place? Ace drew in a heavy
sigh.
Oh, he had an idea how it got there. He could name a dozen or so off the
top of his head. Such as Cosmo suddenly becoming convinced he could pull
off a flight spell with the proper incentive. Then promptly throwing himself
from the Magic Express's roof! Or Vega deciding that, yes, he could stop
a rampaging null-grav car by just using his body as a barrier. Or, maybe
it was less extravagant reasons. It could be his line of work. The day
in and day out trials of running a show and dealing with seemingly every
moron born; from stage manager to TV exec. Or, his little hobby of crime
fighting. Going up against Blackjack once again. Dodging death, or destruction,
or generally just something that would ruin his day.
Ace glared. Well, it didn't matter what the reason was. The little gray
hair announcing its presence in the shimmering black mass of his hair was
simply not welcomed. Not at all!
Sooo, what to do about it? That decision came quickly and easily. Ace plucked
the offending little sucker with a wince. Glared at it pinched between
his fingers. Then, he took a great amount of satisfaction as he pulverized
it into magical dust.
Hah!
Let that be a warning to any other rogue hairs that got the bright idea
to spontaneously change color without his permission!
Feeling decidedly better about that, Ace picked up his comb again as Angel
burst into existence in a glittering shimmer of light.
"Ace?" the computer called softly, floating by him.
Ace raised a wary eyebrow. "Yes, Angel?"
"I require a clarification on a slang term, Ace," she said softly.
"Okay, shoot."
"What does the saying, 'Off into the wild blue yonder' mean?"
"And where would you hear that?"
"From Cosmo, when I asked him what he was doing on the top of the Magic
Express."
Ace groaned as he took off running. Perhaps it was his imagination, perhaps
not, but he could swear he could feel all the gray hair's future children
being born even as he ran.
