"Shades," by s1ncer1ty
*Notes: Eek! Fluff! Pure fluff! (I'm allergic to fluff.) Sorry, this came to my mind as I was dyeing my hair today, and I couldn't get it out. As I said before, this is nothing but fluff (achoo!) and probably shouldn't be taken all that seriously. Contains Mimi x Jou hints. I'll try to make the next story more my style. Sometimes, the fluff just has to come out... o.o *
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"No, Mimi. Absolutely not. Out of the question."
"Oh, come on, it'll be fun!"
"Fun? Fun? For you, maybe, but I doubt it'll be fun for me."
"But think of how cool you'll look when it's done, Jou! Besides, you know I have a thing for guys with dyed hair."
"Don't remind me. I nearly went deaf after hearing you scream over the latest video by What's-His-Face, the so-called teen heartthrob. His head looks like a giant, spiky neon orange!"
Tilting my head back, I let out a soft gale of laughter, tilting my amber-colored eyes to his own dark ones. I slipped my hands into his and gave him a gentle tug towards the bathroom, where I already had everything set up -- gloves, lotion, towels, the peroxide... "But Jou, you said you wanted to do this the other night, when we were all hanging out at Taichi's apartment. I distinctly remember you standing in front of the mirror and mumbling aloud. You said, 'I wonder what I'd look like if my hair were a different color.'" I grinned at him innocently.
Jou groaned, resisting as I gleefully led him to the bathroom and sat him down on the closed toilet seat. "You were listening to me? Mimi, I wasn't serious." He blushed lightly. "I was just talking to myself, that's all."
"Now, Jou, if you're going to dye your hair, you're going to get it done right." I picked up a hairbrush and gently ran it through those already-immaculate black locks of his. Despite his moaning to the contrary, he certainly wasn't putting up much of a fight against my ministrations.
With a light sigh, Jou took off his glasses, folded them, and gingerly placed them atop the nearby magazine rack, filled to overflowing with back issues of nearly every fashion magazine I subscribed to. "Fine. Fine. Just don't do anything completely outrageous, okay?" he surrendered.
I followed the natural part of Jou's silky, shoulder-length hair down the center and picked out several sections, which I secured with some pink hair clips. "You'll love it, Jou. Trust me! I'm a professional at this. Sort-of."
He winced as I yanked on the rubber gloves with a sharp snap. "Gods above. My dad's going to kill me."
"Oh, I think he'll get over it. Mine did," I said casually, referring to my own garishly pink-colored hair. I undid one of the clips, sending a lock of black hair tumbling into my palm. With my free hand, I lightly shook the bottle of peroxide before squirting a little of it across Jou's hair and combing it in with my fingers.
With that, Jou actually let out a light chuckle, and I watched his shoulders relax a little. I continued to comb the sharp-smelling peroxide through certain strands of his hair as he spoke: "Dad got off easy with Shuu and Shin, anyway. They were both 'obedient' sons, after all. It's about time he had a challenge."
"I hope you're not doing this just to spite your dad, Jou," I murmured, finishing up dabbing the peroxide on his hair.
Jou lifted a brow and turned an accusing eye up towards me. "I'm doing this because you practically manhandled me into --" With a faint wince, he broke off quickly and pinched his eyes shut.
"What's the matter, Jou?" I knew the answer before he even said anything -- he was wrinkling his nose in that familiar, yet charming, pre-sneeze way of his. Swiftly, I reached out and grabbed the box of tissues atop the toilet and thrust it into his lap.
"Thanks," he gasped, managing to get ahold of a tissue just in time to catch a loud sneeze.
I wrinkled my brow, a slight twinge of worry gnawing at my stomach. "I hope you're not allergic to any of this stuff."
"I don't think so," Jou said, wiping his nose and balling the tissue into the palm of his hand. "Whatever you put in my hair is just really strong-smelling, that's all."
"Oh," I said, relief washing over me. I pulled the wet portions of Jou's hair together into a pink hair clip. As I pulled the gloves off my fingers, I added, "Well, this has to sit for a little while. What do you want to do?"
Jou chuckled and rose to his feet, his head at least a foot above mine. Since our time together in the Digital World five years ago, he'd grown into his 6'2" frame with ease. "Anything but go outside. Heaven forbid anyone sees me with this in my hair." His eyes rolled up to indicate the fluorescent clip holding the bits of his hair covered with peroxide in place.
"Jou, that's my favorite hair clip! Don't be mean!" I had to joke at that time -- it was the only thing I could do to cover up the breathlessness that always seemed to arise when I was around him. I had to admit, even with a pink flowery clip atop his head, he was still one of the best-looking guys I knew.
"How long does this stuff have to be in my hair, anyway? It can't be healthy just sitting there, judging by how it smells."
"It's fine, Jou. When it's all over, your hair will be a little dry at first, but not for too long. It happens to me whenever I dye my hair, so I just use a little extra conditioner."
As I turned to exit the bathroom, I felt Jou's fingers gently trail through the bottom ends of my hair, as if testing its texture. Goosebumps stood up on the back of my neck, and I fought to keep from shivering visibly.
"Still as soft as ever," he mused quietly. He cleared his throat and quickly added, "Knowing my luck, my hair will just fall out."
"Don't be silly, Jou," I replied, beaming a wide grin over my shoulder at him. "I'm taking good care of your hair."
"No worries, Mimi. I trust you."
I paused in my tracks, leaving Jou standing partly inside the bathroom doorway, staring down at me curiously. For some reason, I felt a vague stirring of self-doubt, and I wondered just how much he'd been humoring me. "Really?" I asked in a soft voice.
"I wouldn't trust any of the others in our group to do something like this with me."
"Imagine Taichi trying to dye someone's hair?" I asked suddenly, giggling at the notion.
Jou laughed, leaning his arm against the doorframe. "I think I'd be less scared of seeing his 'victim's' hair than I would be of seeing the bathroom, when he's finished."
"Or Koushiro... Can't you just imagine him with a pair of chemistry goggles and vials simmering on a bunsen burner?"
"Now that would be an amusing sight," Jou agreed.
As the giggles tapered off, I couldn't help but ask, "You're sure you don't mind that I'm doing this? I probably should have asked you first."
Jou placed a warm hand on my shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. "If I didn't want this done, Mimi, I wouldn't have let you. It's okay."
"You just didn't seem too keen on the idea at first."
"Do I ever sound enthusiastic about any major change in my life?"
I shrugged. "I guess you've got a point. As long as you're not upset."
Jou's hand moved from my shoulder, and he slid the tips of his fingers against my cheek, tickling the fine hairs there. "I'm not. I'm glad you pushed me into it. I don't think I would have had the courage to do this otherwise."
Lifting my fingers to his, I smiled up at him. "Okay, Jou." I squeezed his fingertips and then turned with a quick laugh. "But if you don't the color I'm going to give you, you're not allowed to whine about that either!"
As I bounced down the hall, I could hear Jou groaning behind me. "What? Mimi, please tell me you're not going to dye my hair neon orange!"
***
It took another hour to wash the peroxide out of Jou's hair, then
to set and rinse the tinted gel through his locks. He barely made
a peep as I had him kneel before the shower, even when I turned
the water dial too high for his liking. He sat patiently as I
set a blow-dryer to his wet head and ran a wire brush through
his hair.
"Well?" he asked when the ritual was completed, finally returning his thick-lensed glasses to his face.
I tousled the combed mop to give him a slightly more roguish look and stepped aside so he could look in the mirror. "See for yourself, handsome."
Jou was silent as he rose from the closed seat of the toilet and inspected the new dye job. His once jet-black hair now held a bluish sheen in the right lighting, with slightly brighter hints of blue on the strands I'd bleached out with the peroxide. In my eyes, the color was just bright enough to be noticeable, but still somewhat muted and conservative, like Jou.
He stared at himself in the mirror for some time, his expression unchanging, not saying a word. Finally, he lifted his hands and quickly smoothed the tousled strands back into meticulousness, his lips set in stony contemplation.
"You really don't like it, do you?" I asked, my heart sinking.
Before I knew it, Jou had me wrapped up in his arms, crushing my chest in a tight hug. He laughed aloud as he lifted me off my feet, and it wasn't until I was back on the ground again that I had the sense to slip my arms around him as well.
"Hush, Mimi, it's wonderful," he said, grinning down at me.
"Oh ... You do like it." Impetuously, I leaned up and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek.
"You're too good to me, Mimi."
Lacing his fingers in mine, he followed me from the bathroom. "I'm happy. Maybe the next time I have you over, I'll give you a facial."
Jou merely laughed nervously, a small bead of sweat appearing on his forehead and sliding into the shoulder-length bluish-black depths of his hair.
* Random non-sequitir to offset this sucky ending: When my spellcheck hit 'Taichi' while going through the document, it suggested, as an alternate spelling, 'Tush.' I really don't know where that one came from... *