Title: The Man Behind the Mask
Theme + Number: #24 -- Hair
Genre: Drama/Romance/Introspective
Warnings: None
Character/Pairing: Zechs/Noin
Word Count: 353
Rating: PG
Summary: Some traits can never be hidden.

There was something about his hair that had always intrigued her. Perhaps it was the length of it, for when did he find the time to maintain it? Or perhaps it was the color, its platinum blonde sheen something many a girl would envy.

When he would don the mask of Zechs Merquise, she could still see the trademark Peacecraft hair cascading down his back.

To Noin, it had become a symbol that there was still indeed a man under that mask. Something tangible, something she could hold on to- a hope that one day the mask would be gone and that the world could see the beautiful man underneath it.

"There's no one around, come on- I'm sure you're hot in there."

She'd coax him into security, into the peace he so wanted to abandon like his namesake. And slowly, she'd pull the mask away; her fingers straightening the stray hairs that would perk up once the helmet was removed.

"Noin, is this really necessary?"

He'd ask her that every time. And every time she'd give the same answer.

"I wouldn't be wasting your valuable time fixing your hair if I didn't think it was worthwhile, Zechs."

A peaceful silence would fall around them then, embracing them in those quiet moments between the battles.

She'd sit behind him, delicately smoothing all the tangles from his hair while he sipped a drink or read a book. And when she finished, he'd smile in a way only she'd been privileged enough to see and go to hide himself once more behind another name.

"It's a shame to put your hair back under that stuffy helmet."

Zech's would reach up and run his fingers through her bangs, the soft smile still on his face as he placed the mask back over his face.

"You should be grateful, Noin."

And she was, for until he decided it was the right time, Noin knew she'd be the only one to see him like this. For she was the only one who knew the man with the soft smile and the silken strands of hair named Milliardo Peacecraft.