Chapter 13: Dyes, Devices, and Doubts
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Oz looked up in the mirror at his reflection. His recently spiked up dark forest green hair was now falling into his face and a light blue. It was a deathly pale type of blue. Usually Oz did darker colors but this shade of dye had caught his eye.
The werewolf smiled at his reflection. Not many people today dyed their hair colors anymore. Sure they'd go blonde and black and occasionally red but rarely anything else. So any chance he got to buy colors, he bought at least thirty of them.
Knock, knock
Oz opened the door to see Kaylee.
"Hey I wanted to……" Kaylee trailed off as her eyes took in Oz's new hair. "What happened to the green?"
Oz shrugged, "Wanted a change. You like?"
"Uh yea it's shiny. I ain't never seen people with hair like yours." She smiled and then looked down at her cupped hands, "So you were going to show me how it works."
"Sure." Oz stepped back to allow her in. Kaylee stood still for a moment before understanding the unspoken invitation. Some habits die hard, especially lessons learned on the hellmouth.
"So how does it work?" Kaylee asked.
"Simple." Oz led her to his open door and pointed to where his own locking device was stuck to the inside of the door frame. He then ran a finger along the two thin wires that were pulled out from either side of the device. The wires ended just at the edge of the wall.
"Okay…" Kaylee nodded slowly. The werewolf then shut his door. He tried to pull the door open but it wouldn't budge then he hit the door where the end of the wire lay. The door popped open. "That don't seem like it would work very well."
Oz shut the door again, "Hit door somewhere else."
The young mechanic shrugged but preceded to bang on the door. Nothing happened. She tried hitting the door in different places but it didn't pop open until she hit it where Oz had before. "Wow. That's some chip you got there. Where'd you get it?"
Oz shrugged, "Me."
"You made it?" Kaylee asked a little awed. Oz nodded. She looked at him and smiled. Her eyes slowly drifted to lock on his blue hair.
Oz noticed this and gave the smallest of a smile, "Trust me?"
"What?" Kaylee asked.
"Do you trust me?" Oz repeated.
"Why?" The girl looked a little apprehensive.
"A surprise." Oz said.
"For me really?" Kaylee was once again smiling.
Oz nodded, "Close your eyes."
Kaylee took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She closed her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. She felt hands on her shoulders gently pushing her to sit down on the floor. Then her hair was lifted and something soft was wrapped around her shoulders. Kaylee sighed again as she felt Oz softly brushing her hair. It felt nicer then when Inara brushed her hair. His hands were soft and gentle, Kaylee was nearly to the point of falling asleep when she felt something cold being brushed onto her hair. "Um Oz…"
"Trust me?"
Kaylee nodded and closed her eyes tighter. She could feel the cold stuff on her hair and she shivered. She heard Oz begin to hum a song she had never heard before. Then she once again felt hands on her shoulder this time pulling her back so she was sort of lying on the floor. Except her back was prompt up by what felt like pillows and her head was just hanging.
"This'll be wet."
Then there was water being poured over her head into what sounded like a bucket. This was repeated twice. Next thing Kaylee knew her hair was being dried and she was pulled to her feet.
"Open."
Kaylee opened her eyes and gasped as she looked into her reflection. Streaks of pink ran through her hair. "Runtse de shang-dee! Would you look at the pretty." Kaylee turned to Oz and grabbed him in a hug. "Thank you!"
"Welcome." Oz responded.
Kaylee blushed as she let go of him. "Well I guess I better get going." She turned and tried to open the door. She paused and then hit it in the correct place. She stepped out of the room and turned to see Oz leaning against the door. "Thanks for the locking mechanism and the hair…" Kaylee leaned in and gave Oz a kiss on the cheek before skipping away.
Oz turned to see Simon glaring at him from across the hall. "What?" Oz asked raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing." Simon said and watched as Oz shut his door. After a moment he shut his own.
"Pink, the color of soft love, of blushing feelings." A soft voice came from down the hall. "She wears her heart in her hair." River looked at her brother's closed door. "You may have yet lost her brother. Hair can change but not without help. And you not a hair dresser, what will you do now?"