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Mirror
"Ow! I thought I told you not to fricken' stab me in the head!"
He saw a wave of black curls in the mirror's glint as she swirled around to face him, eyes glaring daggers in his direction until he removed the pin and backed down more than willingly, staying on the defensive. "I wouldn't have if you'd stayed still like I'd said!"
There was always a risk when she was around mirrors: it could only mean grooming that she didn't consent to. He didn't want to get on her bad side (or rather, unleash it), especially when they were supposed to be in the greatest of moods and on their best behaviour. It was, after all, the Third Anniversary of the War's End. She was already unhappy with all this formality she had to deal with for the evening, so much so that they had almost had to manhandle her into a dress for the occasion; anything else irking her could push her over the edge.
"Whatever, Sparky."
His hands rested securely on her shoulders as he manoeuvred her back to face the crisp, gold-plated mirror towering over the two of them. She let out what sounded like a grunt of defiance, crossing her arms over her chest in a frump. Jade eyes peered through the darkness of the reflective glass until, by some miracle, they pin-pointed his and fixed on him with an icy glower. Ignoring the shiver that shot down his spine - hey, even drowned in several layers of green intricacy, she looked as threatening as ever! - he continued to the best of his ability.
Sitting in front of him she was at least three heads smaller than him. It was strange, really, being around her and her reflection. She had no use for mirrors and thus was rarely seen by one.
"What're you doing my hair for anyway? I thought it was Sugar Queen's job."
He shuddered. It had been the Water Tribe girl's job and here he was ruining her masterpiece. Dear Agni, he was hoping she didn't notice. Or he didn't change it badly enough for her to notice. Actually, he'd only be safe if he was lucky enough for her to like what he was doing to the earthbender's hair and he was no hair stylist by far. There was little hope.
"Well?"
"Oh. I wanted to change something about it," he said, and she cocked an eyebrow in response. Very little hope. Miniscule amounts.
"W-well… I found a hairpiece of my mother's not long ago. It's… jade, I think? It's silver too, really intricate, so I thought it would look nice against your hair. I mean, it's not like I can wear it or anything!" he chuckled nervously and sighed inwardly, carefully weaving strands of her hair around the item and intertwining them underneath. Damn, he hadn't been awkward at all up until now.
"I just, y'know, it's green so I thought… it might suit you."
"… Remind me to punch you later." Her hair slipped out from between his fingers and he looked up to see that she had lowered her head slightly. Her long bangs would usually fall all over and around her face; but with her hair done up, there was nowhere to hide the blossom of pink that bloomed its way into her cheeks.
On the contrary, he decided he quite liked being around mirrors with her.
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