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 Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 12:20 pm
Casey hid his face behind his hands and let out an embarrassed squawk that disturbed Harrison enough for her to perk up with a little ‘boof’ of a bark, but not nearly loud enough to worry about disturbing neighbors.
Oh no, how Ariel was teasing him! He could see his cheeks were red, couldn’t he? It wasn’t his fault that Ariel said such sweet things to him!
“I’m okay! I’m just not used to someone saying nice things to me and meaning it. Or, I guess, caring.”
Wow, that sounded pretty pathetic, but Ariel was in the same boat, wasn’t he? He didn’t really have anyone else looking out for him.
Casey rubbed at his face and then held his bangs back with his hand to frown in contemplation.
“No, I… I don’t know. Maybe I should just cut it short. I’ve been trying to grow it out but… maybe it just looks silly. I should probably just make things easier on myself. I mean, I could try headbands too. That’s really clever. I hope you’re getting more sleep now.” Since dark circles under his eyes was probably no fun.
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 12:26 pm
“Oh,” Ariel exclaimed, and laughed at poor Harrison’s little noise. “Sorry, Harrison.” He reached down to pet her head gently, instinctively, but quickly lowered himself back to his pillow as he looked at Casey fondly.
“Don’t cut your hair unless you want to. It looks lovely.” He wanted to say cute but he didn’t want Casey to think he was teasing him. “I’m working on ‘getting more sleep’. Maybe I’ll sleep better tonight.”
Or not, he could probably stay up all night laughing with Casey. He hadn’t even looked at the show. One of the contestants was mixing something in a bowl but Ariel couldn’t make out more detail than that out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t really care to, either. There were soft voices coming from the laptop but never so loud that he couldn’t make out what Casey was saying.
“I think I’d like to cut my hair a bit, if I got a chance. Or at least tie it up. I’m paranoid though, so I keep it down. Did I tell you this isn’t even my hair color? I’m actually blonde. But I thought this made me stand out less. I blend into a crowd very well, and if it’s dark and I stand still you almost can’t even see me.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 12:52 pm
Harrison lowered her head back down when it was pat, and she thumped her tail a few times on the bed as she settled.
“What? That’s not your natural hair color?” Casey gasped in surprise. “No, I couldn’t tell at all. It looks nice. I think you’ve got the right complexion to pull off just about any color. Wait, so is your hair lighter than mine? I’ve never known what to call this color. It’s kind of blonde but also not, but it’s not brown,” he sighed.
But oh, it was so easy to talk to Ariel. He didn’t even feel tired. Okay, maybe he was tired, but he didn’t want to waste the time they had. His eyes were heavy, but he wanted to talk to Ariel more.
And he was trying not to get flustered over his hair being called lovely. In a good way!
“I bet if you got it cut it would look just as nice. But… oh, you don’t like tying it up?” he tilted his head curiously. He knew it must have had something to do with being safe, but… oh… he wasn’t sure if he wanted to think of the horrible things people could do.
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 12:58 pm
“When I’m home alone, I do. But I like to keep it down when I’m in public. For–you know. Reasons. You should come to the store with me the next time I need to buy dye. We can compare your hair color to the box samples, that’s how you can find out what to call it. It’s different across the brands but you can still get an idea. I’m ‘lightest ash blonde’ with this brand,” he said, and tugged on some hair that was almost falling in his face. When he dropped it, he’d tucked it behind his ear.
“These days, I’m dark brown number 2C. Except for last month when I was 3M because they were out of 2C and I panicked and grabbed the next closest one I could find because my roots were already coming in.”
Not that he suspected anyone would notice, he scrutinized his roots every morning so he went out shopping the day he first noticed. Ariel was just paranoid of change. No one could know. He was good with keeping his secrets, most of the time.
“There are a lot of colors I don’t think I could pull off, though. Purple. Orange. You could probably pull off both of those, though. You’ve got one of those faces. It’s your smile.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 5:37 pm
“Oh, that sounds pretty,” he sighed as he tried to imagine Ariel with light hair. He had no idea! He just thought he was naturally dark haired. But he knew he would look very nice no matter what.
“You think so?” he laughed at the suggestion of different colors. And tried not to be flustered over his smile being the reason. Oh, he couldn’t even stop himself from smiling when Ariel said such sweet things.
“I haven’t thought about it. It seems like I would just make a big mess. I mean, I don’t really mind my hair color, but maybe a little color would be fun,” he decided as he held a hand over his mouth to stifle a yawn. Oh no, he didn’t mean to yawn. He didn’t want Ariel to think he was getting bored of him.
“But… yeah I’d like to go with you. And if you ever needed help with your hair. I mean, I know you’re probably fine doing it on your own but…”
Was it obvious that he was trying to come up with excuses to be around him?
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 5:42 pm
Given the hour, Ariel couldn’t have thought Casey was bored. It was late, and even if he was delighted with the conversation, the weight of the day was still dragging him down.
Casey’s bed was comfortable, and the warmth of being tucked under his blanket was easing him towards sleep. And, Harrison was extra warm, curled up against him enough that it was impossible to miss.
“You can help if you like. It is messy, though. And it smells horribly. I walk around with a grocery bag over my head, it all looks very silly. Oh–I didn’t wash my face before bed, maybe you’ll see my eyebrows smudge. I was afraid to dye them so I have to use brown mascara brushed over them. The dye stains your skin and I didn’t want it to be obvious. It’s much easier to dye just the roots but after a while the color starts to fade and it looks a bit chalky so–honestly, it’s so much work. And the chemicals going into your body from it? I can’t even imagine. There are better options but I’m very limited.”
He felt like he hadn’t talked this much in ages, his jaw hurt. Still, he couldn’t stop smiling.
“Should I stop talking? …I don’t want to keep you up. I don’t have work until a bit later in the day, do you have to get up early?”
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 5:49 pm
He couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Ariel walking around with a grocery bag on his head, but he gasped in surprise that Ariel would be so clever to use makeup on his eyebrows. He hadn’t even thought of that! Ariel was so smart. But it also pained Casey to know why Ariel had to be so cautious.
“No, I like listening to you. It’s a nice change. You have a nice voice so… I guess we could both listen to each other a lot. That’s a good thing, yeah?”
He hoped so, at least. Ariel said he liked his voice, so surely it was good.
“Oh, just to take Harrison out. But I usually come back and sleep a little longer. Tomorrow is my long night. I’m scheduled for a good twelve hours,” he sighed and flopped back onto the pillows at the very thought of working. He knew he should be grateful, but it was so stressful to deal with the people there.
“Would you like to stay for breakfast?” he blurted out as soon as the thought came to him. But then he wiggled awkwardly and glanced up at Ariel sympathetically in case that was too much. It shouldn’t be, right? He was staying the night so breakfast was normal to offer, wasn’t it?
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 6:14 pm
“I was hoping you’d ask,” he admitted. “Not that you have to cook for me, I’ve got cereal back at my place. But I haven’t actually had breakfast in a long time. Not even toast, or a bagel. It just seems so wasteful when it’s for one person, everything goes bad so quickly.”
He knew he didn’t need to justify it but he couldn’t help but try, anyway.
Even though he knew it was a bit presumptuous to–well, no! Casey had just assumed they could move out of town together, he was allowed to assume he’d get breakfast first!
Ariel didn’t want to laugh, he didn’t want to hurt his head doing so, but this was far from the first time that night that Casey had brought him to laughter. It felt easy. It felt good.
Oh, the butterflies were back.
This time, though, he didn’t even want to chase them away.
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 6:43 pm
“But I like cooking,” Casey was quick to confirm, although it took him a moment to catch on that Ariel had been hoping he’d ask.
Oh. Oh. Then he didn’t feel so bad about being forward. Well. Maybe he should ask Ariel more things. Ah, but he also didn’t want to push his luck.
“I have eggs. And I think some bread. Oh, I can pick some bacon up when I take Harrison out. It’ll just be a minute to run into the convenience store,” he said, turning more on his side so he could look at Ariel easier. Oh, and if he happened to place his hand on Ariel’s arm, it was just because it was more comfortable that way. Besides, Ariel would tell him if he shouldn’t touch him, right? He hoped.
“Thanks for staying with me. It means a lot,” he mumbled a little sheepishly. They were friends, after all! And… testing out to be roommates. Although, did roommates usually share a bed? Hmm… he wasn’t sure about that, but he also wasn’t complaining. Maybe Ariel would complain if he ended up getting kicked all night.
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 6:56 pm
“Oh, you don’t have to go get bacon. Eggs and bread sounds perfect,” Ariel said, though his voice was a bit softer and certainly more gentle. Poor Casey looked like he was trying very hard to fight off sleep. He deserved a good rest, and for as selfishly as Ariel craved his company, he thought sleep would come easy to himself, too.
Maybe it would help clear up his mind and his heart.
He spoke in the same gentle tone, “Thank you for letting me stay with you. It means a lot.”
And, it did. If he’d been left alone, he might have already packed up and tried to figure out what his next step was.
There didn’t need to be one. No one had found him. It was a weird trip in the park, but everything had turned out just fine.
Maybe even a little better.
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