Rainbow High One-Shots

Jade x Poppy - Tennis Ball

Jade Hunter (they/he)
Poppy Rowan (she/her)
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"Yo Jade, you here?"

Poppy asked as she popped her head through the unlocked front door, more than loud enough for any of the dorm's possible occupants to hear.

"Poppy? You're here already? Shit. Yeah. In the bathroom. I'll be out in a minute; I just need to hop in the shower before we go."

"Cool, cool; take your time. I'll just be crashin' on your couch. Ooh, and maybe go through your cosmetology mags while I'm at it."

A few moments later, after Poppy heard the sound of water running and the start of Jade's shower playlist going, she let herself smile a bit.

It wouldn't be off-brand to say that Poppy Rowan easily got butterflies in her stomach, especially when it came to Jade and especially when it came to Jade using one of the many custom playlists Poppy had made for them. Music was her love language, and seeing (well, hearing) Jade enjoy a playlist she'd made for them always made her feel just so appreciated, and just so loved.

Satisfied, and still smiling, Poppy let herself flop onto the couch, flipping herself onto her back to lay her legs over the armrest on the side of the couch as she went through the magazine on the top of the stack.

It was all hair stuff, obviously. Jade might specifically be a makeup focus in a cosmetology department, but he was no stranger to hair-care and styling; they'd actually been a lot more into hair stuff as of late than ever before, and while Poppy wanted to be supportive, she wasn't Jade's most willing test subject. Red-heads' hair is just a bit more fragile, at least in Poppy's case, so she was less willing to let Jade try adding funky hair dyes or what looked like pounds glitter to her hair. Not that Jade minded; he has Amaya and Sunny (respectively) for those things.

"Man, looks like short hair is in this season."

She took a small loc of her own hair in her grasp, rubbing it between her pointer finger and thumb.

"I don't know how I'd look with short hair."

Poppy heard the water shut off and the playlist stopped soon after.

"Oh, they're done already? They must've washed their hair yesterday or something."

Poppy mumbled to herself, her eyes not leaving the pages of the magazine. She was familiar with Jade's usual hair routine, and washing their hair usually took way longer than the length of that shower.

Before long, the distinct "click" of the bathroom door's lock could be heard and Jade made their way out of the room and towards the living room, not quite seeing where their partner was at first glance. He was all dressed for their date. It was a casual thing, just the two of them grabbing some ice cream from that new specialty shop down the street, with their massive student discounts, and probably coming back here to chill while Violet, Amaya, and Ruby were all out for the rest of the afternoon.

Jade was all dressed...except for their usual hair towel wrapped around their head.

"Babe?"

"Over here."

Poppy waved in the direction of Jade's voice, not bothering to turn around, which gave Jade the opportunity he'd been looking for.

Perfect.

"I'm on the couch."

Poppy piped up, not knowing if Jade had heard her voice the first time she called out.

Jade threw the rest of their towels in the dorm's dryer and walked over to Poppy, standing over her, and conveniently blocking the magazine she was still reading, smiling casually.

"Hi"

Jade greeted, finally getting Poppy's attention.

"Oh, hey."

Poppy greeted back, with her own smile.

"Uh, are you almost ready to head out?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Really?"

"Oh, how could I have forgotten..."

"Yeah, because I'm not a fashion focus but I think that towel clashed flashes with-"

"My keys; I can't believe you almost let me forget them, Pops!"

Poppy, now fully sat up, stared at Jade until he pointed to the towel on his head.

"Oh, this? Yeah, I should probably ditch this."

And with that, Jade effortlessly ripped the towel from their head, something that baffled Poppy, who knew yanking on your own hair like that would be extremely painful.

Until she saw why Jade could do it.

"You're bald!"

She announced, slightly slack-jawed and now standing up.

Now Jade was a bit self-conscious.

"N-No, not bald; it's a buzz-cut, technically. And I still have hair, it's just really short. Not bald!"

Poppy, who was now close enough to reach out to Jade, unexpectedly put her hand on Jade's hair.

"It feels so fuzzy! And you look like a tennis ball!"

Now Poppy was grinning as she admired her partner's new hairdo.

"...So...you like it?"

"Are you kidding?! I love it! Couldn't you tell?"

Jade chuckled and let out the breath he'd accidentally been holding.

"Thank God. Pops, you made me think you hated it."

"How could I hate it??"

Poppy's hand cupped Jade's cheek, her thumb rubbing it gently as she looked at her partner lovingly.

"You are the prettiest tennis ball I've ever seen."

"Tennis ball?"

"The prettiest tennis ball."

Poppy corrected with a grin.

"Now, stop arguing with me and let's hurry up Jade; I want some ice cream!"

"I think I'll be making you treat today then; since, you know, tennis balls don't carry money on them."

"Fair point. Alright, but let's go already!"

Poppy linked her arm with Jade's and dragged them out the door, giggling all the way.