The Whispers of Shadows - A&A One Shots

the horrors of drunken females

If there was one thing Aurora had learned over her decades with the Inner Circle, it was that nothing good ever came of the females alone with wine. It had hardly crept into afternoon when they had already emptied far too many bottles and gathered in the High Lady's bathing chambers.

"T-This one!" Mor cried out, holding up a glass bottle of thick liquid. Feyre, struggling to stand, squinted at the bottle.

"Mor! That's black!"

"Exactly!"

The females had sauntered into the streets of Velaris with the means of shopping, but with one stop to Rita's for drinks with breakfast, they were barreling into the dyes and ink shop. Elain had complained of her wish to have Aurora's auburn hair, and that funneled into the rest of the group speculating which cut and color would be best on themselves. Now, huddled into the tiled room, they all grabbed that the paper bag and chose their colors to dye their hair.

"Rhys would kill me if I put black in my hair!" Feyre exclaimed, a bubbly laugh following her words.

"You'd look more like Nyx's mother," Nesta chimed in as she looked over the black dye.

"No, no, I want something softer," Feyre argued, reaching into the bag and pulling out a dulled purple tone. It was the only one meant for fabrics, but Elain had gushed about how pretty lavender toned hair would be, so in their drunken haze, it joined the hair dyes.

With the glass bottles spread out on the counter and Feyre's nicest ceramic bowls being put to use, they decided to create their own colors. Aurora pointed at the black dye, urging Mor to hand it over. She dumped a glob into a bowl and grabbed at the purple, dumping it in as well. Elain was already smothering the copper-toned color over her light brown hair.

"What do you think?" Mor asked, tilting her bowl for everyone to peer inside. She had chosen a strawberry-blonde color, but added in a touch of red. Aurora's eyes widened as she noticed how pink the color had become.

"I love it!" Elain exclaimed. With sufficient approval, Mor began combing it through her blonde hair. Nesta was still eying the black dye, so Aurora pushed it to her.

"I think it would look great," she slurred, tapping a fingernail on top of the glass. Nesta shot her a grin and began to dump it into her bowl. When Aurora turned to begin her own hair style, Feyre was laughing wildly as she dumped lavender goop over her head. The slightest voice of reason, a glimmer of regret poked at Aurora's brain as she observed the group. Though, with a simple shrug, she began to place the purple-toned black into her hair.

When everyone had their hair slathered and tied to the tops of their head, a new bottle of wine was opened as they gathered in a circle on the bathing room floor. Aurora couldn't help but laugh wildly when she noticed Elain had mistaken her bowl with another and a spot at the back of her head was coated in black. When the bottle of wine fell empty and their laughing ceased, Nesta suggested they may want to wash their hair.

Elain and Mor gathered at the edge of large tub and took turns rinsing out the dye. Feyre chose to simply just step into the shower, which resulted in her clothes being soaked entirely. Aurora dipped her head beneath the stream, laughing as Feyre scrubbed her scalp with soap that dripped over her face. Nesta nearly was drowned by Mor, who spread a hand over her shoulder blades and shoved her head into the tub.

When towels were distributed and scrubbed against the dripping hair, they all huddled in front of the mirror. Aurora's eyes widened as she leaned toward the mirror, fingers grasping at the dark strands.

"Mother," Elain gasped, both hands sliding over her copper hair. It seemed in that moment that everyone began to look over each other, taking in what they had done. Aurora's eyes widened as she turned to Feyre. Fingers trembling, she took the High Lady's face into her hands, eyes trailing over her entire head.