A̸̢͠cr̷͘os͜҉s ̢T͟͝͡h̀́͝e͞ ̶͠͡S̸͠ķy̷͘: Book One

16. Makeover (Roman)

I sat there watching him as he brushed out his hair and I cringed. Whatever did that to his hands caused a lot of damage. He's having such a hard time doing anything. He got so frustrated he threw his brush at the wall. Luckily it didn't break.

"Here..." I grabbed the brush off the floor and walked it over to the vanity, where he was sitting. "Can I?" I asked as I gestured to his hair. He sighed, nodding to me as he looked at his hurt hands. "This anger of yours..."

"Roman, I don't want to talk about it." I looked at him through the mirror as I began to brush his hair.

"You don't have to, but I'm still going to ask. I care about you, Virge. I just want to be able to support you." I paused for a second and looked at his reflection. He had this solemn look on his face. He's in pain, and I don't mean his hands.

"Why do care so much?" I just smile slightly as put the brush down.

"Virgil, my feelings aren't going to change just because you have an anger problem." He shook his head and gestured to himself. "Or because you look different. Your still Virgil. And to quote a very angry man. You are still a guy, regardless of your outward appearance."

"Yeah, well, my outward appearance looks like a badass biker chick with anger issues." It was barely a whisper. All that anger just seemed to have just melted into sadness. I didn't like seeing him like that. I glanced at him and an idea popped into my head. I wonder, just what are the rules?

I h͞a̵v̛e͘ ̨rul͘es... You͞ dòn't.

So if Virgil were to cut and or dye his hair?

T̵ḩe p͝ur̢p̸osè ̛w͜as for ̸hi͜m͞ ͠to ͡ǵet ̷in͏ ̵touch ̸wi҉th͜ ͢h̨i͢s ͜f̡e̵mini͢n͝é ̶side.͏..͡ ͟n͝ot͜ ̕to̷ ͠t̢or̨t̷ur̢e himsel͝f̛. ́ B̨e͏sid̕e̢s͡,͡ t͏he͢re ҉are m͢an͏y͢ ̶wo̢m͟en ͠w̡i͢t̨h͏ ̷v͠e͢r͢y̸ shor͏t ̛h͟a҉i̕r.͝ Some͟ d͢o̢n̢'t̵ ̷h͞a̵v҉ę ͡ḩair̶ ̶at͘ all͢.̸

"Hey, Virgil?" I saw his eyes glance up at me for a split second before his gaze fell again. "Why don't we get you looking more like yourself, huh?"

"Is that even possible?"

"I can't do much, but I can take care of your hair for you." That is if Faylinn would get me some purple dye.

It͝'͡s in̴ ̵the ba̵t̨hroom. ̢I ͏am̷ ̀c͜ruel̵ ͏craz̧y a͡nd c͜r҉y͏p͜tic ͜b̶ut I'm͠ ̀e͘v͡i̡l͝.͝ I ͞al҉way͜s ̡th͜ough̡t ͘h͝e̕ w̷ould̛ ͝do̡ someth͜i̵n̕g ҉so̕o̡ner ͠o͠r̨ later.

Oh,͜ ͝and don̨'̀t͞ ͞w̵orry ábo̶ut͏ wa̸i̛ting o͠r͡ an͝yth͡i̴n̷g. T͘hi̴s ̕s̨t͘u̶ff ͡įs͢ ͝po͠t̨e͟n͟t en̶o͟ugh͝ ̴t̕o dye ̷in͝s̷tant̸l͞y.͞ ͟S͝o̷ d̶on't ͟g̨et ͝i͞t ͢on̸ ̨you͜r͢ ͝cl͢ot͏h̕es.́  

I lead him into the bathroom and had him sit with his hair back into the sink.  I got the showerhead off and hooked up to the facet, before stepping back and taking off my sweatshirt. Virgil just looked at me confused. I had a muscle shirt on underneath, so I didn't see a problem. It didn't really matter much because Virgil just closed his eyes and waited. 

I put on the gloves and started with putting the dye in. She wasn't kidding when she said it was potent. It was going right over his black hair like it was nothing. Sure it made it a very dark purple but it was still purple.

"So Virgil, you going to answer my question?" I finally said as I tried to get the purple to even out. "This anger of yours... Is it something we should be worried about?" He didn't even bother to give me a dirty look. It must be bad after all then. "Anything, I can do..."

"You can stop asking me about it." 

"Not gonna happen Virge." I said in a sort of dramatic joking way. I stopped putting more dye in, to let it sit for a while. I know she said I didn't need to but I want it to stick. I heard him sigh and I started getting worried I may have upset him. Though it wasn't long before I spotted his smirk and I felt a little better. That was quickly replaced with worry again though. "Please?"

"There isn't anything to do, Roe! I just..." He cut himself off and clammed up. I watched as he gripped the chair until his knuckles turned white. I took that as my cue to stop pressing the subject.  I turned the water on and started rinsing out the dye from his hair. It was kind of relaxing watching the purple water swirling about the sink. "Look, I'm sorry about worrying you."

"It's ok Virgil. We all have things we do..." I felt my chest seize up and cursed my body for its terrible timing. Next thing I knew I was bent over the tub, blood, petals, and flowers nearly clogging the drain. Shit. I turned on the water and watched as the red slowly turned clear.

"Roman?" I wiped my mouth and turned around to find Virgil looking at me, worry evident on his face. I quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his hair.

"Let go ok?" He nodded as I lead him back out into the room, but his eyes kept glancing back at the bathroom. I know he wouldn't have been able to see what happened but that didn't ease my fear. I sat him down in front of the vanity and I heard him gasp. All I had done so far was dye it, but that alone seemed to have lightened his mood. I grabbed a comb and a pair of scissors and watched as his eyes went wide as I began to cut his hair.

"Roman, are you sick?" I glanced up at him through the mirror and saw his worried expression. "Is it bad?"

"I thought you didn't want to talk?" I grabbed another section slowly cutting shorter and shorter until it matched the little bit that I had already done. 

"That's different."

"How."

"This is about you."I laughed as I grabbed another section. Right now I'm working on shortening the back and sides. I had already cut a huge amount of hair just with getting started. It was already such a huge difference and I know Virgil could feel it.

"Yes, Virgil. I am sick." I said as I glanced at my wrist. Two more roses appeared since yesterday. And three more since the first one. That's six of them. It looks like I have a tattooed bracelet. If it were to keep up at this speed... I honestly don't know how long I have.

"Is it bad?" I finished cutting his hair and I just stood there looking at his pained expression. If I lie, he'll find out eventually and he'll get pissed. But... If I tell him the truth I know he'll spend the rest of my time anxious and pissed and desperate. I don't want him to be unhappy. I don't want to be unhappy. 

"No, I'll be fine."