FicWad

Vex cast a glance in Blight's direction, but received only a sigh in return.

Blight stood and followed Chaos into the bathroom. For a moment, Chaos left again. He came back with a chair and set it down facing the mirror, then closed the door behind him. He gave a small gesture to the chair and Blight sat down. Retrieving a towel, Chaos tied it carefully around Blight's neck, tight enough that it fit snugly, but not enough to hurt.

"I need to take this off," Chaos said, pointing to Blight's mask.

Blight looked down, hesitant for a moment.

"It's okay," Chaos reassured softly. "It's just us here."

Blight looked at Chaos' reflection, a little surprised by his tone, then nodded. Chaos slipped Blight's mask off carefully and set it on the counter, then gently but firmly turned Blight's head towards the mirror. For a moment, he only looked. Then, he ran a hand through Blight's hair and pulled it gently up, gauging the length. He made the first snip.

"You're upset," Chaos said quietly as he continued carefully measuring how much to cut, making small, carefully calculated cuts. He tilted Blight's head down a little. "You have every right to be."

Blight didn't respond for a long while. He listened to the quiet, hypnotic shik of the scissors' blades coming together.

"I was . . . afraid. . ." He said finally. "I was angry. . ."

Chaos only nodded.

"Sometimes . . . I don't understand you. . . Vex could've died out there - he almost did die out there - but all you said was that he wasn't hurt so everything's okay. How does it . . . How does that not make you afraid - or at the very least, nervous? It was your decision to make him go out there. . . What if he would've fallen? He could've gotten killed."

Chaos paused for a long while and Blight wondered if he would answer. Finally, he spoke up. "It was the only way to stop them."

"We could've stayed in the city." Blight insisted, growing more agitated. "We could've lost them."

"It was our best bet to take them out permanently." Chaos ran his hand through Blight's hair, measuring carefully with his eyes to keep the cut even. "It was better to do so without witnesses, even if it meant they would act bolder, too. Would you rather have had us do it in traffic, where other people would have been killed?"

"You don't care about that," Blight muttered.

"No," Chaos said a little quieter, "But you do."

Blight paused, surprised.

Chaos gave a small sigh. "At times, to stay free, we will have to take risks. . . I won't let them take us back again."

They both fell silent. Blight sat patiently, letting Chaos turn his head this way and that. Blight had to admit, the sight of all the hair on the floor made him impatient and a little afraid to see what he looked like. But before he could finally look up into the mirror, Chaos slid a hand over his eyes.

"No peeking," He said, his voice just a little closer to teasing than normal. "We're still not done."

A little worried, Blight sighed and nodded. When Chaos moved his hand, he kept his eyes closed. It took longer than he thought it would for Chaos to finish whatever he was doing. The fumes made him dizzy and he came close to passing out. When he started to waver, Chaos moved away for a few seconds and gave him a towel to hold over his mouth and nose so he wouldn't breathe it in.

After having to lean over the tub for the last time so Chaos could rinse out his hair, then drying his hair afterward, Chaos allowed him to look in the mirror.

Expression a little sour, Blight reached up and fingered a few strands of his hair. "Really? I'm a brunette now?"

Chaos gave a small shrug. "It's better than blonde, isn't it?"

Blight paused, thought about it and shuddered. "Definitely better." He sighed, shoulders slumping a little. "Well, I guess I'm gonna have to show my face sooner or later."

"Change into this first." Chaos tossed a shirt to him. "Shake out the one you're wearing. We'll just wipe up the floor when I'm done with the others."

Blight nodded and did as Chaos said, letting him leave before shaking out the old shirt. When he was changed, he glanced around, shrugged and simply tossed his old, white shirt into a corner. Picking up his mask, he took a deep breath, opened the bathroom door and stepped out. The room hushed, the only noise coming from some news channel on the TV.

Blight finally looked up from the floor, a little nervous. "So? Speak up, people."

"Looks . . . nice." Vex said hesitantly.

Havoc made a face. "Am I gonna have to look like that, too?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I don't see the big problem."

Blight put a hand to his head, feeling self-conscious. "I've had black hair since I was born. This is a big change."

She shrugged. "You look fine."

He noticed she looked a little nervous and slipped his mask back on.

Solace got up from where he'd been sprawled on the bed, walked to Blight's side and held his teddy bear up next to his brother's head, comparing colors. ". . . You look like Benjy."

Blight groaned, walked over to the bed and flopped down face first onto it. "Thanks a lot." He whined, voice muffled by the blankets.

Havoc was laughing too hard to comment. Vex couldn't think of how to reply. Solace couldn't see the problem. Chaos simply shook his head and stood up from where he'd been sitting.

"Come on, Vex," He said, walking back towards the bathroom. "You're next."