☼ 004 ☼ | Video

[wilder]

[Filtered from Seles]

[A rare video feed from Kaneis comes on, partly because one of his roommates had to turn on the tablet. It becomes quickly apparently why- it seems his hands and locks of his hair are tangled up with strips of brightly colored leopard print duct tape. Someone attempted to do home repairs when they knew absolutely nothing about home repair. The background shows one giant hole in the wall about six inches in diameter, just to give you an idea. Allen is next to him, trying to get some of the duct tape off]

Okay okay- I'll ask! Just get me outta this stuff!

[He gives a huff and looks at the camera. He looks rather disgruntled]

Say, does anyone out there know where a person can get a couch? Ours kinda...got wrecked the other day and we can't fix it.

Oh and, stuff to seal up holes in the wall? That'd be good too.

Thanks in- [And then he YELLS "OW" as Allen his roommate pulls a piece out of his hair not so gently]

ALLEN! THAT WAS MY HAIR!

[Transmission end!]

Comments

>action forever!!

[wilder]

[And they are all off to the hat shop except for Kaneis! He was good enough to at least...clean up the excess mess from his attempt, so the most that's around is still the holes in the wall and couch and him sitting in a chair with duct tape in his hair]

Hey, welcome back!

[flashmaiden]

[She looks at his hair warily. Good god, that is the worst thing she's ever seen, and she's had to pull all manner of sticks and random crap out of Sophie's pigtails before. She sets her bag down and crosses the room, getting a closer look at the damage.]

It's really stuck in there, huh? Sophie said water wasn't working... Did you use warm water?

[wilder]

[Well he's glad to know that at least at screw ups, he's still the best! He's noting her facial expression...that is not a good sign]

Uh...it was more room temperature water yet. Some people said apply heat, but I haven't tried yet yet.

[flashmaiden]

Heat should do the trick... We usually use warm water to remove adhesive at the clinic. For this kind of thing though... Maybe the hairdryer? Let's go to the bathroom and try that first.

[No one screws up quite like you do, buddy! She might even be a little impressed if she weren't so completely exasperated by it.]

[wilder]

Worth a shot, I guess. Let's go.

[Yay he's special! But he'll get up and head to the bathroom. At this point, he's over his little yelling fits and just wants this embarrassment to be ooover with]

[flashmaiden]

Put your hair in bun next time you're working with tape. But it better not be to fix any more damages!

[She makes a detour into the kitchen first to get oil too before she follows him into the bathroom. She sets it on the counter and opens a drawer to pull out the hairdryer and a comb. Her tools of torture, all laid out in a nice neat row.

She plugs the hairdryer in and sets it to low and presses it against the duct tape, using her free hand to hold the hair away from the rest. It'll be a while before the edges of the duct tape backing is peeling up, leaving just the adhesive residue.]

[wilder]

[Oh my what menacing torture tools! He sits on the toilet with the lid down, since you know he knows he's kinda tall compared to Cheria and who knows long this will take. He'll even cooperate and not fidget too much- even if it's a bit sullenly with his arms crossed. What? He's still adjusting to dealing with motherhens.]

What am I just supposed to leave them?

[flashmaiden]

You're supposed to fix them properly! Who ever heard of putting tape on holes in the wall, anyway?

[She sets the hairdryer aside once the first tape backing is fully removed, stepping away for a minute to grab the oil. She pours some on her hand, making a face a the feeling before she turns to coat the adhesive in it. It's just a matter of massaging it in now to loosen the strands up before she tries separating everything. This could take a while since she still has a few more pieces to do. What a mess.]

[wilder]

It seemed like a good idea at the time...! At least until I found someone who could repair wall.

[He meanwhile tries his best not to look at his hair or reflection in the mirror, his hair wrinkling at the smell of the oil. Eugh. Never trusting you tape ever again]

[flashmaiden]

This might hurt a little. Sorry.

[She grips his hair close to the top to try to alleviate some of the pulling as she picks up the comb and starts working it through the hair slowly, pushing the adhesive down towards the ends.]

[wilder]

It's fine.

[he meanwhile..bears it! Very different from how he was on the video post. Was Allen just pulling that much harder or was Zelos just trying to get Allen in trouble? The world may never know.]

Thanks for...doing this.

[flashmaiden]

[She shakes her head, smiling while she continues to work.]

It's fine. You know, it's funny, I always thought this sort of thing would happen to Sophie instead. [She giggles softly.] I'm always pulling twigs and stuff out of her pigtails, it's almost a full-time job.

[wilder]

Heh heh, yeah I remember having doing that.... [before Cheria got here anyway] It's amazing what gets caught up in there-

[Though oh yeah, he probably shouldn't talk right now]

- Though this isn't a normal occurrence or me! I'm very good at looking after my hair.

[flashmaiden]

[Bonding over Sophie's nightmare pigtails.]

Mm! It always looks good, so I was surprised when I saw it like this. You'll probably need to trim the ends after I'm done, though.

[wilder]

That's fine...as long as I don't have to cut it all off I don't mind a trim.

[flashmaiden]

It should be fine. Aside from a little residue, this is mostly getting rid of it. A bath will probably get rid of the last of it. I can't believe you let Allen try ripping it out like that!

[wilder]

Oh that's good, haha. You're one fine miracle worker, Cheria!

And hey- he offered! Though in retrospect..that probably should have been the first clue not to do it.

[flashmaiden]

[She laughs lightly, shaking her head.]

I don't think I'm anything like that. I'm just used to taking care of my own hair, you know? It can be pretty hard to get slime out of it after a battle.

Hey... Do you and Allen not get along? I thought you were friends, but... it seems really strained.

[wilder]

Nope sorry, firmly convinced you're a miracle worker.

Allen and me? [a pause as he thinks how to phrase it since "he's an idiot" wouldn't go over well with Cheria probably] Well we just...don't see eye to eye very much.

[flashmaiden]

[Probably not too well, though she's called Asbel stupid on more than one occasion. For her it's usually because of an emotional outburst, though. She's quiet for a few minutes after he answers, staring down at her work.]

...Asbel and I were like that for a while. [Implying they still aren't hahaha good one Cheria.] But it's not good to fight like that all the time. You're roommates, so you should be able to rely on each other more.

[wilder]

[His arms uncross and cross again while waiting for her response, other than holding still. He makes a slight 'tt' noise with his tongue when she does speak]

It's not like I'd leave him hanging or something. [Most likely anyway. It'd depend on the situation really] I don't even think he's a bad person. But getting along all the time? Easier said than done.

I...do try to make sure Sophie doesn't see any of our bigger fights though. [Yes honestly that was just minimal bickering for them]

[flashmaiden]

You should at least try to get along better, even if it's just for Sophie's sake. She doesn't like to see people fight. [She's been there, done that, and ended up with a friendship pact out of it.]

I know personalities don't always go together well, but it's worth trying to compromise, at least.

[wilder]

I know, but Allen doesn't compromise, that's part of the problem. He always goes with what he wants, no matter what. What am I supposed to do about that?

[flashmaiden]

And you do?

[She sounds doubtful.]

If there's a problem with compromising, then talk to him about it. It's better than fighting, alright? You're never going to see eye to eye if all you do is yell at each other all the time.

[wilder]

[He shoots her a look] Yes, I'm capable of them.

[His entire life has been about compromises, ones where he ended up getting the short end most of the time. But he lets out a little sigh. He feels tired and like he knows how to "talk things out" with a kid as stubborn as Allen. ]

Look, I get what you're saying- I do. I just really don't think he'd listen to me.

But I'll try really hard not to fight in front of Sophie anymore, okay?