"Fuckin' ow."
"You deserve it," Lyric scolded, tugging the brush a little further through the matted mess that was Zeph's hair. "I mean, did you purposefully go out of your way to rub this shit in? What the fuck were you even doin'?
"I told you already," Zeph replied, the wicked smirk creeping back over her face despite the pain in her scalp. "I was cleanin' the world up a little."
"Well, you could have cleaned yourself up at the same time..." Lyric sighed in resignation. for the first time since Zeph had done it, she felt thankful for the shaven section of the purple strands - at least that was too short to need this kind of attention. The rest of it, on the other hand....
"My head hurts."
"Good." She ignored the pout. If she was going to run out all over the desert getting drenched in other people's blood she could damn well suffer the consequences.
She worked in silence for a little longer, the air around them quiet aside from Zeph's occasional winces and gasps of pain. Somewhere in the distance, a fight broke out. Zeph moved instinctively to go and break it up - she managed about half a step before Lyric grabbed her and forced her back into her seat.
"Screw can fuckin' deal with it."
"Screw's too fuckin' nice to deal with it."
"Well, that's his problem." Zeph huffed loudly, a kitten trying to pout her way out of bathtime, but Lyric had dealt with her girlfriend's petulance way too many times to be swayed by it. Let her huff and pout as much as she pleased, she couldn’t keep going around with an entire Drac’s blood in her hair. Not even the King himself could pull that shit off for this long.
Another silence fell over them, Lyric working at the matted violet while Zeph picked forlornly at the few specks of blood still left on her skin. The last knot was almost out before the taller girl plucked up enough courage to broach the subject she'd been aching to mention.
"This wasn't just a whim, was it, Zephy?" Zeph stiffened under her hands, almost imperceptibly. "What's going on?"
"Nothing's wrong, Lyrrie. It's all fine, quit worryin'."
"Lies." The word came out much sharper than she'd intended, she winced to hear it and felt Zeph bristle in indignation, but pressed on regardless. "I'm gonna ask you again, and you're gonna tell me the truth this time. What's wrong?"
"I keep telling ya, nothi- -"
"Zeph, please!" The brush fell from Lyric's hand as she gave up on any pretense she'd been clinging to. "I've seen you like this before, years ago, you pulled this exact shit and tried to make me swallow these exact lies, you wouldn't tell me then and you're not telling me now! Why won't you fucking trust me?!"
She expected Zeph to scream back, walk out, even break down crying - she'd seen it all before, none of it would surprise her. But the smaller girl just sat still, barely moving apart from her breath.
"Are you just gonna ignore me?"
"Lyrrie, I..." the words faded out, as if she was a clockwork toy with an unwound spring. Lyric head the softest of sighs from her girl as she bent down to pick up her brush. "I just needed...."
"I wish you trusted me," Lyric murmured, moving back to her work on Zeph's head. A scarred hand darted out and grabbed her hand softly, Zeph's fingers folding around her own, and she finally looked Lyric in the eye.
"I trust you with my whole life, Lyrrie." There was so much desperation in Zeph's voice it made Lyric's heart ache. She bent her pink head to kiss her gently, ignoring the faint iron stink of blood still clinging to her skin.
"Is it.... y'know...?" She gestured vaguely in the direction of Red's room, the motion loaded with implication. Neither of them had forgotten the days the Beastie had his claws in Zeph as much as He had in Red.
"If I say yes, will you stop worrying?" Zeph pleaded.
"Fuck no, I'm gonna worry more than ever!" She smiled as a tired chuckle burst out of Zeph despite everything. She kissed her again, her fingers brushing through Zeph's hair cautiously, testing for any leftover knots. "One day you're gonna tell me, y'know."
"One day I'll be able to tell you," Zeph replied, pressing another kiss to her lips. Intense and hungry, and closer to the Zeph she knew than she'd seen in weeks. "I promise."
