"..Fine. Fine. I’ll.. I’ll tell you."
Egg slipped his finger into the hair tie, slowly tugging it off with practiced carefulness. He remembered the way they had used to do this, him sitting behind Wemmbu, brushing through that long, flowy, purple hair. He hadn’t been able to do so in months, with the whole.. being trapped in the End thing, so this moment was refreshing to say the least. He noted the way Wemmbu’s shoulders seemed to loosen at his touch, and he let out a tiny chirp of approval, allowing Wemmbu settle back against him.
He gently combed Wemmbu’s hair with his fingers, wincing as it settled into the uneven, sloppy, and messy excuse of a haircut the LAW had left him with. It looked like someone just grabbed a butcher’s knife, sliced off half his hair, and called it a day.
Egg wouldn’t even be surprised if that’s actually what they did.
Now, by all means, Egg was not a stylist. He was not a barber, and he was definitely not at all clarified for the job. But he knew just enough to at least.. even out whatever this was without cutting off too much. He knew how precious Wemmbu’s hair was.
He grabbed a spray bottle of water from his inventory— not the first time junk blocks have come in handy— and tilted the dragon’s head slightly, soaking his hair as he waited patiently for the other to explain.
"So.. I think you know the LAW by now." Wemmbu started, "Well, they like.. sent a thousand players after me and Flame and we killed 'em all."
"Me and Flame then had a stupid rematch right after 'cause.. I don’t know, he wanted to." He bit his tongue, remembering the way they were both out of breath after the battle, remembering the feeling of a sword slamming into his back and pushing him out of the hole they had made in the roof of the building.
"When we were done I was out out. Like completely wiped and out of resources. And then Lettuce basically appeared like out of nowhere and made me go to prison."
"My hair.. They made me like, lay down on a log and they chopped it off with an axe," Wemmbu laughed, and Egg didn’t need words to know that Wemmbu was masking how horrified he must’ve been with amusement at the stupidity of the situation. He didn’t blame him, of course. He wasn’t even surprised as the explanation registered in his brain.
Absentmindedly, the angel gentled his touch as he reached for scissors— they weren’t professional at all, but what other choice did he have? he needed to fix Wemmbu’s hair— and straightened out the purple mess at the back, beginning to snip at the ends to make it as even as possible.
"Fantst and Baablu and Zam were there too. They made us do like, free labor." The demon subconsciously tilted his head to give Egg more space to work, shivering slightly as the little strands and bits of hair slid down the back of his neck. "If they caught any of us misbehaving— and obviously, I 'misbehaved' a lot— they’d send us to.. solitary confinement."
Egg heard the way Wemmbu darkened, but he didn’t push for further elaboration, instead lifting a large wing from his back to silently nudge Wemmbu in the side, a grounding force in the storm his best friend seemed to be explaining, a reminder that Wemmbu didn’t have to talk.
"I.. I don’t wanna talk about it," Egg nodded along to Wemmbu’s reluctance. He didn’t want to push if his best friend wasn’t ready.
"But Spoke eventually broke me and everyone out."
Silence fell between the two as Egg continued to work away at Wemmbu’s hair, hyperfocused on the task at hand. Wemmbu felt oddly.. satisfied; it had been too long since he had felt the affection and attention of his best friend, and now, it felt like making up for lost time.
"..There," The seraphim let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he snipped one last bit of Wemmbu’s hair away; it was less.. all over the place now, more presentable, and definitely better than the unfinished job the LAW had started on the demon. He dug into his inventory, pulling out a mirror and passing it over to Wemmbu.
Egg could hear the fond tone that Wemmbu was trying to hide under that nonchalance, and he snickered, settling down his make shift barber equipment to ruffle Wemmbu’s hair.
"’Not bad’? Bro, I literally just saved your whole look and all you have is a 'not bad'?"
"Bro you barely did anything. Shut up."
"I just did you a service! For free! And this is what I get in return? Y’know what, I’ll just make you go bald right now-"
Wemmbu stared in the mirror, twisting his hair around his fingers. He had always thought long hair was his style until now. He thought he’d hate being in short hair, but he’d be lying to himself if he said he didn’t think this looked a little cool.
"Bro, do you think I serve cunt like this?"
Egg’s gaze darted up from his book to his best friend, raising an eyebrow. Wemmbu had been staring at mirrors for a while now, maybe not consecutively but the demon kept looking into reflective surfaces, constantly fiddling with his hair and ‘fixing’ his low ponytail.
"Do you think it suits me?"
"I need an unbiased opinion."
"Oh my god, you’re impossible-"
Egg burst into a warm laugh, shutting his book as he stood up, walking over to stand beside Wemmbu who seemed preoccupied with judging his hair.
"Bro, it’s hair. But fine, if you want an actual answer, I think your hair is cool whether it’s short or not. You’d rock any style dude."
"..Thanks man." Wemmbu realized how utterly horrible he was with compliments.
"..You know you didn’t have to be so direct earlier."
"Like.. Like you didn’t have to mention Zam, or Rejoice- or Mane when you said I had 'that look' in my eyes."
"Well you would’ve played it off if I didn’t. I know you bro. If I’m too subtle you’ll just find an excuse and change the topic."
Wemmbu bit his tongue as he tied his hair for what felt like the millionth time, chuckling nervously at the angel’s observance. Egg wasn’t wrong, he certainly would’ve tried to change the topic. "Yeah. You’re right bro. My bad."
"..I just wish you’d talk to me more, Wemm."
Wemmbu felt a delicate touch to his hair, and he let out a sigh, his body loosening of tension as Egg rubbed the back of his head.
"Like.. You’re literally favoomf bro."
Wemmbu couldn’t help but laugh, triggering Egg to do so too. Wemmbu always seemed to have that contagious effect.
"Do- Do not call me oomf what the hell."
this is set some time during the pirate arc ? if my memory serves me right
not beta we die like rejoice
this is so buns i genuinely havent written in so long 🙏
also going to post this to ao3 .!!
