~!~ cherry chan ~!~ (seresa) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2017-01-19 14:42:00 |
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Jane rolled up to Mina and Cherry’s duplex, slowed the engine of her Harley SuperLow down from a loud roar to a quiet purr, before she finally pulled to a complete stop. She set her boot down on the kickstand and unsnapped her helmet, holding it under her arm as stood up from the motorcycle and rummaged around in the bike’s stash box for the six pack of beer, fashion magazines, and box of hair dye she brought with her. She hoped the somewhat unconventional hangout she and Cherry had sprung on Mina would go over well. Yes, it had been a bit of an ambush on Cherry and Jane’s part but only because they both knew Mina so well. They knew how often Mina did anything for herself (which was to say, hardly ever) and wanted their dearest friend to have an evening of total pampering and fun. The whole spa experience wasn’t exactly in Jane’s wheelhouse but she was more than willing to give it a go if it put a smile on Mina’s face for even a moment. After a quick look around to make sure nothing sinister lurked between her and the house (Jane was glad for the safety precautions the city had implemented since the government had stepped in but old habits died hard), Jane walked up the path and rapped on the door; it opened almost immediately, revealing Cherry's beaming face in the doorframe. "You're here!" Cherry exclaimed, throwing the door open and backing up to allow Jane entry into their side of the duplex. She turned to look over her shoulder, searching out her roommate. "Mina, Jane's here!" She closed the door behind Jane, then gestured for her to follow into the kitchen. "I already have the cucumber water made," Cherry said in a conspiratorial voice. She'd had a pretty shitty couple of days, and this dye job was the highlight of her week. Cherry was 100% committed to making sure it was just as fun for Mina and Jane as she was sure it would be for her. "And I cleaned the bathtub!" “Clean bathtub and cucumber water?” Jane replied, the corner of her mouth inching up into a smile. She was both impressed and amused by Cherry’s preparation and enthusiasm. “Damn girl, if you bust out an Enya CD, I’d swear we were at a professional spa.” Naturally, Mina had heard the motorcycle rumble down the street and come to a stop in their driveway, watching from the safety of her bedroom. This all seemed to be happening so fast and since when were Cherry and Jane so chummy? It all seemed like a setup but for what? To have fun? There were worse things that her two closest friends could be conspiring towards. Still dressed in her clothes from work, Mina made her way downstairs and smiled shyly between the two women. "I'm very professional," Cherry was in the middle of telling Jane, before she realized they had company. "Mina!" she exclaimed, turning to face their friend, then added (unnecessarily), "Jane's here!" “I’m glad you could make it tonight. Should I put the beer in the fridge?” Mina asked, reaching out towards Jane to relieve her of the six pack. “Are you kidding me?” Jane plucked a bottle from the six pack for herself before relinquishing it to Mina. “I am surrounded by gross, smelly dudes all day long. You give me a chance to hang out with not one, but two awesome ladies to do fun lady stuff, I’m gonna grab that opportunity by the balls. Or, you know, the female equivalent. Ovaries.” Jane offered the two housemates a large grin as she twisted off the cap to the beer she was holding. She gestured to the six pack. “Personally, I think a beer would aid in the whole relaxation process but I did hear a rumor that there was going to be some cucumber water here,” Jane said, throwing a wink in Cherry’s direction. “So if you’d rather that, throw the booze in the fridge so we can get started.” "Either or," Cherry replied breezily. "Whatever Mina wants." This was so much fun already! A little girl's night in was exactly what she needed to get over what had happened in the Greenbelt just a couple of days ago. “Yeah, you might be right. I think I’ll start with a beer too,” Mina said, taking the six pack from Jane so as to relieve their guest of her burden. Cherry led the way over and out of the hallway before Jane threw the bag of hair dye, along with the few fashion magazines she had borrowed from the new traffic cop, Nancy, on the kitchen table. “So, granted these magazines are about 5 years old,” Jane said, setting her bottle down to flip through a back issue of “Glamour”. “But I figure fashion always comes back, right? It’s cyclical, or something? Like how high-waisted 90’s pants are a thing now? Well, what do you think of this?” Jane pointed at a picture of a brunette in the magazine, sporting a flattering two-toned hairstyle. Jane would be the first person to point out how beautiful Mina was, both inside and out, but if her friend was willing to take her image outside of her normal comfort zone, Jane knew she’d rock the hell out of it. Once the beer was stashed in the fridge, Mina grabbed herself a bottle and twisted off the top before taking a sip. “I’m not sure I’d ever look good in mom jeans but I guess I’m willing to go a little Avril Lavigne if you both promise me it won’t look too ridiculous,” she said, biting at her lip and flipping the page a few times, looking at the dated fashion magazines. These looks weren’t all that bad but she’d tried bangs before and it hadn’t been a good look for her. Nor did she think she could pull off one of those haircuts where half her head was shaved. That was far too alternative. “Maybe just the ends so if I hate it I can just cut it off?” "Really?" They'd gotten Mina to agree to it even sooner than Cherry had thought; it was like a post-Christmas miracle! She couldn't help but shoot a triumphant look in Jane's direction, knowing the conversation they'd had prior to this -- when they'd first suggested the idea -- had no doubt primed Mina to be in favor. She was very pleased. “That’s a very reasonable request,” Jane replied, beaming. “I think you’d look amazing with pink tips.” If she felt at all bad about railroading her friend into the whole dye job spa experience, it was slightly tempered knowing that if anyone deserved a little girl time pampering, it was Mina. Mina pursed her lips, not quite sure why she’d agreed to all of this so easily, but she supposed there was no taking it back now. After taking a long drag of her beer, she said, “I guess we’ll find out.” "We should probably get started, then!" With a start, Cherry realized she hadn't even opened her beer yet; she disposed of the top quickly, then gestured towards the stairs. "Shall we?" Jane tucked the hair dye and magazines back under her arm and followed Cherry. Careful not to spill her beer, she ascended the stairs. The upstairs bathroom was plenty big for the three of them to carry out their experiment. Jane flipped the lid to the toilet down and sat on it, setting her beer on the sink’s counter, along with the fashion magazines and hair dye box. “Do you have any lotion,” Jane asked the housemates, looking at them in turn. She held up his hands and wiggled her fingers. “Thought we could do hand massages while we wait for the dye to marinate. Make this spa day even more legit.” “We could just do hand massages,” Mina said, already regretting giving in so quickly to this idea of dying her hair. What if it looked bad on her? What it made her seem unprofessional? Was she going to get fired because having a wild color in her hair might set a bad example for her patients? “I think I have lotion in my room.” "Let's do hand massages and the hair dye," Cherry declared in a tone that made it quite clear that dissent was not an option. Unfortunately, Mina knew better than to argue with Cherry, especially when she had already agreed to this prior to just now. There would be no more cold feet when it came to this hair dye business. “Fine, let’s just do it then.” Jane stood up from her perch and gently turned Mina to face the mirror. She ruffled her hands through her friend’s long locks and held Mina’s gaze in the reflection. “Don’t worry,” Jane reassured her. “You’re in good hands. I promise.” Finally, the decision had been settled. Cherry had done many a bathroom hair dye in her life, so it didn't take long to get everything in position: the lotion, the towels on the floor, the shower curtain pulled back. The hardest part of the whole scenario was convincing Mina yet again, but this time it was regarding the fact that this would be easier if she didn't have her shirt on. "Look, you really don't want to get this onto your shirt," Cherry wheedled. Part of her wanted to offer to take her own shirt off as well, but considering the crush that Mina had confessed, even she didn't think that would be a good idea. "And you don't have anything we haven't seen before, so it's totally fine." Reluctantly, Mina found logic in Cherry’s words. She didn’t want to get the offensive pink dye on any of her clothing and so she pulled the sweater off, careful to fold it and set it far away from the madness they had going on in the bathtub. Finally finally, they were able to actually do the damned thing. Cherry applied lotion to Mina's hands while Jane took care of the actual hair dye process, and with music playing from her phone it almost felt like this was a regular girl's night out before the zombies had come and her family had been eaten by undead and her old home had been set on fire by some anonymous assholes too afraid to even take credit for their actions. At least the Hellhounds had proudly proclaimed the shit they'd done, though Cherry regretted the thought as soon as it popped into her head. "We just have to rinse now," Cherry announced, breaking the quiet of the bathroom and startling her out of her own thoughts. "And then we're all set!" “Alright Min, almost done,” Jane said, turning on the tap. She eased her friend’s hair into the warm water, trying to ignore the whole shirtless situation as best she could. She was only human, though, and while she had managed to remain pretty professional throughout the process, she may have snuck one or two appreciative peeks her friend’s way. Jane ran her fingers through Mina’s new, rosy strands, impressed with both her ability to mostly compartmentalize the half naked chick thing in addition to her apparent success at the the whole amateur hair coloring endeavor. If this cop career didn’t pan out, maybe she had options in cosmetology. “Towel,” Jane said to Cherry, holding out her hand. She accepted the proffered item and, after she squeezed the excess water out of Mina’s hair into the tub, gestured for her friend to sit up so she could towel dry the rest. “You want to take a look now or should we blow it out and style it first?” "O-M-G, it looks so good!" Cherry blurted, unable to stop herself. She'd never thought she'd ever see Mina in this kind of style. Despite how foreign the sight still was to Cherry, she couldn't help but think it suited her still. “I know, right?!” Jane chimed in, approval and excitement in her voice. Mina looked down, catching a glimpse of the dark pink at the end of her hair. It looked dark and she wasn’t sure how her brown hair was going to contrast with the color, so looking up, she said, “Why don’t we blow dry it? Might as well take proper care now since I’m not supposed to wash my hair as often, right? The color will bleed out if I shampoo it too often?” Jane glanced at Cherry, her eyes questioning, and shrugged. “Uh...probably?” Jane said, turning her attention to Mina. "Yeah, it will," Cherry said quickly, hoping to be helpful. "So we should definitely be as careful as we can, though I wouldn't say no to another spa night like this in a couple of weeks!" Jane didn’t do much with her hair other than wash it, dry it, or stick it in a ponytail so it was a bit like the blind leading the slightly less blind in terms of hair care. Still, she could wield a blow dryer and so she took it in her hand and picked up a hairbrush in the other. Spending the better part of 10 minutes brushing and styling Mina’s hair (with only a few slight missteps that she quickly rectified), Jane finally stood back and marveled at the result. “Damn girl,” she said, whistling under her breath at Mina. She threw a pleased grin in Cherry’s direction. “You are a sight and a half. Are you ready to see for yourself?” Mina flushed at Jane’s words, but there was no point in delaying seeing the carnage any longer. Stepping in front of the mirror, her brows raised at the sight. It didn’t look horrible but it wasn’t like anything she ever had before, so the shock was overwhelming all her other reactions. “It doesn’t look too unprofessional, does it?” "Are you kidding? It looks amazing!" Except that hadn't been what Mina had asked and Cherry knew it. She turned back to her friend, fully aware her judgment of what was 'professional' and what was not was a tad bit skewed, then looked to Jane for some assistance. Jane had more experience working with stuffy people than she did, and Cherry knew that Mina wouldn't be able to accept how totally freaking hot she looked until she knew this wouldn't jeopardize her career. “It’s entirely appropriate,” Jane replied resolutely. Even though the change in Mina’s appearance was a subtle one, she could understand her friend’s concern. Police officers were held to a higher standard in terms of their appearance and how it reflected on the department and Mina was under a similar (though slightly less intense) scrutiny as a social worker. “The people you work with know you,” she reasoned. Jane was only vaguely aware of Mina’s various coworkers but she could hardly believe any of them would hold it against Mina if she wanted to try out something new. “They know how great you are at your job and how important it is to you. A little hair dye isn’t going to change their opinions about that. Might even give you a bit of cred with some of your clients,” she added with a sly grin. The sober living community drew all kinds of folks and Jane was certain that a good contingent would think very favorably of Mina’s dusky pink tips. But when it came down to it, none of these ticks in the plus column would mean much if it turned out that Mina herself wasn’t a fan of the new look. “But enough about what everyone else thinks,” Jane said, meeting Mina’s eyes in the mirror. “What do you think?” Mina look another good look at herself, a hand reaching up to run her fingers through the ends of her hair. The longer she looked at it the more it grew on her, until finally a small smile appeared on her face. “It will take some time to get used to, but it’s better than I anticipated.” "Way better!" Cherry interjected, unable to help herself. Mina's reaction may have been way more chill than her and Jane's obvious ogling, but Cherry knew her well enough to know that Mina was pleased -- and that was enough for Cherry to feel that this endeavor had been a big success. Now that their mission of dying her hair seemed to be accomplished, Mina added, “So should we go downstairs? There’s more beer and cucumber water.” “Hell yeah,” Jane replied, grinning broadly. She was pleased as fucking punch. Mina had let her and Cherry pamper her and her friend seemed pleased with the outcome. All in all, an excellent adventure in experimental cosmetology for the trio. “A beer with a cucumber water chaser is definitely in order. I think we have some toasting to do.” |