jem carstairs will be the light at your side (mizpah) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-08-17 23:18:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, jem carstairs, tessa gray, will herondale |
Who: Jem Carstairs, Will Herondale and Tessa Grey
What: Dying Jem's Hair
When: Backdated: Saturday, August 16th. Afternoon
Where: Will & Jem's Condo
Rating/Warnings: Family Friendly
Status: Complete!
When Jem had first noticed that his eyes were changing, he’d had to do a double take. He hadn’t been sure if he was seeing things or not, but when he’d looked closer he could see a ring of silver around his iris and with every passing day it had gotten bigger until now when there was very little brown left. He didn’t know how to explain the change to people who weren’t dreamers and he didn’t know how he was going to explain it to his parents the next time he saw them. While his eye color had begun to change as a result of the Yin Fen, the color in his hair didn’t start to change until just recently. It had started as a few silver hairs here and there, as if the strands had been sapped of their color overnight and he’d pulled them as he’d found them, but now there were simply too many and at such a young age, he wasn’t about to let his hair turn completely silver. His eyes he could live with like that, but not his hair.
So, he’d gone out to buy a box of black hair color and instead of asking someone like Tessa to help, he’d asked Will and they were now currently in the bathroom, Jem sitting on the closed toilet lid while Will mixed the color.
Will had been alarmed when Jem’s eyes began to change, he felt like he was failing his friend in not being able to stop it. He knew Merlin and Severus were working hard to help but Will felt that he should be able to do something for his parabatai. There were no demons here to buy the drug from otherwise Will would have done it in a heartbeat, although ideally he’d find a way to free Jem from the drug completely. He wasn’t convinced magic would do it since he’d recently dreamed about asking Magnus who informed him it couldn’t be done.
So when Jem had asked him for help dying his hair to hide the silver he had instantly agreed, how hard could it be? Girls did it all the time after all. “Okay, I think this is all mixed up” he said checking the instructions for what felt like the hundredth time.
Jem also couldn’t see how difficult this could be so long as they followed the directions on the box. Will probably wasn’t most people’s first choice to help them dye their hair, but Jem trusted Will with his life, so why not with his hair? “I never thought I’d have to dye my hair.” It was simply something he’d never really thought about before.
“I still think you could rock the silver look you know” Will told him, “It’d give you an air of dashing hero mysteriousness” Not that Will had thought too much about it or anything. “But I guess we’ll just stick to dashing hero for now” he grinned before indicating Jem should lean over the tub so Will could apply the dye.
Jem laughed and shook his head, "I think I'll wait till I'm a little older to let it go silver." He tried not to think of the fact that his illness and the Yin Fen might prevent him from living that long. He didn't want to bring the mood down. "Alright. Let's get this started."
Tessa felt like dropping in on the boys. She’d been driving home after work and just thought she’d see how they were getting on in their new home. She had the keys in her hands, but figured she’d knock just in case. In case of what, she wasn’t quite sure, but she wasn’t sure how she’d react if she walked in and saw either one of them with a girl or anything. Knocking on the door, she listened for a reply and when she didn’t get one, she tried again, knocking louder in case they were in another room. “James? Will?” she called, pressing her ear to the door to listen.
Just as Will was about to put the dye on Jem’s hair he heard Tessa’s voice calling them, sighing he said to Jem, “Hold on a sec” before popping his head out of the bathroom door, “Come on in” he called out, not quite thinking for a moment how it looked with him stood there shirtless with latex gloves on, “I’m just in the bathroom with Jem” he explained before ducking back in. It had made sense at the time, after all he didn’t want to get his clothes covered in hair dye.
Tessa heard Will’s voice inviting her in and moved into the apartment. “In the bathroom with Jem?” she muttered to herself, dropping her bag and keys on the sofa as she moved past towards the bathroom.
Where she came up short. Jem bent over the side of the bath tub. Will shirtless next to him. “Oh my,” Tessa gasped, a hand covering her mouth. “What are you two doing?”
Jem heard Tessa's voice as well, but Will moved before he could say anything so he simply did as Will had instructed before Tessa had arrived. For his part, Jem was wearing a black wifebeater, which showed the few Runes that he had on his arms. When Will returned, he expected that Tessa would soon follow, but at her gasp, he moved back to sit on his heels and turned his head towards her, "We're dying my hair." He didn't understand, at first, what exactly about the situation had caused her to react the way she had.
Will frowned before he took in the scene Tessa had just walked in on and started laughing, “Tessa Gray where on earth is your mind? You naughty girl” he teased her before resuming his place behind Jem, “Now where were we?” he said shooting a wink at her.
Tessa blushed at Will’s teasing, dropping her chin as he moved behind Jem again. Clearing her throat, she looked up again, determined not to let Will’s teasing best her. “You’re an evil boy,” she narrowed her eyes at Will. “Why James?” she asked, moving into the bathroom and perching on the closed toilet seat beside them.
Realizing what Tessa must have assumed was going on, Jem's cheeks flushed as well and he looked away for a moment. When Tessa came to sit on the toilet lid, he glanced over at her, turning his nearly completely silver eyes on her, cheeks still pink, "My hair has started turning silver, but unlike my eyes, I can do something about my hair."
“I told him he could totally pull off the hot silver fox look but he doesn’t believe me” Will said as he gently turned Jem’s head and began smoothing the dye through his hair. “So we’re dying it instead”
“Well for once I’d have to say I agree with Will,” Tessa replied without thinking as she was watching them work together. Her eyes followed the runes down Jem’s arms, beauty and power mixed together perfectly, she thought. Then she realised exactly what Will had said and felt herself blush bright red again. She hadn’t planned on describing Jem as a ‘hot silver fox’ but it seemed to fit. “Sorry,” she apologised, rubbing her hands over her cheeks to try and cover the heat in her cheeks. “I uh...can I help?” she asked quietly.
Jem sighed and tried to look over at Tessa again as Will moved his head to apply the dye, "You only say that because you've seen how I look with silver hair as a result of the dreams. However, I would prefer to not have to answer questions about my hair from other people who don't know the situation." He explained, "You can make sure that Will is doing this properly," Jem said, smiling at Tessa. They still hadn't talked about the accidental kiss they'd shared on their date the previous month.
“You should always agree with me you know” Will said conversationally, pulling his gaze away from Tessa and focusing on making sure he covered Jem’s hair evenly. She was watching Jem anyway, just as Jem was trying to look at her. He frowned to himself a little before clearing his expression, “Of course I’m doing it properly” he said mock indignantly, before nodding his head towards the sink, “My watch is on there, you can keep time if you like. No point getting dye all over your hands” he said.
“Oh hush Will, the grown-ups are talking,” Tessa told him, picking up the watch from the top of the sink and looking at it. “Mind you don’t get any on the skin around his face, it can take a while to come off,” she pointed as he tried to mix the dye in near Jem’s hairline. “I can understand that, I guess,” she mused. “Do you think you’d ever let it be silver again? Or will you dye it until we find the cure?”
Jem chuckled as Tessa spoke and had he been able to see her, she would have seen the smirk upon his lips, “And from what I’ve heard, black is the hardest to get off.” As Will’s fingers moved through his hair, Jem’s eyes slid shut and he sighed softly, enjoying the feel of it for a moment before answering Tessa, “I don’t know. I think that for now, dying it will probably be the case.” Everyone kept talking about finding a cure, but Jem wasn’t so sure that one existed either in the dreams or in real life.
Will found himself irritated by Tessa's words and tone, "Sorry forgot you're the worldly wise one here" he said, knowing at least some of the irritation came from the implication that he wouldn't be careful with Jem. "It's fine" his tone softer, "I won't get any on your skin you can trust me" Will worked his fingers carefully through his parabatai's hair making sure it was all evenly covered. "Well a few more times and we'll be experts at it" he offered reassuringly. He believed, like Tessa, that they'd find a cure but he'd noticed Jem's hesitation in saying anything like that.
“Well, Will and I could take it in turns helping you dye it until we find the cure, if you’d like?” Tess suggested casually, watching the two boys and enjoying seeing them so at ease with each other’s presence. A lot of boys she’d known would have shied away from such intimate contact, even just the suggestion of it, but these two were so naturally in sync it was fascinating to watch. If she were honest, it was more than a little hypnotising.
Jem was glad that they were both so optimistic about finding a cure, because they would need to be that way for him. As much as he’d like to believe they could find one, if The Silent Brothers hadn’t found one in the dreams then he doubted anyone could find one in real life, “That sounds like a good idea actually. That way you can both become experts at it.”
“Maybe it’ll lead to whole new careers for us” Will joked finally removing his hands from Jem’s hair. Removing the gloves carefully, he’d need them on again later when they rinsed it off, he wrapped a towel around Jem’s shoulders so he could sit up. Though Will didn’t move, he figured there was no point since they’d need to wash it off soon. “Fifteen minutes on the clock Tessa” he told her.
"Aye, aye Cap'n," Tessa mock saluted him and checked the face of the watch. "Feeling any desires to be a hairdresser yet?" She teased Will gently a cheeky smile in her face. "What do you think Jem? Hows the experience been so far?"
“I never suspected that helping me dye my hair would cause you to decide to become a hairdresser, Will,” Jem smirked, holding the towel around his shoulders and as moved to sit on the edge of the tub so he could see Will and Tessa, “It’s an interesting experience. It’s heavier than shampoo, that’s for sure.” His attention rested on Tessa a little longer than it had on Will; something that Jem wasn’t even aware of.
Will, was very aware however and felt something ripple through him though he pushed it out of his mind for now. “I think I’d be a natural, but then I think I could handle anything I turn my hand to” he said casually, “I guess it needs to be, even when we wash it out the colour part needs to stay with the hair”
Tessa laughed, Will’s surety in himself really knew no bounds and he had a reply to practically everything that was thrown at him. “Ok, well, seeing as we have some time, how about I make us all some tea?” she told them still grinning, getting up and patting Will’s shoulder as she headed past him.