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Audrey’s hair stays purple, even after she’s lost everything.
Even after she’s lost the sceptre, and the crown, and her powers, she’s still purple.
Mal quite likes it.
It suits her, sort of, in a way that the brown hair never did. It shows what she’s been through. She’s not pastel pink anymore, she’s just a little bit darker. She still dresses the same though, all glittering jewellery and pale sundresses, and Mal can’t help but snort at the contrast of her hair and clothes.
“We match,” she says one day, and twists a strand of Audrey’s hair around her finger. “Both purple.”
Audrey gives her a nervous smile and an even more nervous laugh, and Mal feels her heart tighten in her chest. She lets the hair fall from her fingers and tries not to watch as it flutters down over Audrey’s shoulder. It’s almost terrifying how difficult it is not to think about Audrey’s body being so close to her.
“Clothes don’t match though,” Audrey says simply, and gestures to the soft pink skirt swirling around her legs, and then to the dark purple of Mal’s pants. She suddenly squints curiously and Mal curls in on herself a little, more than a little aware of how uncomfortable it is to have an unnaturally pretty girl staring intensely at you. “You’d look nice in pink.”
Mal blinks. “Uh- thanks?”
“I could do your hair sometime,” Audrey says, and considering Audrey seemed so nervous just a moment ago, Mal isn’t sure where this boldness has come from. She can’t say she doesn’t love it, though. “And your makeup, of course, and you could try some of my clothes. If you’d like to, y’know? Oh, I have a pair of heels that would look so good on you- sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself here, but-”
Mal raises a hand. “Audrey. Breathe.”
“Right, right.” Audrey takes a breath in and smooths her hair, pulling it from behind her ear and in front of her face. She jumps a little when she sees it, and immediately flushes red and tries to hide her face behind her hands. “I keep forgetting it’s purple now.”
“I like it,” Mal blurts out without thinking. She starts to clap a hand over her mouth but freezes, and immediately drops her arm. There’s no point in trying to hide her mouth, she knows. She already said it. “It’s... pretty.”
Audrey smiles. Mal finds that she’s still talking.
“You’re pretty,” she says, and Audrey’s mouth drops open. There’s a slightly awkward silence between the two of them in which Mal starts to regret what she’s said, and she opens her mouth to take it back, but Audrey is already replying.
“You’re pretty too.” Mal looks down in surprise as Audrey takes her hand, linking their fingers together awkwardly. It doesn’t quite work, what with Mal’s gloves and the rings that decorate both of their hands, but they stay together anyway, holding hands and watching the other students of Auradon Prep go about their day. “I think I misjudged you, Mal,” Audrey says. She doesn’t look at Mal when she says it, only stares straight ahead, but she squeezes Mal’s hand gently and looks like she’s about to cry.
“I think I misjudged you too,” Mal says softly, glancing at Audrey out of the corner of her eye. Neither of them speak for a moment, letting the silence between them grow and grow and start to suffocate them, until Audrey leans in and presses a gentle kiss to Mal’s cheek. It’s soft, and she pulls away almost immediately, leaving no trace that she was ever there except for a soft pink lipstick stain and a series of electric shocks tingling in Mal’s cheek.
Mal’s breath escapes her. “You- you just- wait, you just-”
“I’m sorry,” Audrey whispers, and she really does start crying this time, soft and silent and so, so broken that hearing it almost shatters Mal’s heart. She stands and pulls away, wrenching her hand from Mal’s grip. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, that was ridiculous, I’m sorry.” She starts to run, but Mal catches her wrist and she spins around on her heel, colliding with Mal’s chest with a small oof of surprise. Her cries get louder as Mal holds her, pulling their bodies together, and she looks up with tear filled eyes.
Mal looks back at her, and her face softens. They’re both sincere for just a moment in the silence, and Mal reaches a gentle hand up to brush tears from Audrey’s eyes and smooth her hair. “You have veins on your face,” Mal says quietly, and traces a hand over her cheek. Audrey leans into the touch before blinking in confusion, shaking her head and frowning.
“Huh?” She watches as Mal takes her wrists gently, rolling her sleeves up to her elbows and touching the skin softly. Audrey swallows back a scream as she sees her skin, full of glowing green veins that throb and pulse with a sickening light. “Oh, god.”
Mal doesn’t even flinch as she bends down to press a kiss above the veins, letting her lips trace along them as if she can heal them and everything that they represent. She closes her eyes and smiles as her eyelashes flutter against Audrey’s wrist, making her let out a soft laugh. Her eyes glance up at Audrey carefully, all too aware of how this could change and become uncomfortable within a split second. “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay,” Audrey answers, and reaches out to run a perfectly manicured hand through Mal’s hair. She traces her fingers over Mal’s cheek and behind her ear, the touch oddly soothing and calming to both of them.
“I’m sorry that my mother’s sceptre did this to you,” Mal says, and presses another kiss to the veins. Their glow is fading now, bright green disappearing and returning to being the usual colour of Audrey’s skin.
“I did this to myself,” Audrey whispers, and another tear falls from her eyes. Mal straightens up and hugs her, tight and safe and secure, and Audrey hugs her back without hesitation. They both know that people are probably staring at them, the two infamous villain ex-queens, but neither of them can find it in themselves to care. There are more important things to care about than the incredulous looks of bypassing strangers.
“It’s okay, Audrey,” Mal says, and she tightens her hold. “We’ll fix this.”
“Can we?”
“Of course,” Mal pulls away for a split second to look at Audrey’s face, before immediately pulling her back into the embrace. “You’re not a villain, Audrey. Even if you do have the hair for it.”