Work Text:
“Ugh! My hair is fading, how am I supposed to keep up with hair maintenance here??”
Kai's complaints echoed throughout the empty dining hall and Damon was starting to regret coming here to grab a late lunch with him. He had planned to eat soon anyway, so when Kai invited him to come along he didn't think much of it; but now, Kai was just upset his hair wasn't “as vibrant as it used to be.”
A few others had come in to get food as well but no one lingered very long out of distrust or annoyance upon seeing Damon so when the dining hall door opens, neither Kai or Damon look to see who it is. Kai had been too focused on fiddling with his hair and Damon just wasn't fond of the idea of interacting with anyone else right now. The only thing that fully grabs their attention is the upbeat voice of Diana cutting through the silence.
“Oh, I didn't know you two were here!”
Toshiko was beside her, gaze shifting between the two boys and ultimately huffing past where they were sitting to get to the kitchen. Diana nervously smiled at her antics before noticing Kai's distinct pout– the one she'd grown familiar with since the first day they'd been here.
Damon wasn't fast enough to stop her from asking as she had already made her way to sit next to Kai and voiced her concerns. “Is something wrong?”
Despite his dilemma, he seemed relatively glad someone was willing to listen to him. “Being trapped here means I can't dye my hair again. I don't mind my roots showing but the pink fading is the worst!”
Diana nodded sympathetically, putting a hand to her chin while she thought for a solution. “Hm…there might be some hair dye in my room but I doubt it'll be the same shade as your current color, I can check for you if you'd like.”
Not wanting to participate in wherever this was going, Damon attempted to leave and return back to his room since he finished eating. He had almost made it to the door but was stopped by Diana who apparently had finished her conversation with Kai. “Sorry.. I'm sure you want to leave but can you stay here with Kai and Toshiko? At least while I'm gone?”
They were far enough away to where the others wouldn't hear them talking so Damon had no reason to accept but looking back and remembering how Kai was when alone, not to mention Toshiko, he gave in. “Fine. Just make it quick.” She hummed in acknowledgement and ran off, finalizing that Damon had no choice but to stick around.
Once he sat back down, he took notice that Toshiko had taken a seat with her meal in the spot furthest from Kai. He thought she'd simply eat and leave but after he had taken his seat, she seemed interested in them all of a sudden.
“Intriguing.”
“What is?”
“Out of all the seats, you chose to sit next to Kai.”
Damon wasn't sure he liked where this was heading and immediately regret responding in the first place. “He invited me to eat with him, wouldn’t it be weird if I didn't sit next to him?”
Kai turns his head to look at him with his cheeks ever so slightly pink out of embarrassment. “Hey, don't make it sound like I forced you into sitting with me. I was just being considerate since you've been sharing my room!”
“Oh? Is that it? You're sure it has nothing to do with the fact you didn't want to be alone?”
“Dude-!”
Before Kai can continue to argue back, Toshiko's abrupt laughter cuts their banter short. “It is a shame I wasn't able to matchmake the two of you but alas, if you ever need romance advice, I will still graciously accept!”
Wait, she wasn't implying…
Neither of them have the chance to correct her because Diana comes rushing through the door, holding a small box in her hands. This was the first time Damon recalled feeling relief upon seeing Diana. “I hope I didn't take too long!” She stopped and looked around the room, noticing the awkwardness. “..Did I interrupt something?”
“Not at all, I was just offering them my services.” She then goes back to eating as if nothing had happened, though Damon was sure she was still watching them closely.
He clears his throat, choosing to ignore her and move on from the prior conversation. “Did you find the hair dye, Diana?”
“I did!” Diana proudly shows off the box she was holding. “I didn't have many options though.. it seems the only pink is one that resembles my own hair color.”
She hands the box to Kai to let him look at it and he thinks for a moment, seemingly unsure. He was reading over the box and its contents as Diana goes on, “I saw other colors too if you'd prefer that, there was a blue shade I thought would fit you well! The other colors will just take more effort to dye over.”
Seeing an escape, Damon uses this opportunity to finally leave, their words starting to diminish the closer he got to the door.
“Nah, this is fine. It says it's temporary so this'll fade over time too if I don't like it.”
He heard Diana clap her hands together in glee. “Great! Did you want help dyeing your hair?”
That's when it hits Damon that because of the sleeping arrangements, Diana will be visiting later in the evening presumably when he's there during night time. He wasn't able to escape this after all, it seemed.
He's too far to properly make out Kai's response, all he knows is that if Kai does accept her offer it means he'll be stuck in this situation after all. He was not looking forward to finding out what was in store if Kai had agreed.
—
Damon wonders where he'd be if that game of rock-paper-scissors had gone differently because as expected, Kai was letting Diana do his hair. By the time he showed up to Kai's room, Diana had already been there and with a quick glance into the bathroom, he could tell she'd started setting up. Even though Damon really didn’t want to be a part of this ordeal, there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Risking leaving this room by himself could be a death sentence for all he knew and he couldn’t afford to die here even if he had to deal with these two tonight.
Kai and Diana were over by his wardrobe chatting and pulling out various outfits that had been provided for him when Damon stepped further into the room, Kai's eyes lighting up upon spotting him.
“Damon! You should totally dye your hair too!” Kai pointed at him from across the room, specifically at his hair.
“...You can't be serious, why would I do that?”
“To give me an idea of what my hair will look like, obviously!”
Kai had walked over to Damon now, pouting and trying to plead his way into convincing him. Damon sighed out of irritation and instead turned to Diana to ignore the man now clinging to his arm.
She chimed in, trying to help his case. “We won't be able to use all of this for Kai alone, we could just do a test strand.”
“...You do know it won't look the same on my hair as it will yours, right?” Damon argued, even though he had a feeling they both already knew that. He was sceptical but with how they were both looking at him, it was hard to say no. He glanced away, blush evident on his face. “One strand.”
Kai instantly cheered up hearing this, dragging Damon eagerly to the bathroom with him as Diana closely followed. “Can I pick which piece we're dyeing?”
Damon scoffed, slipping out of Kai's hold on his arm when they had gotten to Diana's impromptu setup. “Don't push your luck.”
It didn't take Diana long to apply the dye to the spot Damon picked out so while it was resting, she started doing Kai's hair too. He was in an odd position of sitting down on the edge of the tub so Diana was able to reach his hair without trouble, clipping up part of it to work around his roots. Damon chose not to point out how he was meant to be testing it because ultimately, Kai seemed to like the color once he washed it out in the sink anyway.
With nothing better to do, Damon stuck around as the other two chatted away about fashion and various trends he didn't understand. He was leaning against the sink and drying his hair with a towel, occasionally chiming in while the minutes passed waiting for Kai to be able to rinse out his hair.
Once it was closer to being time, Diana helped clean up and told Kai that if he didn't like it, she could always look in her room for something else since there was no telling how long they'd be stuck here. With that, she waved goodbye and headed back to her room.
Damon left the bathroom, planning to go to sleep while Kai was washing out the dye in the shower. Although he'd considered taking Kai's bed while he wasn't here, he knew he'd cause a scene once he was done.
Glancing in Kai's mirror, Damon could see his new freshly dyed highlight. He couldn't believe he'd been so easily talked into this. It wouldn't be hard to hide but he knew Kai would tell everyone even if he did. He picked it up, twirling the piece between his fingers choosing to ignore the heat in his cheeks.
With a sigh, he laid down on the sofa. He didn't get a chance to look at the dye container himself so he hoped that Kai had told the truth about it being temporary.
If it faded quickly, he wouldn't have to think about the feelings he got whenever he thought about the fact all three of them were now matching.