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Gadget woke up to an empty bed, as per usual - he wasn’t the morning person between him and his boyfriend. Shifting a little, he felt a yanking sensation in the crook of his arm. Digging in the crevice, he began fishing out a long glimmering strand of hair… and kept pulling. 30 inches later, and it was freed from the confines of his body. The red wolf grumbled and got out of bed, dropping the strand into a bin.
He entered his walk-in closet, ignored the 80 outfits he never wore, and snagged a pair of socks. Sliding them on, they didn’t feel quite right. Pulling a sock off revealed a bundle of white hair wedged between two toes. Growling lowly, he picked them clean and dug into the sock, finding another chunk weaved into the side. He ripped the other sock off and decided to forgo them completely. He snatched up his favourite pair of gloves and peered inside them, saw a hint of white, and then saw pure outraged red through his vision. He threw them in the laundry bin along with his socks.
I’m getting irrationally angry over this. I have time, so I’ll just have a hot rinse and hopefully settle down.
Stepping into the shower and adjusting the temperature, he took deep breaths. Not even a minute into it, and his feet were standing in a flood of water - the tub was filling up. He glanced down at the drain, to see an enormous pile of white hair bunched up over it.
It’s following me! I swear this wasn’t here yesterday!
Taking rapid deep breaths and trying not to growl, he squatted down and pulled at the clump. It released its hold on the drain fairly easily, and he dropped it on the tub ledge. Staring expectantly, the water still continued to rise, and he couldn’t see any suction from the open drain - there was obviously more hair down in the trap. Cranking the water off almost hard enough to rip the lever from the wall, he got out of the tub - but not before snatching the wet lump of curses off the side. The crimson wolf stamped into the living room to see the owner of said accursed white hairs lounging on the couch. He glanced over at Gadget with a content expression, and noted his boyfriend’s dripping figure.
“Hello, love. You’re not usually up this early. You know, you’re supposed to dry yourself after you shower?”
Gadget audibly grit his teeth.
“You. Are. A. HAIR BALL.”
“... what?”
Winding his arm back, he pitched the mass like he was in major league. Having no time to react, Zero caught a faceful of his own hair. He lost his usual calm composure.
“BWAH! Gadget! Why?!”
He pulled the makeshift baseball off of his snout and glared in disbelief. Gadget stomped his foot indignantly.
“THIS was in the tub! Do you not bother to clean up after yourself when you shower anymore?! I was fine just picking that out of the grid, but the tub still won’t drain! You’re definitely just stuffing it through the cracks instead of throwing it in the garbage!”
Zero’s neck craned backward, displaying inadvertent admission, but he wasn’t up for taking all the blame.
“It’s not like you wouldn’t lose fur when you shower.”
“Fur wouldn’t be enough to clog on its own! Clean the damn drain, you mangy jackal!”
The long-maned mobian knew when to concede - he stood up and skulked off to their bathroom. Gadget flopped onto the couch and crossed his arms. Feeling bad a moment later, he sat there and mulled over his outburst. When Zero returned and hesitantly sat an arm’s length away from the red wolf, he closed the distance and nuzzled against the jackal’s side.
“That was pretty mean of me… sorry, Zee. Can I start brushing your hair once in a while? I know you like when it’s in segments, but you’ve got too many loose strands that fall out everywhere.”
“I’d love that. Just a note, I didn’t sit close to you because you’re soaking wet still…”
“Ah… I forgot.”