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Mileena couldn’t stop laughing at Skarlet. They were in the Flesh Pits helping each other with a spell. Unfortunately, the spell had backfired, leaving the blood mage’s red hair sticking out in all directions. Of course, the brunette Tarkatan thought this was hilarious.
“You think this is funny?” growled Skarlet. She wasn’t angry with the Tarkatan woman, but she felt embarrassed at the thought of being seen in such disarray. She almost wanted to bleed the woman dry for daring to find amusement in her predicament! However, she knew better than to go against her so-called “sibling.”
“I do!” Mileena replied giddily, clapping her hands together and smiling widely. She looked at Skarlet’s messy hair, now bringing a finger to her chin as she finally came up with an idea. Her gaze softened slightly before Skarlet could notice.
The blood mage watched from the corner of her eye as Mileena walked over to the hidden vanity that Shang Tsung had placed in the back of the room. It was the same vanity where the sorcerer kept all of the beauty products he’d often use for his newborn constructs, many of whom were often female.
“Sit down, Skarlet,” Mileena finally said.
“Why?”
The Tarkatan returned with a hairbrush and some oils. Placing them on the table behind them, she reached for a chair and pulled it toward Skarlet. Skarlet sat down, a suspicious glint in her dark eyes. She watched as her friend crouched in front of her. Mileena placed her hands gently on the redhead’s cheeks, causing the woman to blush as she smiled and said, “Because you’re very pretty and I want to make you even prettier.”
Shocked at the compliment, Skarlet could only blush as she followed Mileena’s orders and sat in the chair. Quickly, Mileena went to work and started to comb her hair, infusing oils onto each section as she smoothed away the damage from the earlier spell. Something about the feeling of another woman touching her hair felt intimate and oddly comforting.
By the time Mileena was finished, she put the hairbrush away and told Skarlet to stay put while she fetched a mirror. When she returned with it and held it in front of the redhead, she was pleased with the reaction.
“Wow, you’re actually good at this!” Skarlet exclaimed, bringing her hands to her face. She loved the results. Mileena had styled her hair in a low bun, leaving a few strands loosely hanging from the front over her eyes.
Naturally, the Tarkatan relished the praise. Leaning forward and playfully tapping Skarlet on the cheek, Mileena smiled. “Every woman should be made to feel pretty. Even you.”
The two women regularly met at Mileena’s quarters from then on, Skarlet’s newfound love for regular beauty treatments allowing them to find common ground. Forging an unexpected friendship was the last thing either of them expected, but they were glad for the moment of solace in a world that knew nothing of peace.