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"Aw man, it's growing in again...."
"What is, Ruby?"
Ruby almost jumped out of her skin. "Penny! Oh my gosh, you scared me..."
"Oh! Sorry, I did not mean to!"
"It's okay, I know." She glances back in the mirror. Now that she's seen it, it feels like a rash, itchy and nasty on her skin.
"... Are you okay, Ruby?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah, it's just..." She scratched at her cheek. "It's growing back in again..."
"You mean... your facial hair?"
Ruby has to resist the urge to flinch. "Yeah. That."
"You don't like it." Penny says.
Man, am I really that obvious about it?
"I don't, no. It's... it doesn't feel nice. It.... doesn't line up, you know?"
Penny's eyes flick to the side for a second, and then back to Ruby. "It gives you dysphoria?"
Ruby nods, glancing away. "Girls... don't get facial hair."
"That is incorrect. Many women gain facial hair, especially during puberty. Your sister does, if I remember correctly."
"Wait, Yang does?"
Penny nods. "Her natural hair colour is blonde, so it is harder to see, but yes."
"Huh." Ruby says, feeling a little dumb.
Penny is quiet for a moment.
"You have shaving equipment, correct?"
Ruby thinks. "Uh... I think? It's still in the room though, I didn't know it'd grow back so quick."
"Just a moment, then, Ruby! I will be back soon."
"Wait-"
And then Penny was gone, off to hunt down Ruby's little bag of shaving things. Ruby stands there, a little shocked, but there's a part of her that feels grateful.
Penny comes back, holding the little black sanitary bag in her hands, and gives it to Ruby. She opens it.
Inside is her pack of disposable razors, a travel-sized can of shaving cream, and moisturiser. The basics, really.
"Oh," She says. "Thanks, Penny!"
"It is no problem!"
Ruby takes out the cream and a razor, taking off the cover. She squirts a little bit of the cream into her hands (it's only a bit of stubble, so it's not like she needs much), lathers it between her palms until it's frothy, and then smears it on her face, making sure to get her upper lip.
She squints at her hands, thinking, then glances up; Penny is looking intently at her, probably logging the process of her shaving.
Then a really impulsive thought comes to mind.
Ruby smiles, and then quickly swipes a cream-smothered hand across Penny's mouth.
Penny, the poor girl, jolts, surprised.
"Oh!"
Ruby immediately bursts into laughter at her reaction. She looks kind of funny, Ruby thinks, green eyes wide with shaving cream smeared across her face messily.
"You-" She snorts, hiding her mouth with the back of her hand. "You should see your face!"
"You... put shaving cream on my face?" Penny's more confused than anything, tilting her head and dipping a finger into the cream on her cheek. "Can I ask why?"
Ruby manages to calm down enough to talk properly. "I thought it'd be funny! Messing around, y'know?"
"Oh! I see..." Penny looks at the dollop of cream on her finger, then moves to dab it onto the tip of Ruby's nose. "There!"
Oh jeez, Ruby thinks. That was really cute oh my gosh-
She can feel herself starting to blush, so she turns back to the mirror to finish up. Ruby rinses her hands, dries them, then picks up the razor to shave.
It's a bit fiddly, even after so long, so it takes a bit longer than it should. Either way, she finishes up, washes her face, and dries it with the hand towel hanging from the rail. She turns her head to Penny, and-
"You, uh... you still got it on your face?"
"I do!"
"Do you... want to get it off?"
Penny nods, but doesn't move to do anything.
Ruby blushes again, wringing the towel in her hands.
"Okay, uh, stay still. Shaving cream doesn't taste great, so..."
She carefully wipes the cream from Penny's face, making sure to get all of it, and takes the towel away.
"There, all- all done!"
Why am I stammering?! It was just shaving cream!!
Even so, there was something strangely intimate about it. Her face feels really warm now, so she puts the towel down to pick up the little tub of moisturiser.
"May I?" Penny asks, holding a hand out.
Ruby's breath hitches, and she vaguely remembers that she's in the bathroom with Penny, and not floating somewhere high above Atlas instead.
She hands over the moisturiser numbly, and Penny takes her gloves off, setting them on the side of the sink.
Her hands look... normal, like they'd been before, but this time they have thin lines at the joints, barely noticeable.
Penny unscrews the little tub, and uses two fingers to scoop up a little. She rubs it between her hands, and then gently begins to rub it onto Ruby's face.
Ruby, meanwhile, feels like she might self-combust. She's pretty sure Penny has heat vision, or something, because there's no way she can't feel how hot her cheeks are right now.
"Is this okay?" Penny asks, smoothing her hand over Ruby's jaw, where she'd struggled with the razor.
"Mhm!" Ruby manages. She doesn't think she can speak right now, unless Penny could somehow decode the gay gibberish running through her mind.
"Okay." Penny says. "I am almost done, Ruby."
She stays stock-still, not moving, and then Penny's hands pull away.
(There's a part of her that doesn't want her to. Ruby shoves that thought back down into a little mental cupboard.)
Penny picks up the towel, wiping her hands free, and then puts her gloves back on.
"Did that help?"
Ruby nods again. "Yeah." She says dumbly. "Thanks."
"It is no problem! It was nice to help you with this."
It's then that Ruby's scroll chimes in her pocket, an alarm ringing out.
"Oh, crap! We're gonna be late!"
Ruby rushes to stuff everything back into her little bag, throws away the razor, and then speeds out with Penny close behind.