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“stop moving!” trafalgar glared at eustass through the mirror, “you have the energy of a child, don’t you know how to sit still?”
eustass sat before him on the side of the bathtub, his large frame hunched uncomfortably as trafalgar continued to brush dye onto his dry hair. half his head was done, slicked back from his face; the other half was clipped into sections, “you’re taking forever.”
“stop whining, you don’t even pay me to do this.”
“yea, i don’t think a normal hairdresser would stop every three seconds to take the joint out of my hand.”
trafalgar hummed in response, “and i dont think a normal hairdresser would’ve rolled that for you, either.”
eustass grumbled, the joint resting between his lips. smoke drifted in lazy wafts around the bathroom, the fan doing little to rid of it, “i like this better than a normal hairdresser.”
“you like it because it’s cheap.”
“i like that it’s you.”
trafalgar startled, dropping the sopping chunk of hair. it smacked against eustass’s pale skin, leaving a line of red, “what the fuck, traf.” he reached out, grabbing the towel hanging from shower curtain rod, roughly rubbing the dye from his face.
“you say things so casually,” trafalgar grumbled, “it’s embarrassing.”
it was eustass’s time to study trafalgar in the mirror, admiring the care he took in something so mundane - something eustass maybe took five minutes to do in a timeline before trafalgar. he would cut the entire tip off the bottle after shaking it and dumped it on top of his head, only using his bare hands to spread it through thick, snarled strands. it used to dry, and eustass would squint and grumble at the streakiness.
when trafalgar finished, eustass tilted back on the edge of the tub, head falling dangerously close to trafalgar’s tshirt, “kiss me.”
trafalgar pulled the latex gloves from his hands with a snap, tossing them to the side. he placed his hands on eustass’s cheeks and leaned down, kissing him. it still surprised him how delicate trafalgar could be, holding him like he was fragile enough to break any second.
the moment passed too quickly, and as soon as trafalgar pulled away, eustass reached back for him, “oh shi-“ he lost his balance, tumbling backwards off the side of the tub. his back collided with trafalgar’s legs on the way down; the older man barely had enough time to let out a yell before finding his body uncomfortably twisted under eustass’s.
a laugh from trafalgar law was to be treasured - eustass had only heard it a handful of times. it was always the same, a small rumble deep in his chest - his lips curved, his eyes crinkled, and for a moment the deep grey of his eyes swirled with light, “you idiot,” his tone was light, playful, and eustass rolled over so he could look down at trafalgar properly.
their bodies were far too big for the tub, limbs scrunched at uncomfortable angles, “trafalgar?”
“mmm?” trafalgar’s fingers trailed over eustass’s face, memorizing the curves. they moved over the high points of his cheeks, down his crooked nose, over bitten lips.
“thanks.”
“for what?”
“existing.”