Work Text:
Varian pulls his hair out of his eyes, frowning at the feminine cut of his face. His hair is now long enough that it brushes against his shoulders--reminiscent of that time before--and he struggles to pull it back into a ponytail.
"Whatcha doing," Hugo asks, squinting over at him. His boyfriend is draped in a Eugene-like way on a chaise, feeding himself grapes. Varian doesn't want to say that Eugene is a bad influence on Hugo, but...Eugene is a bad influence on Hugo.
"I need a haircut," Varian says. His hair is out of his eyes now, but at what cost? His bangs--specifically that odd blue stripey one that everyone teases him about--flop uselessly in his eyes. How is he supposed to get work done this way? Varian casts his eyes about for a pair of shears.
He finds some in the desk drawer.
"Wait, like right now?" Hugo sounds alarmed.
"I can't see my own journal," Varian replies. "Yesterday a strand dropped into my inkwell."
Hugo languidly stretches and gets to his feet. Varian watches warily through the mirror as he comes up behind him, frowning at the birds nest that Varian has created. "Well, yeah, if you're gonna pull it back like that." He tugs at the hairloop until the terribly crafted ponytail falls out.
His hair drops around his shoulders again. Varian stares at his reflection uneasily.
"Hey, what's that face for," Hugo frowns. He leans one arm on Varian's shoulder, dropping his chin on top of his head.
Varian shrugs, dislodging him. "I just-" he feels his face heat up. "I don't know, I don't like how I look with long hair," he mumbles, avoiding Hugo's gaze.
Hugo hums thoughtfully. "Sit down," he says, guiding Varian toward the desk chair. Varian obeys, mechanically. Hugo grabs a comb off the dresser and begins working his way through Varian's tangles.
After a few failed attempts--where Varian was sure Hugo was trying to pull out his hair--Hugo separates the tangles into three sections and begins weaving them.
"Hugo, are you braiding my hair?" Varian brings his hands up to his eyes and groans.
Hugo snickers. "Just hang on, Stripes."
A minute later and Hugo ties off the end and hands Varian a mirror.
It's not...bad, Varian finally decides, much to his surprise. That stubborn streak of hair still flops around his eyes, but the rest is exquisitely pulled back into a fishtail and tied off with one of Nuru's crimson ribbons.
"Better?" Hugo asks, perching on the desk.
Varian tilts the mirror from side to side. With his hair back, the angles of his face are sharper. "Huh." He blinks at his own reflection for a moment. "I actually like that."
"Don't sound so surprised," Hugo dryly says.
"Where did you learn how to do hair?" Varian places the mirror on the desk next to Hugo and leans back in the chair. He has to look up to see Hugo--who is already a few good inches taller than him without the added height of the desk.
Here, Hugo looks awkward. "Ah, I might've known a couple of girls in the orphans home who taught me." He looks stricken at the implication that he's put Varian's hair in a traditionally feminine style. "I mean, I used to have longer hair so." He shrugs, almost shyly. "You don't mind?"
"No," Varian honestly says, because he doesn't. It's different, but he likes it, he thinks. Feminine, but not in the same way it was before. "Thank you."
Hugo grins, all teeth and bright eyes. "Anything for you babe."