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Mobius looked down at the woman who was obstructing the door to her lab—evidently passed out.
“Eden, wake up. Move.”
She prodded her with her foot.
Eden stirred, and looked around, “Mmm? Ely?”
Mobius sighed.
“No. Not Elysia.”
“Moby?”
“Get up.”
“Aha! You’re back…” Eden tried to climb up Mobius—this predictably simply resulted in her falling over.
“Oi. Drunkard, get out of here.” Mobius tried to push off the now clinging Eden, who smelled strongly of alcohol.
“Wait, waiting… I was waiting for you.” Eden sat up properly, as some presence of mind returned to her. She stumbled herself upright, and took a deep breath, sorting out her tangled hair and clothing. A few moments later…
“Happy Birthday, my dear Professor Mobius.” She gave an elegant nod and greeting—a professional through and through.
“You’re not fooling anyone, you're drunk.” Mobius sighed and rolled her eyes.
“See, I was drunk. That doesn’t change that it is, in fact, your birthday.”
“You didn’t need to collapse at my door at 4 am for this.”
“You didn’t need to be clearing the maintenance queue at 3 am, either. Where is it…?”
Eden looked around and found the small package she had brought, dusted it off, and presented it to Mobius.
“Thanks. Now get out—” Mobius was interrupted by Eden throwing her arms around her, muffling her voice with her body.
“Shh. You can spare a moment with me and your gift, alright?”
When Eden released her, Mobius’ brow had furrowed severely.
“You’re giving me a headache, whatever, get it over with. Open it for me.”
“Ah, that isn’t how this works, Professor Mobius.”
“You... Ok, ok. What do we have here…” Mobius began to unwrap the non-descript box, opening it when able.
“Hmm?” She turned it over, opened the fastening latch, and it unfolded into a velvet-green case of some sort. On one side, a pocket held an immaculate comb—it looked as if it were excessively expensive, with a thin emerald green trim inlaid into what appeared to be marble. The other held a small bottle of ‘eau de parfum,’ along with a wooden device that unfolded into an unusually dense hairbrush.
“This is…”
“A little set that I designed especially for you—the brush is tuned to your thin hair, and the comb balanced to allow shaping whilst respecting the texture.” Eden swept a lock of Mobius’ hair with her hand, gently twirling it between her fingers.
“I get it. Fine, come.” Mobius placed her hand on the door and it unlocked for her, and Eden followed her inside. Mobius sat on the edge of her desk, and handed Eden the set.
“You’ll go back after this and leave me alone, right?”
“Mhm. Of course, dear. Let me take care of you a little bit…” Eden took the perfume out, and spritzed it upon her hands and wrists.
“And this?”
“The only scent you ever commented on—ah, it wasn’t named yet. ‘Oceanic Verdure.’”
Eden undid the tie that Mobius had in her hair to keep most of it up, letting it fall, before gingerly beginning to part it, then brush it. The height at which Mobius sat upon her desk and Eden’s standing posture aligned quite well for the task, and Eden hummed softly as she went through her hair.
“You’ve let this beautiful part of you be neglected for a short while, Mobius.”
“Hah? I don’t have the time.”
“So you say, but… when can we afford the time to neglect ourselves?”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Sure it does. Look in the mirror here, surely we’ve saved some time.”
Mobius looked into the mirror, and even if Eden wasn’t quite done yet, her hair had been carefully brushed and lay upon her shoulders with a flawless shape and sheen.
“Really, what magic is this…” Mobius rolled her shoulders, taking a look at her hair properly.
“An eye for appreciating what is truly beautiful, my dear.”
Mobius let Eden continue, and she softly hummed as she worked through her bangs and fringe with the comb. She went back to brushing her ends, and the soft hums eventually stopped. “Professor, dear. Wake up.”
“I wasn’t asleep.”
“Sure, sure.”
Eden held the mirror for her, and Mobius admired her handiwork. “Hmph. I don’t think these hands of mine will achieve this result, regardless of the tools used.”
“I’ll just have to lend you mine then, hm?”
“Perhaps. Don’t get greedy.”
“Oh, my dear, you have no idea—” Eden had gotten awfully close as Mobius admired herself in the mirror, and hearing this comment, had decided that she had waited long enough—she kissed Mobius’ cheek and threw her arms around her.
“Professor, you—”
Mobius sighed, “...you really won’t let that night go.”
“Of course, it's my personal responsibility. To never forget the beauty that I bore witness to.” Eden ran a single finger along Mobius’ lower lip.
“Forget it. Get out of here.”
“I refuse. It is well within your power to stop me, anyhow.” Trying her luck, Eden pulled Mobius into a kiss, gently brushing aside the hair that came between them, then holding her back with one hand while her head was in the other. As obstinate as Mobius was, Eden was perhaps even less willing to back down—it was this determination that formed the basis of her life so far, and it would be the basis of her life for yet some time to come.