Work Text:
Seeing Idia in person has always been a treat. Normally, the poor boy was too anxious to even leave his room, so knowing he always did his best to show up to the Board Game Club made Azul happy.
Of course, Azul realized it wasn't because of him, at least not fully. It's hard to play chess, or any board game for that matter when you have to move the other person's pieces for them.
“That could make for an interesting challenge, though.” Azul thought to himself as he moved his piece, jumping over two of Idia’s pieces to capture them. They were playing Checkers for the first time in a while.
“Aw man,” Idia said under his breath. He put his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together, likely trying to strategize.
“Yes, that is what they normally call this piece, is it not?” Azul held up one of Idia's stolen pieces, giving him a sly smirk.
Idia sent him a glare. “Har har har, you're so cool with an OG joke like that, Azul.”
“You believe so? I'm glad we can agree,” said Azul, ignoring all of Idia's very apparent sarcasm.
Idia shook his head and rolled his eyes, but Azul could see the small smile he was trying to hide with his hands.
It didn't last long, his face contorting in displeasure. Idia scratched at his scalp, which was, Azul realized, something he had been doing a lot today.
“Is everything alright?” Azul asked sincerely. He did genuinely care for his friend. They have become quite close throughout the time they've known each other, and Idia's friendship was one of the ones Azul treasures the most. There might be other feelings there, but Azul chose to ignore them for the sake of their friendship.
Idia looked up at Azul mid-scratch, stopping like a deer in headlights, “Uh- emotionally, physically, or spiritually? Because we both know the answer to that last one. God is dead, you killed him and stole his throne for your empire. I'm pretty sure Jade is your angel Gabriel, and Floyd is the devil.”
Azul laughed, “Fair. I meant with your head.”
Idia looked down at the table, “Of course, there's something wrong with my head, but I'm not sure if you're trying to refer to the whole ‘shut-in’ bit or the ‘everything-else’ bit.”
Azul sighed before sitting up and knocking against Idia's skull with his knuckles, much to the other's displeasure, “I meant your physical head. Your skull. THAT one.”
“O-oh!” Idia shrunk in on himself a bit. He blushed with embarrassment, even the ends of his hair turning a dull pink color. “T-tha-that. We-well-”
Azul could tell that Idia was doing his best to talk normally, but with how embarrassed he was, he was having a lot of trouble. After a conversation they had some months back about how Azul liked hearing Idia speak, the latter stopped using his tablet to speak for him when they were hanging out. Azul knew he was still trying to do that here, but it was only going to cause him more trouble.
“Idia,” Azul cut him mid-sentence and covered his hand with his own. He tried to ignore the warmth spreading through his hand and over his cheeks, “You can use your tablet to communicate, you know. I'm not going to be upset with you.”
He gave a comforting smile and Idia's blush seemed to deepen, as well as the pink in his hair. He nodded and pulled his tablet out of Seven-knows-where and started to type.
“I've been taking a big L with my hair lately. Its difficulty rating skyrocketed. My armor is under leveled and my weapons keep breaking! I think this beast might be the one that takes me out, FR.”
Azul was very thankful he was used to Idia's way of speaking. If he had said something like that to him two years ago when he first joined the board game club, Azul would have looked at him like he was a maniac.
It was a lot of random words, but the gist of it was:
“So, you ran out of shampoo and conditioner and are having to use ones that don't work with your hair, and now your hair is tangled and your scalp is itchy. I’m assuming you also broke a brush or two.”
“Ye,” said the tablet. Idia blushed and scrambled to type, “Yes.”
Azul smiled at him gently, “You know, I could find more of that shampoo for you if you’d like.”
“U sure?” Idia asked through his tablet. If the tablet could speak in a tone, it would likely be cautious, “What’s the catch?”
“Oh yes, I should have one, shouldn’t I?” Azul said. He could see the instant regret on Idia’s face for bringing it up. “I’ll keep it basic. You do one thing I ask you to. That sounds fair, right?”
Idia sighed, “Fair enough. THX, BTW.”
“No problem.” Azul smiled, “So, has your hair become tangled too?”
Idia looked mildly surprised at the question, “Yeah, I’ve broken several brushes. IDK how to fix it, though.”
After pondering for a moment, Azul came up with an idea. It might not help exponentially, but it was an attempt nonetheless.
“I can brush your hair for you.”
The look on Idia’s face was priceless. His mouth was open so wide in shock Azul was surprised it hadn’t hit the floor. “I’ll only do it if you want me to, though.”
Words seemed to fail Idia, so he just nodded slightly. After another second, he started to type. “Do you need a brush?”
“Do you have one on you?”
“Yeah, I was trying to brush it during lunch.”
“Ok,” Azul said, standing up and walking behind him, “Are you tender-headed?”
Idia shook his head. He seemed to find the courage to speak again, “Not usually, but it’s never been this bad before.”
Now that Azul was closer he could see what he meant. Because of the unusual way Idia’s hair always looked from its resemblance to fire, Azul didn’t see the way the strands seemed to intertwine. He wasn’t lying; it was pretty bad. It looked like one big matte, only the ends and the top near his scalp looked partially brushed through.
“Was he trying to brush it from top to bottom?” Azul asked himself. If he was, that was probably how he had broken those other brushes.
Looking to his left, Azul saw the brush Idia had laid out for him. He took it and looked at it. It was blue, just like almost everything Idia owned, and had a small skull design on the bottom of the handle. There were a few strands of hair in the brush. They were an ashen grey color.
“That's interesting.” Azul thought to himself as he used his fingers to break up some of the larger tangles at the bottom of Idia’s hair. The texture wasn’t something he had felt before. It was very light and coarse while also being soft and almost airy.
As Azul worked on it, he could see Idia’s hair slowly turn pink. Seeing that made Azul smile a little to himself. “He gets embarrassed so easily, it’s really cute.”
He then moved on to using the brush. He started at the bottom and slowly worked his way back up. Idia’s hair was very very long, so even after 15 minutes, Azul could only say he was about two-thirds of the way done. It already looked much better, though.
“So, does your hair usually turn pink when you’re embarrassed?” Azul asked, trying to make conversation.
“What?” Idia was caught off guard, “What gave you that idea?”
“Well, you’re hair is completely pink right now, so-”
“WHAT?!” Idia yelled in panic and grabbed a strand to look at, seeing what Azul said was true. His hair turned a much brighter pink color and he curled a bit in on himself. “Oh my Seven, that’s so embarrassing! I want to curl up in my room and die!”
“It’s not a big deal, it-”
“But it’s embarrassing! Who else has weird hair that changes color like this? Literally NOBODY.”
“There’s nothing wrong with it. I think it’s really cool, actually,” Azul spoke honestly, squeezing Idia’s shoulder slightly. “I like it, being able to tell how you feel. It’s not weird, it’s unique, and that’s cool.”
Idia was silent, but his hair was fading back to blue, so Azul took it as a good sign.
“Do you really think so? No cap?” Idia spoke in a soft voice.
Azul chuckled lightly to himself, “No cap.”
He could hear Idia groan loudly, “Please never say that again. It sounds weird coming from you.”
“I thought we were having a sweet heart-to-heart moment!” Azul laughed out.
“Yeah, we were until you ruined it with that,” Idia said, no bite in his voice.
“Do you want me to finish brushing your hair or not?” Azul threatened jokingly, holding the brush like he was going to smack Idia with it.
“Ah, don’t hurt me! I don’t have any armor on!” Idia raised his hands in mock surrender.
They shared a look before bursting out with laughter in unison.
***
As Azul held the shampoo and conditioner in his hands, he sighed. He went through so much trouble to find these things. Idia didn’t make his job any easier. Who threw out the bottles and forgot the brand name of the only shampoo and conditioner they could use?
“I should have chosen a better catch. I’m not sure all that trouble will be worth a favor.” Azul thought to himself as he made his way through the Ignihyde lounge and towards Idia’s room.
He knocked on the door six times, a knock he came up with to let Idia know it was him.
“It’s open!” Azul could hear Idia’s muffled voice from the other side of the door.
As he opened up, Azul immediately noticed the way Idia had dressed. He was wearing a black tank top and long shorts, something the other usually never wore.
“Is there a special occasion I was made unaware of?” Azul asked as he closed the door behind him. Idia was straightening up his room and had his hair in a high ponytail to keep it out of his face.
“What makes you say that?” Idia asked, confused. He then turned toward Azul and saw what he was holding, “Oh my Seven, you’re a lifesaver Azul!”
“Well, of course I am. Do you know how many hours I spent looking for these things? Do you know how expensive they were?! Five thousand thaumarks! Five thousand! And that was only for one! It was TEN THOUSAND THAUMARKS for both of these!” Azul ranted, taking a seat on the side of Idia’s bed, “I could have bought the entire drink menu at the Mostro Lounge with that.”
“‘Oh, but Idia, ten thousand thaumarks is nothing if it’s for you and your itchy head!’ Right?” Idia elbowed him in the side playfully after taking a seat next to him, but the look he had on his face showed Azul he did feel at least a little sympathetic.
“Sure, if it helps you sleep at night,” Azul stated sarcastically as he handed the bottles over to Idia.
“Whee hee hee, I’m finally about to defeat this boss!” Idia said happily, the smile on his face something Azul had rarely seen.
“How cute,” Azul thought with a small smile of his own.
“So,” Idia said, turning to look at Azul, “What were you wanting for this? A favor or something, right?”
Azul nodded, “Yes, I’m not completely sure what I want yet though.”
“Gotcha,” Idia nodded slightly, “Just LMK when you figure it out. I’m gonna tame this beast so it can’t harm any more innocent townsfolk, AKA me.”
An idea floated through Azul’s head as Idia turned toward his bathroom. It wasn’t one of his usual money-grabbing ideas, so he didn’t think too long on it.
“Actually, I think I have an idea for a favor,” Azul spoke almost nervously, looking away when Idia looked back at him.
“Okay, whatcha want then?” Idia asked curiously. His head was tilted to the side like how a cat would when it was confused.
“Could…” Azul hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Could I wash your hair for you?”
Idia’s face and hair immediately turned bright pink as he stumbled with his words, “W-wha-what? L-like in the s-sh-shower?!”
Azul nodded, “Yes, where else could I wash your hair well? I doubt the sink would do us much good.”
Idia was short-circuiting, “Wait, waitwaitwait! You want t-to wash my ha-hair? I-in the shower?”
“Yes, and I’d be in there too, of course. I can’t exactly wash it by standing outside.” Azul stated simply.
If he thought Idia’s hair was pink before it was red now and was going more toward the ceiling than downwards like normal hair.
“T-TO-TOGETHER?! B-but when you’re i-in the shower, you…” Idia mumbled.
“You what?” Azul asked, thoroughly confused as to why he was so flustered.
“Y-you don’t have clothes on!” Idia barely managed to get out as he covered his face in embarrassment.
Azul blushed, having not even thought of that, “Wait, that’s- I wasn’t trying to say-”
They both stood there, flustered for a few moments before Azul finally found his words.
“You don’t have to strip or anything, you could just wear what you are now in there,” Azul explained, “I would never ask you to do something like that. I wouldn’t ask you to do something you’re uncomfortable with. If you don’t want me to th-”
“No no no!” Idia interrupted, waving his hands in front of his face, “I didn’t say that! I… I’d like that.”
The blush on his face was darker than Azul had ever seen before, it looked very pretty on him.
“Are you sure? I can always ask something else.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Just as long as… yeah.” Idia looked away, slightly embarrassed. His hair started to calm down, settling at a dull pink.
Azul smiled, “Of course.”
***
Washing Idia’s hair turned out to be a much more relaxing process than either of them had been expecting. Seeing his hair go from fiery to looking like relatively normal hair was shocking, but Azul didn’t really have any expectations going into this. The color was a bit darker from the water, and it was still pink, but now there were bits of blue back.
The most unexpected thing Azul found was how Idia’s hair was never completely cold, no matter how cold the water was. This was probably due to his hair practically being made of fire or something of the sort.
Shampooing his hair had been mostly simple. It just took a little bit of elbow grease and more shampoo than Azul had ever had on his hands in his life.
The longer Azul worked, the more Idia seemed to relax and enjoy the special treatment he was getting. Seeing the relaxed look on his face made Azul more happy than he expected to feel.
After Azul washed out the shampoo and put in the conditioner, Idia spoke.
“Hey Azul, did you know that you hum when you're focused?”
Azul, in fact, did not know this.
“Do I really?” Azul asked genuinely, “I never noticed.”
“Yeah. It's really quiet, and it's the same tune over and over,” Idia said, turning to face him, “It sounds like that rubber ducky song.”
“The rubber ducky song?” Azul asked, confused, “What's that? I don't believe I've heard it before.”
Idia looked up at him, shocked, “You've NEVER heard the rubber ducky song before? What kind of sad childhood did you have?” He sat up and grabbed his phone, “This is unacceptable. I have to fix this.”
As the song played, Azul understood what Idia meant. The tune was catchy and the lyrics were cute.
“Yeah, this does sound vaguely familiar, but I don't ever remember hearing ‘rubber ducky, you're the one,’” Azul said. It was definitely a song small children would enjoy.
“Well, I'm going to continue to believe you're humming the rubber ducky song and live out my happy pipe dreams.” Idia pouted and crossed his arms.
“Yeah, ok. Let's get the conditioner out of your hair.” Azul said, rolling his eyes.
After the conditioner was washed out, Azul started to dry Idia's hair. It was a bit challenging given how much taller Idia was, but the ends of his hair were pretty dry at least.
“Hey, Azul?” Idia said, seemingly out of the blue.
“Yes?” Azul replied, still drying his hair.
“Thank you for doing this. It was really nice.” Idia gave him a small, meaningful smile that made Azul’s heart skip a beat. His hair was a little bit pink again.
“Oh my Seven, why are you so cute?” Azul asked himself, only to realize too late that he had spoken out loud.
It took a moment for Idia to process what he had said, but as soon as he did, his face and hair were bright pink.
“W-what?” Idia blushed a bright pink, his hair following quickly after. He looked beyond adorable, and Azul couldn't help himself.
“You know what? Fuck it.” Azul thought before grabbing the sides of Idia's face and pushing their lips together. After a few seconds, Azul worried he had done something wrong until he felt Idia kiss back experimentally.
It wasn't like the fairy tales described. It was sweet and warm and very inexperienced, but Azul wouldn't have had it any other way. He had to crane his neck up as far as he could, which was mildly uncomfortable if he was being honest, but seeing that Idia had to do the exact same thing but reversed helped him find the humor in it.
Idia was the first to pull away, much to Azul's displeasure, “Wait, you like me?!”
Azul rolled his eyes, exasperated, “Do you think I kiss people I don't like? Yes, I like you!”
Idia was quiet for a moment before he smiled brightly, “Really? FR? No take-backsies, right?”
The happiness on Idia’s face was contagious, making Azul smile as well.
“No take-backsies,” Azul repeated, chuckling a little as he pulled Idia close.
He groaned, still wrapping his arms around Azul and resting his head on the top of Azul’s, “NVM, don't say that again. It's cringe when you do it.”
“Would you rather me say ‘No cap’?” Azul asked teasingly, “Or should I grab the hairbrush?”
Idia sent him a playful glare, “How about you stick to your long, fancy words, and I stick to my nerd words?”
Azul smiled, rolled his eyes, and kissed him on the cheek, “That sounds good to me.”
“I think this was the best favor I’ve ever asked for,” Azul thought with a smile.
EXTRA:
“Would you mind grabbing the brush, actually?”
“To brush your hair or to beat you with it?”
“IDK, surprise me, IG.”
EXTRA 2:
“Brother, I-”
Ortho quieted down when he saw his brother asleep on his bed, only he wasn’t alone. His arms were wrapped around Azul, who was in Idia’s signature blue hoodie. They both had smiles on their faces as they slept, looking relaxed.
Ortho smiled to himself. “Took them long enough,” he thought before closing the door behind him as quietly as he could, “I’ll go stay with the prefect tonight.”