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Adrien sat on the bathtub, watching Marinette as she stared.
“So?” He asked. “Does it look okay?”
All Marinette could do was stare in horror at what she’d done to her dearest friend.
It was horrible. A mess. Adrien had called her over to help him dye his hair, despite Marinette’s firm declaration that ‘No, Adrien, baking skills don’t translate into hair dyeing!’
And that is how they ended up here, with Adrien asking her if his horrible-looking hair looked okay. It did not, but how could Marinette tell him that?! Tell him that she ruined his hair?! What if she ends up hurting his feelings, and they stop being friends forever?! He was already unsure about dyeing it. She can’t insult him now! What if he hates her for ruining his gorgeously blond—!!! Nope! Oh no! Stop that thought, Marinette; you have to get over this! He has a girlfriend!!! Be cool!!
“Mari?” Said Adrien, pulling her out of her anxious stupor.
“Err… it’s… it looks really good, Adrien! The colors—I mean color really suits you; the green totally matches your eyes and doesn’t look splotchy or gross at all!!!! So, my good friend Adrien with very nice hair, don’t you worry about it because it looks absolutely wonderful and perfect and—!”
But Adrien didn’t listen to her entire monologue; instead, he whipped out his phone from his pocket and unlocked it.
“Ahh, wait—!“ Marinette yelled. Her hands flew to her face as she heard the accursed click of his typing. Oh no, oh no oh no oh no—o—o!
“Sorry, Marinette, I can tell when you’re lying! I appreciate it, but I need the cold, hard truth,” he declared.
And all she could do was stare in horror as he called the most honest person they knew—someone who would tell the truth no matter what, even if it made the recipient cry! Élodie! As much as she adored her friend Marinette knew the girl could be ruthless!
Gladly, though, she knew with confidence that her friend was currently busy with her photography and thus could not come to see the eyesore that is Adrien’s hair! The two of them had long since learned not to interrupt her when she was taking photos. She said it was something about ‘interrupting her artistic flow.’ Anyway, there's no way she will be able to come over! Marinette smiled inwardly at the thought, and relaxed against the sink.
But then Adrien did something that made all the hope fall from her face.
“Élodie! It's an emergency. I need your help as soon as possible! I'm at home!” Adrien yelled into the phone, panic in his voice. Marinette couldn’t believe him! He dared to use the most illegal of techniques!! He acted as if he was in danger to get her here!
“What?! Adrien, are you okay?“ she heard Élodie on the other line say, her voice panicked and urgent.
“Can’t talk, I’ve gotta go! Get here, quick!” Adrien quickly ended the call with a flourish.
“A—a—and there, it’ll only be a matter of time until she's here,” he smiled in satisfaction.
“…Adrien,” Marinette quietly began. “Just so you know, I won’t be liable if she says something you don’t like.”
“Oh, come on, Marinette, I can take her,” He said, far too confidently. Marinette really doubted he could.
Her doubt clearly showed since he proceeded to double down.
“I'm serious! I've heard everything she has to say, so I doubt I'll hear something shocking. Besides, it probably looks great; I'm sure she’ll like it! It’ll remind her of Chat Noir, I know it.” Marinette watched as he was lifted into dreamland, daydreaming about something that would definitely not happen.
But before she could say anything, Marinette heard a crash outside the bathroom and quickly ran towards it, almost slipping on her way out.
Curse these tights…
But there was Cigognelle, brushing broken glass off of herself. Marinette thought she saw some blood, but it didn’t phase the girl. It did phase her, though, as she couldn't help but feel a little queasy.
Cigognelle looked up at the sound of Marinette’s running, and her eyes widened.“Marinette! Are you alright?! Where’s Adrien?!”
Cigognelle quickly fixed the mess, the shards and dust reforming back into the window one by one, and the cuts on the heroine’s face healing instantly. Marinette was mesmerized; she had forgotten just how spectacular Ameliorate indeed was. But then she remembered what she had run out for.
Marinette ran towards her friend, yelling. “Er— wait, Cigognelle! Everything’s fine!” She called out, hoping to stop the girl before any feelings got hurt.
But Cigognelle didn’t seem to listen and immediately approached the danger zone—the bathroom.
“Wa-a-ait!!! Stop for a second!” Marinette panicked but struggled to keep up with Cigognelle’s large strides. She raced in front to stand in front of the bathroom door.
Marinette tried everything she could to block Cigognelle’s view but to no avail! She pushed the smaller girl aside and stepped in.
O-o-oh no, poor Adrien is done for!
“Adrien?! Where’s the emerg—“ Cigognelle stopped in the middle of her sentence.
Here it comes, Marinette thought nervously.
“…Swoop low,” she muttered, and soon kwami power flowed off of her. Her kwami, Xiann, looked at their situation and knew he didn’t want to be involved, immediately flying off to find the other two fairies. Oh how Marinette wished she could do the same…
But that left the three of them at a standstill; Adrien was anticipating Élodie’s reaction (with far too much enthusiasm), Marinette was dreading it, and Élodie was staring blankly at Adrien.
She moved towards her boyfriend, her face for once blank and unexpressive.
“Good thing you’re here, Élodie; what do you think?” Poor, oblivious Adrien asked with a smile on his face. And to Marinette’s utter dismay, he turned his head to give Élodie a full view of the monstrosity.
Élodie stared before her face began contorting in horror. Her hand slowly reached to cover her mouth.
“Adrien… what happened,” she gasped. Her eyes were saucers, shocked and alarmed.
Adrien’s face became a bit confused and then it became worried. It seemed he finally understood the truth, Marinette thought.
“Is it that bad..?” He gulped.
“Bad?!” Élodie said, shocked. “Bad doesn’t cut it! Adrien, what in the world were you thinking?!” Adrien shrinked back at every syllable that came out of her.
“Hey now, it can’t be horrible!” Adrien attempted to retort.
“Horrible cannot describe what I am seeing in front of me. Adrien, your hair looks dreadful. I can’t tell if it's supposed to be green, light green, blonde, or whatever color I'm seeing is. I want to tell myself the patchiness was on purpose, but I can't even conceptualize how to do that. I love you, and you know that, but dear god!”
Élodie finished her speech, her hand on her face the entire time. Marinette knew this would happen, and she didn’t know if she should be happy she was right or horrified for her friend. Adrien, to his credit, didn’t seem that hurt. He looked slightly like he was about to laugh, though he was still stunned. He opened his mouth and shut it a few times before he said anything, looking for a response to Élodie’s monologue.
“…So it doesn’t look good?” He tried.
“What do you think?!” Élodie clutched his shoulders and turned him towards the mirror he had diligently avoided.
“…shi—it,” He muttered. “Mari, why’d you say it looked good!” He turned his head towards her with an incredulous grin, suddenly humorous. Marinette still felt horrible, nonetheless. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea, no matter what!
“Sorry! I couldn't possibly tell the truth! I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, Adrien!” Marinette wailed, pulling on her braid in worry.
But Adrien just laughed at her distress and looked back to the mirror.
“Honestly, the more I look at it, the less bad it looks. I kind of like it!”
“How in the world do you like it?” Marinette almost laughed in disbelief.
Adrien shrugged in response, continuing to play around with his hair. Élodie has since let go of his shoulders and was contemplating it as well, toying around with a few pieces on the bottom. Marinette could tell she was still a little confused and unsure, though.
“Well,” Élodie began. “I guess it kinda fits you,”
“Does it?” he asked thoughtfully.
“Yeah.” She said.
Marinette couldn’t help but agree. But there was still something….
Oh right!
“We’re still gonna need to fix it, you two. I’ll get started on the dye!” Marinette ran towards where it was, but Adrien stopped her on the way.
“Maybe we should stay away from the dye,” he laughed.
Marinette couldn’t help but go red with embarrassment. She forgot that Adrien’s look was kinda her fault…
“Or we could call Alya? Did you two forget that she dyes her hair on the regular?” Èlodie crossed her arms with a smile.
Adrien and Marinette looked sheepishly at each other. They might’ve forgotten about that little factoid…
“Then… I might as well call Nino and make this a hangout!” Adrien reached for his phone again and quickly texted the other two in an attempt to move the focus away from their error.
The last two of their friends came by soon enough, and Alya was just as horrified as Élodie at the state of Adrien’s hair. She quickly got to work with the expertise of someone who dyed their hair far too often for it to be healthy.
Eventually, Adrien’s hair reached a normal-looking green, and Élodie was most pleased about it. Marinette supposed that that made sense, a girl like Élodie always seemed to emphasize looking put together. She wouldn’t want Adrien looking too shabby.
(But despite what Marinette initially thought, Élodie did end up liking Adrien’s new hair. A little more than the girl expected.)