castleinthemist | 007 | Keeping busy

He was at the common table after a meal, working out most of his leather bolt. He'd cut out plenty of the shapes for making the scabbards for the two swords and machetes he had Toph made. Toph, who had disappeared somewhere he was more than a little worried about. He's seen her consistently almost since they met, and now? Where the hell was she?

So caught up in his worry over Toph, his hammer slipped as he hit his hole puncher into the two layers of leather. Hit his thumb, not hard, but hard enough to smart. He cursed under his breath and let out an aggravated noise of frustration. He dropped the hammer and let his head fall onto his arms.

Maybe he needed a break. Clearly he needed one if he couldn't even keep his hand steady. He looked up briefly at his work, knowing how tedious all of it was. He just wanted it all done. Least he got the ones for the scythe blades done. Hell, he made plenty of progress over the last week gutting the tech and using the remaining power cell to fuse the metal. That was about all the juice it had left after all. He now had two scythes for him and his brother. He wanted to show em of, but no real motivation to go get up and go get him either.

He lay his head back down into his arms, yawning into them. Just take a short catnap instead. Let the guys come to him.

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"Mhm..."

It was a quiet mutter, mostly because she was trying to concentrate as she started working on it. She didn't talk much, only giving the occasional instruction for movement, going slow and careful to make sure she didn't cause any mistakes that couldn't be fixed.

It wasn't perfect in the end, but it was better than she expected it to be. That was something to be proud of at least.

"Okay..."

Once she was done, he cautiously leaned over the water, looking at his reflection. Well, it certainly wasn't perfect, but it wasn't an awful haircut like he would fear, even from his own barber.

That man was certainly capable of ruining his style for a month and a half. Well, this was okay. Livable.

"Thanks." He said, running a hand through his hair. "Looks just fine."

Haku let out a relieved laugh, carefully brushing loose bits of hair from his shoulders.

"Good. I'm glad I could help," she said with a nod.

"Well, see. Just be thankful I didn't go for the military buzz cut look." Duo said, turning to her.

"That's cosmetic hell right there, in'it?"

"I wouldn't even know how to do that with just scissors! ... can that be done? I can't imagine it would look any good," Haku mused a bit, flopping down next to him on the edge of the fountain. She looked at her own hair, pulling the very other Duo-like braid over her shoulder. She had been putting it back in that or a bun more often than not recently to keep it from getting dirty or in the way.

But there was a lot of it. And it wasn't always easy to take care of. But cutting it was permanent. There was no growing it back out for her or Miku.

"It would look awful. You should have seen some of the hair cuts the soldiers wore. Call the fashion police Haku. On my entire era. Even on me." Riding pants. What was he thinking?

Aw well. No problem really. It was just a self depressive joke, or a low blow against his world. But what of it? His world? His Earth? Was it worth going back to?

Partly. There was a big part of him that yearned for home, but the other part wanted the escape. He'd told Ratchet, that if it weren't for them being trapped and half starved? If this were a real castle with a real kingdom and real food? He'd have loved it here for a while.

But the home sickness, for him to return to the colonies. It would always be there.

"I kinda like yours that way. Taking a note from the ole Maxwell brothers, are we?" He laughed a bit, patting Haku on the shoulder before pushing himself to his feet and stretching.

To that Haku could only giggle, shaking her head. Really, Duo, Japanese costuming wasn't much better at times.

"Hm?" she blinked at his comment, looking down at her hair for a second before another, more sheepish laugh escaped.

"It seemed like a good idea to keep it out of the way. I think mine is longer than his, though..." she said, flicking the end tuft of the thoughtfully. She had been lacking hair ties when she arrived and only had the one that was on her at the time, and that one had gone missing. She had to resort to using some of the green fabric she had gotten and simply wrapping it around in a thick band until she could tie it in to a knot.

Still. She was being honest. It was a good way to keep hair back and clean in a place like that.

And then it dawned on her, what he had said at the start of that.

"... y-you really like it... ?"

Damn. Why was her face so hot all of a sudden?

"I share the sentiment." Duo said, gathering himself before starting around Haku and heading back towards the rooms, gesturing for her to come along with him.

"Like it? Sure. I've got a bias for the style, naturally." He wagged a finger at her, a brow raising at her blush. What? Did he embarrass her? Was she really that insecure?

Some how she managed to not squeak out loud, but she was definitely doing it in her head. The only indication of how flustered she was becoming was her hands tightening around her braid. She stood in spite of it, though, following him with a slightly shuffling pace.

"Th... thank you."

And Duo was just sleepy enough to miss that. He held his hand over his mouth for a big yawn, stretching his arms over his head as he lead back to his room. He stopped at the door.

"You wanna catch me in the morning, Haku? I'm bushed."

"O-oh. Of course," she smiled at him awkwardly, "You should get some rest. We can work on this tomorrow."

"I wanna get that stuff finished." Duo replied, waving at her. Get it all done and then look for Toph. Or maybe do that ahead of time before meeting with Haku. Yeah. Probably for the best.

"Yeah..."

She waved, watching him leave and waiting for the door to close before letting out a sigh and slumping forward. If she'd been closer to a wall, her head would have hit it, and she wouldn't have cared.

"Yowane Haku, what do you think you're doing...?" she muttered to herself, rubbing the side of her head tiredly. When had she gotten so drained? Why were all her emotions so out of whack? She couldn't have a virus... could she?

"Mou... human emotions are strange..."

Another huff, and she shuffled off to her own room, hoping a bit of sleep cycle might set her right in the morning.

007 | Keeping busy

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