#hazel is my favvvvv character ever i miss when my blog was themed after her

[telugu-girl-13]

that's my fucking best friend, best friend ✌︎︎ ⋆. 𐙚 ˚

request: not a request, but for day 4 of @hazel-weekpjo synopsis: hazel & leo! dying hazel's hair on the argo ii warnings: none, but longish. this is purely platonic, and not a ship! notes: based on a headcannon from my headcannons for the seven & friends post! | this does not really occur amongst the events of the book! | i do not have curly hair nor have i ever dyed my hair, so i don't know what straightening it or dying it feels like! i am merely following google's instructions 😔 | leo valdez, is, in fact, the person in the photo with the gold eyeshadow. | credits: @/sweetmelodygraphics for dividers and pinterest for the header photos!

straightening out the last one of her finnicky cinnamon curls, hazel set the tool down beside her and looked in the mirror. her hair was more or less straight, meaning the technique probably hadn't worked, but she had done her best for someone who was trying it for the first time.

she took a deep breath, hands in her lap. if this doesn't work, i can just wash it off. she exhaled once she was certain that her possible failure wouldn't be permanent.

slowly, hazel dipped her long, soft paintbrush into the well of gold pigment on her palette, and held it up to the end of her hair. as if fate, someone knocked on the door.

knowing the danger her actions could lead to if she didn't answer, hazel called, "come in!", not bothering to move any of her stuff.

the door swung open to reveal leo, in his grease-stained shirt and pocketed pants that had basically become his pajamas. he looked exhausted, as he usually did, and he gripped a rusty wrench from his toolbelt. he seemed like he was about to reach up to wipe his forehead with the back of his hand before he froze.

"hazel. what are you doing?"

hazel shook her head, refusing to have him switching the topic. "first, tell me why you're here."

"i just came to tell you that we're landing the ship for half an hour to do an inventory of our supplies and run into town to get some more. now tell me, what are you doing?"

"i'm just coloring my hair" she avoided his eyes and flushed with embarrassment.

"oh, hazel. that's not—you know what? wait here. as soon as we land, i'll go find a shop and get you some hair dye. in the meantime, wash your hair."

leo left before she could ask any questions. she flopped backwards on her bed, hating to have to delay bringing life to the idea that had been circulating in her mind for months. but it was probably for the best, even if leo could easily pour vinegar into her hair and she wouldn't know it. hazel decided to trust him.

an hour of water and shampoo later, leo barged into hazel's room clutching a small cardboard box. "good, you didn't start yet."

"i'm not that mean, doofus. what's that?" hazel asked as she patted her wet locks with a towel.

leo ignored the comment and plopped onto hazel's bed. "hair. dye. hopefully i picked the right one, and this doesn't murder your hair alive."

hazel grimaced. "that can happen?"

he shrugged. "even if it doesn't work, it'll look better than whatever you were trying to do with your paint set."

she rolled her eyes. "c'mon, you can't really blame me for that! how was i supposed to know?"

"i guess you weren't. sometimes i forget that what's common knowledge to the most of us is often alien to you."

"just get on with it, fire boy."

"fiiiine. do you want the whole head dyed?" he passed her the box. "also, this is the closest color to your gold that i could find."

hazel accepted the box and studied the model on the cover. she had dark blond hair as curly as hers. the words semi-permanent were printed on the front of the box. she sighed in relief. "this will do. and just ends, please."

leo nodded and took the box back, popping open the lid and pouring the contents of the box into his hand, including an even smaller round container and a thick-bristled brush. "let's get to work!"

hazel couldn't keep track of all the steps, but she knew that leo was applying the dye form the container a few curls at a time, covering an inch of her hair on her ends and turning them over meticulously so he didn't miss a spot. meanwhile, she just sat there, in front of her mirror, thinking about the modern ways of coloring one's hair, how not to tilt her head when her neck itched, and why the pigment was called dye. because, to her, that seemed a bit too ominous.

when he was done, leo declared, "finally! now we just have to wait for it to process. though i probably should have put a towel underneath your hair, because your shirt..." hazel rolled her eyes again, but at that point, she didn't care.

she studied her newly-dyed ends with a bright expression. "leo, where did you learn to do this?"

hazel hadn't expected it to be such an emotional question, until he answered with, "when i was a little kid, i used to help my mom do it. of course, her hair wasn't as curly, but..."

hazel stood up and enveloped him in a hug, much to leo's surprise. when she let go, she added, "it looks amazing! thank you."

leo grinned. "what can i say? you would be so lost without me."

she elbowed him, but his playful remark had only made her happier.