hair is important, okay?

[goesberserk]

Who: Heiwajima Shizuo and Blaine Anderson
When: September 16th
Where: Underground Mall (specifically, a salon)
Summary: Two very mismatched people both need to care for their hair. And so there is a chance meeting.
Warnings: Not expecting anything. Shizuo might lose his temper, but other than that it should be pretty tame.

Comments

[mediumdrip]

Blaine really needed his hair trimmed and he needed more of his styling products. All jokes side, he relied a little too much on those things to maintain his appearance. The longer his hair got the harder his curls were to tame so he walked in the salon and put his name in for an appointment.

When he walked away from the cheerful woman at the counter, he found the waiting area already occupied. He smiled at the stranger, being polite and friendly.

"Hello," he said. "Mind if I borrow one of those magazines?" He pointed to one that wasn't currently in Shizuo's hand.

[goesberserk]

Part of the wait was having to deal with the other customers, and Shizuo was at least used to that. In fact, most of the time people just kept to themselves in here, so he was a little shocked when a young man decided to strike up a conversation.

Granted, it was only because he wanted one of the magazines and probably didn't want to be rude and reach over him. Shizuo could appreciate that, so he straightened in his seat slightly and then glanced down at the pile of magazines before him.

"Which one do you want?" There was a pretty decent selection -- everything from hair styles to fashion to cars. He glanced up at the stranger, wondering what his interest might be.

[mediumdrip]

Blaine didn't want to think too hard, plus he was interested in the fashion at the Port. "I'll take one of those Style magazines off your hands." He didn't seem to mind if that that might come off as a little stereotypical. He pointed to one that had a sour faced but very pretty woman on the cover.

[goesberserk]

Fashion, huh? Maybe that wasn't so surprising, seeing how the young man seemed to dress well and take good care of his hair. Shizuo realized that the same could be said for him, seeing how he almost constantly wore a suit. There was a reason for that, though. Maybe there was a reason that the stranger dressed nicely too.

"Here you go," he said as he handed the magazine over, nodding slightly. "So you're into that kind of stuff, huh?" There was no judgment in his tone, simply curiosity. Fashion was a pretty big deal back in Ikebukuro too, after all. Shizuo had just never bothered with it.

[mediumdrip]

"I'm into a lot of different kinds of things," Blaine said after a moment, looking at Shizuo carefully. He didn't know if that's a sneaky way of asking Blaine if he's gay and he hated how paranoid he felt about those things.

Instead of responding with hostility he holds out his hand to shake. "I'm Blaine." The best way for him to respond to those emotions was to be friendly, he thought. At least Shizuo wasn't being snarky or judgmental.

[goesberserk]

That was an evasive response, but Shizuo decided not to make much of it. They were just looking for ways to kill time until their names got called, so maybe the guy had picked the magazine at random. He didn't bother with analyzing that kind of stuff too much. It was just annoying.

But the stranger had given out his name now, and Shizuo had to admit that talking to someone was more interesting than reading about the current trends in the Port. "Heiwajima Shizuo," he said, awkwardly grabbing for the hand to shake it. Though now that he was really looking at the guy, he had to admit that he looked a little familiar. From that network, maybe?

"Are you a newcomer?" he asked, frowning behind his sunglasses.

[mediumdrip]

"I am," Blaine responded carefully, tone even. It was strange how that question could make him feel the same way that 'are you gay?' could. That stomach deep wariness that marked it as a dangerous question. The only difference was that Blaine doesn't feel the same pride in answering in the affirmative.

He looked at Shizuo a little more carefully, wondering if he was also a newcomer or if he was one of the locals who hated him for being pulled into a reality he didn't want to live in.

[goesberserk]

"Same here," Shizuo replied with a small shrug as he leaned back in his seat. As if that wasn't obvious enough from the name. There probably weren't too many people called Heiwajima Shizuo in Canada of all places. Blaine seemed like a much more Western name, but apparently the younger man was as new to this as he was.

"I think I've seen you around on the network before," he admitted. The same probably couldn't be said for him, seeing how he very rarely posted to it. Sometimes he replied to other people, but... ahh, that was all a hassle to keep track of too.

[mediumdrip]

Blaine's face visibly changed for a moment, because he couldn't help but wonder if this stranger had seen his fight with Kurt. It had been so mortifying to turn on the network after that and discover that the tail end of his relationship had been broadcast for all the newcomers to see.

He nodded once and then smiled a bit, forcing himself to relax, to not seem skittish or uncomfortable. "Yeah? I think that's a sign I post on it too much."

[goesberserk]

It looked like he'd hit some sort of nerve, if the guy's reaction was anything to go on. Shizuo hadn't meant to imply anything with the comment, but he already knew that he was terrible with conversations like this. Maybe sticking to reading the magazines would have been better after all.

"Wasn't saying that," he replied, shrugging again as he looked away. Hopefully he'd be called soon, since the last thing he needed to do was accidentally offend someone and then get into a fight that tore up half the salon. Then he'd have to find another place to go to dye his hair and that would just be a hassle.

[mediumdrip]

Blaine watched him a moment and then forced himself to calm down. He wasn't being accused of anything, this guy wasn't judging him. This place had put him such on edge lately, it was pathetic. So he put on his best, most charming smile and made sure to make his voice sound amused.

"The last post I made I had a black eye, so if you're having trouble placing me that might be it."

[goesberserk]

That smile made it clear that there were no hard feelings, at least. Though it did seem strange to smile like that only to move on and talk about a black eye. Still, this Blaine looked like he might still be in high school, and some people actually thought that it was cool to get into fights.

Shizuo could hardly imagine something like that. As often as he'd punched out (and worse) his schoolmates in the past, he'd never put any pride in it. "What, get in a fight at school or something?" he asked, sounding a little unsure.

[mediumdrip]

Blaine shakes his head. "No," he said. "It was a misunderstanding, that's all." He paused, not certain if he should share the details. "I work at Purgatory. I'm a singer there. I guess one of my songs made a drunk think I was hitting on his girlfriend. He made me very grateful that we have excellent bouncers."

[goesberserk]

This kid worked at a bar? Or a club, maybe. He didn't really keep up with that information. Shizuo couldn't help but think that Blaine looked young for that, but it wasn't like high school kids back home didn't get all sorts of work in izakayas and elsewhere if needed. It wasn't so surprising, though the singing portion was. He wondered how Blaine would be at karaoke.

The mention of bouncers only reminded him of his failed job at Merlotte's, which caused his jaw to clench for a moment. Blaine had nothing to do with that, though. "Tch, it was that idiot's fault for taking something like that personally. If he really loved that girl, he wouldn't have to be so insecure!" Suddenly Shizuo was sitting straight in his seat and forcing his words out as some sort of announcement. If there was something he felt strongly about, it was the concept of love and how people treated their so-called significant others.

[mediumdrip]

Blaine nodded. "Not only that, but he was completely barking up the wrong tree," he said. "I think he was drunk and insecure, that's all. People do stupid things when they're those things, especially combined."

Blaine didn't seem particularly offended by the memory. If anything he seemed to find the whole thing vaguely amusing.

[goesberserk]

Drunk and insecure. It was definitely a bad combination. In Shizuo's case, though, he was usually too out of it after drinking to even bother getting angry over anything. It seemed backwards, but it offered a small relief for him when he actually went full force with it.

"That's true," he said with a small shake of his head. "Well, looks like it's healed up already." That meant that guy couldn't have hit that hard in the first place. How pathetic.