Hellbound With You

Alicia blinked as Zeres lifted a pair of scissors he found lying on the make-up stand by the window. "What? Why would you want to –"

"Well, I think I'm the only male here with long hair now." He said innocently as his fingers worked harshly on his silver hair. "Even Alexander cut his hair short quite a long while back, didn't he? I think it's time for me to cut mine too. You know, to keep up with the times?" Zeres nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and threw a lopsided smile.

"Oh," was all Alicia could say. She stared at his long, luscious hair that looked like a silvery silken waterfall. It was beautiful and shimmering like moonlight when viewed from certain angles.

Without waiting for her to agree, Zeres grabbed a stool and put it in front of Alicia. He then sat down, his back facing her while his hand that was holding the scissor and comb was stretched out towards her.

"You can do it, right? Or is it too hard for you?" he asked without glancing back, his voice seemed a little worried.

"No, no… of course I can do it. I think I am quite good at this you know. I've helped cut a few little boy's hair back in the days." She told him as she took the scissors and comb from his hand. "It's just that… are you really sure about this, Zeres?"

"As sure as I know my own name, my queen." He didn't even hesitate.

"You're not sacrificing your hair just because you think I'm dying of boredom and you're providing an extra service here are you?"

His shoulders suddenly started moving up and down repetitively and she realized after a few seconds that he was laughing. "Please don't worry, that's definitely not the reason. It's not out of a whim either, I've been thinking about having it cut for a while now. So just go ahead and cut it, Alicia. I don't care if it's ugly."

A long sigh escaped Alicia's lips as she started to work on his hair. "I know you recognise how precious having silver hair is to us witches."

"I know. But… it doesn't really mean anything to me. And it's not like it'll turn dark, or I'll suddenly get bald, if it was cut. I just want it short form now on."

Alicia was silent for a moment. For some reason, she felt like Zeres truly despised his hair and she didn't know what to feel about it.

She stared at his hair as she used her fingers to pull apart the little snarls with great care. She couldn't help but want to coax him to not cut it off, but she could sense that this was something he really wanted. Due to that, she didn't have the heart to order him not to cut it. Especially when she thought back on everything that he had done for the useless her since the beginning of this bloody journey.

"Alright," she eventually gave in and drew a deep breath. "I'll cut it."

"Thank you." He sounded pleased and Alicia let out another deep sigh before finally started combing his hair.

Every time the comb got caught within the tangles, he could not help but flinch no matter how careful and slowly Alicia did it.

"Hold still." She said, biting on her lower lip to stop the smile threatening to form and accidentally bursting out in laughter. "I didn't know your scalp was so sensitive. Could it be that this is one of the reasons why you wanted to cut them… You should've told me earlier."

Zeres said nothing. He had caught his lower lip between his teeth. Both embarrassment and alarm were etched on his face.

And when the comb tugged a little too hard this time, he flinched harder, giving her a little glare through the mirror in front of him.

"Oh, sorry." Amusement was heavy in her voice as she gently rubbed the smarting spot with her fingertips. She did not realise the bewildered and disquieted look Zeres had on his face when she did what she was doing.

"Okay, I'm going to cut it now. I must ask you one last time, Zeres –"

"Cut it." He broke off and his voice came out a little weird. He cleared his throat, and his voice was back to normal. "I won't change my mind no matter how many times you ask. So just cut it please."

"Alright, alright. Here we go." He heard her say and when he felt the scissors slice carefully through his hair, he closed his eyes and stayed a little tense and quite passive as Alicia continued her task with dedication.

"Is there a particular hair style you want?" she asked after a while but Zeres shook his head and simply replied "up to you."

And thus, Zeres sat like a lifeless statue and didn't speak anymore until Alicia moved to his front. When she touched the tip of his chin to indicate him to lift his head, she didn't notice how stunned he was at her simple touch. Alicia blissfully continued in her task like a pro. She had done this a few times before she was chosen to be the next queen, so she was quite confident with her skills.

"I think it's done," she finally declared after a long time. She stepped back and narrowed her eyes to critically inspect her work of art before giving a pleased nod. When Zeres opened his eyes and looked at her, she was wearing a satisfied and proud smile. "You end up looking ten times more handsome now with short hair," she said, smiling widely.

Zeres wasn't flattered at all because his attention was fully focused on her. She had finally smiled after such a long time – a genuine and happy smile, not those fake and forced ones that she gave previously.

"You don't believe me, do you? Why don't you take a look for yourself?" Before she could start urging him to approach the mirror, Zeres already started cleaning the floor.

A sigh left Alicia's lips as she bent to help him when Zeres grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back gently until the back of her knees hit the bed. He made her sit on the bed next before letting go. "I'll do the cleaning. Please rest." He said and he turned to continue in his task.

Looking at his back, Alicia had yet to get used to the sight of him no longer having that long silvery hair and she thought that he truly looked and felt even more different now.