#abvrnathys

And it’s probably been a little while since Renee has redone her hair, which Allison had made a point of mentioning the day before so that she could pick up some die

When they get back to their room, however, it’s Allison that takes the box out of the CVS bag laying on the counter and turns it over a few times in her hands, studying it carefully.

Eventually, she heads towards the bathroom and calls over her shoulder for Renee to follow her

Renee, who has been Febrezing her goalie gear

 Because lord knows if that stuff is anything like the gear of a hockey goalie it needs some fresh twist cranberry if it’s going to be able to stay in the closet without being thrown out a window

Renee sees the dye in Allison’s hand the moment she steps into the bathroom and smiles, because this is not the first time they’ve done this

It’s a relaxing experience for both of them

Allison loves watching how smoothly the dye combs into Renee’s hair, and having Allison to help her is almost as good (better than) going to a professional

Even if doing it at home on their own usually results in a messy sink

It comes with the territory

Renee sets a timer for a half hour once she’s finished with her bleach, and for all of two minutes, they pretend to discuss actual, productive things they could spend the next half-hour doing

But just like every time before, it’s not exactly a secret that there’s nothing they plan on doing but making out for the next 28 minutes.

“If we have the dorm to ourselves,” Allison argues every time, “why shouldn’t we take advantage of it?  Why are we punishing ourselves?”

“It’s not a punishment,” Renee always sighs, but she finishes her line as a breath against her girlfriend’s lips, so she’s not fooling anyone

The timer nearly startles them so badly they fall off the lip of the bathtub, but Renee turns it off and sets it on the counter before starting to run a bath so that she can rinse everything out.

Which Allison insists on doing every time, rinsing the excess away and gently scratching along the top of Renee’s scalp

Renee practically melts into her touch every time, and the tension no one but Allison (and sometimes Andrew, but not much gets by him) notices slips out of her shoulders as she leans into Allison against the edge of the bathtub wall

They put in some toner next, and the twenty minutes that would take to set originally were planned to be twenty more minutes of “The dorm room is ours for the night” activities, but became Allison climbing into the warm water next to Renee and dozing off lightly, laying her head on Renee’s shoulder

They rinse and repeat, literally, and then force themselves up and out of the tub, drying each other off and wrapping themselves in old towels, already covered in dye stains from long before this particular attempt

Allison separates and pins up Renee’s hair like an expert while Renee mixes her dyes

She picks a few different colors and mixes in conditioner, because even though the bright colors are fun to look at for a little while, she discovered early on in high school that pastels suited her much better

Allison’s hands rub gently over Renee’s shoulders before she accepts the first color, and Renee starts mixing the second as Allison carefully drags the dye through the under-layers of her hair, doing her best to never tug too painfully

Another thirty minutes pass in gentle relaxation

Renee rubs into the bunched-up knots in Allison’s shoulders from practice, knowing just where to push to release what feels like the weight of the world

The lazy, slow feeling the evening has does not match the average college Friday night in the slightest

And is definitely not something they’re usually a part of, either

But it’s undeniable how good it feels to just be with each other and the gentle sound of a fall rain against the windows of the main room outside the bathroom door

A world of loud music and dancing and drinking exists just outside their door, but for one Friday evening, it’s just Renee and Allison and their ritual

The timer goes off one last time, and once again, Allison helps her girlfriend rinse out her hair, making sure the water is running clear before helping her gently dry off once again

It would be too easy to point out the smidges of dye along the back of Renee’s ears, where they forgot to cover with Vaseline earlier

A smirk, and a gentle flick to the spot is all Allison needs to draw a quiet huff of amusement out of her girlfriend

And once Allison’s gloves are off, and the bathroom counter and floors are clean, and Renee has washed her hair one last time

Once their ritual has finished

Right as the rest of the world dances their night away