#datak tarr

He sneaks into the house through the back door, since he’s likely enough to get in trouble even if his parents don’t know he was out when he wasn’t supposed to be. If they find out he was out with Rafe McCawley’s daughter, he’ll be screwed, but they’ll just have to never find out about that. He and Christie have agreed that, at least for now, their parents absolutely cannot know that they’re dating.

The only thing that would make his parents angrier than seeing his blue hair, Alak thinks, is knowing that it was Christie’s human hands that helped him dye it.

He heads to the dining room, since he knows dinner will begin in a few minutes. His parents aren’t there yet, so he spends the time eyeing his reflection in a spoon, checking to make sure that he looks like a perfect Castithan son in every way but his hair. He was very careful in how he dressed, after all. Hopefully, it’ll cushion the blow.

His mother enters the dining room first, and Alak sees how her smile becomes fixed when she sees him. “Alak,” she says cautiously, “what did you do to your hair?”

“I dyed it,” Alak replies, trying to strike the right balance between bold and respectful. “I wanted a change.”

“A change would be a new outfit, or a haircut,” Stahma says in the scolding tone that is paradoxically so gentle it cuts deeper than yelling could. “This is-”

Datak enters the room and Stahma immediately shuts her mouth. Alak isn’t sure whether or not that’s a good thing. He didn’t really want to hear what his mother had to say, but he doesn’t think he’ll like what his father is going to say either, especially given the look on his face.

“What have you done to your hair?” Datak finally demands.

“I dyed it,” Alak repeats. “I like it. And it won’t wash out for weeks, so it’s not going anywhere.”

Datak grumbles a prayer for patience. Stahma sighs, apparently accepting there’s nothing she can do about it now. “Well,” she says, “at least you didn’t pick too garish a color.”

“After this washes out, you will never do it again,” Datak adds.

It’s a much better response than Alak was expecting, honestly. For a moment, he wonders if he should keep going, since he’s apparently lucky tonight. And also, Christie McCawley helped me dye it, cause we’re dating, even though I know you hate her dad and he hates you.

No, Alak decides, probably best not to push his luck. He’ll tell them someday.