#frufus

"Ouch," the blond haired man complained monotonously as his companion picked apart at the tangle of hair.

Giving up, Freed sighed and dropped the knot. "I'm afraid it's not going to come out. We need to consider alternatives."

Rufus's face - much more expressive without his mask - screwed up into a look of profound distaste. "You're not suggesting we cut our hair, are you?"

With a shrug, Freed admitted, "It would solve the issue at hand."

The issue being that somehow, while the pair had slept, their hair had gotten hopelessly tangled up the the other's, resulting in multiple horrendous snarls that were just. Not. Coming. Out. Even after pouring half a bottle of detangler on the rats nest it had done little to remedy their predicament. It wasn't as if either of them were exactly unskilled in handling whatever tangles their gorgeous, long locks made them prone to. But this was a little beyond the scope of normal entanglements, unfortunately.

"I refuse to cut my hair," Rufus stated bluntly. "I spent this long growing it out, and I'm not going to throw that away over a few tangles."

Freed sighed. He'd been expecting this response. "There is... one other option. But you're not going to like it either."

"Tell me."

"One of my guild mates," explained Freed. "Lucy. You remember her?"

"Yukino's friend," his companion replied. "Your guild's resident Celestial mage."

Freed nodded, and the pair both winced at the resulting sharp pinch in their scalps. "One of the spirits she's contracted to is a very good hairdresser, or so I have been told. It wouldn't be difficult to convince Lucy and her spirit to help us. But..."

"But?" Rufus prompted. "This sounds perfect, what could possibly be the downside?"

"It would require us leaving this room and entering the public. And then we would have to enter my guild, or seek Lucy out in her home. Either way, there would be no more... privacy as to the status of our relationship." Freed grimaced. "Something we've both been reluctant to divulge thus far."

Rufus sighed in resignation. "So we'd be trading one entanglement for another, is what you're saying."

"Yes."

He considered it for a long minute. "Do you think it's time to let our guilds know?"

"We've been together a while, and I've never been particularly afraid of their opinions," Freed admitted. "I just did not wish to endure their relentless teasing."

The blond snorted. "Fairy Tail does not know when to quit. But I can't say that Sabertooth is much different."

"So. Walk of shame to the guild?" Freed asked, smiling.