Ev

"French roast?" Daniel called out while holding onto the dye. I shed him a quick glance and then my eyes moved to Omen who had her head stuck into the plastic bag on the table.

"I've never done my hair brown, so I wasn't sure which one to get. Though this one is a very good brand and I actually trust their samples..." I replied and picked out two latex gloves from under the sink. "Let's go to the bathroom," I told him and grabbed the plastic bag.

My hair looked very dull and to be honest ugly. Despite the fact that my black roots were starting to show my slightly bleached strands seemed kind of unhealthy, just because their colour wasn't as vibrant as it used to be. I had dyed it about a week before I met Danny, which meant that it was close to fours weeks, the fact that it had lasted as long as it had, surprising me.

"I'm going to dye yours first, then dye mine," I told him as he came into the bathroom, Omen in his arms.

"When are we going to cut it?" he asked almost enthusiastically.

"After we rinse off the excess colours. I need to dye it first," I told him with a soft shrug.

I put on the gloves and patted the washing machine so he would sit on it. Without a word he placed Omen on the counter and sat on the washing machine, leaning forward and placing both hands on the appliance on the corner between his legs. I took a deep inhale, looking at the mop of hair on top of his head and squirted a big amount of brown dye on my one palm. Danny eyed with momentary hesitation.

"It's darker than it will be on your hair... don't forget you're blond," I said reassuringly. He nodded and shook his shoulders as to calm himself. "Okay..." I muttered and slowly started placing the dye on his hair.

I started off with the strands before going on the roots, careful not to colour his skin and slowly I went over all his head. I knew the latex gloves often tugged on hair, so I moved my hands as lightly as I could, not wanting to hurt him, but at the same time I made sure to cover everything. Giving him weird highlights wasn't my goal at all.

After I was done with him, I changed gloves and turned to the mirror in order to start dyeing my own hair. I watched him with the corner of my eye looking over the box of my dye and he said the word Regalia under his breath.

"So... um," he muttered, setting the box aside and pulling Omen onto his lap. "I saw a dream last night..." he went on. My eyes moved on the mirror and settled on him.

"Do you want to tell me what it was about?" I asked softly, finishing the top part of my head.

"I was at the zoo," he started, not looking up at me, but rather focusing on where his fingers were disappearing in Omen's fluffy fur. "Well, I wasn't at the zoo... I was in an enclosure."

"In?" I echoed, shedding another glance at his direction.

"There were no bars around it... I just knew I couldn't leave. And I wasn't tied to anything either. There was a... a metal collar around my neck, but it was not attached to any chain or rope or anything. It just sat there heavy and cold against my skin," he explained. I squirted some more dye on my palm and waited for him to go on. "There were some people watching me, but no one seemed to want to help me... actually no, they were all... they were all smiling."

I felt a chill go done my spine and looked down as I massaged the dye onto my scalp, refusing to look at Daniel or at myself in the mirror as he spoke. I didn't want him to misjudge any kind of emotion that ended up being on my face.

"At some point, I felt something crawl on my skin. Spiders. Hundreds of spiders were climbing up my legs and arms and they..." he stopped, and I couldn't keep my head down any longer. I looked at him and saw him staring at me. "I remember feeling them travelling up my neck, going under my collar and over my skin and then they – they got in my mouth."

My eyebrows flew up, horrified at the thought and the image that formed in my mind. I didn't hate spiders but having hundreds of them crawl on my skin and then get in my mouth wasn't something I was exactly keen on.

"I tried spitting them out, but there were just too many and I could feel them crawling in my throat and I couldn't breathe... and then I woke up," he finished and shook his head. "I can still feel them in my throat," he added with a small voice.

I took a moment to process the dream he had described to me and then my eyes focused back on his. He hadn't taken his gaze from mine, waiting for a response, a comment or maybe an analysis. I wasn't sure what to say, but then I settled for the safest option. I need to make it clear to him that I am here to listen to him.

"That sounds awful. Do you often see dreams like that?"

He bit his lower lip and his eyes for a second seemed glazed as he was probably thinking through my question. His hands that were on Omen's fur had settled, not moving and causing the kitten to protest by nudging him with the top of her head.

"I guess. I see a lot of dreams, but the zoo and the spiders were kind of new..." he muttered. I nodded sceptically and licked my lips before answering.

"Well, you could have seen the zoo because you have been kind of locked up in here. I mean, you can leave, you just haven't in a while and I don't know, maybe that's how your mind translated your current situation...?" I said, slightly regretting the words I uttered. He wasn't a prisoner here. "Or it could also mean nothing," I added and watching the curiosity in his eyes, as he waited for me to elaborate. "Maybe you saw a video game with spiders or zoos or something and your brain just mixed everything up."

"I guess that makes some sense... I did watch a video game where cockroaches were crawling over the player's body..."

My face contorted at that. Spiders were one thing, but cockroaches pushed even my limits. I shiver went down my spine. Living on my own since I was about sixteen, I had been faced with my fair share of cockroaches, and I had actually killed plenty, but that didn't make seeing them any less skin-crawling.

"What kind of twisted developer makes a game where cockroaches are crawling over the player's skin?" I asked roughly. Daniel let out a soft chuckle.

"It helps with the disgust factor... and it was an indie game, so a lot of developers try to creep people out," he replied, his hands once against moving on Omen.

"Indie?" I echoed and turned to the mirror again to check whether my hair was fine. Colour seemed to have gotten to everything. Now all I had to do was wait.

"It stands for independent, so while some horror games are made by large game companies, an indie horror game is mostly created by an individual or a small group of people without a lot of money. Some of them actually end up better because it allows for more creativity to seep in them," he explained. I nodded and looked at the time on my phone.

"We should rinse off your hair..." I told him and instructed him then to kneel by the shower so I could wash it off.

He then waited until after I rinsed off mine, letting his own hair dry off a bit too. While the deep-purple colour was going down the drain of the shower I managed to see Danny stare at the mirror while his hand was going through his dark strands of hair. While his hair was wet, and his curls were as intense I could see clearly why he had wanted to cut it. It almost reached down to his jaw and it was really messy. Part of my couldn't help but think that the month he had been living here had made it hard for him to style it, but something in his demeanour told me that he never really cared too much about his hair. He was partially looking as if it disgusted him.

"Okay, so, do you want to be the one to do the honours?" I asked him, rubbing my hair in a towel that I decided to leave on around my neck. He looked at me confused. "Do you want to cut it yourself?" I explained and moved next to him. My eyes moved on the mirror until there were settled on his frame. For a second his head was turned to me before he also moved and looked at me through my reflection in the mirror.

"I'm afraid I will screw it up..." he said under his breath. I shrugged.

"Just cut a little and I can take over whenever you want me too," I replied softly. He nodded.

I went to sit up on the washing machine as he reached out and took the pair of scissors that were in the bag I had gotten. He examined them for a second and then looked at himself in the mirror. His right hand reached up and grabbed the strands that were falling in front of his eyes. Hesitation was clear in his features and he took a deep breath.

For a couple of moment, all that could be heard inside the bathroom was the sounds the scissors made as he cut more and more hair. The length he had settled on was just under his eye, probably knowing that with the curls it would get shorter. That hesitation I had seen in his gaze had completely vanished, something darker and more confident lingering now.

"You're left-handed?" I muttered at some point, noticing how he was holding onto the scissors with his left hand. He frowned for a moment and stopped cutting.

"I can use both hands equally..."

"So, ambidextrous," I noted and gave a small nod. His right hand went on the back of his hand and disappeared in his hair that was starting to dry.

"Could you do the back? I'm afraid I'll completely mess that up," he said and softly bit his lower lip.

"Sure," I replied and jumped off the washing machine.

Omen who had been sitting next to me also stood up and she jumped to the counter, stopping in front of Daniel and meowing up at him. A smile danced on his face and he reacted to pet him. I shook my head softly. She was such a needy little furball.

"How short do you want me to cut it?" I asked, reaching over and taking the pair of scissors from his hand. I lowered his gaze for a moment sceptically and then looked at me through the mirror.

"As short as yours... or well, as short as you can get it with the scissors. I hate it being long..." he said with something that took me a moment to identify in his voice. Was that rage?

Hearing something as primal as rage in his voice felt so foreign. It was something I hadn't really experienced in the time I had spent with him. I had seen him fired up due to a video, but this was different. It felt personal.

The mumble that left his lips pulled me out of my thoughts and I stopped cutting. My eyes moved to him and I saw him shrivel. I moved to his left, not putting down the scissor or letting my gaze move from him.

"Don't say sorry," I told him, my voice soft but firm. "Don't apologize for feeling anger. Don't apologize for feeling anything." His green eyes moved up at me, so small and sad.

"But it's not okay to outburst like that..." he said under his breath. My eyebrows came together to a frown.

"Who described that as an outburst?" I asked a hint of amusement in my tone. "Look, it's okay to be angry with a situation. It's okay to be frustrated and sick and disgusted at something you've gone through. Just don't feel that way about yourself. And don't get violent. Not with anyone else and definitely not with yourself."

He stared at me for a moment, appreciation for what I had said clear in his features and then he lowered his eyes down to Omen. With each day she spent with us the healthier she seemed. Her grey fur was almost glowing now and her personality was getting more and more distinct.

As Danny didn't respond to me, I smacked my lips and went back to cutting the hair on the back of his head. It took me about ten more minutes until I felt like I had done a good job. I washed my hands on the sink to get rid of the small pieces of hair and turn to look at him. He wore a hazy smile on his lips as his eyes examined his new hairstyle and colour. It was almost completely dry and after helping me clean up the bathroom we both went and sat by the table.

I stretched my arms upward and just then my phone went off with an alarm. I turned and shut it off, being reminded of the appointment I had today. I slowly stood up.

"I have to go. I am getting my new tattoo today, but I think I'll be back in like four hours," I told him.

"New tattoo? Oh, the galaxy?" he replied.

I hummed in agreement and put on my shoes. Before going out, I saw Danny open up my laptop and I smiled to myself, just before closing the door.