A Little Colour

[Orwell Brocken]

It had been an eventful term really, Orwell had to admit that in amongst everything the boy had worked hard to ensure that he did well in his classes, and the only one he'd failed was the one he'd been kicked out of and rather than being annoyed at him for it, he had been hailed in his community for his boldness and for standing up for his beliefs, for upholding the beliefs that were instilled in him from the beginning of his education, and well, Orwell had just loved the praise. He had loved every moment of it, the questions about what his life would mean if he remained as part of the community, he was proud of himself, of his roots, of what he might achieve with his life, Orwell's community and their pride had reawakened within the teen the deepest urges to bring down capitalism with a whole new fire, with little concern for himself. However, after spending a few days with them, and the promises of important protests to come, the teen had found himself spending time with Archie, coming to Archie's house and spending the time either in his friends house or at the beach. The king of flowers had his own room at the house while he stayed, but Orwell preferred being able to sleep next to Archie, and together he loved how much fun they could have.

The currently dark red haired boy was looking forward to this day since he'd persuaded Archie that it would be a good idea for him to do, Orwell loved all the colours of his hair, and it annoyed him that he couldn't have them all at once, but he knew that this was the next best thing really. The teen knew that even if he could he would find a new colour to add to it, Orwell ran a hand through his hair as he glanced at himself in the mirror, feeling just so happy to be doing this with his best friend, and just so happy with the year they'd had together, as much as Orwell loved his community and was always thankful for it, he knew he was a better person, a better anarchist for going to it, it gave him memories and experiences that were unreplace-able or repeatable. Orwell walked into where Archie was currently with a bright expression, "You ready then," he said, moving next to him, and smiling brightly, not moving his face out of the other boy's eye line, "It's going to look amazing Archie! I'm so excited," he told him practically jumping up and down.
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[Archie Renner]

Archie bit down on his lower lip and ran a hand through his mess of soon-not-to-be blonde hair as he stared into his reflection in his bathroom mirror, trying to visualize the impending change with a knot of anticipation in is gut over what was to come. He had always admired the brightly coloured, constantly changing mess of hair on his best friend's head so it hadn't taken much convincing for Archie to dive into the deep end and finally dye hair the striking shade of electric blue he had secretly always wanted. At first he had been worried that such a big change in his appearance would draw more attention than it was worth, that it would keep him from being able to sink into a corner and pretend like he didn't exist when he returned into the air of tension in his home for the holidays. But it had only been a momentary worry, quickly overcome by excitement and happiness. Archie didn't know if Orwell intended to wash his worries of returning for the holidays away with the promise of something good, but it certainly had that effect and all Archie now felt was excitement that matched the anticipation in his belly.

He smiled widely when Orwell appeared by side, meeting the other boy's gaze and feeling entirely happy with what was about to unfold. His mum and dad had already left for work, taking the family drama that weighed his shoulders down along with them for the day which meant Archie no longer had to feel like he was treading on thin ice or walking on eggshells to keep everyone else happy. He was burden free, able to be his uncensored self for a few hours. There was nothing on earth or in the entire universe that could ruin this moment which he had admittedly been waiting for since the end of the school year. Tears of happiness and relief of being carefree for a day pricked in the corners of his eyes and threatened to fall down his cheeks. He felt so at ease with himself which was such a contrast to the way he felt the previous night and the day before. "Yeah, ready. I'm ready. It's going to look so cool." He said, blinking the tears away so they could focus at the task at hand. By the end of the day his hair was going to be the brightest shade of blue in the world and that was the only thing he knew he should be focusing on. ​

 

[Orwell Brocken]

Orwell knew that Archie would look amazing in whatever he wore, and was so looking forward to seeing him with coloured hair, as much as Orwell knew that the choice to colour ones hair, or to not was an individual decision which shouldn't be influenced or done by the pressure of others, he was glad that Archie was at least trying it and more than that, the teen with already coloured hair was so eager to get started, he couldn't wait to see the final look. Orwell had sensed something odd in Archie, a strange unhappiness which was fleeting and he sometimes forgot about, but Orwell was looking for any way to make his best friend feel better, and he was so glad to just be with him at his house in Australia. The king of flowers stood beside his friend as he stood in front of the mirror with an eager smile as he replied to Orwell's questions, the small look of unhappiness as it crossed and then disappeared from his best friend's face. Orwell wanted the world to be this great, free and equal place, and he knew that he would drop it all to just make Archie happy, his crisis of faith had been restored and he knew he didn't need to give up everything for the fight.

Orwell wrapped his arms around Archie as he stood behind him, resting his head on his best friends shoulder with a small sigh and the hint of a smile, he just loved Archie so much, and he was so pleased of everything happening, and he was so ready for his friend to do this, "Is your other friend arriving soon?" orwell knew that Archie had invited one of his other friends to help with this, and though Orwell knew he was capable, any friend of Archie's was also his friend and it meant that he was as eager to meet him, although admittedly a little nervous about it, in case he made the wrong impression on the boy, he didn't want to do that, Orwell wanted everyone in the world to get along, but realistically he knew that occasionally he wasn't the easiest person to make friends with, but for Archie given that Orwell would do anything for him, he knew he had to make his biggest effort, but first, the boy just tightened his grip on Archie and held him close, "I love you," he told him, pulling away a little and looking at Archie, "You are going to look amazing," he assured nodding his head, hoping more than anything that Archie would feel the same about it, and hopefully that he would look amazing after it.
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[Archie Renner]

Archie felt the tears prickling in his eyes eventually fade away as he relaxed into Orwell's hug. He sighed and savored the comfort from his best friend as he reaffirmed to himself that this was supposed to be a happy memory. Thinking about the stress that had weighed him down since the beginning of the holidays would defeat the purpose of a carefree day now that the weight had been temporarily lifted from his shoulders. He was supposed to be thinking about how amazing his newly dyed blue hair was going to look and how fun this day was going to be instead of thinking about how relieved he was to act like his regular, energetic and eccentric self. Archie knew he should have the right to be who he really was in his own home but unfortunately the previous reassurance he felt with his parents had changed so dramatically over the course of the year that he was overwhelmed now that he had a few hours to act like the silly teenager he was supposed to be.

The tears in his eyes threatened to appear again but Archie was lucky enough to have Orwell speak and bring him from his reverie before he needed to blink them back. "Yeah, he should be here soon." Archie answered, remembering now that he had invited Kei to help out and be part of what would be an amazing day. While Orwell was an expert at all things to do with colourful hair, Archie had proclaimed Kei as the master of maintaining hair the most vibrant shade of blue he had laid eyes on so it only made sense to leave an open invitation to him because having an extra set of expert hands to dye his hair definitely wouldn't be a bad thing. He sighed a second time when Orwell tightened the hug, wrapping his arms around Orwell's and whispering a quick "I love you too." and cuddling back into him, trying to savor the moment more if it were even possible. Archie just really wanted to move things along and begin dying his hair already so he could forget about his problems for a day and have fun alongside his best friend.
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[Kei Kanas-Arai]

There was a lot to expect from today, so Kei’s expectations were a little high. After the previous encounter with Archie, well, it helped Kei discover his sexuality pretty clear, but he still felt something for Tamsin. He did not know what it was, because it was different from what he felt with Archie. Sighing, he continued to rollerblade toward Archie’s house, after once more, dodging his mother and heading out. Rei was behind him, but managed to get sidetracked with his own little crush or something. Kei was not even sure anymore. He looked over his shoulder to see the purple haired brother head down the road, and then he was out of Kei’s vision. Kei shook his head as he gained some speed, and eventually, was at the front door. He knocked curtly, and the door opened to allow him inside. Kei took off his blades, putting them into his bag over his shoulder before bowing his head to the person that opened the door. He walked inside with his socks only, seeing as that was one of his many customs at his own house. He followed the directions to where Archie would be. He heard that someone else would be here though.

What he saw was not what Kei expected. Archie hugging this other kid, Orwell was his name, right? Well, Archie was very affectionate. Kei cleared his throat before he set his bag down. His blue hair fell in front of face before his hand moved it out of the way. The one new addition to his appearance was that he now had his nose pierced. He already had his lip ring in for a year, and now, he was satisfied with his piercings. Shame the nose one was still painful to touch. It took a while to heal, apparently. Plus, he did it himself, and managed to get it in almost professionally. Kei forced a small smile, since he was already dealing with enough on his own, “Hi, Archie, Orwell.” His English was impeccable. That was one of the only differences between him and his twin. “Thanks for inviting me,” Kei bowed before he added, “My siblings were driving me insane.” None of them could compare to Jigoku and his twin. They were basically demons.​

 

[Orwell Brocken]

Breaking away from the hug for Orwell with Archie was always difficult he just felt so comfortable in his friends presence, he felt so comfortable being so close it was as familiar as home, and he knew that no matter what happened in his life or in Archie's life that they would have each other, and this was what he felt in that hug, in the moment between them both. He was also excited to meet the other boy that was arriving at Archie's house for this occasion, Orwell was really looking forward to being able to to just dye Archie's hair, and really he was just so happy that this was all happening, that he was going to be able to experience this with Archie, to watch Archie have some fun. Orwell looked at his friend as he replied to the proclamation of love and just snuggled further into him, only finally breaking away when there was a second voice that entered the room, and Orwell who had spent enough around Archie's family to know instantly that it wasn't someone from Archie's family, so he broke away and glanced around at the boy, Kei, or something.

Orwell smiled brightly at him, the friendly smile because he loved Archie and wanted to get along with Archie's friend and he watched with a natural curiosity as the other boy bowed at them, and Orwell was a little startled by that, but just smiled at him, holding out his hand to him, "Kei right?" he asked, "It's good to meet you! How many siblings do you have?" he told him positively, with not a hint of a lie in his voice. Once those introductions were over, Orwell just walked back to Archie and then looked at his best friend, "You ready bro?" he asked looking for the indication that he was, "Where's the dye?" he asked grinning just so happy to get started one this, Orwell dyed his hair often sometimes using magic and most of the time using natural products but he was so happy that Archie was deciding to give it a try, it was going to just be amazing, he couldn't wait to see Archie's dyed hair.
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