Purple AF
MAX
"So if I reroute the power distribution through the secondary circuit instead of—" I pause mid-sentence, my hands freezing over a particularly stubborn capacitor. "Wait. That would create a feedback loop. Blast."
Nope. Not thinking about Leo right now. Leo and his stupid perfect face and his stupid logical objections to my perfectly logical plan.
I'm in the middle of testing the servo motor's torque when JP appears in my doorway. I don't notice at first, too focused on whether the motor's grinding noise is normal or catastrophic, but then I catch movement in my peripheral vision.
"Oh, hey." I glance up. "Edgar's being difficult again. I think the cooling system is—"
But JP's not really listening. He's wandered into my room, which isn't unusual, except he's sort of…
drifting. Touching Edgar's detached arm.
Picking up a spare circuit board. Setting it down.
His fingers trace the edge of my desk. I watch him for a moment.
JP doesn't drift. JP operates on schedules and systems and color-coded calendars.
JP has never touched one of my projects without first asking if it was structurally sound.
"So, uh." I set down the motor carefully. "What's up?"
"Nothing." JP's voice is flat. He's staring at a half-assembled leg joint like it holds the secrets of the universe. "Just… nothing."
That's definitely not nothing. That's something wearing a "nothing" disguise and doing a terrible job of it.
I could push. Ask what's wrong. Demand answers like I'm debugging faulty code.
But JP's not a robot, and people don't respond well to "please provide detailed error logs of your emotional state. "
So instead, I lean back in my chair and announce, "I need to go get hair dye. Want to come?"
JP's head snaps up. "What?"
"Hair dye." I run a hand through my blue hair, which is definitely looking more teal-and-blonde-roots than blue lately. "My roots are tragic. I look like a reverse skunk. It's time."
For a second, JP stares at me. Then his jaw unclenches. His shoulders drop half an inch. Not quite a smile, but the set of his mouth changes. "Yeah. Okay."
"Excellent." I stand up, stepping carefully over Edgar's torso. "Let me grab my wallet."
JP's car is, as always, immaculately clean when I slide into the passenger seat. You could perform surgery in here. I once found a three-week-old resistor in my jacket pocket; JP probably irons his floor mats.
The Dye Hard is a funky little beauty supply store, its walls covered in murals of people with rainbow hair. Inside, the smell hits immediately; chemicals and something sharper underneath, the specific bite of hair dye that makes my nose itch the second I walk in.
"Max!" The girl behind the counter, Jojo, according to her name tag, waves enthusiastically. Her hair is neon yellow, so bright it practically glows under the fluorescent lights. "Back already?"
I don't actually recognize her, but she seems nice, and I don't want to be rude to nice people. "Roots wait for no one." I spread my hands dramatically. "Also, I'm pretty sure my hair is having an identity crisis."
"Let me guess." Jojo taps her chin thoughtfully. "Arctic Blue again? Or are we going rogue?"
"Arctic Blue. I'm a man of consistency." I gesture to JP.
"But my friend here might be going rogue.
" JP looks mildly terrified, which is fair.
He's probably never been in a place like this.
The walls are covered in posters of people with purple mohawks, pink undercuts, and styles that definitely violate several laws of physics.
"Oooh." Jojo's eyes light up. "First time?"
"Is it that obvious?" JP asks.
"Little bit." She grins. "But don't worry, we'll take care of you. What are you thinking? Full color? Highlights? Just the tips?"
JP opens his mouth, closes it, then looks at me helplessly. "He's thinking purple," I say, because someone needs to make an executive decision. "Definitely purple."
"Yes!" Jojo claps her hands together. "Okay, I have opinions about purples. Come with me." She leads us down an aisle packed with boxes of hair dye in every color imaginable. The purple section takes up an entire shelf, and I watch as Jojo grabs a step stool from the end of the aisle.
"Short person problem," she says cheerfully, dragging the stool over and climbing up to reach the top shelf. "My friends joke that I need a tracking device so they don't lose me in crowds."
"I get that," JP says. "The… needing tall friends part."
"Right?" Jojo pulls down a few boxes, studying them critically. "Tall people are essential for grocery shopping. And concerts. And literally any public gathering."
"I have the best tall friend on the planet," I say, and immediately my brain supplies images of Leo.
Leo, reaching up to grab books from high shelves in the library.
Leo, standing up straight when he's excited about physics, forgetting to hunch.
Leo's hands when he gestures, long fingers tracing equations in the air—
"These are my favorites." Jojo's voice snaps me back to reality. She's holding up several boxes, pointing to each one. "We've got Purple Fury, Deadly Nightshade, Violet Vixen, and Purple AF."
JP's eyebrows go up. "Purple AF?"
"Purple as—" Jojo grins. "Yeah. It's purple. Extremely purple. Aggressively purple."
"I love it," JP says, and for the first time since he wandered into my room, he smiles.
Jojo launches into an explanation of undertones and color theory, gesturing enthusiastically.
JP listens, nodding along, asking questions about how long it lasts and whether bleaching it first will damage his hair.
I should be listening too. I should be helping JP make an informed decision about chemical composition and color saturation.
But instead, my brain decides this is the perfect time to spiral.
Is my Leo plan actually a terrible idea? Maybe Leo's right. Maybe my best friend being my first sexual partner is a disaster waiting to happen. Maybe I'm being selfish, risking our friendship because I want… No. Wait. Stop.
Leo kissed me back. For a few seconds before he pulled away, Leo kissed me back. His hands were on my sides, and he made this sound, this tiny surprised sound, and that wasn't nothing. That was data. Evidence. Proof of concept.
My plan is solid. It makes sense. Leo being my first is logical.
Safe. Leo keeps talking about protecting our friendship, but what if the best way to protect it is to get this out of our systems?
We're both adults. We can handle this. I need to convince Leo that my plan will work.
That's all. Simple persuasion. I can do persuasion.
Lay out the reasons when I'm not drunk, and Leo will understand…
"Max?" I blink. Both Jojo and JP are staring at me.
"Sorry, what?"
"I asked if you think chunks or full color?" JP holds up the Purple AF box, looking uncertain.
Right. Focus. Hair dye. Not Leo's mouth or the way he says my name when he's exasperated or how he'd look with his hair messed up and… Focus!
"Chunks," I say decisively. "Definitely chunks. Your hair's getting longer on top, right? We could do purple pieces at the front and along the sides, up to about your ears. It would look amazing."
JP considers this. "You think so?"
I hold both hands up and frame his face between my fingers, one eye squinted shut like I'm directing a film. "I have a vision."
"Okay." JP nods. "I trust you." I smile. JP trusts me. Even when he's clearly going through something, even when he won't talk about it yet, he trusts me with this.
"Perfect!" Jojo rings up our purchases. "You'll need gloves, obviously, and, oh wait." She scans my loyalty card and grins. "You've got enough points for free gloves and color-stay rinse."
"What? Really?" I'm unreasonably excited about this. Free stuff is the best stuff. "That's amazing. Thank you so much!"
"No problem." Jojo bags everything up. "Have fun! And JP, send me a picture when you're done. I want to see how the Purple AF turns out."
"Will do," JP promises, and he actually sounds like he means it.