Destiny groans as she drags a brush through her knotted curls, snarling at her reflection whenever she gets a particularly bad snag. As she keeps brushing, she becomes more and more frustrated. Her hair is a mess, to put it simply. With her curls brushed out, it's exploded into a mess of fuzz and furthermore, it's gotten so long that unless she washes her hair and lets it go natural, it just looks like a triangle.

She curses her upbringing yet again and she reverts back to using her claws as a brush. Nobody taught her how to care for her hair until she was fifteen—thanks, April—and even then, Destiny is rather hopeless when it comes to beauty. Anything above brushing her teeth, showering, and preening her feathers makes her feel like a pampered poodle.

"Or a Pomeranian," she mutters, grabbing at her fluffy hair again.

"Des? You almost done?" Leonardo's voice reaches her from outside the bathroom.

She turns and pulls the door open, a pout forming on her lips as soon as she sees her boyfriend. Leonardo looks her over, lingering on her hair, and she holds up a finger before he can say anything.

"You don't have any secret knowledge about hair, right?" she asks, a little too hopeful. Leonardo arches an eye-ridge and motions to his bare head. She groans. "That was a long shot."

"Have you asked Sarina?" he suggests.

"No..." She crosses her arms over her chest. "But she was bald until a few months ago and her hair is still way shorter than mine."

He shrugs. "Worth a shot, right?" As she stops to think, she inches his way into the bathroom and nudges her out. "And I love you but this is urgent, so sorry!"

She harrumphs at the door as he closes it. She heads into the living room, where she finds Sarina reading a magazine on the couch, and Destiny wastes no time in bringing attention to herself.

"Sarina, do you know anything about hair?" she asks, dragging the magazine down and away from her friend's eyes.

Sarina blinks as her eyes flash. "Of course. I know that hair is made of keratin, that it is the fastest growing tissue in the human body alongside bone marrow, that it can expand up to 30% its length when wet—"

"No, no, not like that," Destiny says. "Do you know hair care? Like styling?"

Again, Sarina blinks. "Oh..." She laughs a little. "Sorry, I got carried away." She sets her magazine down and shifts in place as she reaches to toy with her chin-length white hair. "My hair is short enough that brushing it does the trick, so I do not think I am much help to you."

Destiny takes a seat next to her and heaves a sigh. "Great."

"Why so upset? Your hair has never bothered you this much before, has it?"

"No, but..." She bites her lip. "Y'know, we're turning eighteen in a week or two, and when we turned seventeen we had a party and stuff, but I kinda want to look nicer for the eighteenth because we'll be, like, adults. I feel like I'm still the same raggedy Destiny that I was before."

Sarina nods. "It will also be a monumental day because it is the eighteenth day of the eighth month...and we will be eighteen." Her eyes flash and she giggles. "Numbers are so funny."

"You understand my pain, though?"

"Of course," she says. After another second, she gasps. "Oh, how about a haircut?"

Destiny frowns. "My haircuts always look terrible."

"Because you do them yourself with kitchen scissors," Sarina chides, making the wolf-raven's wings puff up defensively. "Taylor told me recently that her aunt does hairdressing for a living and she's shown her some tricks of the trade over the years. How about we give her a call?"

"If it fixes this," she says with a motion to herself, "then I'm in."

Sarina takes her phone out of her pocket and dials.

----------

When Sarina and Destiny get to Taylor's house, Annalise and April are already there. Taylor leads the girls down to her aunt's mini studio, where she already has the needed materials set up, a chair at the ready.

"Is your aunt okay with this?" Destiny asks, looking around with squinted eyes.

Taylor nods. "Sí. She gave me permission."

"And is she not here?" Sarina asks.

"Nah, she went out shopping with Tio Hector. We've got the house to ourselves for at least an hour or two." She grins and rubs her hands together. "So, Destiny, what are we doing today?"

Destiny frowns a little. "I don't like that look..." Taylor arches an eyebrow expectantly and the wolf-raven huffs. "Just fix...this."

"Do I get creative freedom?"

"If I come out looking better than I do now, then sure."

"Perfecto."

Taylor gets Destiny to sit down before she gets to work. Sarina, April, and Annalise settle down on the nearest couch, half-focused on the haircut in progress and half-focused on the TV.

"Should I get a trim?" Sarina asks, again combing her fingers through her hair.

April purses her lips in thought as Annalise gets closer, reaching out to toy with the white strands. "Maybe just a tidy up," April suggests.

"Okay, I shall once Destiny is finished." Sarina's eyes flash and she perks up. "Oh, what if we practice styling each other's hair?"

Annalise fiddles with her fingers. "I...I've always wanted to try one of those crown braid styles..."

"You would look so cute like that!" April agrees.

From the styling chair, Taylor pipes up, "I have hair dye if anyone wants." She adds, "Sarina, I'm really curious how white hair works with dye."

"Do you have blue?"

"I have all the blue."

Destiny huffs a little. "This is officially the girliest thing I've ever done."

----------

A while later, when Casey Jones comes up to the house to pick up April and Annalise, he's greeted by five girls with varying hairstyles. Destiny's hair has been cut just above her shoulders and thanks to the layers in her curls, her hair looks healthy and full.

Sarina's hair has been trimmed a little, just enough to clean it up, and she has a few blue highlights accenting her white hair. One of the streaks imitates the black one in Destiny's hair. Annalise has part of her hair braided around the back of her head, some strands left loose around her face. April also has a braid, one that's done to the side so that it hangs toward her collarbone. Taylor curled her hair so it falls in large, bouncy, red and black coifs around her shoulders.

"Hola, Jones," she says with a smile.

"Hey, Tay," he returns. "Just here to pick up April and Annalise."

Destiny, in a better mood, saunters over to the door. "You sure you aren't here for a haircut?" she asks with a fanged smirk.

Casey's face pales. "What?"

April gasps. "We could finally get rid of that mullet!"

"CUT THE MULLET!" Annalise crows. "CUT. THE. MULLET!"

Casey grips his dark hair and backs up. "Stay away from me and my mullet, you animals! Casey Jones doesn't play like that!"

The girls burst out laughing as he races back to his car and jumps in, accidentally honking the horn in his hurry. April and Annalise thank Taylor for having them over and hurry out, their laughter ringing out even once they climb into the car.

Taylor turns back to Sarina and Destiny. "If you guys need your hair cut again, just come by, okay? I'll take care of you."

"Thanks a lot, Taylor," Destiny says. She reaches to her hair, tugging at the curls a little. "I didn't realize how nice a good haircut is."

"Now that I have hair, I intend to take good care of it," Sarina says. She glances at the hallway mirror and her eyes flash. "I do love the colour."

"Happy to help, mis amigas," she says with a wink. "See you soon?"

"Annalise is already planning a Marvel movie marathon," Destiny says as she slips on her shoes and heads out the door. She laughs. "We're trapped now."

"Thank you again!" Sarina calls.

They hurry back to the lair and Taylor heads up to her room. She needs to clean Bindo's aquarium, she remembers.