Vision walked to Clair's place after confronting his brother.
She smiled brightly as soon as she saw him at the door, but the smile wavered, and she reached out, brushing her fingers along his cheek.
"Is this glitter?" she asked in confusion, and Vision groaned, leaning against the doorpost.
"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered.
"It's not from some girl, right?" she asked, glaring at him.
He stared back at her, looking annoyed. The silence stretched between them as Clair's glare slowly weakened.
"Forget it," she mumbled, pouting and looking down.
Vision ran his fingers under her chin. Her eyelids fluttered open as she met his gaze.
"Can I come in now?" he asked in a testy tone.
Clair folded her arms but stepped aside, inviting him in.
He sat on a stool at the kitchen counter, and Clair took a seat beside him.
"Do you know anything about cutting hair?" he asked suddenly.
Clair was thrown off by his question, so her reply came out delayed.
"Yeah... I don't do it often, but I know how."
He ran his fingers through his long silver hair and frowned down at the traces of glitter.
"Can you cut my hair to just above my shoulders?"
Clair gasped and debated refusing.
"Fine," she said, defeated, "Bring that stool to the bathroom, and we'll get started."
She walked away first, so he followed her with the chair in his arms.
After he sat down, she pulled out scissors, a comb, a spray bottle, hair ties, and a brush from her closet. She placed them on the vanity counter and got to work, parting his hair and sectioning it off with the rubber bands.
"Your hair is so lovely, why are you cutting it?" she asked, while dampening his hair and then moisturizing his scalp.
"It's become a hassle," he remarked bluntly. As she combed through one of the sections, glitter sprinkled down to the floor.
His hair was slightly damp and smelled fragrant, like it had just been washed.
"Looks like your mistress got glitter everywhere," she noted sarcastically, while carefully holding the section of his hair up and slowly cutting through it at an angle.
Vision let out a soft laugh,
"There's no mistress," he replied in a playful tone.
"Then what happened?" Clair questioned, continuing to trim and watching sadly as his beautiful locks of hair fell to the floor.
Vision was quiet for a few moments before saying,
"My brother pranked me."
"... With glitter?" Clair muttered, confused.
"Yeah," Vision's response was short.
She tried to resist, but a few chuckles slipped out.
"It's not funny," Vision grumbled, which made her laugh out loud.
After she finished, Vision looked over himself in the mirror.
Clair gathered up his hair, neatly tying it together with a ribbon.
"Can I keep this?" She asked, clutching the bundle of hair against her chest.
He gave her a confused look and shook his head before turning back to the mirror.
"Sure."
Her cheeks warmed, and she carried it off to her room, placing it on her desk.
His discarded hair was almost four feet long, the ends curled slightly, and it shimmered in the light.
"What do you want it for?" Vision asked, suddenly, behind her, hugging her waist.
Clair jolted in surprise.
"You scared me," she complained.
Vision chuckled in response.
"You did a good job," he said, nuzzling his cheek against hers.
"I'm glad you like it," Clair replied stiffly, growing nervous as their closeness persisted.
He pecked her cheek, so Clair closed her eyes, trying to steady her mind.
"Let's go out for lunch together," he offered.
Clair pouted; she couldn't think of food right now. Not with him pressed against her and his breath on her neck.
"Sounds good."
Her voice cracked slightly when she replied, so she covered her face in embarrassment. Vision let her go and left the room. While she was alone, she took deep breaths to calm down and clear her head of all dirty thoughts.
Vision was waiting for her near the front door, staring out the window. She had to tap his shoulder to get his attention, and as soon as she had it, he sent her a heart piercing smile and kissed her cheek.
"Come on, I haven't eaten all day," he said, taking her hand, leading the way out the door.
After they made it to the restaurant and were seated, Clair noticed Aura and Fenix sitting at a table very far away.
"Oh my god," she muttered, then gasped, covering her mouth.
"What is it?" Vision asked, following her line of sight and frowning when he saw Fenix.
Clair pulled out her phone and began texting vigorously. Vision patiently watched her for a while.
"Who are you messaging?" Vision asked.
"Oh! Tinka, she'll lose her mind if I tell her..." her voice trailed off and she looked up at Vision's unamused face.
Then she quickly put her phone away.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, hanging her head in shame.
"... I'm not upset," Vision replied.
Clair tried to trace his face for a hint of deception but then the server arrived and took their orders.
As soon as they were alone again, Clair whispered,
"Do you think they'll let us sit with them?"
Vision cut his eyes at her and frowned.
"Don't push it," he warned.
She did a lip-zipping gesture, and his expression softened.
"You're so silly," he remarked with a laugh in his voice.
Clair relaxed then and sighed with relief.
Coincidentally, they finished eating and left the restaurant around the same time as Aura and Fenix.
Aura pushed back her social anxiety and waved with a smile,
"Hey Vision!"
His stomach twisted but he couldn't ignore her, so he waved back.
Clair was starstruck as the couple approached her and Vision.
"Oh, you're on a date too?" Aura commented, "I'm Vision's friend Aura, it's nice to meet you," she greeted sweetly.
"H-hi, I'm Clair," Clair muttered shyly, replying to Aura, but her gaze drifted over to Fenix.
Vision's jaw tightened.
"It's so great that you have a girlfriend now," Fenix noted while putting his arm over Aura's shoulder, pulling her in close, and showing off a picture-perfect smile.
Clair couldn't look away.
"Yeah, she's the highlight of my day," Vision admitted. His words broke Clair from her trance, but when she looked at her boyfriend, he turned away from her with a scowl on his face.
"You cut your hair... Do you like it?" Aura asked, scanning over all the details of Vision's new hairstyle. His scowl disappeared, and he quietly replied,
"Yeah, I like it."
Aura's expression softened.
"I like it too."
"It was really nice meeting you! I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!" Clair stated politely, while bowing her head to hide her flustered face.
"You too," Fenix replied.
"Bye!" Aura added as they strolled off.
Fenix pecked her lips once they were out of earshot, and Aura reprimanded him out of embarrassment, lightly punching his chest. He laughed, going in for another kiss that lingered longer this time.
"They're... such a cute couple," Clair squealed.
Vision huffed and rolled his eyes, but he secretly felt relieved; Clair wasn't lying when she said she just admired Fenix.
After Vision took her home, they stood in front of each other awkwardly.
"... Well, good night," Vision said, breaking the silence and moving to leave. Clair reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt to stop him.
"Wait, aren't you forgetting something?" Clair asked, puckering her lips, closing her eyes, and waiting in anticipation.
Her eyes snapped back open when she heard him laugh.
"Not in the mood," he retorted while pulling away from her grasp and flying home.
Back at his place in his room, Vision noticed the LoveNote glowing faintly, so he opened it to see Clair's message:
"Why did you leave like that? No kiss!? What did I do?"
Beside her message was a doodle of a girl crying and a broken heart.
He chuckled slightly before retrieving his pen and writing a reply,
"You were so distracted by Fenix, you didn't even ask how the meeting went or when I'll be leaving. Must mean you don't care."
Clair's reply came back quickly in messily scrawled handwriting,
"You're right! I'm so so so SO SORRY!" Along with multiple crying, sad faces.
Vision looked at the page silently, and when he didn't reply, Clair began writing again,
"When will you be leaving?" Vision scoffed and shut the book, ignoring the rest of her incoming messages.
Then he went to bed.
Clair woke him up the next morning, banging on his door.
He was grumpy when he opened it, but when he looked down and saw her sad face, that all went away.
"When are you leaving?" she asked hoarsely.
He sighed and replied,
"In two days."
Clair hung her head.
"I'm sorry," she whimpered. The remorse was clear in her voice.
Vision lifted his hand to rub her cheek.
"I'm not upset anymore," he assured, his gaze drifting down to her lips. "Do you want to come in?"
It was too early for him to overthink or be upset, but there was a primal urge stirring through his groggy body.
"I'm in the mood now," he added sweetly.
Clair smiled in relief, leapt toward him, and pressed a kiss to his lips.
Vision hugged her waist, returned the kiss, and shut the door behind them.