Page 24 of Taurus's Quest
“Which is why part two of our quest involves getting a special rock away from some bad people so we can use it to complete the machine.”
“One, I am not going on a quest, and two, a rock?” She shook her head. “A nuke would be the only thing that might break up this thing, but even then, I doubt there’s enough time to get countries organized enough to do anything.”
His annoyance had him snapping, “If you think everything is so hopeless, then why haven’t you given up?”
“Because I wanted to be wrong.” Her soft reply turned her lips down.
“Well, you’re not, and because you were smart enough to discover the danger, now we can do something about it.”
“You really believe we can make a difference?”
“We’ve stopped every other threat to Earth, including asteroids, in the past.”
“Why not use the same method with this one, then? Why do you need me?”
“Because this one is different. Our Astraeus can’t see it. Now, are you going to stop whining and arguing and help me?”
She stared long and hard at him. “You’d be a lot easier to take seriously without that hideous fuzz on your face.”
“My beard?” He grabbed it. “What’s wrong with it? It took me months to grow.”
“It’s frizzy and hideous. Like seriously, have you ever even combed it?”
“Who combs a beard?”
She huffed. “That explains a lot about that scratchy mess.”
He almost asked how she knew it scratched, only to remember the kiss, which reminded him of what Zora said about beard burn.
“If you don’t like it, then shave it,” he tossed as a dare.
“I would if I had a razor.”
Before either of them could blink, lo and behold, on the table beside a chair appeared a shaving set.
Her lips curved. “All right, big guy, you asked for it.”
“Wait, you’re seriously going to shave it off?”
“You said if I didn’t like it I could.”
“But…”
“I can’t work with a man carrying around a bird’s nest on his face.”
“Are you saying you’ll help if it’s gone?”
“Might as well. It’s that or get drunk and wait for the world to end. I’ve never liked drinking, so…”
Hence why Taurus found himself in her bathroom, sitting on the toilet while she lathered his face. He held still as she applied the blade to his flesh, rinsing between swipes. When she finished and patted his face with a damp towel, she murmured, “Well, well. Seems there was a handsome man hiding behind all that hideous hair.”
Her mention of handsome did much to restore his mood. Sure, he’d liked the beard, but her admiration? He liked that a whole lot better. Plus, next time he kissed her, she’d have nothing to complain about.
Wait, when had he decided to do that again?
“So what’s our first move, oh mighty savior of the world?” she quipped as they exited the bathroom.
“We need to find the lost Labyrinth in Greek legends.”
