Absolutely Positive

"Do what frightens you. For if you do not, life is not worth living."

​

Over her nearly sixty-two years being alive, her hair had always been something she did not care much for. It was not that she did not like it, but rather it simply something that was tossed back into a ponytail, bun or merely shoved aside when it was shorter.

But now as she sat on a stool, her head dipped forward over the bathtub in the Vauclain house, she contemplated whether or not this was worth it. Sure she wanted her long curls gone, but Darcie had decided to give her the whole salon treatment. Not that she minded having her hair smell nice or the woman's talented fingers work out the stupid knots that appeared, but her neck was starting to hurt. Plus water had gotten into her ear, twice.

The idea had come to her as she was out in the forest beyond the city walls. Riding hard and fast upon her horse and her hair come loose, causing her to collide directly with a few tree branches. It had ended up with her having scrapes on her cheek and a bruised chin, but at least she hadn't been thrown from her horse. Death was not on her agenda for that morning. After that little incident, she realized it was about time she cut her hair again.

It had been growing for a long while now; originally it had been intended to make her look feminine. Frankly, though, no matter how long her hair was or how many dresses she wore, Sera would always be a walking wall of muscles and scars. Might as well embrace the intimidating image she had been given.

Lifting her head upwards and blinking the water out of her eye, she shook her head as a wet dog would much to the displeasure of Darcie who had just re-entered carrying a small rolled up piece of cloth that bulge in some areas.

"You're ridiculous sometimes."

"You still love me. Right?"

"The jury is still out. Now face the mirror please."

"I uh..."

"Do you want to be surprised?"

"Kinda."

"Fine, fine. Just close your eyes and I'll tell you when I'm done."​

Seraphina nodded her head and did as she was told. A soft hum escaped her as she listened to the sounds that came from behind her as Darcie settled in to begin cutting her hair. However, as she felt a gentle tug on her wet curls, Darcie paused and spoke again.

"You're positive that this is what you want to do?"

"Yes. Absolutely positive. And make it short, I want most of it gone, Darcie."

"But… Fine." ​

Sera smiled as she heard the frown in the other woman's voice, softly chuckling before grimacing as Darcie yanked at her hair a bit.

"Sorrryyyy."

"Liar."

"Shush."​

Silence fell as Darcie began her work, her hands shifting Sera's head about every so often as her scissors moved carefully. It was less of hacking and chopping the curls away and more of a stylized snipping and clipping. Sera pursed her lips as she felt Darcie pause.

"Your poor curls."

"It has to be done, Darcie."

"But your curlllssss!"

"Shut up, just keep cutting."​

A huff escaped Darcie as she continued to do as Seraphina asked, and no more words were spoken for the next couple of moments.

Sera continued with her humming as she felt her the brush and tickling of her own hair falling past her cheeks and down her back. A smile spread over her features as she reached a hand up to feel her short locks before her hand was smacked away.

"No touching! I'm not done!"

"Okay. Okay. Spirit almighty."

"If you want it to be a surprise so bad, stop trying to touch it."​

Sera raised her hands upwards in a sort of, "I understand, don't hit me again," m After wiggling her fingers for good measure, she tucked them into her lap and grinned slightly. Tapping her fingers lightly on top of each other, her mind had begun to wander. From the things she had yet to do, to the errand she had to run to pick up her purchase from Fudail to the infrastructure projects she needed to get moving on.

As Darcie began to apply a bit of shaving foam, Sera was brought out of her musings and her eyes opened a bit.

"Almost done then?"

"Just about. Now stay still, please, I don't want to accidentally cut you when I do this."
​

Straightening her head, she attempted to remain incredibly still as she felt the cool foam being applied to both sides of her head and a bit of the back too. Wrinkling her nose, she tapped her foot absently onto the floor seeing she could not shift her head for fear of being cut by the razor that Darcie used to shave the parts of her head covered in the foam. The scrape of the razor across her foam covered hair made her nose wrinkle some more as she sat as still as a large woman like herself could.

"Right, the left side is done."​

Darcie spoke after a few minutes. They had been some of the longest minutes of her life that was for sure.

Sera remained seated, listening to the sound of the other cleaning the blade before her head was tilted forward. Once more the blade came, moving carefully and slowly as her hair was removed. It was a strange feeling, both the razor and the feeling of the rest of her hair being removed. She felt lighter and freer; a wonderful feeling truly.

After a swipe from a towel, Sera's head was turned to the left as the razor glided down the right side of her head now, collecting the foam and hair. An annoyed grunt escaped her as she felt Darcie shift her ear out of the way as she moved the razor about it.

"Be careful. I don't want to lose more of my ear."

"The worst I would do is knick it, now stop squirming I'm almost done you big silly."

"I'm not a big silly…"

"What did I just say, Seraphina?"
​

Sera rolled her eye and made a locking motion on her lips before tossing away the key. She dropped her hand back into her lap and sighed, once more attempting to busy her mind with thoughts that weren't pertaining to her losing more of her ear. A smile spread across her lips as she considered the reactions of her loved ones to her sort of new sort of old hairstyle and couldn't help but chuckle to herself.

"Right. I'm done, however, let me just adjust it a little bit. It's longer than you wanted, but it looks good."

"Trusting you here, Darcie."

"At least somebody does."
​

Darcie picked up the scissors once more and trimmed what was left of her hair. Reaching over onto the counter behind her, she retrieved a bit of hair product and set to work styling the freshly trimmed locks. Nodding her head approvingly, she nudged Sera as she stepped away to wash her hands and equipment.

"You can look now."
​

Sera opened her eyes again and turned about on the stool. Blinking, she rose and studied her hair, gently touching the shaved parts before looking to her hair. Frankly, it reminded her much of a horse's mane, but she loved it nonetheless. Beaming with pride, she moved to embrace Darcie.

"Thanks, Darcie."

"You're welcome, but please stop hugging me. You're crushing me just a bit."

"Ah! Sorry, sorry."​

The large woman laughed and rubbed her neck, brushing off a bit of hair that the other had missed. She grinned brightly before moving to toss open the door.

"Alex! Come see my hair!"​

The sounds of feet going down the stairs could be heard followed by Alexander's voice.

"If I rub the shaved part, will you grant me a wish?"

"Aye! You're death wish!"​

Darcie, meanwhile, snorted gently and continued to clean up the mess in the bathroom before pausing at the sound of shouting and running steps. She glanced towards the doorway as she watched her husband rush past, clearly laughing. Followed by him, was an annoyed Sera with semi-mused hair.

"Darcie, I'm throttling your husband."

"Just don't kill him, please! I still need him!"
​

Came Darcie's call as she gently shook her head and smiled.

Seraphina was pleased by her change in hairstyle, even though what caused her to change it was a bit of an accident anyway. Changes are good after all, no matter how small.