Disclaimer : Characters and situations are all from my imagination.
Warnings : Sex and love between women, drug use and a touch of non-vanilla type sexual shenanigans.
Feedback : Constructive criticism and feedback, both welcomed at geonncannon@gmail.com
Copyright © 2012 Geonn Cannon
Rachel was still in bed when Alex got out of the shower, but she was entrenched in her nest. Her legs were crossed under the blanket with her laptop resting on her thighs. The newspaper was dismantled and spread across Alex's side of the bed, and a plate with Rachel's breakfast sat amid the articles. Since Rachel had to have gotten up to fix her food, Alex decided the proper term was that she was back in bed. She looked up when the bathroom door opened and began gathering the newspaper to clear Alex's side of the bed.
"Hey. You want to lie back down?"
"That's okay. Don't dismantle your nest." She hooked a finger over her shoulder. "Shower's free if you want it."
"Thanks." She typed one more thing and put her laptop aside. She had slept in one of Alex's fire department T-shirts, and she tugged the hem down over her thighs as she left the bed and walked on the balls of her feet as she followed Alex back into the bathroom. Alex had wrapped a towel around her torso and Rachel ran her hands over Alex's shoulders and up into her hair before tickling her neck and undressing next to the shower.
"You're getting shaggy, my sweet."
Alex looked at her reflection. Her bangs completely covered her forehead, twisting into separate strands above her eyebrows. It feathered around her ears and rested against her neck. She ran her fingers through it as the water started again and Rachel ducked around the curtain. Sally, the volunteer firefighter with the department, only had hair a little bit longer than this and she had to braid it when she went on a call.
She wet her toothbrush under the faucet. "Maybe I'll head down to the barber shop and get a trim."
"Okay." Rachel's voice echoed off the tile of the shower stall. "Or I could cut it for you."
Alex sighed and began brushing her teeth. "You're not giving up on that, are ya?"
Rachel's laugh was musical to begin with, but combined with the sound of falling water and the acoustics of the bathroom, it became something almost fairy-like. Alex couldn't help but smile. A few months after they became a couple, Rachel casually mentioned she knew how to cut hair. Alex wasn't as protective as her hair as some women could be, but she was terrified that if it came out wrong, Rachel would be upset or hurt.
She turned her head from side to side as she brushed her teeth. Now that it had been pointed out, she couldn't stop noticing how long her hair had gotten. They had planned a nice, quiet Sunday at home, and now she would have to take another shower to properly wash her hair, then get dressed, drive down to the barber shop, wait for her turn...
"Okay."
Rachel peeked around the shower curtain. "Okay what?"
Alex spit out the toothpaste and turned around. "Okay. You want to cut my hair, I'll give it a shot."
Rachel's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"
"You've been bugging me about it for... what, three years? Why not. If it's bad, I'll just get it fixed in town. It's been warm enough lately that it won't be horrible to have an extremely short cut."
"What if you come out of it looking like Rachel Maddow?"
Alex snickered and rinsed out her mouth. "You could do worse than Rachel Maddow."
"When do you want to do it?"
"As soon as you're done showering. We want to give the poor barber in town enough time to fix whatever atrocity you're going to visit on my head."
The echo of Rachel's mock-laughter followed Alex out of the bathroom.
#
Alex moved a stool from the kitchen and sat it in front of the French doors that led out to their deck. Ostensibly it was for the extra light from the sun, but it was also so she could watch the boats while Rachel worked. Rachel found an old sheet and wrapped it around Alex like a cape and brought a pair of shears and a comb from the bathroom. On her way back into the living room, she turned on the stereo and put the CD player on random.
Once she was in position, Rachel steadied Alex's shoulders and straightened her neck before she ran her comb through the still-damp strands.
"So what are we doing today? Just a trim, or do you want something radical?"
Alex smiled. "You're the one who has to look at it every day."
"True." She adjusted the scissors and used the comb to mark a line before she cut. "Don't worry. You're in excellent hands."
"Did you do this for a lot of people?"
"Oh, sure. Never heard a complaint."
Alex grinned. "Because your clients were all dogs?"
Rachel scoffed and slapped Alex's shoulder. "No, silly. They were people." She waited a beat. "Barbie dolls count as people."
Alex snorted.
"Hey, they're good practice. Barbie's hair doesn't grow back, so I had to make sure I did it right the first time."
"Well, don't worry." She adjusted the sheet over her lap. "I have a lot of hats, and I can wear a helmet at work. And if anyone asks, I can just say the ends caught fire and I had to slice it all off or risk my head catching fire."
Rachel snickered under her breath. "Well, as long as you have a plan."
The music continued, the hiss of Rachel's scissors adding harmony to the music. When she moved to cut Alex's bangs, Alex spread her knees apart and hooked her fingers in the belt loops of Rachel's slacks to pull her close. Rachel snickered and combed Alex's hair forward as Alex cupped Rachel's rear end.
"That's not necessary."
"Don't care."
"I might get distracted."
"Worth it."
Rachel snickered and carefully cut Alex's bangs. She squirmed out of Alex's grasp, blew her a kiss, and bent down to make sure the sides were even. She ran her fingers through Alex's hair, a slow smile spreading across her lips as she tried to ignore the fact Alex was staring at her. Once she was confident the hair was cut evenly, she pulled Alex's head forward and kissed her soundly before letting her go.
"You don't get that at the barber shop."
"Well, not every time. But Frank can get very affectionate."
Rachel backed away. "All right, you're done." She picked up a mirror and presented it like a shield. She bit the thumbnail of her other hand as she examined the finished product. "What do you think? It's a little choppy."
"It's great. It looks like, uh..." She squinted and smiled. "It looks kind of like Audrey Hepburn if she was alive now. And kind of a punk." She ran her fingers through it, messing up the straight lines so they looked more natural. "It's amazing, Rachel."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She let Rachel unclip the sheet and fold it so that her hair was captured in it like a bag. "What do I owe you?"
"Well, since you're such a faithful customer, I'll give you a discount. One kiss."
"No discounts. Quality work deserves full price." Then she took the mirror from Rachel and put it down on the table, drawing her back between her legs. Rachel blew a few stray hairs off Alex's forehead, and then tilted her head down to capture Alex's lips. "And just so you know, you will be cutting my hair from now on."
"I think I can make that happen."
Alex put her arm around Rachel's waist and grabbed her wrist with the other hand. "And thanks to the time you saved, we now we have the whole afternoon ahead of us. What do you want to do?"
"I want to think about it in bed. And if neither of us comes up with anything, then we can just lay down together in bed for a couple of hours."
"I like that plan. You go on ahead. I'll be there in a minute."
They pulled apart and Alex went into the bedroom. Rachel gathered the sheet and carried it to the deck, opening the door and letting it flap free. The hairs caught on the wind and blew out into the harbor as the ferry slowly pulled in to dock. She watched as the massive ship lined itself up and rolled toward land, then turned and went inside.
The haircut may look nice, but it didn't receive her seal of approval until she knew how it felt to run her hands through it. She was willing to do rigorous testing to find out the answer.End