005 [Audio/Action]

[aerialassault]

[Audio]
Yo. Everyone.

[It was midday that he addressed the village as a whole, without any lead-in or hint of apology in his tone for being so goddamn casual.]

I'm lookin' for a friend of mine. He's got long hair and has a pet pig-- lemme know if you see him.

[Action]

[It was training, Souji had been insisting for the last few weeks when he set an enraged, squealing Saizou upon him without any warning. Speed training for a little game between the two of them that they both had a stake in. And, finally-- after many days of running from the grumpy little pig-- the game was on.

Cliff had 24 hours to catch Souji. Truth be told, he had no idea what the little prankster was up to.

He'll be anywhere and everywhere around town that day, searching every corner and under every table for any hint of that teasing smile...all the while remaining on high alert for anything that would attempt to dive-bomb him.]

Comments

[ahappylie]

[Saizou stirs on his cushion when Fayt sits, but goes back to sleep when he sees that it's the boy he likes and not the tall blond man he doesn't. Souji smiles and smooths Fayt's hair out, trying to get the bits that stick up to go back to their rightful place.]

Something like that. He has 24 hours to find me or I get to pick a prize and he has to do whatever I say.

[etherealblast]

24 hours...? [He looks mildly surprised when Souji reaches up to fix his hair, but doesn't shrug it off. The affectionate gesture was kinda nice....

Though good luck getting it all to stay down, Souji. Who knew why he wore his hair the way he did, but it was much longer in some places than others and hadn't been cut in two years. He lets his eyes trail to the living room window, chuckling quietly at the darkening sky.]

Looks like you might win at this rate. No wonder he's been out all day.

[ahappylie]

[Wow, his hair...won't...stay...down. What is with this? Is it magic? Souji tilts his head, now less concerned with the game and more concerned with why Fayt's hair is defying logic.]

I made sure that he'd have a difficult time of finding me. He has the endurance to run around all day, but it's a matter of whether he'll realize exactly how tricky I am and get here in time.

...Do you have a comb or scissors?

[etherealblast]

[It's a bad haircut, is what it is. Who knows why he liked it so uneven. He offers Souji a small, mischievously apologetic grin.]

Cliff's my friend, but..... I'd be putting my money on 'no'. He has a problem not realizing things right under his nose, you know?

[He pauses at the random question, looking at Souji questioningly.] Huh? In my room, why?

[ahappylie]

[Omfg, not!son, let him take care of you, why do you and not!papa both have bad haircuts.....

Souji laughed and pulled his hand back from Fayt's hair, making pretend scissors out of his fingers and motioning to the wayward bits of hair sticking out from his head.]

You need a trim.

And yes, I'm well aware that he has that problem - it's why I chose here to hide instead of anywhere else. It's the very last place he'd think to look for me.

Meanwhile, I can tidy your hair up.

[etherealblast]

My hair? [He reaches up to run a hand through the messy strands, looking even more confused. He guessed it was getting a little long, but....]

...>You want to cut it? Does it really look that bad?

[ahappylie]

Not bad - for one of those porcupine creatures people see every so often.

[He laughed again and motioned to his own bangs.]

I just cut mine recently, and Cliff-san's so it isn't getting into his face anymore. I thought it'd be about time to see if you needed one, too.

[etherealblast]

A... porcupine? [Ow that smarts.... He liked his hairstyle, thank you.]

If it really needs it that bad, I guess a trim couldn't hurt..

[ahappylie]

I can just cut back the long parts. [He pulled on one of the longer bits that was already sticking up, holding it up into the air.]

It won't take me long and I won't change your hair too much, I promise.

[etherealblast]

It's normally pretty long in places, that's the style. But.... [He tries, and fails, to remember when he last cut his hair.]

....I actually don't remember when I got it cut last.

[Before that vacation on Hyda, at least.]

[ahappylie]

Well, then find me a mirror, a bowl of water and some scissors. I think I need a break from folding paper anyway.

[Saizou grunts and gets up from his pillow, knocking over about ten little hats that had been put on his head. The pig is not amused and starts to eat one.]

See?

[etherealblast]

Seems like Saizou agrees. Be right back. [He chuckles and goes to do what Souji says. Why not, right? He didn't want to look like a mess, and if Souji was offering.... He scritches Saizou's head as he passes, making his way to his room to get what was needed.]

[ahappylie]

[Souji smiles as Fayt gives Saizou a parting pat and then snatches the hat away when the pig is distracting by the affection. Eating paper wasn't something a pig should do and Souji picked all the hats up and put them on the table before putting one back on Saizou's head.]

You look nice. Leave it on, Saizou. Don't you want to look nice like Fayt-kun?

[The pig grunted and jumped down off the sofa, crawling underneath it and leaving the hat behind.]

[etherealblast]

[It won't take long for Fayt to grab what he needs-- The mirror he had was small and mostly used for other projects, but it'd do in a pinch. He stops to grab a bowl and fill it with water on the way back, and after a second's though, grabs a towel as well and carefully carries it all back over.] Will this work?

[ahappylie]

That should work just fine.

[He stood up and moved the papercrafts off the couch entirely, clearing a space on the table for the bowl and towel. Then he held a hand out for the scissors.]

Just hold the mirror and let me know how I should cut, hm?

[etherealblast]

Sure thing. [He settled on the couch, wondering if that's where Souji wanted him. Or would it be easier if he sat on the ground?] Here?

[ahappylie]

Yes, that's fine.

[Souji rose up onto his knees and then reached over, dipping his fingers in the water. It didn't take him long to start dampening Fayt's hair with careful movements of his hands through the boy's hair and then he started taking the longest strands and, by threading his fingers through, separated out strands to cut.]

Just how short would you like it? Or would you rather it stay longer?

[etherealblast]

It's usually a little long in places, especially around the bangs, since I sweep them to the side. [He demonstrates with his fingers, tugging lightly on the hair that's normally a little longer than the rest to point it out.]

It's probably gotten a bit shaggy in the back.

[ahappylie]

So just a quick trim up to clean up the back and to even out your bangs?

[He demonstrates by turning Fayt's head gently to the side and holding his fingers an inch or so off the back of his scalp to show where he'd cut to.]

[etherealblast]

That'd work. I just don't want it to get too long it gets in the way, you know? [He liked his hairstyle, but he didn't want it flying all over the place and becoming an inconvenience, either.]

Do you do this kind of thing often?

[ahappylie]

Alright. [He starts trimming from the back, moving fluidly with experienced hands.]

I used to, back in Kyoto. We didn't often have the luxury of getting hairdressers to come in and even then I didn't want anyone near me or certain friends of mine with a blade. And after living here for so long, it's become a necessity since there is no real hairdresser here.

[etherealblast]

Yeah, that's true. Guess this place can be pretty weird like that, huh? [So many people brought in, and as far as he knew no one in the village cut hair for a living.

Then again, there were a lot of oddities about who this place drew in.] This place never seems to draw in a lot of average professionals, does it?

[ahappylie]

A hairdresser has less worth to a scientist than a mage or a warrior, don't you think?

[He snipped away casually, as if he didn't just imply that everyone here was some sort of creepy experiment.]

There have been people who have tried before, but it's never seemed to take off. Two years ago, and a year before that, I believe.

[etherealblast]

Maybe. It really depends on their goals and the quality of the results they want. Keeping the village in a functional order has it's uses, too, but they do seem to value combat ability over anything else here. [Far be it from Fayt to disagree-- he knew it was creepy even from a scientific standpoint.]

Really? So there have been people?

[ahappylie]

[It always makes him wonder about the children they bring here, but then he's noticed that few of the children are ever simply "children." They have some sort of story to them - always. He snips away, cleaning up as he goes and putting the hair cuttings into a small pile on top of a piece of paper.]

For a short time, yes, there were people advertising their skills, but it was rare that they stayed for long after that.