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The Burns family household was quiet in the wake of sunrise. Ten past seven, and the kitchen was lit with the soft golden glow of the sun and pink-red streaks from the fading dawn.
Charlie, Cody, and Graham were all eating breakfast in silence whilst Kade leaned back in his chair with earphones in, already finished his egg on toast. It was a rare calm moment for the family.
It was gentle, it was peaceful, it was-
“I’m going to shave my head.”
-Completely shattered with Dani’s entrance.
Cody choked on his honey nut cheerios, Graham almost spat porridge everywhere, and Charlier dropped his spoon of muesli back into the bowl. Kade takes his earphones out and looks around to see what he’s missed, rolling his eyes when he realises it’s Dani.
Immediately, she starts pacing back and forth in the kitchen.
“I’m going to shave my head. I’m going to- No, I have to shave my head.” Dropping his face into both hands with something reminiscent of a sigh, Charlie rubs at his temples.
“Sweetheart, can you- Can you maybe not do this at breakfast?” Dani pauses in her pacing, looking at her dad with an expression of ‘no duh’.
“Well, yeah, I’m going to eat first and then I’ll do it.” Cody stares at her with wide eyes. Kade cackles so hard he falls off his chair. Graham gives her an uneasy smile.
“This came on, uh, kinda fast, Dani. Why not give it some thought? Y’know, like a week or so…?” Dani clasps both hands together and brings them down towards her brother.
“No.” Shrugging, Graham turns back to his porridge.
“I tried.” Brow furrowed, Charlie looks his daughter in the eyes, wondering if he’s just imagining that manic glimmer or if she truly has lost her marbles.
“Dani, last time you made a decision like this, you dyed your hair purple and cried for three days because it was ‘too purple’. That was easily reversible. Shaving your head will not be.”
“But Daaaaaad! This is different! I wanted purple hair because it was trendy! I want- Need to shave my head because it’s me!” Charlie stares at the bits of muesli floating around in his milk.
“Just… Think about it, okay? If you still want it tonight, then I’ll help you out.”
“YES~! You’re the best! Thanks, Dad!” Grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl, Dani takes it upstairs with her. A skip in her step and a happy tune on her lips. Kade’s cackling turns to uproarious laughter.
“O-Oh my!! Oh my gosh! Dani! With a shaved head!!!” Graham huffs a little in amusement.
“She does complain about cold ear a lot. I can’t see how this will help.” Charlie holds out a hand to each of them, trying to placate the calm.
“Now, boys. Your sister has an idea for self-expression, and at the end of the day, if she still wants it, we’ll support her, okay?”
“Obviously. I just think it’s funny how that came out of nowhere.”
“Yeah, I can’t see the idea sticking more than a few hours. This seems like another Dani-style breakdown.” And although he agrees with both of his eldest, Charlie says nothing. Brown eyes, shimmering with awe catch his attention from the side.
“Can I shave my head?” Charlie is saved from having to answer when the emergency alarm sounds.
“We’ll talk about this when you get home. Have a great day at school, I love you, bye Cody!” Ruffling his sons hair, Charlie leaps from his chair and races across to the fireman's pole down to the rescue bot’s area. Kade is well ahead of him, already having landed and shouted at Heatwave to ‘get your metal covered butt out of stasis, we need to go!’.
Graham runs for the stairs instead, hurriedly doing up his tie. He reaches ground floor just as Dani leaps through the pole hole. Luckily, Blades is there and waiting, catching her as soon as she appears.
“Stop doing that!! What if I’d still been in recharge?! What if I wasn’t here!?” Dani laughs quietly as he lets her down to the ground and they jog outside.
“Yeah, but I know you, Blades. I trust you.” The stunned, grateful expression she gets before Blades transforms makes her smile widen. Placing one hand on the side of Blades cockpit, she swings herself in, yanking on her helmet and keeping her hands on the controls.
“I trust you too. But please stop expecting me to always catch you!” They take off slowly, Blades’ rotors picking up speed a lot slower than ground vehicles wheels did. Once he’s ready, the ground gets further and further away.
“Okay, fine, I’ll stop jumping down the fire pole. Satisfied?”
“I mean! I guess? It’s a start, at least.” The conversation goes quiet as they listen to Chief Burns update them on the situation and give orders.
“Alright, we got a call in from the music shop. Apparently, Oliver was repairing a synth board when something went haywire and it ‘activated’ the other instruments in the shop - his words not mine.”
“Are we seriously fighting music? Of all things? Really?” Kade’s scoff is audible, but at this altitude, it comes through a little static-y.
“Blades and I can move in, get a visual before you reach the scene.”
“Or we can stay with the rest of you until we know what we’re up against!”
“Don’t be such a wuss, Blades. You’re the only one who can get aerial confirmation.”
“And I hate every second of it…” Muttering angrily at Heatwave’s insult, Blades does as told once Chief affirms it. As an act of defiance, he cuts radio contact until the street that the music shop is on comes into sight.
Dani just snickers at how petty he’s being.
Probably why they got along so great.
Her amusement is cut short when she witnesses the scene below.
“Uh, guys?”
“What’s happening, Dani?”
“There are electric guitars swinging off electricity cables, violins shooting bows like arrows, and an angry piano on wheels munching through a hedge.”
“... Excuse me, what?” Boulder summarises it nicely for them. Frowning, Dani squints to get a closer look at the mayhem happening below.
“That’s what I can see! I don’t know how else to describe- Shoot! Blades, up!” An electric guitar swings off one the wires, crackling with electricity and heading straight for them. Blades yelps as he dramatically increases attitude, narrowly avoiding contact.
“Dani! Are you and Blades okay?”
“Phew! Yeah, we’re okay! Watch out though, these instruments are aggressive and on the warpath!”
“Alright, thanks for the heads up. Pull back until we get there.”
“That is the best suggestion I’ve heard all day.”
“Blades, it’s only morning.”
“And yet...” He leaves the rest of the sentence unspoken, Dani snorting a laugh. Her smiles fades into a thoughtful look. Reaching out, she turns off their side of the radio so they can still listen in to the others, but they won’t be heard.
“Hey, Blades? Can I get your opinion on something?”
“I’m absolutely terrified about what you’re going to say, but yes. You may.” Leaning back in the seat, Dani stares out at the sky above.
“... What would you think if I dramatically changed my appearance?”
“Oooh!! Are we talking make-up? Dresses? Frame re-haul?!” A soft giggle escapes her, and Dani gently rests a hand on Blades’s dashboard.
“No, Blades. Nothing like that.”
“Oh…”
“And I still haven’t forgiven you for buying those dresses online for me.”
“They were cute! You’d look great in galaxy print mini-dresses and that red sequin one if you’d just try them on.” Dani rolls her eyes at the passive aggressive tone.
“Blades.”
“Dani.” She sighs, deciding to get back on topic.
“I was thinking of doing something with my hair.”
“Please don’t go purple and cry for three days again.” Groaning in embarrassment, Dani throws her hands over her face.
“Can we please forget about that! It was one time!”
“Yeah, but don’t do it again!”
“I wasn’t going to!” Blades humms under his vents suspiciously. He knows too well how impulsive Dani is and how hard the backlash of her own actions hits.
“So what were you planning?” She bites her bottom lip, rolling it back and forth with her teeth, wondering if telling Blades is the right thing to do. But, he’s her best friend. He’ll either encourage her, or stop her from making a terrible mistake.
“I was… Going to shave it. All off. Shave all my hair off.”
“Hmm… No.”
“What?!”
“Do half.” Taken aback, Dani doesn’t stomp one foot like she was going to.
“Huh?”
“Shave half of it. If you like it, you can show it off. If you don’t, you can pull some of the other side over to cover it. And don’t shave it too short for the first time. You can do that the next time round.” Dani blinks. Once. Twice. Three times.
“Huh. That’s… Pretty good advice actually.”
“Thank you!”
“When did you become a fount of hairstyle knowledge?”
“Since The Great British Bake-Off got rid of Mary Berry, Mel, and Sue. I had to find something to fill the hole in my spark, and, well, when I found a show in cupcake wars format but with haircuts, I was easily enthralled.”
“You’re so dramatic.”
“Sorry, which one of us was going to shave their whole head? Hmm? HMMM?” Laughing at the sassy response, Dani watches as flashing sirens from Chase and Heatwave approach the end of the street.
“Alright, Blades, head back in the game.”
“Roger.” He reconnects the radio, alert for any signs of danger.
“Chase, there’s a piano just around the corner from you. Heatwave, get your hose ready. I think you can wash arrow the violin bows with high pressure. Boulder, you’re probably the only one of us who can withstand a shock from those guitars.”
Dani sits back with a shining respect for her partner. She hadn’t believed beforehand that Blades had been the main tactical unit in the team, but it was easy to see from the way he steered the others around the battlefield of instruments.
Chase and Heatwave occasionally gave their input, but with an aerial view of the rescue, Blades was in his element.
“We’re going in to help, right?”
“It’s dangerous, Dani.”
“We could land somewhere else and approach from the side, right?” Sighing in resignation, Blades readjusts his course.
“Okay, okay, we’ll help. … On the condition that you show me your new haircut first.” Laughing, Dani pats the controller stick.
“It’s a promise, Blades.” Landing the next street over, Blades waits for Dani to hop out before transforming. Dani doesn’t wait. She bolts ahead, ready to help in any way she can.
But as she rounds the corner, Blades anxiously following after her, her eagerness to help sinks into disappointment.
Boulder has all of the electric guitars in his arms, Graham having attached a small device he impromptu made to negate the effect of the electricity. The violins are back to normal, spread across the street in a thin layer of Heatwave’s water. Kade was currently picking a control chip off one of them.
Chase, somehow without getting ‘bitten’, was simply sitting on top of the piano with one leg over the other in a regal, elegant pose. Chief Burns was stuffing sticks and leaves into the wheels to prevent the piano rolling around.
Dani snatches the control chip from Kade to give to Graham for analysis.
“What do you make of this?” Squinting, Graham turns it over in his hand a couple of times, using a pair of tweezers to poke and pull at different parts.
“Looks like a remote device. The structure of the circuits makes me think it’s pre-programmed with coding. The instruments weren’t attacking us directly. Or anyone! They were following the actions on this device. If we can somehow play this…”
Graham pulls one of the wires out from the control chip, linking it up to his tablet. A familiar tune fills the area and Dani laughs.
“That’s Coconut Mall! You’re telling me these instruments were just dancing? Really, really aggressively?”
“Absolutely! I’m betting these were ejected from the Synth board Oliver was trying to fix. I’ll go talk to him.” Dani steps back to let Graham go off and do his nerdy thing. In the process, she catches a glimpse of herself in a reflective window.
Humming in contemplation, she pushes half of her hair back so it lies flat against her head, as if it had been shaved down to a quarter inch. She turns a couple of times, moving her head back and forth in all angles. It looks good.
Blades comes into the reflection, giving her a thumbs up before he moves to help Chase restrain the piano whilst Chief Burns looks for the control chip.
“Dani! If you’re done posturing, help me pick up all these violins!” Rolling her eyes at Kade’s demand, she turns around and jogs over to him.
“A please wouldn’t go amiss.” Kade ignores her, piling violins into his arms and sticking the bows under his armpit. Lovely. Much more sensibly, Dani moves each violin and its accompanying bow to the pavement, propping them up against the shop front.
The clean-up takes longer than they’d like to admit, but by the time it’s done, Dani buzzes with excitement. Sure, this morning had started with a strong desire to shave her head, but now?
Now, she was 100% set on having half of it shaved.
“Alright, kids. Let’s head back home and finish breakfast. Or we could just get started on lunch at this point.” Having only had an apple for breakfast, Dani’s stomach rumbles in agreement.
She doesn’t hesitate to leap into Blades’ cockpit, and demand that he hurry back as fast as he can. Blades, thankfully, is just as desperate to get back because he has some kind of arts and crafts project that’s finished setting??? Dani doesn’t ask questions.
She’s seen some weird things come from Blades mashing together Earth and Cybertronian culture.
Arriving back at the firehouse first, Dani leaves her partner in the bots basement to race up the stairs and claim the oven. There is absolutely no way she’s letting her Dad cook his lunch first when she’s the one who missed most of breakfast.
Cheese and tomato on toast placed on the grill, she steals a chair from the kitchen to put in the middle of the bathroom, a towel underneath, and the hair/beard trimming and grooming kit on the side of the bathtub.
Okay, so Charlie might have said to wait until the end of the day, but Dani had never been more sure of anything in her life.
Racing back downstairs to fetch her grilled cheese from the oven, she’s halfway through the first slice when the rest of the family (minus Cody) arrive back home.
“Mhm, that smells good.”
“Hands off, Dad~.” Charlie laughs, holding up his hands in mock surrender.
“Don’t worry, I’m not stealing yours.” Dani waits as her dad makes his own cheese on toast, stealing glances and making sure he catches her looking. Even Graham and Kade catch onto what she’s trying to do, snickering and chuckling at the mischievous air. Eventually, Charlie just sighs, pushing his fringe back stressfully.
“You’re not going to wait the whole day, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Have you already set everything up?”
“Yup.” With a groan as he stands - old bones aching - Charlie puts his and Dani’s empty plates in the sink to soak.
“Want me to help or are you okay doing it alone?”
“I could use a little help, please.” Excitedly, Dani grabs Charlie by the wrist and practically drags him to her set up. Charlie plugs in the shaver whilst Dani brushes her hair into a side parting and pulls a spare towel over her shoulders to stop the little hairs going down her neck.
“Alright, tell me what I’m doing.”
“Okay, so, Blades came up with a great idea. Instead of shaving it all off, it’s just going to be this shorter side or the parting. And maybe not too short? I did some research and I think a number 2 shave would look best.” Charlie attaches the number 2 clippers to the shaver and switches it on, picking up a comb to brush Dani’s parting over neatly.
“No turning back, you realise.”
“No turning back! Do it, Dad.” Completely supporting his daughter and praying she doesn’t regret it, Charlie moves the shaver from the bottom to the top, going against the grain of her hair and flicking away at the point where her head curves.
“I’m not going all the way back, because I’m not sure how I’d do the neck part. Just to slightly behind the ear.”
“Yeah, that’s okay for a first time thing. I can always go to a proper hairdressers if I want the back bit done too.” Closing her eyes, Dani listens to the buzz of the shaver, her heart thumping in excitement. It clicks off after what feels like forever. Her dad brushes away stray hair, and removes the towel, placing a warm hand on her shoulder.
“Open your eyes in 3... 2… 1.” Brown eyes fly open and Dani gasps at what she sees in the handheld mirror. Her eyes water. Her lip wobbles. Slowly, she reaches up and strokes the soft, shaved part of her head.
“It’s perfect.” She flings herself around, hugging Charlie tightly as a silent thanks for his neverending support and help. Then, she races off down the stairs, swinging around the kitchen too fast for her siblings to see, and pauses at the top of the firehouse pole.
“Blades!” Heavy footsteps come closer, and she waits until she can see a glimpse of orange and white.
“Don’t you dare jump down there, Dani! Don’t you DaRE!!!” He lunges to catch her, venting in relief as she laughs. Spark pulsing in fear, Blades sets her down on the ground.
“Stop doing that!” He softens as he sees how happy she is, how she subtly keeps her right side to him so he can’t see the left. Arching an optical ridge, Blades crouches down.
“Well?” With a spin and a flourish, Dani holds both arms out, absolutely beaming.
“Ta-da! How’s it look?”
“Fantastic!!! It suits you so well, Dani! And it’s cool, really cool.” Holding up a peace sign, Dani poses a little more, just showing off her new hairstyle. She’d always been confident and brazen before, but this gave her more self-confidence. This made her feel like she could take on the world.
“Thanks for the suggestion, Blades. I think I would have really regretted getting rid of all of it.” She runs a hand over the half of her pixie cut that remained, roughing it up and directing it more to the left.
“I kinda like the punk attitude this give me.” Scoffing playfully, lades rolls his optics.
“Oh please, as if you need more of an attitude.”
“That’s what you get for encouraging me~.”
“I never said I was a good influence.” The two stare at each other before breaking into laughter, and Dani moves to put a hand on Blades’ leg. He’d done so much for her, just with simply redirecting her manic energy and impulsive decision.
“C’mon, show me your craft thing?”
“With pleasure.”