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Chapter Text

Maintaining at least decent hair quality in the forgotten realms seemed to be impossible for those who are strangers in it. For Glenn, it was waking up with knots in his hair and almost ripping his scalp off when trying to brush it. He didn't trust the hair products many merchants shoved in his face and he was certainly not trusting the many inns that have frogs in their showers to squeeze out weird ointments. Though he just might have to, as the last of the travel pack of shampoo and conditioner ran out. 

Glenn sat at the riverbank that he and the rest of the dads camped near, looking at his reflection in the water and his mess of a mane he called hair. Glenn had wrapped a towel over his shoulders and beside him, he had gotten a sort of basin to fill with water to rinse his hair and products he reluctantly bought from the last village they visited. He groaned and readied his head over the water. He breathed out slowly, "Come on Glenn, just wet your hair and put the nasty products on."

Glenn took a deep breath in and dunked his head inside of the water, feeling the coldness envelop him from the neck up and once he felt it was enough, he pulled out from the river. Glenn sighed, letting the excess of water run down into the river and allowed him to see how his hair matted against his face. 

God, he looked tired. Going to one place to the next, encountering creatures he thought impossible, and losing is son twice. Glenn scooped up water in his hands and splashed his face, trying to keep his mind off things and not notice Ron suddenly appearing next to him.

Glenn jolted and yelped, "Jesus!"

"No, it's me Ron", Ron responded deadpanned. Glenn let out a low chuckle as he calmed himself. He shook his head, "You scared me Ron. Can't sneak up on a guy like that."

"Well I called out to you, but you were looking so much at the water I thought you found a fish friend and didn't want to scare them off", Ron responded and made Glenn laugh, "Nah bro, just trying to wash my hair."

Ron cocked his head and asked, "Do you want help? You look like you need a good scrubbing."

Glenn chuckled, "Man, nothing gets past you, huh Ron?"

"Well yeah, a business man needs to know what's happening around him", Ron grinned, "So you want my help?"

Glenn looked at the man and glanced up to his his some what balding head. Glenn gave a crooked smile, "No offense Ron, but do you know how to deal with hair like mine?"

Ron hummed as he looked over Glenn's hair and nodded, "Your hair is like my moms. I helped her with her hair when she felt too weak to take care of it."

Glenn looked at Ron thoughtfully. He rarely talks about his past, especially about his mother, no thanks to a certain Willy Stampler so to hear something soft from Ron made him smile. Glenn nodded, "Well, since you're offering, can't say no to that"

Ron grinned as he stood up and positioned himself behind the other. Glenn crossed his legs and closed his eyes, not sure what to prepare for how Ron is going to treat his hair, but readying himself for the worst. Instead what he felt was a gentle caress of fingers going through his hair, gently going through knots and adding water to parts that needed to be hydrated.

Glenn hummed in relaxation as Ron grabbed one of the products beside them and generously applying it on Glenn's head. Ron massaged the ointment into Glenn's scalp and scratched parts of Glenn's head that needed a good scrubbing for the ointment to get into. Glenn's body finally gave in and relaxed itself, easily letting Ron have control over Glenn. Ron grabbed the basin and scooped a generous amount of water and hummed in thought. Glenn opened an eye and asked, "Everything okay?"

"I got to wet all your hair, but I don’t want to wet your body”, Ron explained. Glenn let out a low laugh, turned around to face Ron and laid down on river bank. Uncomfortable but it lets his hair go into water and ready for Ron. “How about this?”, Glenn asked.

Ron gave an affirmative nod and got to his knees and started rinsing Glenn’s hair. Although the ground was uncomfortable, with the combination of the sounds of the river, the stars sparkling in the night sky and the gentleness of Ron, he couldn’t help but start to doze off. He really needed this; a gentle touch to a rough patch. 

“Glenn can you sit up please”, Ron softly said. Glenn gave an affirmative grunt and sat up, still feeling groggy. Ron let Glenn lean against him as he grabbed the towel around Glenns shoulders. He first patted Glenn’s head with the towel softly and then ruffling it a bit to make sure that he could take out most of the water. 

Ron hummed to himself as he put the towel in the now dried basin. Once again he combed through Glenn’s hair, gently getting the few remaining knots out and generally making sure Glenn looked nice. Ron smiled at his work and was about to call it done but almost fell over when Glenn put his whole weight on Ron.

Glenn was asleep, snoring and smiling at the comfort Ron gave him. “Ah geez”, Ron whispered, knowing he didn’t have the strength to carry Glenn by himself. 

By some miracle, Darryl came by to check on them to see what they were doing. Ron cried in gratefulness as Darryl picked up the snoring Glenn and felt his knees crack as he stood up. 

Darryl looked at Glenn’s hair and asked, “Did you help Glenn with his hair? It looks amazing”

Ron grinned, “A businessman always has to make sure that his partners look the best of the best”

Chapter Text

Henry loves his sense of clothing style. It's simple, flexible, and quite comfortable if he does say so himself. He could talk about different shirts, pants and even shoes because he believes that others should feel the comfort that he feels, even if his kids tell him that he sometimes look an old man. The one thing that he does agree with Lark and Sparrow is his hair style. Don't get him wrong, he likes his hair, but he never really spends much time on it, especially in the mornings with trying to rush the boys to school and getting to work in time. The most he could do is put his hair in a bun or just a simple ponytail if he's running out of time. However, in the forgotten realms, he can't really use that excuse especially in quiet moments in the mornings. 

It's the day after hiding away from the omega dads at the Vixen's Gale, Henry just came back from his morning exercise into his shared room with Ron, ready for the day, but not ready for his hair. Henry stared at the shared bedroom's vanity mirror and tried to wrack his brain for ideas on what to do. He held a lock of his hair and hummed at the fact that he finally noticed that it was getting longer. Maybe he could cut his hair before doing anything to it? Henry wished that Mercedes was here, she is better in knowing what to do with hair than he ever could. 

Henry sighed as he stared back at his reflection and his eyes wondered to the side to see Ron groggily bundled up in blankets, staring tiredly back at him. Henry gave a small smile, "Good morning Ron, ready for the day?"

Ron hummed as he grabbed a lock of Henry's hair and gently stroked it. Henry looked at Ron quizzically and asked, "Something wrong Ron?"

"You need a trim", Ron stated as he turned to Terry Jr. who was watching tiredly at Lark and Sparrow jumping on their shared bed, too much energy for the taller child. Ron asked, "Hey Terry? Where did you hide the scissors? Henry needs a hair cut"

Henry started to argue, "Oh Ron, you don't have to worry about me! I mean, there’s probably a barber in town that can cut it themselves!"

Ron watched as Terry Jr. raised the scissors above his head from Lark and Sparrow as they tried to climb him. Lark kept jumping, pleading, "Terry please! Let us cut father's hair!" Sparrow backed him up, "Yes! We will make him look quite stylish!"

Terry Jr. just shook his head as he gave the scissors to Ron and said, "Here you go... Dad"

Ron held the scissors and couldn't stop the huge smile from forming, "Thank you... Son"

Terry shrugged, "Still feels weird, let's give it some time"

Ron hummed and nodded as he turned to Henry. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, "I can cut your hair. Like my dad use to say, don't waste money if you can do it yourself, so I learned to cut my moms hair to save money"

Ron didn't notice the whole room fell silent and cold at the mention of Willy and trying to quickly move pass it, Henry asked, "Oh you cut your mom's hair?"

Ron nodded as he brought the armchair that was in the corner towards the mirror and patted the seat. Henry sighed, resigning himself to his fate and sat down. While he took off his glasses, in came Glenn and Darryl with their kids and carrying in breakfast. They both look surprised as Ron took off the blanket he was bundled in and wrapped it around Henry to make sure that stray hairs don't get all over him. 

"Watcha doing there, Ron?", Darryl asked. Ron yawned, "Gonna cut Henry's hair and make it nice looking"

"Terry did not allow us near the scissors", Lark pouted. Sparrow huffed, "Even though we could do what Ronald is doing, but even better" 

Glenn laughed, "I think you would cut off your old mans head by 'accident'"

"Welp while you're doing that, we should eat and think about a plan to get back", Darryl smiled as he began passing out breakfast platters and Glenn passed out the utensils. Henry was about to speak up, but was cut off by Darryl, "Yes I got you and your boys vegan options"

Henry smiled gratefully and started to dig in, barely noticing that Ron started to cutting his hair. Ron would put his input here and there during their planning, but focused more on Henry's hair. Combing through the blond hair, making sure to focus more on split ends and uneven parts. The gentle caress of Ron and the way he beamed confidence on what he was doing made Henry relax more and leaned into it. 

Just when Henry thinks Ron is done with his hair, he asks Glenn, "Do you have extra hair bands?"

Glenn nodded as he rooted through his bag and asking, "What you thinking of doing?"

Ron hummed in thought, barely catching the hair bands that Glenn threw, and said, "Well, I know long hair can be a problem when trying to do things, so I'm thinking of braiding it."

Sparrow spoke up excitedly, "Oh! Oh! Me and Lark can put in flowers to make father look pretty!"

"Aw Sparrow that would be nice, but-", Henry started, but Lark jumped up, yelling, "Too late! You said it would be nice! We're going to get some flowers!"

Before anyone could say another word, the twins ran out of the room. The dads gave a collective sigh, before Darryl offered, "I'll keep an eye on them, I can check in on the odyssey in the meanwhile. Grant want to come with and get some sunshine?"

Grant grunted an affirmative and trailed behind his dad after waving goodbye to the other kids. Henry yelled out a thanks to the two and returned his focus back to Ron who was separating his hair into sections. Henry smiled, "You really know how to make someone relaxed with their hair"

"Right?", Glenn piped up, "Ron washed my hair a while ago, making my hair look rad as hell, and I fell asleep so nice that night. I think it was the best sleep I've ever had in my whole life."

"Really?", Nick asked, "He did that even with the lack of hair for himself?" 

"Hey", Terry annoyingly said. Nick waved him off and turned to Ron when he spoke, "Well, my mom was sick a lot and when she got like that, she had trouble doing a lot of things, including keeping up with her hair. So I would do it for her and it was a way for us to bond"

There was warmth in the room when Ron talked about his mom, a difference of how Ron parents were in changing the atmosphere. A small smile played on Ron's face at the memory of his mother as he tied the end of Henry's fish tail braid and brought it over Henry's shoulder. He looked over Henry's shoulder to the mirror and asked, "How do you like it?"

Henry gently grabs the braid and a smile grew as he turned to look up at Ron, "It's perfect Ron, thank you for doing this for me"

Ron grinned and was about to say something, but was cut short when outside they heard a twin yell out, "Father there are bees! They have taken brother Lark!"

Lark screamed back, "Run brother! Save yourself!"

"Why are they so big?!", Darryl screamed. Henry stood up fast, his braid gently going back into place and yelled, "I'm coming boys!"

Terry rubbed his face and asked, "When will there be a normal morning in this world?" Terry turned to Ron to ask a question but found him rolled up in a ball on the bed and snoring softly.

Chapter Text

Itchy. That's all Darryl could think about right now. He liked that he grew a beard while waiting for the right moment to meet up with the others again after time traveling. What he didn't like is the itching sensations he would get when he didn't comb it well every single day. He had thought about shaving it off, but he didn't trust himself in doing so and it helped him look like a different person.

So when they took a rest before heading back to the beach, Darryl took the moment to scratch his beard and sighed in relief. His eyes closed as he scratched at his beard, but snapped open when he felt another hand scratching his beard as well. Ron was looking up at him, humming in thought as he scratched Darryl's beard a bit more. Darryl, puzzled, asked, "What uh, what are you doing there Ron?"

Ron took his hand away from the others beard and put his attention back to Darryl, asking, "Does your beard bother you?"

Darryl waved the thought away and chuckled, "Yeah, but don't worry about me, I'm getting use to it."

Darryl stopped himself, turned to the other resting dads, and remembered how Ron took care of Glenn's and Henry's hair and how good they looked afterwords. He turned his focus back to Ron and asked, "Actually... do you think you can help me trim it down?"

Ron perked up, nodding happily, "I would love to do that! Actually, I picked up a kit that I wanted to test out"

Darryl chuckled as he set himself down on a tree stump and watched as Ron sifted through his bag. Ron picked out a small leather pack and turned to Darryl with a huge grin, but stopped in his tracks when he looked at Darryl. Darryl raised an eyebrow and asked, "Everything alright Ron?"

Ron brought the pack against his chest and softly asked, "You won't yell if I accidentally nick you right?"

Darryl frowned, knowing exactly who was referencing, and shook his head, "Ron I won't ever yell at you if you do something by accident. You know I'm not like that."

Ron gave a small smile, "Yeah... yeah! Okay let's get started"

Glenn and Henry took a notice of what Ron was doing to Darryl and turned their attention to the two. Ron was humming a little tune as he took out a bottle of ointment and spread it on Darryl's beard, massaging it in and scratching it evenly. Darryl had a small smile as he closed his eyes and let Ron take care of him and his beard.

Once Ron thought Darryl had enough spread, he took out a pair of scissors and took a deep breath in. He gently started trimming down the uneven ends of Darryl's beard, making sure that he didn't put the scissors too close to his face.

Ron cupped Darryl's cheek and gently turned him to the side, making Darryl hum in surprise, "You have really soft hands Ron."

"Well, these soft hands need to focus Darryl", Ron said as he turned Darryl's face once more to get the other side. Darryl chuckled, "You've got it boss"

"I am the boss", Ron whispered as he lifted Darryl's chin and brought out a razor and took a breath in. He slowly shaved down the parts that were too wild for Ron's taste and made sure they were kept at a clean edge. 

Henry couldn't help but smile and turned to Glenn when he piped up, "You know, Ron, you could totally own your barbershop with those cutting skills. Plus you really know how to make a guy relax in your hands."

Ron hummed in thought, gently pushing Darryl's head down to get a better look at his upper lip, and said, "That sounds like a good business idea, but I don't think I would be able to run it by myself."

Ron turned to his kit and grabbed another ointment and looked up to the two and asked, "If you three would by business partners, we could call it the four amigos?"

Henry awed, "Oh Ron that sounds like a great idea! The four amigos sounds like a good start"

The three grinned, Darryl chuckling, "That would be amazing, Ron and hey if you do go through it, I think I'll be your first customer as well."

Ron hummed, "That wouldn't be a good profit if you're the first customer. Maybe be the fifth customer?"

Darryl laughed,"What ever you suggest Ron, you are the business man of the group."

Ron's smile grew and nodded as he brushed down Darryl's beard with the ointment, making it shine in the light and look cleaner than before. Ron cupped both sides of Darryl's face and moving his head around to make sure it looked even from all sides. Ron nodded happily as he grabbed the pocket mirror from the kit and showed it to Darryl and asked, 'What do you think?"

Darryl took the mirror from Ron and looked himself over, his smile growing at the sight and nodded, "It looks perfect, Ron! Thanks, man!"

Ron grinned, "Of course! As future owners of four amigos, I need to make sure my fellow businessmen look presentable"

"What the heck is an amigo?", Gartok piped up, making all the four dads remember that he was with them going back to the beach.

Ron smiled and brought the other dads close to him and said, "It means a friend"

Chapter Text

Terry scratch between his braids and sighed. In a realm with such different creatures with such different features, you would think they would make good hair products. Yet here he was, scratching at his head because he can't get the right products for his textured hair. The new batch of conditioner and setter was another bust and he was getting tired of feeling every single strand of his hair.

Terry knows that they'll be home soon if their dads plan works and if they can, he'd like to go with his mother to the shop to finally do some proper work on his hair as soon as they could. If it was his mother who took care of his hair, he knew she would make sure that he would look better than he was before entering the forgotten realms.

Terry clenched his fists at the thought of her. He missed his mom. He missed her soft singing. He missed her cooking. He missed their inside jokes. He missed her hugs. Terry just missed his mom. 

He felt tears starting to form and he groaned angrily, flopping down in his tent and closed his eyes. Terry didn't want to cry. He knew he would see his mom soon, but he wished it could be sooner.

Terry looked up when hearing the tent flap opening to see his step father nervously looking at him. Ron began to stutter, "H... Hey Terry? Ca-Can you come with me?"

Terry propped himself up on to his elbow and asked, "What's up dad?"

Ron couldn't help the smile that started to grow from hearing Terry saying dad, "Well, I... I got something to show you!"

Terry hummed and nodded as he got up. When Ron had something to show, it could be either something small like a cool fish or something big like a new weapon; either way Terry wanted to see what thing would make Ron so nervous to show him.

Terry trailed behind Ron towards Erin's hut that she made for herself and her boyfriend. Ron cleared his throat and called out, "Hi Erin! It's me Ron, asking for the favor from before because I can trust women the most!"

Erin opened the door with the roll of her eyes and a box that dipped in one side filled with different types of bottles, but what threw Terry off was that her hair was in an elaborate hairstyle and a small smile for the two. She sighed, "Yeah, yeah Ron. I got your bottles here", Erin turned her eyes towards Terry, "He really pleaded for me to get you these"

Terry looked at Erin, confused as Ron grinned, "Thank you Erin! You're the best!"

"Yeah, yeah, have fun", Erin laughed and waved them off as Terry continue to follow Ron in confusion. Terry finally asked, "So what did Erin make you?"

Ron stopped at a rather large flat rock and set down the box. He happily opened his arms in presentation to the bottles and said, "Erin made me hair products for you!"

Terry's eyes widen in surprise as he got closer to the bottles and looked them over. Each were filled with different liquids and from the smell he could tell it was a forest type scent. He turned to Ron and asked, "All this for me?"

Ron shyly grinned, "Before we were teleported here, Sammy- oh, um I mean your mom, taught me about the products you used and even took me to several classes for textured hair", Ron looked down the ground and nervously wrung his hands together, "I-I like taking care of people's hair and I asked her to teach me so one day I can take of your hair if you ever liked me as a person"

Terry sighed with a sad smile and brought Ron into a hug that he tensed up at. Slowly, Ron calmed down and hugged Terry tightly, fearing the hug would end too soon. Terry smiled, "I do like you dad and I love you too"

Terry could hear Ron sniffle and softly said, "I love you too kiddo"

Terry slowly parted from Ron who wiped away his tears away with a smile on his face. Terry gave him a bright smile, "I would love it if you could take care of my hair"

Ron nodded with an affirmative grunt and turned to the rock and patted is for Terry to sit. Terry chuckled and sat down as Ron took a deep breath and starting picking out bottles and mixing in what now Terry knows to be a basin. Ron mixed in a couple of liquids together and mixed it together in the basin. He brought up the basin and gently splashed between Terry's braids and at the same time scrubbing with his hands. 

Ron set down the basin and with the liquid that built up, started massaging it down his hair, making sure his braids got about an equal amount of moisture. Terry smiled as Ron started to hum a little tune and relaxed himself to his dads hands. 

Ron mixed a sort of cream together and scratched in Terry's scalp, making Terry sigh in bliss. Ron spoke up softly, "Erin didn't have combs right for your hair so I can't style it so for now it's just to maintain it."

Terry hummed in response, "Then you'll do more when we get back home?"

Ron stopped for a bit, but turned to get an ointment and a happiness in his voice, "If you'd let me, I'd loved to"

Terry chuckled and nodded, stopping himself as Ron rubbed the ointment on his braids. Terry couldn't stop smiling, "Yes please"

Time passed, Terry relaxing to Ron gently treating his hair and the sound of the sea. When was the last time he felt this comfortable? In the hands of his dad, he can now say he was in a new state of comfort. He felt so comfortable to the point that he didn't notice that he fell asleep until he felt himself being picked up from the rock. 

Terry mumbled in confusion and opened is eyes, surprised to see Ron carried him. Ron had to pass some check to be able to carry him, but Terry wasn't complaining. Rather he felt warmth in his chest, it was a long time since someone carried him while he slept. Terry nuzzled himself close to Ron with a smile and started dozing off.

Ron couldn't help the smile and tears starting to form. Just looking at Terry filled him with such love for his son. The difference of their relationship from before entering the forgotten realms to now was so stark that it felt like a dream. Oh how he wished he could show Samantha how much he was happy to be called Terry's dad.

Speaking of dads, Ron couldn't stop thinking of his own father. How could anyone want to scream at their child? How could anyone see their child as a disappointment? How could anyone hate their own child? Right now, Ron is upset that he won't be able to protect Terry from all harm for the rest of his life because he knows he can't always be by Terry's side. If there is a higher power, he wants to live a long enough life to see Terry have a happy life.

Ron arrived at Terry's shared tent with Grant where the other was seeping soundly. With great difficulty, Ron gently laid Terry on top of his sleeping bag and tucked him in with a blanket that was set aside. 

Ron stared at Terry and couldn't help, but shed a tear at Terry's sleeping figure. Ron leaned over and straightened Terry's braids and gave a small kiss on Terry's forehead. Ron smiled at his kid and whispered, "Goodnight Terry, I love you kiddo"

Ron silently stepped out from the tent and looked up to the stars. He smiled at the thought that maybe his mother was looking down at him and how happy he was. Ron softly called out to to the stars, "Don't worry Mom, soon, I'll make sure that Willy won't hurt no one again. Especially to make a better world for my son."