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Nona did not particularly like the haircut day.
She was also starting to suspect that the whole concept of a haircut day actually existed just for her benefit. Pyrrha and Camilla certainly had no problem getting their hair cut without making it an event that was put on the calendar weeks in advance. Nona’s hair was still very damp from her bath beforehand, and some droplets of water trickled down her neck and soaked into the collar of her t-shirt as she perched on the rickety wooden kitchen chair that had been brought from the main room to the bathroom and watched Pyrrha.
Pyrrha was almost done shaving her head. She always went in first when it was haircut day, and it never took her very long to be done with it. The clippers made a fun buzzing sound, Nona quite liked it now. She dimly remembered being afraid of clippers when she was younger, but then again, she had been afraid of most new things. She didn't remember it at all, but Palamedes had told her they had shaved her hair off once, in hopes of learning how quickly it would grow back. Nona was happy that her hair grew at a pace that was apparently abnormal, since she didn’t think she’d enjoy being bald.
The white-ish towel draped over Pyrrha’s broad shoulders was now peppered with short red hairs. It always surprised Nona how much hair Pyrrha was able to shave off, when she already had very short hair to begin with. Pyrrha put the clippers away after combing through her head with her hand to see if she had missed any spots. She had not. If Nona weren't so concerned with her own upcoming haircut, she would have wanted to touch Pyrrha’s head as well. The freshly shaved buzzcut always felt nice.
Next was Camilla’s turn. She took the towel from Pyrrha and wrapped it around her own, equally well-built shoulders. Camilla did not use clippers but scissors. She cut her own fringe as always, but allowed Pyrrha to cut the lengths. That was new; Camilla had previously cut all of her hair by herself, even though it was a bit difficult for her. She looked relaxed now, like Pyrrha’s hands on her hair were something that she was used to. Nona was pretty sure Pyrrha touched Camilla’s neck a bit more than was strictly necessary for a haircut, but Camilla didn’t seem to mind.
Camilla liked her hair very sharp, with a blunt edge at the nape of her neck, cut so precisely it might have been drawn with a ruler. Pyrrha was as efficient with the scissors as she was with a sword or a cooking knife, so it didn't take her very long to cut Cam’s hair. Neither of their haircuts was very high-maintenance nor time-consuming. Nona figured that someone like Crown would never get a quick haircut in a cramped bathroom with water-damaged tiles by the bathtub, but it was more than enough for everyone in her family.
When Pyrrha was done, Camilla leaned forward toward the sink's mirror, turning her head side to side, surveying herself critically. After a moment's inspection, she caught Pyrrha's gaze in the mirror and gave a single, satisfied nod.
“Thanks,” Camilla said.
“I’m glad you like it,” Pyrrha said.
“Do I have any other choice?” Camilla asked.
“Not unless you want to start saving money for an actual hairdresser.”
“I think it looks wonderful,” Nona said, “but if you want, we can skip my portion of breakfast. That would save some money.”
“Thanks and no thanks,” Camilla said.
After everyone agreed that Camilla’s hair was done, it was Nona’s turn. They always did it in this order. They did many things in a recurring order because Palamedes theorised that routine was good for Nona. Pyrrha wrapped the haircut towel around her shoulders, and Nona felt silly for feeling so apprehensive about the haircut, like a child afraid of the sound of gunfire that was actually too far away to actually be of any immediate danger. She felt like she was not too old to feel like that, but there was something about sudden change that always made her anxious. Nona looked toward Camilla to focus on something nice.
In front of her, Camilla’s eyes darkened from her beautiful, icy grey to equally beautiful deep brown. Nona perked up because she had not seen Palamedes the whole day. It was always an unexpected treat when he’d turn up. Palamedes looked around in the bathroom, orienting himself, his gaze locking on the scissors resting at the edge of the sink. He narrowed his eyes a bit.
“Are those the scissors from the junk drawer?” Palamedes asked Pyrrha.
“They are a bit blunt, but they still cut paper and zip ties,” Pyrrha said. She picked up the scissors and cut air, making funny snip-snip noises.
“I don't believe that translates to proper hairdressing qualifications,” Palamedes said.
“Perhaps, but what can you do?” Pyrrha shrugged.
Nona fidgeted in her chair, which made it wobble on the slightly uneven tiling of their bathroom floor. Palamedes steadied the chair with one hand on the chair’s backrest to make sure that she would not topple over. He was always so attentive. She appreciated his help, but his words were making her nervous again. Nona looked at the scissors in Pyrrha’s hand suspiciously.
“Is there something wrong with the scissors?” She asked.
“Of course not, Nona,” Palamedes said immediately. “I am sorry if I made you worry.”
Nona smiled at him and immediately forgot to worry about the scissors being old and blunt. If they were good enough to cut Camilla’s hair, they’d be good enough for Nona too. Eager to continue the haircut day without any further delays, Pyrrha handed a hairbrush to Palamedes. He looked a bit surprised to be involved in the process, Nona didn’t think he had ever been present on a haircut day, but he took it.
He hesitated for a brief second before getting to work and started combing through Nona’s long, long hair. It was good that her hair was still kind of wet from her bath, since that made it easier to brush. She had previously experienced massive tangles in her hair and untangling them had been a pain. Palamedes was very gentle with her, but he was a bit clumsy about it, like he had never combed anyone’s hair before. He probably hadn’t. Camilla had told her she had had short hair pretty much her whole life, so she probably never needed any help with it. She rarely needed any help with anything.
Nona had a great time getting her hair brushed by Palamedes. After overcoming his initial timidity, he was good at that. Nona closed her eyes as Palamedes drew the brush through her hair.
Camilla sometimes helped Nona with her hair, but it was mainly Pyrrha’s job. Pyrrha was great at braiding hair, when Cam did it, she usually made it too tight. Nona figured she’d ask Pyrrha to teach Palamedes how to braid hair later, so he could try to do that too. Not today though, she was getting a bit overstimulated by the whole thing. Her drying hair badly wanted to tangle up and the bristles caught on a small knot. Palamedes paused, working it free with gentle patience. By the time he finished, her damp hair fell in smooth ribbons over the backrest of the chair, free of any tangles.
When Palamedes stepped away from her chair, Pyrrha took over again. She cut Nona’s hair very fast, the blunt scissors snipping through the damp hair in practised motions. Nona knew from experience that the hair would look surprisingly even, despite the speed of the scissors. Dark locks fell to the floor in crescents around the chair legs. Nona tilted her head down to look at the fallen hair, but Pyrrha's fingertips found her chin with a gentle nudge upward. While Pyrrha worked, Palamedes looked in the mirror.
“Oh, we have already done Camilla’s hair,” he said, sounding somehow disappointed.
Nona was about to inform him about the order in which haircuts were always done during the haircut day, but Pyrrha spoke first.
“Why? Did you want me to cut yours?” Pyrrha asked.
“Maybe,” he admitted.
“Perhaps next time.”
Though Pyrrha stood behind her, out of sight, Nona could tell from her voice that Pyrrha was smiling. This vague promise of a future haircut made Palamedes too happier than it had any right to be. He smiled fondly at Pyrrha over Nona’s head. Nona was not all too sure why they were being weird about it, but then again, Camilla had been somehow pleased by Pyrrha’s hands in her hair too.
Pyrrha finished Nona's haircut with a few last precise snips, then she took the towel off Nona’s shoulders and shook it a few times. Several inches of black hair tumbled down to the floor. They mingled with red and dark brown hairs on the floor, and Nona thought it looked nice together, and she was a bit sad to know it would all be swept up and put in the trash bin soon.
“Thank you,” Nona said.
“No problem, kid,” Pyrrha said. “I'm just happy that like Hect, you don't want me to pay for a trip to a salon.”
“I think you do a wonderful job, and I also don't think I’d want a stranger to touch my hair,” Nona said sincerely.
“Fair enough.”
Nona stood up from the creaky chair. She didn't go to the mirror over the sink, but instead just gathered her cascade of black hair over one shoulder and studied the ends. Her hair did look healthier with the ends chopped off. Camilla had been saying that her hair looked dry these days, but Nona hadn’t really noticed anything until now, when she could compare the new look to the old one.
Even with several inches gone, her hair was so long that no one else would even be able to tell she had a haircut, especially when it would be braided up as always. She knew that it would be back to its previous length by the next time it was her turn to get her hair cut. No one had been able to figure out why it grew so fast, but that was one of the many mysteries that fascinated everyone but Nona.
“What do you think, kiddie?” Pyrrha asked, even if this was the same haircut she always gave Nona.
“I think it looks like it always does,” she said, and Pyrrha laughed a bit.
Nona fiddled with her hair a bit more. She twisted the freshly cut strands between her fingertips, feeling the edges where scissors had sliced through. It was nice that her hair was now of even length. She had managed to bite off a part of her hair earlier this week when she had been chewing the end of one of her braids. Her head felt a bit lighter, but from experience she knew that she’d get used to it in just a few moments. Nona was pretty proud of herself for realising that instead of panicking about new sensations, she really had grown up.
“What do you think, Palamedes?” She asked, letting her hair down, feeling a bit vain and wanting an easy compliment.
Strangely enough, Palamedes said nothing. Nona turned to look at him and found that he had already left. It was a bit sad how little time she got to spend with him. Camilla looked back at her, seeming a little surprised that she was back already. Beneath her newly trimmed fringe, which now revealed her eyebrows, she blinked a few times, checked the timer and then looked back up. Nona wondered if it was more or less disorienting to be back so soon than to come back to a completely different setting. She never asked too much about it, in case it was a sensitive topic.
“Welcome back, Cam,” Nona said.
“Update?” Camilla asked.
“We finished cutting my hair, but also Palamedes said he wants Pyrrha to cut his hair next time,” Nona reported.
“Of course he did,” Camilla sighed fondly.