Disclaimer: Characters in this work (GI Joe/ Cobra) are the property of Marvel Comics, Hasbro
and Devil's Due Publishing, Inc., and are being used without permission. No profit is gained from the use of these characters.
Another installment of my unofficial Fanfic 100. Prompt 33- Too Much
"No Appointment Necessary"
By Nickelina
"Don't take too much of it off."
That is what Lady Jaye remembered telling Ripcord as she looked down at the bundle of her dark brown hair that was now in her hands. She sighed, and tried not to get upset about it. She looked through her ruck sack for something to put it in. She couldn't find anything, so she walked over to the fire and tossed it in. She was walking back to the fallen log she had been sitting on when she heard Beachhead speak.
"Who is burning…hair?" He said.
She didn't answer him. She didn't have to. He looked over in her direction and saw the back of her head. He held back a chuckle and walked in her direction.
"Did you decide to go for a new look, Lady Jaye?" He asked her.
She turned around to look at him. "Please don't." She told him. "I'm really not in the mood." She sat down on her log and picked at the bark. Beachhead got the feeling that she was going to ignore him so he went back to his place in front of one of the small tents the team was using.
Ripcord walked up to Lady Jaye and asked if he could sit next to her. She looked up at him, but did not give him an answer either. He quietly sat next to her. He reached up to touch the back of her head but he wasn't able to. Lady Jaye stood up, grabbed his arm and swung him over the log. He fell behind it, landing on his back.
"Jesus, Lady Jaye!" He said.
"What were you thinking?" She yelled at him.
"You told me to cut your hair!"
"Not like this! Not the whole thing!" She let go of his arm and sat back on the log.
"You had chunks of tree sap and leaves and God knows what else in it." He tried to justify his actions by telling her that there were also bugs on the sap.
The fact there were bugs on it didn't faze her. She tried to pull her once shoulder length hair back into its original pony tail but she was unsuccessful. "Look at this!" she said, as she turned to face him. "It looks like Stevie Wonder cut my hair!"
Ripcord tried not to laugh at her last comment. He could not hide his smile.
"This is not funny!"
"Its just hair, Lady Jaye. I don't know what you're so mad about."
"Its just hair?" Lady Jaye yelled. "You know what? Don't ever talk to me again!"
Beachhead, who was watching them the whole time, ran over to the log.
"Shut up before I scalp you both." He said through gritted teeth. "In case you forgot, we are in the field. I want it quiet."
Ripcord tried to respond but Beachhead cut him off with a hand gesture.
"Lady Jaye," Beachhead said. "I want you on guard duty first."
She stood up and grabbed her hat which was covered in sap. She tried to drop it, but it was stuck to her hand. She pulled it off and threw it on the ground. She reached down and grabbed her helmet. She dropped the helmet on her head, swung her M-16 over her shoulder and began to storm off. Ripcord stopped her.
"Jaye!" He called out to her.
She turned around and walked back to him.
"Don't forget your bowie knife." He held out her knife that he used to cut her hair out for her.
She took it from of his hand and put it back in its sheath on her chest. She turned on her heel and walked into the woods.
Hours later, Ripcord walked out to the perimeter of the camp to relieve Lady Jaye. He hoped that the time out here had calmed her down. He walked up to her slowly and identified himself. She turned around and looked at him.
"Quiet out here, huh?" He asked her in a hushed voice.
"Pretty much. I've seen some deer, that's about it."
Ripcord fished into the side pocket on his pants and took out something small, wrapped in paper. "I made you a piece of candy." He said as he handed it to her. "I know you like those homemade MRE coffee candies."
She didn't take it from him right away.
"It's a peace offering." He shook his hand towards her.
Lady Jaye took the candy from him and put it in her pocket. "Thanks."
"Hey, what are friends for?"
"Messing up each other's hair apparently." She said with a smile.
He waited to make sure that she was joking with him then he laughed. "Remember that time right after basic…" He started.
"And the fly paper strip fell on my head!" She finished.
"That was funny."
"No. That was gross."
"You let me cut your hair that time." He reminded her.
"Yeah, but you had scissors. And it was only a little bit. This time you cut a whole bunch of it off, with a knife."
Ripcord shrugged. "Did I forget to tell you that I don't moonlight as a stylist?"
"Styling by Ripcord, no appointment necessary." She laughed.
"Well, the guys will still think you're hot."
She didn't respond. He was really telling her that he still thought she was hot. The two always had awkward moments of possibly becoming more-than-friends hanging over their heads.
Ripcord nudged her arm. "Go get some rest."
When Lady Jaye made it back to camp, the fire had all but died out and it was quiet. She was walking over to her tent, but Beachhead stopped her.
"Jaye." She heard him say.
He stood up from the shadow of his tent. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure." She walked over to his tent and he held the flap open for her to enter.
Beachhead turned on a flashlight, pushed his bedroll over and sat on the ground. She followed suit.
He handed over her hat, which he had washed to the best of his abilities. There were still spots of sap and dirt on it.
"Thanks." She said as she took it from him.
"You know this wouldn't have happened if you wouldn't have taken your cover off." Beachhead told her.
"I know."
"You know how much I hate telling people to put their cover on."
"I know."
Beachhead reached behind her and pulled out the first aid kit. He took out a pair of scissors. "If you can get that light steady I'll try to fix it."
Lady Jaye was apprehensive. "I don't know, Beach. Do you know how to cut hair?"
"I might surprise you."
Lady Jaye put the flashlight between the main support for the tent and the tarp so it shone down on the ground. She sat in front of Beachhead and took her helmet off. The hair she had tucked in it fell down revealing a choppy mess.
"Where do I start?" Beachhead said under his breath, but Lady Jaye had heard him.
"I know it's bad, but is it that bad?"
"It's that bad." He told her as he began to cut.
Lady Jaye was quiet while Beachhead did his best to get her hair even. Once he accomplished that he went about getting the top looking somewhat decent.
"What is your secret?" She asked him.
"What secret?"
"Doing hair."
"I have a younger sister. I used to cut her hair all the time." He told her.
"For fun?" Jaye joked.
"No. Sometimes she couldn't get to the barber, so I cut it for her.
Lady Jaye knew what he meant by "not getting" to the barber. She had heard him talk about his childhood growing up in rural Alabama.
"Ladies go to the salon, not the barber." She laughed.
"Whatever." He shrugged. "I'm done."
She reached up and ran her fingers through her new shorter haircut. She picked up the piles of hair that were on the ground and walked out of the tent to throw them on the fire. She went back to Beachhead tent. He was holding the flap open.
"When we get back to base, I'll buy you a beer or something." She told him.
"Don't worry about it. Just keep your damn cover on." He told her and he closed the flap on his tent.