"You said shorter, right?" Matt asked, grabbing something from the kitchen drawer.
Mello sat down on the stool, nodding. "Yes, I did . . . " he said solemnly. He watched Matt come over to him, and then spun the blonde around to face away from him.
"And why am I letting you do this again? Especially while you're playing that stupid video game of yours?" Mello growled, trying to make his blonde head shrink into his vest collar, staring up at his friend with half angry, half fearful blue eyes.
Matt expertly hit the buttons of his PSP with one hand, never taking his eyes off the screen. In his other hand, a pair of silver cutting utensils clacked together between his fingers.
"Don't worry, Mello." he said, smiling slightly to himself - whether it was at Mello's fear or his game, the Mafia boss couldn't tell. "I know exactly what I'm doing."
Mello gulped. He wouldn't just let anybody go near something that special to him, and especially with sharp, cutting tools.
"But do you have to do it while playing video games?!"
"Do I have to do it while you're eating chocolate?" the redhead retorted calmly. "Damnit, stupid skeletons . . . popping out of fucking nowhere . . ."
Mello looked down at the chocolate bar, half-melting under the warmth of his gloved fingertips. The thing he loved most in the would. His chocolate. The thing Matt loved most in this world. His video games. With a heavy sigh, Mello grabbed the rosary hanging around his neck and gripped it tight. God would help him through this.
"Alright, Matt . . . do it."
Matt tore his eyes away from the video game for a moment, reached down and lined up the blades of the scissors to just the right spot.
Snip.
Mello closed his eyes, flinching slightly as though in physical pain. Short strands of yellow-blonde hair fell on his vest, clashing against his top.
"I can't believe you're cutting my hair while playing fuckin' Zelda." Mello grumbled, taking a large bite from his chocolate bar. How he never got cavities, nobody knew.
Matt laughed to himself, chewing on an unlit cigarette, and pressed pause on his game. He didn't want to take off Mello's ear by accident. That would get him in some real trouble. Delicately, he snipped away at his friend's insanely-messy hair. He was fussy over split ends, and said even Mafia bosses had to keep their appearances up.
Some time later, and without a mirror for Mello to see the progress of the gaming addict, Matt un-paused his PSP and went right back to defending Hyrule.
"Alright, you can get up now." he said, putting the scissors in his pocket.
Jumping out of the kitchen chair, Mello clamored off to the bathroom to see what the damage was to his hair.
Not five seconds later Matt heard the screams he knew he was going to receive. Scampering footsteps came back to him, and two gloved hands grabbed his collar roughly, shaking the gamer. Matt was hoisted up off his boots and pinned against the fridge by none other than a very pissed off Mello.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR!?" Mello cired, shaking his head with an unruly bob attached to the scalp. His hair now ended in chopped layers around his ears, and his bangs were lined through the middle of his forehead, and very uneven.
Matt just laughed.
"You said shorter."