Author's Note:This is a one shot with Young Hercules. The chain of shaving is a chain that should not be broken, or stubble will end up ruling the world…
Warning: The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Hercules, nor the older Hercules, nor any number of sidekicks he might be using at the moment. No permanent harm will come to Iolaus or anyone else, and I keep Hephaestus number handy for any dents that needs pounding out after I'm done.
The Chain of Shaving
"Hey Herc, you forgot to wash this morning or what?" Jason teased his friend as he took in the faint dark traces on his chin.
"I washed," Hercules ran a hand over his chin, wondering what Jason was up to this time.
"Huh, you got something right there," the prince informed him, fully serious. Reaching out his hand he tried to remove it, and Hercules pulled back.
"Ow!" he glared at his friend.
"Oh, so that's what it is," Jason laughed, slapping his back. "You didn't forget to wash, you forgot to shave."
"Very funny Jace, I don't shave," Hercules pointed out. It was only last week Jason had been teasing him for it. A couple of years older and with darker hair he had been shaving for some time.
"I'm not kidding, you need to shave," Jason grinned. "Look, it's only a few hairs here and there, but there is definitely hair. Looks like you finally grew up."
"But I don't even have a razor," he frowned. When he was younger he hadn't been able to wait till he started shaving but now he wasn't so eager. He wanted to be grown sure enough, but he was sure he'd fumble and cut himself.
"You can borrow mine," Jason graciously offered. "There's no time now, but I'll show you tonight, it's easy."
"Says you," he muttered. He hoped that Jason would forget during the day, but he did not. Though he took a small polished brass mirror from his things as well as his razor and dragged Hercules out of the dormitory.
"It's better if we do this in private," he explained. "Look Herc, I know I teased you about this, and you can bet I will again. But not right now. Someone has got to teach you how to shave. My father taught me, and normally it is your father that does it, but I don't think that's going to be very likely in your case."
"No," he snorted. Zeus doesn't notice me as it is, he wouldn't just drop everything and come teach me to shave."
"Then I guess I'll have to do," Jason mused. "Look, have anyone ever told you anything about it before?"
"Iolaus, when we were kids, but I don't think I should go by any he said," he decided. He didn't speak about his former friend very often. His betrayal hurt far too much. Iolaus had pulled away from him, and Hercules never could understand why. To him it seemed that one day they were playing happily in the woods, and the next Iolaus wanted nothing to do with him. Iolaus had been a great friend, two years older than he was and his protector. He would never let anyone tease Hercules and he was quite a scrapper even though he was small for his age. Any kid who thought to mock Hercules had to deal with Iolaus. The little blond child also taught him about hunting and about all such things. Not about school subjects, he barely got by in school. He never could sit still and wasn't very good at being silent either. Always in trouble for pulling pranks or speaking out of turn. In school Hercules helped him and the two of them would sit at Alcmene's table while she supplied them with snacks. Snacks that Iolaus made away with at a surprising speed. He always ate as if he wasn't sure he'd get another meal. Then he pulled away, was always too busy to play and Hercules knew that he had to hunt for his family to have food but before then he'd take Hercules with him. Finally he saw him in town, running with the gang, and then he pulled away. He heard all kinds of rumours after that, he slept on the streets rather than going home, and he stole. He had seen his own mother weep over the child she had loved as one of her owns, but apparently Iolaus didn't care about that.
Hercules had seen him once, stuffing apples into his tunic then disappearing into an alley. He had followed, intending to drag him back to the vendor and make him give them back, but when he entered the alley he saw Iolaus take one of the apples and eat it as if he was starved, and he suddenly saw how thin he was. What he was doing was wrong, and it made him mad, but he couldn't drag him back for punishment when he seemed so hungry. So he turned away instead, cursing his name for being so stupid.
He had told Jason about him, enough that'd he'd know why he felt so hurt by him and also how much his support and guidance had meant when they were children.
"No, you had better forget everything he said," Jason told him with a look of strong disapproval. The way he saw it, Iolaus had to be the biggest jerk. Judging by what Hercules had told him he didn't see how he could ever have been a friend, more like a traitor. Hercules was a good friend, if a little clumsy at times and too cocky other times. He was also a little too caught up in trying to get Zeus' attention, but no one was perfect. Iolaus though sounded like he had a world of trouble coming his way when justice caught up with him, and he probably deserved every ounce of it.
"No, you don't understand," Hercules objected. "He was only seven then, he said his uncle had explained it, but if he had he hadn't done a very good job out of it. I asked him about how it was done and he said he'd show me. He cut himself really bad. Scared mother half to death when she saw all the blood, so I don't think he knew how to really do it."
"No, he can't have," he agreed. "But I do, so just do as I tell you." He picked up the razor and showed Hercules how to hold it in his hand, then how to run it over his cheeks.
"Start with your cheeks like that, that's he easiest. And remember never to slide it sideways," he cautioned him. "Then you'll really cut yourself. You'll nick yourself at times, but never bad. Not if you're just careful."
Hercules took it and cautiously ran it over his cheek like Jason had told him. He felt the sharp edge slide over his chin, but it didn't feel like he had thought it would. He found he had more control than he expected, and Jason showed him how to shave under his chin as well as his upper lips.
"Those bits are trickier," he warned him. "But you'll get the hang of it. The next time we're at the palace, I'll get you your own razor."
"I think I could buy one in town," he mused. He was used to Jason always being the one who had the money, but he was sure he could afford a razor.
"I'll get you one," Jason insisted. "My father gave me that one just after he taught me. Look at it as part of a tradition."
"I appreciate it Jason, I really do," he had to swallow down a lump in his throat. "But you don't have to do that." He realized that Jason wasn't just trying to give him a razor, he was trying to give him something he would never otherwise have. A piece of typical father and son tradition that he would never otherwise know because of who his father was.
"What's the point of having a prince for your friend if you don't make use of it every once in a while," Jason laughed. Playing down what he was doing, and slapping his back. "Until then you can just keep using mine. You know where it is, if I were you I'd sneak away to do it until you're more sure of yourself. You don't want them clowns in there to know it yet."
"You're right, I don't," he agreed. "Thanks Jace, you're a good friend." He smiled and thrust out his hand in a warriors' handshake and Jason took it.
"Hey, what are friends for?" he grinned as he threw an arm around his shoulders before they headed inside.
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Heading to the dinning hall to look for Iolaus Hercules grinned and patted his tunic to make sure that the bundle he had tucked away was still there. Just over a month ago he had noticed that Iolaus was starting to show signs of a peach fuzz as Jason called it. The faintest trace of soft beard stubble. It had been nearly impossible to tell with the blond. His hair was so fair that it barely showed and he had finally asked Jason.
The prince had found it amusing that Iolaus who was two years older than Hercules was so far behind him in the beard department but Hercules wasn't really surprised.
"He was always smaller than the other kids his age," he reminded his friend. "Never seemed to grow like he should or anything. It just seems to make sense in some way."
"Maybe," Jason was willing to admit. Before Iolaus came to the Academy, when he knew him only through the few times Hercules mentioned him he had despised him. After he came a great many things had come into the light. Alcmene had been most displeased when she found out that the two of them weren't doing very much of anything to help the troubled youth find himself at home, and she had taken them to task about it.
Reluctantly they had agreed to be nicer, and had to their surprise found that Iolaus pulled away. It was only then that they realized the low opinion he had of his own worth, and the guilt he carried for the mistakes he had made. They also learned what had led to him making them and Jason found he admired him rather than despised him. Iolaus had had the deck stacked against him since the day he was born, but struggled on. He had made plenty of mistakes but he hadn't been more than a child, forced to make decisions no child should have to make. Rather than being angry at him Jason found he was angry at the society that had always refused to help. He couldn't imagine having to support your family at only six years, to be the man of the house.
He had a cocky attitude but Jason soon realized it was for protection and he came to understand just how vulnerable the blond really was, and how badly he was treated by some of the other cadets.
Even when he openly tried to befriend him Iolaus pulled away and Jason didn't understand, until Iolaus outright told them he understood that he didn't deserve any kindness from them. Jason hadn't thought he was serious at first, but he was, Iolaus was actually apologizing to them for intruding on them at the Academy and Jason had realized that there was a lot more to him than he had thought.
He and Hercules had agreed then, too many people had given up on the youth already, and they wouldn't be guilty of the same crime. It took months of patience before Iolaus was at ease with them but by then Jason knew that he was worth every second of the fight.
Now he was simply amused and offered Hercules to toss a coin who'd get to tell him, but Hercules refused. Instead he made Jason help him to procure the parcel he now had. He remembered his own unease over the task of shaving and thought that for all his false bravado Iolaus would likely feel the same way. Iolaus really hadn't changed much the time they spent apart. He was still the same bundle of excited energy and he was still hesitant to show that he didn't know something. Hercules felt that if he was told he needed to shave he'd likely sneak off with a knife and no idea of what to do with it.
He found Iolaus just finishing his meal, wiping his plate clean with a piece of bread. He ate more than anyone else at the meals, still worried that the next one might be a long time in coming. He was no longer guarding his food though, like he had when he first arrived.
Grinning he sat down beside him.
"You look awfully happy," Iolaus mused. "What's going on?"
"Got something to show you," he grinned. "Are you finished?"
"Yeah, I guess," he threw a last longing look to the rest of the food. "Something wrong?" he put his plate away with the rest of the dirty dishes and followed Hercules.
"Nope, it's nothing bad Iolaus, I'll show you just as soon as we're somewhere a little more private. He brought a bucket of water along and took Iolaus to the same secluded spot where Jason had shown him. It just seemed appropriate.
"So what did you want to show me?" Iolaus asked, taking a drink out of the water.
"Here, look," Hercules pulled out Jason's brass mirror.
"Eh, Herc, are you feeling okay?" Iolaus mused. "You drag me out here to show me a mirror?"
"No, to show you what's in the mirror," he explained. "Just look in it," he held it so Iolaus could see."
"I don't get it?" the blond complained, for a moment worried Hercules was just trying to make fun of him.
"Okay, it's kinda hard to see, but here, let me show you," dropping one hand from the mirror he touched his chin, feeling the soft hairs there for the first time. "See buddy, you need to start shaving."
"Hey, what makes you think I'm not doing so already?" Iolaus bit his lip. "I mean, I'm older than you are."
"And I see you get ready every morning, you haven't shaved yet, but it's not always age," he explained. "Jason started shaving really early cause he's got so dark hair, and I got this demigod stuff again. You're blond, so it just doesn't show very well."
"I guess," he admitted. "So you just wanted to tell me that?"
"Yeah," he nodded just a little uncomfortably. "And well, I wasn't sure if anyone ever told you how to shave. It can be a little complicated at first."
"My uncle told me about it, I've known for years," Iolaus drew himself up, trying to show off a confidence he didn't at all feel, and Hercules knew it.
"And when you tried to show me what he told you, you nearly cut your own throat," Hercules smiled softly. "No offence Iolaus, but I wouldn't take his advice on it if I were you."
"Well, he's deaf, he didn't always understand what I asked him," Iolaus admitted. "He might have thought I was asking him how to slit someone's throat."
"He probably did," Hercules agreed. Iolaus uncle was indeed deaf and though he managed incredibly well in spite of the disability there were times when it got in the way. There had been more than one misunderstanding between him and his nephew because of it. "Look, I can understand if you don't really wanna learn from me, you know how we always thought it was the kind of things your father would teach you when you were older. But for you and me, that's just never going to happen."
"Skouros teaching me to shave?" Iolaus snorted. "He'd rather slit my throat for being such a disappointment to him."
"Anyway, Jason figured that Zeus wasn't going to help me, so he did," Hercules went on. The thought of Skouros tended to make Iolaus somewhat sad, and he didn't' want that now. "His father taught him, and gave him his first razor, so he taught me, and gave me this," he pulled out a razor from his belt. "So how about it Iolaus, will you let me show you?"
"I guess someone's going to have to do it sooner or later, I might as well let you," he decided. "You don't mind?"
"Hardly," Hercules grinned. "Jason offered to do it, and I guess he's got a bit more practice at it, but I wanted to do it. Maybe we're a bit short on fathers, but we have friends."
"Yeah," Iolaus nodded. "So show me then, how do you do it, without cutting your own throat, or shaving off your nose, I mean…" he added with a grin.
"Well, this is the best way to hold it," he grinned. "But you're gonna have to shift your grip every now and again, so don't think you have to keep holding it the same way the whole time."
He showed him how to use the soap, and Iolaus giggled as he smeared it over his cheeks. "Hey Herc, what if you're wrong and I don't need to use the knife, I might just wash it all off and have it be dirt and not beard."
"It's beard alright," Hercules laughed. "You won't wash it off, see?" he reached for one of the longer strands and gave it a tug. Laughing as Iolaus yelped.
"Okay, yeah, beard, not dirt," the blond giggled a little nervously.
"If you want, you can give it a swipe on your arm first, before you try your face," Hercules suggested and Iolaus nodded, shaving his forearm, only nicking himself slightly.
"Eh, you do know how to stop bleeding don't you?" the blonde wanted to know. "Just in case this goes badly I mean."
"Don't worry, I'll handle it," he laughed. Iolaus was as careful as he had been, and looked to be as nervous as he had been feeling. He nicked himself a couple of time, but nothing bad. By the time he was done he had scraped off all the soft hair but left all the vital parts of his features.
"There, now it shouldn't be a problem, you'll get the hang of it before long." Hercules grinned, he had stepped in at times and demonstrated the best way, shaving himself to let Iolaus see what he did.
"Yeah, kewl" he ran a hand over his cheek. "Thanks Herc."
"Jason kinda told me it was a good idea to do it like that this at first," Hercules told him. "I mean sneaking out like this, if I had done it in there everyone would have laughed at me."
"You might be right about that," Iolaus nodded. "But I don't think I'll have to worry about it for another couple of weeks you know. But eh, when I do, can I, you know, can I borrow that again?" he gestured vaguely and nervously to the razor, cheeks red. "I guess it must be kinda special to you with Jason giving it to you and all, but I don't know if I'd do a good job with my belt knife."
"Jason gave me this because his father gave him the one he uses," Hercules smiled softly as he turned it over in his hands. "So yeah, it's pretty special to me. I know it's not the same, but you know what. There are times when I think him giving it to me makes it mean more than if it had been my father."
"Yeah, I understand," Iolaus lowered his gaze.
"Here," Hercules dipped a hand into his tunic and pulled out the small parcel. "I'm not your father, but I'm your friend."
"What's that for?" Iolaus hesitated, looking unsure.
"I thought we had a nice tradition going here," Hercules laughed easily as he pressed it into his hand. "Jason taught me, and gave me my razor, I taught you, so I'm giving you yours."
Iolaus had removed the parchment and gazed baffled at the razor in his hand. Smooth bone handle, and a sharp blade. Simple but expertly made.
"It must've cost a fortune," he gasped.
"Not really," he shrugged. "And Jason helped me getting it. I'd let you use mine, I wouldn't mind at all, but I wanted you to have your own. And I wanted you to have one like mine, one from someone who cared about you."
"Hercules, I, I can't," Iolaus swallowed and Hercules threw an arm around his shoulders. "It's a tradition Iolaus, one for those without fathers. Teach your friend to shave and give him his first razor. Now, maybe someday you'll have your own kids, and you'll teach them. Or, you'll teach a friend instead."
"I guess I could, but do you really think Lilith shaves?" he burst out giggling.
"I don't know, and I'm too scared to ask her," Hercules laughed, spinning Iolaus around to face him. "I'm glad you let me do this Iolaus."
"I, I appreciate it Herc," not good at emotions Iolaus swallowed again. "I guess with friends like you I don't really need a father. Thanks," he thrust out his hand and Hercules took it in a warriors handshake, squeezing hard and then pulling him close for a brief moment before the two of them headed back to the barracks. Hercules had his razor tucked away in his belt again, and Iolaus had his in his hand.
The End
No razors were harmed by peach-fuzz during the writing of this fanfic, but they did shave it a bit close.
Please review, the Cricket is hungry…