A short one-shot written for the Dragon Age Writer's Corner forum here on FanFiction:
"1500-2000 words max, choose an offbeat or unexpected hobby for any character." Enjoy!
"Yes, but it was my idea to kill the dragon in the first place," he heard Solona say to Morrigan. Clearly she felt guilty about what had happened when they'd decided to kill the high dragon who was guarding the area where the Urn of Sacred Ashes rested. The dragon had not been pleased, to say the least. Alistair was just happy that he'd been wearing full plate armour when the dragon had decided to let loose with a huge gout of fire. It had gotten a bit warm in the plate, but he'd managed to roll out of the way before he'd gotten cooked. Zevran had been sneaking up behind the dragon to hamstring it, so he had been unaffected. Solona had been far enough away that she'd only felt the heat blast, not the actual flame. Morrigan seemed to have some flame protection on that outfit of hers, so her body had been more or less unscathed. Her hair, on the other hand, had not fared so well. Solona had said it was "singed." "Burnt to a crisp" was much more like it, Alistair thought.
"Well, I can't say I am pleased, but 'tis only hair. 'Twill grow again," Morrigan said, a mask of indifference coming down over her features as she stood and went into her tent. Alistair was rather surprised by the lack of reaction. The woman was nothing if not vain. She spent more time on her hair than Alistair himself spent on his, and that was saying something. She might put her dark hair into a somewhat messy knot to get it out of the way, but Alistair knew that she brushed it out for at least half an hour every night, because Solona usually spent that time near Morrigan's tent, talking to her fellow mage about…whatever it was that mages talked about. Morrigan cared deeply about the state of her hair. Alistair's suspicion was confirmed when he heard curses coming from the tent. Morrigan had evidently looked at her hair in a mirror. Alistair watched Solona stand and stride away from the camp, a stricken look on her face. He could tell from her body language that she was close to tears. He considered going after her to offer what comfort he could, but decided against it. She would come to him when she wanted comfort – she always did. Alistair looked towards Morrigan's tent and then looked towards the edge of the camp where Solona had gone. He sighed, knowing what he had to do next.
"Morrigan?" he said, standing near her fire.
"Begone, fool," she snapped. Alistair set his jaw and nearly did just that, but no. This was upsetting Solona and he could fix it, so he was going to.
"Well, I will if you really want me to, but I can fix your hair, just so you know," he said, which was met with a moment of silence.
"What do you mean, you can fix it?" Morrigan said.
"Just what I said," Alistair said. He crossed his arms and waited, and just as he expected, a few minutes later Morrigan emerged from her tent.
"Explain," she said.
"Well, since you asked soooo nicely, I'd be happy to," he said, sarcasm dripping from his words. Morrigan shot him a dirty look, but said nothing.
"I can fix your hair for you. It will still have to grow out, but I can cut it and make it look half-decent in the meantime," Alistair said, which made Morrigan scoff.
"Even assuming I believe you to have the skill to do such a thing, which I most assuredly do not, and that I would trust you to not give me a horrid haircut out of spite, which I also do not, why would you even offer to do such a thing?" Morrigan asked.
"One, I do indeed have the skill to do such a thing – how do you think I keep my own hair looking so fabulous?" Alistair said, which made Morrigan roll her eyes.
"Two, I am offering to do such a thing because Solona feels bad about your hair, and if I shape it up and make it look as good as possible under the circumstances, then she will feel better," Alistair said, which made Morrigan give him a look through narrowed yellow eyes.
"So you're doing this for her," Morrigan said.
"Yes, I am. And besides, if I mess it up I am well aware that you'll fry me. Tends to motivate one to do a good job, doesn't it?" he said, which made Morrigan incline her head to concede the point.
"Where did you learn such a skill?" she finally asked.
"In the Chantry," he said, which made Morrigan raise an eyebrow.
"The lay sister who used to cut our hair did a horrid, horrid job. You know when they put a bowl on your head and cut around it? It was like that," he said with a grimace. Morrigan favored him with a smirk, which meant she was probably trying to picture him with that despicable haircut. He shuddered just to think of it.
"Well, we all got tired of having the same haircut, so…I stole some scissors and we 'fixed' it," Alistair said, which made Morrigan snicker.
"And just how old were you?" Morrigan asked.
"Oh, eleven or twelve, I think. Anyway, by the time I was done none of us had much hair left at all. When the Revered Mother saw us she was not pleased. When she asked me why I did it I told her it was to save us all from the horrible bowl cuts that Sister Agatha gave us. She gave me this look and said that if I thought I could do better I was welcome to try on any of the novices that were willing to let me. Then she gave me scullery duty until my hair grew back, which ended up being about six months," Alistair said.
"I would think that would have ended your career in barbering," Morrigan said.
"You'd think, wouldn't you? But it just made me more determined, and I could always find novices who hated Sister Agatha's haircuts enough to let me try. Eventually I got pretty good at it, and the novices started coming to me pretty regularly," Alistair said, then hesitated. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell Morrigan the rest…but she was looking skeptical, and he had to convince her to let him fix her hair, for Solona's sake.
"I actually got to like it," he said. "I used to comb and braid the horses' hair at Redcliffe and that was nice too, but people hair is a lot softer. Feels pretty good to run your hands through it when it's clean, you know? Plus, when I was cutting hair the novices would talk to me…it was almost like having friends. I kept it up when I started Templar training – they like you to be turned out nice when you're standing guard, you know, so having a decent hairstyle is important. By then I was good enough that I started charging for the service. I had quite the hoard by the time I was recruited into the Wardens," Alistair said, which made Morrigan shake her head and frown.
"Fine…even having most of it cut off would be better than this singed mess. But I warn you…."
"I know, I know. If you don't like it I'm a dead man," Alistair said.
"Precisely," Morrigan said.
"'Tis…much shorter than I have ever worn it…but…'tis not displeasing," Morrigan said as she examined her hair in her hand-mirror. Alistair was fairly pleased with the result. He'd ended up having to give Morrigan a pixie cut to even it out, but it suited her features. He could tell she liked it, too, even though she was trying very hard to find fault with it. Of course, by the time Alistair was done most of the rest of the group had gathered around to see what was going on. Alistair was certain that he would never hear the end of this.
"Oh I love it! You look so pretty! Alistair, why did you not tell us you could cut hair? Please, do me next?" Leliana pleaded.
"You know, Alistair, I could use a trim, myself, and I would just love to feel those large hands of yours running through my hair," Zevran said.
"Oh no, this was a one-time thing…."
"What was a one-time thing? What's going on?" Solona asked as she walked back into the camp.
"Well, you see…" Alistair said, but then broke off as Solona gasped.
"Morrigan! Your hair! It looks…wonderful!" she said, then turned to Alistair, who was still holding his scissors.
"You did this? Why didn't you tell me you could cut hair?" she said.
"I thought you knew! Whenever my hair gets a bit long I go off by myself and come back with shorter hair…seems obvious to me," Alistair said, which made Solona blush and look at him sheepishly.
"Why would you do this? You can't stand Morrigan," she finally said, which made Morrigan scoff.
"'Tis obvious. You felt like my hair being burned was your fault. The fool is calf-eyed over you and would do anything to make you happy, even reveal his deep dark secret – he's a hairdresser," Morrigan said.
"Is this true, Alistair?" Solona asked.
"Well, I'm a grey warden…cutting hair is just a…hobby…" Alistair said.
"I meant the other part," Solona said. Alistair blushed and looked away. He couldn't just tell her like that…not in front of everyone. He did intend to tell her how important she was becoming to him, but he wanted the timing to be right, and he certainly didn't want an audience.
"You were upset. I could fix it, so I did," he finally said. Solona gave him a searching look and then nodded.
"We'll talk about this later…maybe while you're cutting my hair?" Solona asked in a hopeful voice.
"Hey, I asked first!" Leliana exclaimed, which made Alistair groan.
"Maker's Breath, what did I start?" he muttered to himself.