Author's note: I don't mean to be criticizing anyone's hair style. This was made purely for the humor.
Personally, I prefer short hair, because ponytails are annoying and short hair keeps it out of my face. I'm a tomboy…if a day goes by without me fighting by brothers playfully, call the police.
This plays in line with my book Legacy and GriffTalon's book Barking at the Artificial Moon.
This'll probably be my only fic centering around Vista this much.
…So I hope I did her right.
One thing Laura misses from before she became a 'Defender of the Universe' or whatever is the freedom.
She hadn't realized, however, just how much her freedom was restricted until she cut her hair, shaving the left half of it completely off.
She didn't even know it was a big deal until she settled down on her aunt and uncle's couch and began reading some information about Voltron. After all, she had to learn as much about it as possible if she was going to be the Black Paladin one day.
She didn't even realize so much as trimming her hair without permission was known as disobeying until her cousin, Vista, came in and dropped her phone, gapping.
"Laura Kelly Shirogane!" Vista howled - quiet literally - rushing over and picking up the remaining hair tenderly. "What did you do?!"
"Um…cut my hair?"
"OM goodness!" Vista sighed, pulling a brush from seemingly nowhere and beginning to brush her cousin's silky hair. "I can't believe you would do such a thing!"
"I-!"
"-without my help!"
Oh. Yeah. Vista was like that.
"So…you like it?"
"No, no, no! Most absolutely not. You look like…" Vista paused, her fingers still combing through Laura's curls while she knocked the tablet from Laura's hands. "The goth child of a supervillian."
"I'm not the daughter of a-!" Laura began to protest.
"I know that, and you know that, but other people don't!" Vista sighed, brushing her hair more furiously. "We need to do something about this…oh my, oh my, what will your parents say?!"
"Um…"
"Don't answer that!" Vista snarled, sighed dramatically. "Just a moment."
She scooped up her phone again and snapped a picture of Laura, mumbling aloud as she typed. "My…idiot…cousin…cut…her hair…and…I don't know…what…to…do…please help? Aaaaaaand…send!"
"Did you really say 'idiot' in your text?" Laura asked, peaking over Vista's shoulder.
"Yep. Look." Vista pointed, and Laura obeyed.
"Oh. So you did." Laura blinked.
"Oop." Vista pulled the phone away as it began vibrating. "First response." She read through it then stuck out her tongue. "Nope. Definitely not. That'll make you look like a boy."
"What?" Laura looked over Vista's shoulder, but the older woman didn't allow her to see the screen.
"Celia just suggested I cut all your hair of all things." Vista sniffed, rolling her eyes. "You'd look like a…ugh…boy!"
Laura snorted, shaking her head. "Everyone would think I'm Shon."
"Ugh. I say, don't look like anyone. Embrace your own style. Like, see, Daisy just suggested that you have a Mohawk. That way it doesn't look as messy with half your hair on and the other half divided into clumps…hmm…but I don't think you'd look good with that…"
"Vista, I-"
"Hmm…what if I braid your hair…"
"Vista, wait…"
"Puh-lease, Laura, this doesn't look good. Allow me." Vista produced a comb, and, with a few quick strokes, smoothed down Laura's hair. "Ugh. On your shaven side you still have clumps of hair… who taught you to cut hair?"
"No one. I taught myself." Laura sniffed.
"Ah. See? See? That's your problem. You never requested help from me." Vista grabbed Laura's hair, dragging her into the bathroom. "Alright. We're going to do something about…" she paused, gesturing to Laura's entire head, "this."
"You just gestured to all of me!"
"Exactly. Alright, here's Mutt razor…"
"He shaves?"
"Naw. He uses it to cut his hair."
"Oh. That kind of razor."
Vista turned it on, wincing as it roared. "Alright!" She shouted above the roar, a fierce smile upon her face. "Brace yourself!"
Laura blinked at her. She had faced swords, guns, and parental abandonment. Granted, her patents recovered her later, but still. How much scarier could a razor be?
Vista flinched, wincing slightly as she ran the razor through the remaining clumps of hair on Laura's left.
Finally, Vista stopped, drawing out her personal scissors. Laura wasn't sure, but she was pretty sure they were used to trim up Vista's eyebrows so that they were perfectly even.
Her cousin was strange.
"Alright." Vista put down the scissors, and pulled up a straightener. "Everything must be perfect."
"Actually, I like my hair how it is-!"
"Nonsense." Vista sniffed. "Your hair is, well, no offense, but it looks awful like that. Next time enlist my help before going to extreme. Your parents are going to get mad at you for cutting your hair."
"What's the big deal about cutting hair?" Laura blinked, curious.
"It's a symbol of…oh, just a second…" Vista paused to check her phone, responding to something. "Tiffany just suggested my idea…alright. Back to your question. It's a symbol of how you feel. You know that feeling when you go to church and you forgot to do your hair?"
"No…"
"Well, it's like that." Vista shrugged. "If people see you with bed hair, they know that you don't care about personal hygiene or getting up early to ensure that you look fantastic. If you cut your hair short, they know you want to keep it out of your face or something like that. If you have if long, they know you like the feeling of hair swirling about your hips and down your back, or because you think it looks cute. And then there's you. I…have no idea what would compel you to do such an awful thing to your hair."
"Um…I like the style…?"
"Ugh. No. What kind of dork would like this?!" Vista sniffed. She began to run the straightener through Laura's hair, staring at the shiny locks with slight envy.
"Um, I do." Laura murmured, not really liking Vista's point of view. Why in the world did this girl take such an interest in 'Taking Laura under her wing'?
"Ugh, well, I guess we'll have to figure out how to make this work." Vista snorted through her nostrils, beginning to brush Laura's now-straight locks. "How do you feel about braids?"
"Well…"
"JK. You don't have a say." Vista assured her, trimming her hair so that it was completely even.
"…ouch." Laura sighed, meaning the comment, not the trim.
Vista nodded sagely, already dividing Laura's locks into three sections. "I'm braiding it."
"But I don't-!" Laura protested, blinking in shock.
"Shhh…" Vista put a finger to her lips, smirking. "Stress will make you chewy."
"Uhh…suuuuure…" Laura blinked. "Wait, what are you braiding my hair for? I think it looks fine."
"We want to cover up this…problem area before your parents see it." Vista told her, laying her hand on the almost-bald area. "God knows how they'll react."
"Cutting my hair is a restriction?" Laura gapped the full impact of the conversation hitting her as she turned around to blink at Vista. "Is everything restricted until I ask permission?!"
"Well, you can still…" Vista held out her hand to begin counting the things, but her voice trailed off. "Um…never mind. Sorry, Laura, you're in trouble. The hairstyle will only cover it up, disguise it temporarily. Now hold still while I pin it in place…"
"You did that braid fast."
"Not really. I've done it quicker, and Tiffany had beaten my high score by two seconds."
"Well, thanks, Vista…" Laura stood to leave, but Vista stopped her with a hand in her shoulder.
"Come back tomorrow, and I'll do it again." Vista ordered, smirking.
"Do I have a choice?" Laura blankly flashed back, arching her eyebrows questioningly.
"Absolutely not. Come back tomorrow at 10:30. I'll do your hair again."
"Is this just because my hair is soft?" Laura frowned, a bit confused as vista ushered her from the apartment.
Vista hesitated at the door, looking at her younger cousin. "Maybe. And next time, wear better clothes." With that, she briskly closed the door in Laura's face.