Hair

Characters: Shachi, Law, Penguin, Bepo. Rating: K. Warnings: none

One of the problems with setting sail with two other teenage boys and a polar bear-mink-thing was that simple things like cutting hair were suddenly not so simple, or easily taken for granted. Shachi had often enjoyed his hair cuts on Swallow Island, his hair fast growing and requiring frequent maintenance, but as it got longer and longer he realised that the days of sitting patiently on a stool in front of a raging fire while his hair was lovingly brushed and trimmed were behind him.

He took to tying it up, trying to keep it out of the way and for once cursing Penguin's shorter, slower growing hair as the ties tangled themselves with the strands, leaving them almost impossible to extract without half his hair parting company with his scalp in the process. It reached the point where he gave up in frustration and the bands remain nestled in his hair. Hidden under his hat and the bundled layers of winter clothing, it wasn't like his hair was visible anyway.

Penguin was the first to question it, unsurprisingly.

"You know you don't need to wear a hat inside the submarine all the time, right?" the older teen pointed out over dinner one night. True enough, Shachi was the only one whose hat was on his head – both Penguin and Law had forgone their hats that day, finding the rising temperature inside the Polar Tang too much to comfortably wear such thick hats.

"Yeah, I know," Shachi shrugged, trying to pass himself off as unbothered by the sudden attention on his hat's presence. "I just feel like it." He took an extra large bite out of his fish to avoid having to talk any more, only to choke on a stray bone. His nakama reacted instantly, Bepo thumping him on the back while Law's hand summoned one of his mysterious Rooms. Penguin just watched him, frowning lightly, until the other two successfully saved Shachi from an undignified death by fishbone.

As Law placed a glass of water in front of him firmly, which Shachi gulped down thankfully, Penguin's hand stretched out and briskly whipped the hat off of his head, exposing the matted mess that was once flowing ginger locks.

"Shachi." He sounded completely scandalised, as if it was his own hair that was in such a state. "Oh, you idiot." Shachi glowered at him over the rim of the glass he was still nursing, wanting his hat back but knowing Penguin well enough to recognise that he wouldn't be getting it back until the scolding was over.

"I agree with Penguin," Law said bluntly, reaching forwards and ineffectually tugging at one of the ensnared hair bands lightly. Shachi winced, then swatted Bepo's paw away as the mink tried to pat him on the head lightly.

"Leave it," he grumbled.

"Do you not know how to cut your own hair?" Law continued as if he'd said nothing, and Shachi scowled at him blackly. "Or perhaps I should be asking if you know what a brush is."

Shachi eyed the perpetual bedhead of his captain and thought that was a bit rich. Then Law produced a knife from somewhere, and he actively flinched backwards, Penguin's hand on his arm stopping him from overbalancing off the bench.

"What's that for?" he demanded, trying to scramble away as Law rounded the table to approach him, blade held confidently in one hand. "No."

"You can't leave your hair like that," Law said bluntly. "It's unhygienic."

"So you're going to cut it off?" Shachi shrieked, fighting Penguin's hold. "Don't you dare, Law!" Law paused for a moment and Shachi saw him considering for a long, hopeful moment before he resumed his advance.

"Hold still!" Law snapped as Shachi shook his head vigorously, trying to present too much of a moving target. His heavily clumped hair didn't lend itself to the effort, and fingers clenched the mess, forcing Shachi's movements to reduce. "If you don't stop moving I really will cut all your hair off!" the younger teen threatened, and Shachi froze on impulse before the words registered.

"So… if you're not cutting all my hair off, what are you doing with that knife?" he asked, trying to track Law with his eyes while his head stayed totally still.

"Cutting out the hair ties," Law said bluntly, and moments later Shachi felt a slight tugging. "What did you even do to get it this bad?" Shachi chose not to dignify that with a response, and heard Penguin chuckle lightly beside him. "There, I think that's all of them." He moved back into Shachi's line of view, and the ginger was glad to see the knife disappearing back to wherever Law kept it.

"Thanks," he muttered, because while he could have done without the scare, the removal of the hair ties was hardly a bad thing. The look on Law's face, though. That was a bad thing.

"We're not done," the younger teen said bluntly. "Bathroom." Penguin and Bepo flanked him and Shachi could do little more than scramble to get his feet underneath him before he was frog-matched until he was stood in front of a sink. Law dumped a bottle of shampoo in front of him and eyed him firmly.

Shachi glanced down at it dubiously, as Penguin reached forwards to get the sink filling with warm water.

"Use it," Law said bluntly, ignoring or not noticing Shachi's concern at how he was supposed to wash his hair from a sink. He reached for his shades slowly, and realisation flashed across Law's face. Penguin was faster, gently claiming the shades before coaxing him to stumble back the last couple of steps to the sink. His eyes closed out of necessity, Shachi couldn't see what they were doing, but water splashed over his hair as he followed instructions to bend over, and he could definitely feel the fingers massaging his scalp to work in the shampoo.

There were more than two hands – three at least – and with the unmistakable furred body of Bepo keeping him supported Shachi realised that all of them had joined in trying to coax his hair into taking a form more suitable.

Shachi hadn't been trying to count the seconds, but with nothing else to do but wait for his nakama to finish found himself doing it anyway. The procedure ended up taking the better part of half an hour, and the water was frigid by the time Law decided he was satisfied.

"All done?" Shachi dared to ask as he accepted his shades from Penguin and settled them back on his face where they belonged.

"No," Law said bluntly, and Shachi paused, confused. "Next up we cut it."

"You said you wouldn't cut it!" Shachi protested. Law rolled his eyes, and Bepo started to drag him out of the room. "Bepo!"

"Your hair needs a trim," Law ground out through gritted teeth. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The knife was out again, and Shachi recoiled, only to be caught by Bepo who easily pinned him with his bulk. Penguin helped manhandle him into a sitting position, and he froze as slender fingers carded through the wet hair, coaxing apart the strands that the solid washing hadn't separated. Damp, the longest strands reached the base of his shoulder blades. They were gentle and sure, and if it wasn't for the fact that he was pinned in place by Penguin and Bepo he'd have thought it was just like being back on Swallow Island.

The sound and sensation of his hair falling to the floor (or more likely, onto Bepo) almost lulled him to sleep, certainly placing him in a dozing state until Law finally announced that he was finished. Tentatively, Shachi ran fingers through his hair, surprised when they came back knot-free.

"Don't let it get that bad again," Law grumbled, and left before Shachi could say anything else. The ever-faithful Bepo followed right on his tail.

Penguin found Shachi a mirror, and he surveyed it critically. Law was by no means a perfect hairdresser. Parts of his hair were noticeably shorter than others, and the layers of hair were completely unkempt as Law had largely ignored them in his makeshift hairdressing. Regardless of the imperfections, his hair looked far better than it had for months, and Shachi wondered if he could persuade his captain to cut his hair again in a couple of months' time.

Well, someone's got to cut their hair... Of course, we know nothing about Penguin's hair, and Law's looks rather like he just cuts it with the nearest sharp implement, so Shachi with his reasonably long hair it was.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari