Lather
As Flash Sentry looked at his reflection in the mirror, he couldn’t help but cringe at the mess that stared back. He wasn’t usually a nervous wreck, but then again, he also did not usually forget when he had a date the next day. They would be getting breakfast tomorrow morning, and his hair had not been trimmed in weeks. Okay, maybe he didn’t need to worry about it so much. But he did need a haircut, and he wasn’t sure where he was going to get one.
Okay, maybe he didn’t need to worry about it so much. After all, if she agreed to the date even when his hair was a little long, then that meant she was fine with it, right? Still, he wanted to make a good impression, and he did need a haircut. He just didn’t know where he could get one at this time of night.
He needed to relax. Worrying like this would not do him any good. Groaning, Flash threw some clothes on and went out for a stroll.
What was he going to do? It was past nine, and he was sure that all the barber shops in town were closed. Certainly, any within reasonable walking distance.
That’s when a piece of paper taped to a lamp post caught his eye. It was simple in design, with only a single, to-the-point message that read: haircuts on call, at your home, up to 11:00 PM, call for pricing. Across the bottom were pre-cut tabs, each with a phone number.
Providence was smiling on him, apparently.
Flash tore off one of the tabs and made it home in record time. Phone in hand, he dialed the number and waited for an answer. “Hello?” The voice on the other end sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it.
“Hello, I’m calling about your ad for haircuts on call?”
“Of course. What’s your address?”
Of all the people Flash could have expected to show up, it was not Aria Blaze, (former?) siren. “Oh… it’s you.”
“Yup. It’s me.”
I didn’t expect…”
“Most people don’t. Get in the chair.” Flash jumped a little at the command, but did so as Aria dropped her bag on the floor and began pulling out an array of hair care tools. “So who’s the lucky girl?”
“What makes you think I have a date?”
“No one asks for someone to come to their house to cut their hair at 9:32 at night unless they have a date the next day.”
Flash blushed. He’d been caught. But he wasn’t sure if he should answer. After all, he was under no presumptions that Aria had become fond of CHS or its students since he last saw her. Would she even know who his date was if he told her?
He was about to respond when Aria put her hand up. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. I might give you a worse haircut if I don’t like your date.” Flash let out a breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding.
Aria gave him no reprieve. “So, what are you thinking? Your usual dorky cut? Something more formal? Whatever passes for cool around here?”
“It’s not dorky,” he protested weakly, but he let it slide. “Uhh… just cut it short. She shrugged, and Flash settled in for a quiet, uneventful haircut.
“Your hair smells like apples. Why does your hair smell like apples?”
Or not.
Flash had to fight the urge to scratch the back of his head. “It’s the cheapest brand at the megamart. Apparently, the Apple family sells apples in bulk to a major hair care company, and the town gets products early and cheaper in return.”
“Does anyone else actually buy this brand of shampoo?”
“…I did say it was the cheapest.”
Aria scowled but said nothing as she grabbed an electric shaver. She took a handful of hair and poised to cut, but stopped. “That’s it, I can’t do this. Not with that awful smell. Get in the shower.”
“I… what?”
“Lucky for you, I also brought some actual shampoo and conditioner. Now get moving. I charge by the hour, remember?”
Aria’s crossed arms and dry look were not doing wonders for Flash’s nerves. “You’re not really thinking of showering in your clothes, are you?”
“What, do you want me to… get naked?”
“I’m a grown woman, and I can pretend you’re a grown man. This is strictly professional.”
Flash would have bristled at the jab. Would have, if he hadn’t been in the middle of getting butt naked in front of someone he knew barely in passing, who was now also getting naked.
Wait a minute.
“You should be thankful I’m not charging extra for this. Think of it as out of the goodness of my heart.”
“Wait, what are you—“
“I’m not going to get my clothes wet. Unlike you, I don’t have any spares around here.”
“Yeah, but—“
“Like I said, I’m a mature adult, and I can pretend you are too. If you can’t, just turn around. Or stare. I don’t care. But that costs extra.”
For the sake of his dignity and his wallet, he turned around. He turned the water on, and let himself relax under the sensation of the cool running water.
“Make the water warmer.”
“Huh?” Still, he did as she told and turned up the hot. He didn’t asked for an explanation, and she gave him none. All he felt was her hands raking through his hair, thoroughly soaking it and letting it lay flat on his head.
Then she reached past him and turned the water off. He heard the click of a bottle opening and the messy spurt of contents being squeezed out. Said contents were then pressed into his scalp, her fingers massaging his head more than scraping or raking like he did.
While she continued to lather his hair, Flash lost himself in thought. What was she doing here? What had happened to the other sirens? How was he going to hide his… excitement at being naked with a naked girl in a shower?
(Flash gave himself some slack – he was still a teenage boy.)
Still, the fact he kept his back turned meant he had no idea what Aria was doing. The fact she asked him to get naked and he barely protested unnerved him. Did she still have some vestiges of her mind control powers? Was he under her influence?
No, that probably wasn’t it. He was questioning it, for one. If he was really under her spell, would it even be possible to doubt her? But maybe this was part of her plan to lure him into a false sense of security, and then she’d—
“Calm down.” Her irritated growl made him pause. “I’m just shampooing your hair. Don’t need to get worked up over it.”
He took a deep breath. He was overthinking this. Aria was right – she was just washing his hair, and she’d given no indication she was planning something nefarious. He muttered a “sorry” in apology. She grunted in acceptance.
She finished lathering his hair, and he reached to turn the water back, but her still-sudsy hand grabbed his arm. “Let it sit.”
She released his arm, and he let it hang lamely at his side. For a long moment, the two stood in silence, less awkward than Flash would have expected. Still was awkward, though.
After about a minute, she reached past him again and turned the water back on, this time much cooler. Her hands went back to work, raking through his hair and scratching his scalp. It dawned on Flash that Aria was washing his hair. She hadn’t just sent him off to wash his hair and come back. She was doing the deed herself. And not in some half-assed manner; she was being thorough, as another strong press against his head reminded him.
“Why?”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you doing… all this?”
“You would have done it wrong.”
He blinked a couple times. No one had ever told him he was washing his hair wrong before.
She pulled him back, his head out of the flow of water, and pulled him out of his thoughts. Then she bowed his head forward, squeezing some of the water out of his hair. Another splurt, and another product went into his hair, this one feeling much oilier as she spread it through his hair.
“It’s called conditioner, you Neanderthal.”
“I didn’t say anything!”
“Your shoulders tensed up. What did you think I was putting in your hair?” Flash left that question unanswered, and he got a snort for his silence.
Then she pushed him back into the water, and ran her hands through his hair again. All in all, it was a rather surreal experience. Flash had never had his hair washed like this before, and he certainly hadn’t expected his first time to be with an interdimensional seductress, both naked in the shower.
The mental image made him blush.
Almost abruptly, she turned the water off, leaving him dripping. Then he felt a towel run against his hair – not abrasive and harsh, but a gentle brushing.
“There. Finish drying yourself – don’t touch your hair.” Flash turned around just in time to see a towel fly into his face. He removed it just in time to see Aria drying herself, still naked.
For the sake of his dignity, he turned around.
“I’m going to have to wait for your hair to dry before I cut it.” Aria seemed annoyed she was going to have to spend even more time with Flash. Not that Flash was keen on spending more time with her, either.
“So… what now?”
She sighed and took out a phone. “I should….” Then she stared at it for a pregnant moment. “…To hell with it. Let her worry,” she hissed, putting the phone away.
So there the two were, sitting in Flash’s kitchen in silence. Aria seemed content to stare out the window at the moon, while Flash tried to look at everything but Aria.
It was not a relaxing exercise.
Again, his mind wandered. What had happened to her fellow sirens? It sounded like Aria was about to call one of them, but decided against it. Sounded like there was bad blood between the sirens, too. What Flash knew of the sirens was mostly secondhand – the whole “under our spell” thing had made his memory of the events hazy. Still, from what he knew he’d thought they were a cohesive group. He’d thought wrong, apparently.
He opened his mouth to ask about it, but changed his mind.
Still, he couldn’t leave the silence hanging. “Why’d you start giving haircuts?”
“Someone has to pay the bills.” She didn’t bother looking at him while she answered.
Again, silence reigned.
“So, how do you want your hair?”
“Just short, I guess.”
“Inspired. How short?”
“Not too short, y’know?”
“Descriptive.”
Armed with his answers, Aria picked up the clippers in one hand, a handful of his hair in the other, and began to trim his hair down.
Flash let out sigh of relief. Now he could clear his mind and relax.
Except he couldn’t. Her hands in his hair evoked memories of the hair washing not so long ago, and even the dull whir of the clippers felt like the constant hiss of running water. Even now, he wasn’t sure what to make of the whole experience.
Couldn’t he have a normal life? When had his life become filled with magic and she-demons? Was not even the simple rite of getting a haircut going to remain untouched by the whirlwind that had become this town?
Not that he regretted meeting Sunset Shimmer or Twilight Sparkle. They’d become good friends of his, and he sorely wished he could see Twilight more often. And knowing there was a magical portal right outside his school was cool. But for all the wonderful things that had entered into his life, he’d been the victim of two brainwashings by now, and he had a suspicion that more magical misfortune was heading his way in the future.
Now she was spritzing his hair before cutting it with scissors. As if he needed more reminders. At least that was a sign she was almost done.
His mind turned back to Aria. She’d hardly been tactful or pleasant, but she was cutting his hair without incident, and had gone through all the trouble to wash his hair well. Even if it had been provoked by how his hair had been smelled, she’d gone through all that trouble to make sure he looked good. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. Was this the same girl that had tried to take over the world barely a month ago?
They had bills to pay, she’d said. Did they have money trouble?
Would someone who didn’t have money trouble go around cutting hair at night?
Flash wanted to feel good about their defeat, that they were now getting their comeuppance. But seeing Aria here now, reduced from entrancing him to washing and cutting his hair, he couldn’t stop a pang in his heart for her.
A hair dryer came out, and after a blow and a brush, Aria handed him a mirror.
“Good?”
He nodded. “How much do I owe you?”
“If I charged you as much as I should… eighty dollars.” His eyes widened. “But since I’m in a good mood… forty.”
He couldn’t stop a wince. Forty was still steep for a haircut, certainly more than he expected to pay. But she had done a lot of work, and he did look good.
He reached into his wallet and handed her eighty dollars.
She raised an eyebrow at him, and he waved her off. She shrugged and pocketed the money.
“Are you going to wash your hair again?” He nodded. He couldn’t stand the hair flecks stuck in his scalp. “Don’t if you can. Too much washing will ruin your hair. If you must, be gentle with it.”
He nodded again, and she turned to leave.
“Hey.”
She stopped in the doorway, and looked at him.
“Thanks.”
She grunted in response, left, and closed the door, leaving Flash alone with his thoughts.
He shook his head and ran back upstairs to his room. He needed to finish getting ready for tomorrow.
As he stood in front of his dresser picking out his outfit, he looked up and in the mirror.
Then he looked down at the phone number on his dresser.
He might just call her again the next time he needed a haircut.
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Nice, I really like where this story is going
Why not just use a sink?
Well, that was very entertaining. The simplicity and placing is nice for a change, as opposed to other writers who jump straight into something.
Nice surprise seeing something new from you in my feed. I'll have to read it sooner-than-later - just no time right at the moment.
I enjoy just reading this, i think Flash's confusion and mind whirrring away just gets through from the writing.
Oh right, we're going there
But her bluntness is wonderful 
Not sure if that's more for his or for hers, though.
I really like this version of Flash. He's sweet, without being the things everyone hated in the first movie.