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[cache_coeur]

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”Allô, mon amie! Je ne suis pas disponible pour le moment, mais laissez-moi un message et je vous rapellerai dès que possible! À bientôt!”

CODING

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[maellum]

[Maelle's set up a little salon in her bedroom. Along with the kitchen shears, she's borrowed one of the dining chairs. It's sat before her dresser and its mirror, her hair brush and a comb set down nearby. Easier to do it here than hog the bathroom should someone need it--a lesson learned in a home with one bathroom and four people! She's a little irked Sciel takes so long, but when she pokes her head out and sees That Bag, she's quick to forgive.]

What've you got there? Something to keep me still while you come at me with sharp blades?

[cache_coeur]

[Look, she had to take a detour to get snacks. She flashes Maelle a grin as she shucks off her jacket and hangs it up. Despite the cold, she cannot be deterred from a tank top, though she’s conceded to sweat pants on the bottom.]

If anything, it’ll make you vibrate on the spot. It’ll make it more challenging for me!

[maellum]

Oooh. Well, do keep in mind I would like my hair to be even. Unless you want to hear Sophie cackle from across the city.

[Tempted as she is to go dig through the bag, she does step over to Sciel to give her a one-armed hug, first.]

[cache_coeur]

[Sciel chuckles under her breath, leaning in to press a kiss to Maelle’s scalp.]

It’ll be perfectly even! Not a single hair out of place, I promise.

[maellum]

Well, it also can't be too even. That would look weird.

[No blunt bangs, okay.]

[cache_coeur]

[Sciel grins against her hair and then lets her go, gesturing her towards the 7/11 bag, which contains two sodas, a couple bags of candy, and a bag of chips.]

Well, I wasn’t being literal, because you’re a person, not a piece of paper, so I promise it’ll be as even as humanly possible without being weird! We’ll get you in front of a mirror and clip it all up and decide what to do, hmm?

[maellum]

[Treats!!! Maelle goes to inspect, looking at each item carefully even if she's had it before. She loves the packaging and bright colors.]

My hair feels like I might be a Gestral, so I don't know about the person part of all that.

[Her ends are bristles, Sciel :( Maelle hands her a soda, the snacks in her arms.]

Come on, I made us our own work station.

[cache_coeur]

A gestral! That explains all the fighting you like to do.

[She follows along, cold soda tucked into the crook of one arm, to see their workstation. Certainly more thoughtful than Sciel’s imagining of it –– Maelle sitting on the toilet seat, Sciel eyeballing with the scissors.]

This should be perfect. One second, I’ll grab some clips from my room.

[maellum]

Clips... I knew I forgot something.

[Maelle sits, keeping the snacks on her lap and cracking open her soda like a single father coming home after a long day of work, sigh and all. After a sip, she lets down her hair and smooths her hand over the indent left in the waves from her perpetual ponytail.]

[cache_coeur]

Well, we’ll hardly need them, it’s just for decision-making.

[Sciel returns momentarily, setting her own soda down on the dresser and reaches to run her fingers through Maelle’s hair.]

So how dramatic are we going? To the mid-back? Shoulders? Chin?

[She smoothes Maelle’s bangs back.]

Bald?

[maellum]

[Maelle smiles, a sucker for fingers in her hair. She looks at their reflections in the mirror, eyebrows going up at shoulders--that's too short! And ultimately laughing when she gets to bald.]

Think anyone would recognize me, bald? I think the red hair is my thing, no?

[cache_coeur]

We’d leave your eyebrows!

[She starts playing, folding and pinning up Maelle’s hair in the approximation of a short cut, long layers falling to her jaw.]

[maellum]

Nah, we should take the eyebrows, too. Go all the way.

[... she says, but she's already making a face at the short hair Sciel is going for.]

That is practically bald, you know.

[cache_coeur]

It’s not practically bald, this is a perfectly respectable amount of hair.

[She reaches around to cover Maelle’s eyebrows with her index fingers. Her tan skin is hardly any useful illusion against Maelle’s pale skin, but it’s the thought that counts.]

Maybe a little longer, then? To the shoulders, like Lune’s?

[maellum]

Maybe a little longer than that? I still want to put it up.

[Enjoy your fussy client, Sciel.]

[cache_coeur]

[Sciel fiddles with the clips, dropping Maelle’s hair down to her armpits. It’s still a good eight or so inches off, still a very dramatic difference. Sciel smiles at the two of them in the mirror.]

Just a little shorter than mine.

[maellum]

That's better.

[Still a lot to make Maelle a little nervous about the cut, but she soothes herself by opening the bag of candy. She offers it to Sciel first. Manners.]

Have you been keeping up on your trims?

[cache_coeur]

[Sciel takes a piece and pops it in her mouth, and then starts sectioning off Maelle’s hair, piling the bulk of it on top of her head.]

My fringe, yes, but I’ve been letting the rest grow. I was thinking I’d just let it grow until it gave me a headache to put up.

[maellum]

And how long do you think that will be? Three years?

[Maelle pops two pieces of candy into her mouth at once.]

[cache_coeur]

Maybe! But by then it might be so long I’d be accidentally sitting on it.

[She picks up the scissors.]

[maellum]

[Maelle takes a breath.]

Should I close my eyes?

[cache_coeur]

[Sciel pulls out a long length of hair between her fingers, scissors poised in the other hand. She pulls it out front to show Maelle where the cut line is, roughly level with her armpit. Yes? No?]

Do you think I’ve been doing a poor job on my own hair or something?

[maellum]

[Maelle considers, then nods. A tiny nod, so not to make Sciel lose her spot. Then, more candy.]

I've been told I can be a little... dramatic. I used to fight Emma when she took me to get my hair cut when I was younger.

[Then it sort of... stopped. Hence the long hair.]

But no, your hair is beautiful, Sciel.

[cache_coeur]

You, dramatic?

[There’s a flair for it, certainly, but Sciel has scarcely seen any temper tantrum that seemed outside the realm of normal for an overwhelmed child. She just hums, snipping the lock of hair short, and then moving to the next.]

Did Emma want it very short?

[maellum]

[The cutting begins. Maelle distracts herself with more candy.]

Sort of? I get it now, though. I wasn't very interested in brushing my hair when I was younger. I'd get all sorts of things stuck in it. Food, leaves, mud...