Reya stood behind a seated Adrian holding a pair of scissors, contemplating how she got there. She’d been hard pressed to refuse him after he gave her that look. It was so full of boyish eagerness and hope that she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. And now I’m about to cut a literal alien’s hair, she thought. Adrian, for his part, sat stock still, not wanting to make her job any more difficult than it already was.
Although he’d given it a thorough wash, his hair was still excessively long and knotted. Reya tapped her chin, analyzing her newest problem. First, she wanted to decide what kind of cut she gave him and would proceed from there. She was thinking short on the sides and longer on top, perhaps with a slight fade. Eyeing his unkempt beard, she hoped she could pull off what she envisioned.
Reya huffed and then got to work. Taking her scissors, she carefully ran her hand through his long, matted hair and cut off large swaths, shortening it significantly. She repeated the process until finally his hair was around shoulder length. Nodding at her work, she decided to shorten it some more. She was left with an entirely unpolished, crooked result, but that didn’t deter her.
Switching out her scissors for an electric shaver, she snapped on a large attachment. Ensuring that she selected the right length, she turned it on, feeling the small device thrum in her hand. Gently, she brought it to the base of Adrian’s skull, pausing above his skin to move his hair out of the way. “Do you trust me?” she asked, curious.
“Yes,” Adrian replied, surprising Reya with his candor.
“Really? Not even a little bit of doubt? This could end up really ugly for all you know.”
Adrian thought for a moment, reflecting on how he felt. “None, actually. For some reason I trust that you’ll do a good job. Not entirely sure why, if I’m honest, but you don’t seem like the sort who would purposefully try to mess up. I’ll be happy as long as you try your best, regardless of the result.”
Once again, Adrian’s frank honesty took Reya by surprise. She looked over towards Rann, who was supervising and received a shrug in response. Taking a deep breath, she said “Alright then, here it goes.” The shaver ate away at Adrian’s hair and in one fell swoop, Reya buzzed off a long length of hair, ending near the top of his skull. “I hope this turns out well,” she whispered under her breath.
“I’m sure it will,” Adrian said reassuringly. Reya frowned, surprised he’d heard her. She continued, shaving away the sides and back of Adrian’s head until a uniform length stared back at her. Turning off the shaver, she set it aside in favour of her scissors once more. The clear, plastic spray bottle she’d left on the counter made its appearance as she used the water within to wet the top of Adrian’s head.
With slow precision, she trimmed Adrian’s hair down to a stylish length before once more grabbing the shaver. Once she was satisfied with the length, she gave him a slight fade on the sides and base of his head, completing the look. Polishing off her work with the scissors once more, she walked around Adrian and declared she was done, satisfied with how it turned out. Rann clapped at the result, impressed.
Now if only he could get rid of that godawful beard, it would look much better, Reya thought. She made Adrian wait and went into the bathroom to fetch the small, handheld mirror she remembered seeing earlier. Returning triumphantly, she handed it over and showed Adrian the results.
He smiled warmly when he saw how well the haircut turned out. “See? I knew I had nothing to worry about. Thank you, Reya. You did an excellent job.” Reya blushed somewhat, unused to such heartfelt praise. “Now then, I guess it’s time to clean up.” Adrian eyed the mess on the floor. “Is there a broom I could use to pick up the hair?”
“We’ll do that,” Rann said, waving him off. “Go get cleaned up instead,” she said, curious to see the final results of his makeover. She handed him the stack of clothes that Beor had deposited in her care while Adrian was getting his hair cut and shooed him off towards the bathroom. She left to go find a broom. When she returned, she handed it to Reya.
“Oh, so when you said ‘we,’ you really meant me,” Reya deadpanned as she took the broom and dustpan from Rann.
“Yep,” Rann said shamelessly. She eyed the pile of hair on the floor. “Still though, that was a lot of hair.”
“I know.” Reya bent over and began sweeping some of it into the dustpan. “Makes you wonder how long he was held in captivity for.”
Rann turned contemplative at Reya’s comment. “Years, probably. If it was short when he got abducted, then he must have been there for a long time.”
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“I can’t even begin to imagine what they did to him,” Reya said sadly. “Just look at what they did to me. And I was only there for a bit over a month.” The pair lapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Reya continued to clean up the mess she’d made and soon finished, handing the broom back to Rann. “We,” she stressed, “can go put the broom back where you found it.”
Ran chuckled and took the broom. “Guess I deserve that.” Once Rann returned, the two fell into an amicable chat while Adrian got cleaned up.
----------------------------------------
Adrian stared at himself in the mirror. She did a really good job, he thought. It had looked good when she’d shown him in the small, handheld mirror, but now that he could inspect it freely, he couldn’t help but admire it.
Picking up the shaver, he eyed the contraption. It looked simple enough. There was only one button, and it resembled any old shaver he could buy back home. Pushing it, the shaver came to life with a hum. He turned his face in the mirror, inspecting his long, unkempt beard. “Now, how do we go about this?” He grabbed the trashcan off the floor and brought it close by so he could clean up easily once he was done.
Five minutes and some swearing later, Adrian stared at his face in the mirror, barely recognizing what he saw. He’d been unable to get a full, perfectly smooth shave, the result a slight five o’clock shadow instead. The look suited his new haircut to an unnerving degree when paired with his mesmerizing silver eyes.
It felt very strange for him to be able to see his reflection again. After so long, the stranger staring back at him made him wonder if it was really his own face that he saw. His fingers prickled as he ran his hand over his stubble, watching his reflection do the same. He’d definitely filled out some since he last saw himself, with a strong jaw that wore his new look well. Somehow, he’d managed to live through his experiments without any scarring to his face, a fact that surprised him given the multitude of scars canvased all over the rest of his body.
Shrugging off his clothes, Adrian shook them over the tub, getting out any stray hairs that might still be stuck inside, before realizing that it was pointless since he was probably never going to wear those rags again. He cleaned up the aftermath he’d left in the sink and rinsed out the hair. Hopping into the shower, he felt the warm water wash away his worries as it trailed down his body. He briefly wondered what Reya would think of his new look, not noticing that the thought had even crossed his mind before becoming distracted with other thoughts.
Cleaning himself up and once again marvelling at the feeling of no longer being dirty, he dried himself off and inspected his new clothes. Beor had selected a pair of black jeans, complete with a black belt and a pair of dark blue socks. Adrian was surprised at how well the ensemble fit when he put them on. Beor had chosen well.
The long-sleeved shirt was a plain white, form-fitting V-neck that helped hide the slash marks and scars that covered his body. Some peeked through the opening of the shirt, but there was little he could do to fix that.
He’d paid a heavy price in blood when he’d tried to escape and was frankly surprised that he hadn’t bled out given that he’d been left to die in his cell with no medical assistance. Over the course of his captivity, he’d come to learn that he healed far faster than a normal person had any right to. The result, however, still left scars. That small blessing was perhaps the only reason he was still alive.
Wriggling his toes inside his socks, a strange sensation came over him. It feels so weird to wear socks again. How do people stand it? He wondered. Pushing the stray thought aside, Adrian left the bathroom and walked out, feeling like a new man. He made his way over to the kitchen and showed off to the girls still sitting at the table. “So, what do you think?” he asked nervously.
“Wow, you clean up well.” Rann whistled, thoroughly impressed by the change. Adrian looked nothing like mess he’d been before.
He looked over at Reya, who stared at him mutely, wondering what her reaction was. When she remained silent, he grew worried. “No go?” he asked, taking her lack of response as a bad sign.
Reya blinked. “Yes go,” she said. “I mean, it looks great. You look great,” she said hurriedly, her eyes roaming his well-muscled body, taking in the transformation. “It’s just, wow.” Rann gave her a knowing look that both Reya and Adrian missed, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“Hear that? You look great! Have some confidence in yourself already,” Rann said. Adrian flashed her a sheepish smile, scratching the side of his head.
“Thank you,” he said meaningfully.
Beor walked back into the house just in time to see Adrian standing in the middle of the kitchen. “Damn, you look good,” he said earnestly. “Didn’t think aliens could look so spiffy. Do the clothes fit ok?”
“The pants, surprisingly well. The top’s a little tight, but other than that, it’s perfect. Thank you, it’s been a long time since I’ve had something fresh to change into.”
“Those buggers dress you up in those old clothes when you got there?” Beor asked, referring to the facility in which they’d found him.
Adrian paused. Everyone in the room felt his mood darken at the mention. “No,” he answered after a moment. “I got those long before that,” he said, his voice tinged with a note that Reya couldn’t quite place. As quick as it came, the shift in mood was gone, Adrian back to his previous self. “I think I’m going to go sit outside, if anybody wants to join me.” He walked out the front door, not minding that he didn’t have any shoes, and sat down in one of the chairs on the porch. Nobody moved to accompany him.
“What was that?” Reya asked once he was gone, unsure what to make of the situation.
“A landmine, that’s what it was,” Rann said. “There’s something there he’s not telling us. Something must have happened to him before he was abducted.”
“Damn, guess I said the wrong thing,” Beor said, chastising himself. “At least now we know it’s a sensitive topic.”
“There’s no way you could have known, babe. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”