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It was early Christmas morning in the Kingston-Gray house, and April couldn’t sleep. She was jittery and restless, as if she’d drank her weight in energy drinks and iced coffees. She kept on looking at her phone, watching the minutes slowly tick on by - waiting for it to be acceptable to go and begin the day. It felt like agony, and no activity she attempted could distract her from what awaited - no amount of doomscrolling, or crocheting, or TV, or games - none of it could take away the maddening adrenaline of anticipation. Not for gifts or holiday fun - she was incredibly excited for those, of course, but not as much as she was for [i]this[/i]. It was finally time. She made up her mind. She’d found a dozen reference images, and had sent them to her brother. 

It was time to cut her hair. 

The minute her phone’s clock read six, she threw the blankets off and flung herself out of bed, clad in sleep shorts and a Harry Simmons t-shirt. She rushed out of her room, before doubling back and grabbing a pair of scissors, and then making her way one door over, and knocked on it incessantly. 

[color=42A9FF]“Danni, Danni, Danni, Danni, Danni, Danni, Danni!!!”[/color] She didn’t wait for him to answer, instead opening the door, and jumping onto his bed. [color=42A9FF]“I need your help with something really really really important! It’s going to be a surprise for everyone!”[/color] 

She held out the scissors to him. [color=42A9FF]“Can you give me a boy’s haircut?”[/color]

Danni knew he was just about perfect. Sure, could his fire control use a little more refining? Sure. But at the end of the day, he was the perfect child, friend, sibling, dancer, cook, beauty guru- the list was endless. However, perfect took energy and Danni enjoyed getting that energy from sleep. The warmth of three or four blankets, a pile of pillows all comfortably tucked around him, soothing music playing soft rain on glass through the evening, and a purring dragon settled neatly on his chest while his face mask worked wonders on his skin and a sleep mask kept unwanted light from disturbing him the perfect way to wake refreshed and ready for anything the day may throw at him. Truly, who could be grumpy, upset, or frustrated when warmth and heat soaked into all of their bones and the cutest little pet gave the cutest little yawn and the cutest little tongue blep every morning? Home was a safe place to sleep – everyone knew he needed his later morning start.

 Which was why, when rapid fire knocking and a sudden [i]bounce[/i] on his bed startled Amelie awake, the resulting scramble by dragon and boy was violent. Amelie let out a puff of smoke in April’s face and tripped in her hurry to stand, claws digging into Danni’s blankets with a nasty tearing sound as she toppled. Danni screeched and struggled, surprise tightening his blankets as he thrashed, and the scent of burnt cloth filled the room as the center of another blanket smoldered. Danni yanked an arm out of his cocoon and finally shoved his sleep mask halfway up his head, peering both sleepily and irritably at his sibling. He looked at the offered scissors, eye wandering over to the clock, blinking sleeps out of his eyes as it focused, and whipped his head around so fast his neck cracked. 

[color=E948FC]“It is… 6AM.”[/color] Danni croaked, disbelief at April’s betrayal shining like tears. [color=E948FC]“Rillieeeee, why do you ‘ate me?”[/color] Amelia, flopped halfway onto Danni’s stomach and got a wheeze out of him for her trouble. She eyed April and huffed in agreement.

April was not deterred. She knew that Danni liked to sleep in a little longer, but she had waited as long as she possibly could. If she hadn’t come to ask this now, she would have exploded - and that definitely would have ruined Christmas! She scooched on over as Danni and Amelie thrashed, blankets smoldering and smoke filling the air, and once she could see Danni’s eyes, she moved back on in. [color=42A9FF]“I don’t hate you, I love you!”[/color] she corrected, before reaching out to take one of Danni’s hands. [color=42A9FF]“What I hate is looking like a girl so I really really really need you to fix it. Pleeeeeeease? For meeeeeee? Danniiiiiiiiiiiii? I’ll owe you forever if you do iiiiiiit.”[/color]

Danni pouted. Everyone knew he was a pushover when the fam needed help and he let out a pathetic whimper, mirror quickly by Amelie as she too realized there would be no more sleep. [color=E948FC]“Fiiiiiiiine.”[/color] Danni groaned and batted April away, sleep leadened limbs untangling the mangled mess of blankets. He’d ask Pa to fix them when he woke up anyways. Danni shivered as a rush of cold air flooded into cocoon and it took a significant, a momentous, an enormous effort of will not to cuddle back into his bed. He kicked a pillow off the bed and shimmied out of the little nest he’d made, groaning as he stretched. 

[color=E948FC]“Why do ya ‘ave t’ose scissors? I ‘ave t’at kit t’e ‘rents got me last year, remember?”[/color] Danni yawned through his question, picking up Amelie as she clawed at his thigh and Danni huffed with the effort. She’d started putting on weight over the break – not just because gingersnaps were apparently her favorite cookie, but she’d grown quite a bit over the past few months. She let out a sleepy grumble and curled up against Danni’s neck. He placed a kiss on her head. 

[color=E948FC]“Okay, okay. Where we doin’-“[/color] Danni yawned again. [color=E948FC]“T’is? Do we ‘ave time for coffee? I don’t t’ink ya want your ‘air cut wit’out coffee in my tummy.”[/color]

[color=42A9FF]“Oh,”[/color] April had completely forgotten that Danni had [i]actual[/i] supplies for this. She had been too excited when the idea solidified in her mind to do much more than grab an implement that would do the job. She had absolutely no idea at all how hard it was to cut hair. She would have done it herself, but she didn’t think she would have been able to cut the hair at the back of her head very well - and she knew Danni had been interested in this sort of thing at one point. She could have asked Pa, but she wanted to surprise everyone. [color=42A9FF]“Uhhh…. We could do it in the bathroom? Do you have… one of those hair vacuum things to clean up with? Pops and Appa would lose their minds if we just left the hair on the floor. Or I guess we could just use a broom?”[/color] 

At the prospect of having to wait for coffee, she pouted, her lip curling. [color=42A9FF]“Fiiiine fine we can have coffee and then hair?”[/color]

Danni nodded and shuffled out of his room, gesturing in some vague direction of the upstairs bathroom. [color=E948FC] “Brin’ t’e chair ya wanna sit in. I’ll drink some of t’e cold- “[/color] Another yawn interrupted his sentence and he didn’t bother picking in back up. Amilie snuffled, drifting in and out of sleep because Danni was moving, and Danni rested his head on hers for a moment. It was quiet in the house – Dee would be walking up soon, if he wasn’t already, and Pops was probably already out on a run. Papa was definitely still snoring and Appa would be getting up to make breakfast soon. Danni shivered as cold drifted up off the snow enchanted onto the stairway railing and he made an agreeable noise as Amelie curled into him to avoid it.

[color=E948FC] “Gunna ‘ave ta move or suffer in a sec. Gotta get t’e cold brew and t’at mean’s a whole lotta cold. Whatcha… Ope, okay.” [/color] Amelie puffed out an irritable huff of smoke and Danni got the point. He blew a stream of candle light across her back and it flickered against the dark hours of the house. Amelie hummed appreciatively and settled back down, eyes flickering closed. Danni hoped it would be enough because he was not awake enough for those claws in his shoulders this morning. He stopped in front of the kitchen, prayed to whoever was listening (and yes, he knew he could trim the claws more often, but dragons did not like personal care and a dragon was a dragon, no matter the size!), and gently opened the fridge. Danni was not prepared. Much like himself, Amelie was cold adverse and the second the fridge opened, she was off like a shot. It took everything in Danni not to scream bloody murder and Amalie clambered up his shoulder, leapt off, hit the ground hard, and scrambled back upstairs hissing and grumbling back into his bed. She didn’t even look back to see where Danni lay, thrown off balance by the sudden movement, and he stared at the ceiling for a long moment.

He was too tired for this. 

Back of his head throbbing and choking back tears, he popped open the fridge and fished out the pitcher of ice coffee. He considered the cabinet for a moment. It was too far away and he really didn’t want to move, so he instead drank straight from the pitcher. The coffee hit his tongue and he sighed contently as he gulped down mouthful after mouthful. Everything was better after coffee in his entirely correct opinion. Even the heartbeat in the back of his head felt better. Kinda. Danni considered calling Pops but he really didn’t need a lecture on dragon safety early in the morning. Instead, he shoved the pitcher half empty back into the fridge, grabbed a plastic bag, and filled it with some ice so he could at least numb out the pain for a bit. Far more awake than he was earlier, his shirt’s shoulder torn to shreds, Danni made his way back upstairs, his usual bounce back in his step as the caffeine (or at least the thought of it) hit his system.

Upstairs, April was becoming increasingly aware of how little she had thought through this plan. On some level, she’d expected Danni to already have a chair in mind. She definitely didn’t. So when she went back to her room and saw her gaming chair, she almost grabbed it to drag to the bathroom - the only thing stopping her being the realization, as it was already halfway to the door, that it had too high of a back for this. So she needed another chair. 

Maybe one of the chairs from the kitchen? 

She left her room again, about to go bounding down the staircase into the hallway, only to hear a modern tragedy. A symphony of thuds and hissing and tearing fabric and shed tears. With each noise, April winced, praying desperately that would be the end of it - but it kept on continuing. Her excitement about the haircut gave way to remorse, shame, concern, and dread. She’d known Danni would be sleepy… she didn’t know he would be a danger to himself. 

Her face was bright pink as she stood frozen in the hallway. [color=42A9FF]“Danni… You okay? … You can go back to bed if you want to?”[/color]

Danni laughed softly and poked April on the nose. [color=E948FC] “Naaaah, t’e coffee’s been drank, t’e dragon is awake, and its time ta cut some ‘air. Just gotta change my shirt, tbh. Gunna be distractin’ wit; all t’is. Grab t’e chair! Appa’s gunna make breakfast soon and I want first dibs!”[/color] Danni a Christmas song as he headed into his room, dug out another sleep shirt and pants, and changed. Danni didn’t bother closing the door as he did and he giggled at the dragon shaped bundle under his blankets. [color=E948FC]“Aw, my little baby all curled up. I’m jealous; I ‘ave ta brave t’e cold and dark all by my lonesome, what am I gunna do?”[/color] Danni laughed as Amelie popped her head out, gave him an unamused look, and licked her snout. He pressed another kiss to her head. 

[color=E948FC]“Go back to bed, sleepyhead. I’ll wake ya for breakfast.”[/color] Amelie purred in contentment and did just that, but not before Danni could snag a photo on his phone. He bit his lip for a second as he positioned a little cartoon Christmas hat on her head and set it as his background, fired it off to everyone in the family chat, and beelined it back to the bathroom before stopping, whirling around, digging out the barber kit he was gifted (that he definitely used for longer than a week and anyone who says otherwise is a [i]liar[/i]) and then beelined it for the bathroom.

In the meantime, April had hurried down the stairs, making a mental note that she owed her brother a thousand favors, and snatched up one of the chairs from the dining room. She then sprinted back up the stairs, worrying more about speed than noise - she didn’t care if Pops came back from the run and heard her moving around, but if he got wind of what they were doing and the surprise was ruined? Christmas would be a disaster and that was absolutely not allowed! She didn’t get many chances for a shocking haircut and she didn’t want to let this one slip through her fingers. She nearly slammed into Danni as she made it to the bathroom with the chair, before fixing him with a euphoric grin. 

[color=42A9FF]“I’ve told you you’re the best, right?”[/color] she asked, before squealing slightly. [color=42A9FF]“Ahhh I’m so excited!!! Should I sit in the chair now or is there something we need to do first or…?”[/color]

[color=E948FC]“Chair, please, and t’en let’s look t’rough whatcha sent me.”[/color] Danni instructed as he laid out the stuff from the kit. Danni propped up his phone and with a few taps, Christmas music blared out of the speakers and he was swiping through the reference pics. [color=E948FC] “Daaaaaamn, Rillie. You really goin’ in ta t’at 80’s rocker vibe, huh? I love it!”[/color] Danni shimmied along with the music as he played with April’s hair. Buzzing down along the side, partition and scissors along the top, should be easy enough! Although the kit didn’t come with them, there were enough people in this house who needed them that with a pull of a drawer (and another and another and another because Danni could have sworn he stashed some around here), he produced a few hair clips and he started pinning the hair he didn’t want to buzz off out of the way. 

[color=E948FC]“Should get some fun stuff for your ears now t’at everyone’ll see t’em easier. Oh, maybe some ear cuffs if ya don’t want piercin’s!”[/color] [/color] Danni commented. Even as he prepped April’s hair, he didn’t stop dancing and picked up the buzzer, clipped on a short guard, and sheared off everything along the sides. It was almost hypnotic, watching as hair fell off pass after pass. Danni got why people cut hair – it was kinda fun, changing how people looked! He could imagine it was annoying if people made bad choices, but this would suit Rillie well! It wasn't long until he was done with steps 1 and 2 and he put the buzzer on the counter and just ran his fingers tips along fine hairs. Everything was even, everything was clean shaven. 

[color=E948FC]“‘ow we feelin’ the cut so far? Still wantin’ ta go wit’ t'is style? T'is is t'e last stop!”[/color]

Every time April had had her hair cut before, she’d never really known what she wanted to do with it. And every time she’d looked in the mirror when it was done, this sense of unease and disappointment would fill her. It was to the extent that April had assumed that everyone hated getting haircuts because it was [i]impossible[/i] to like the outcome. (And of course, the itchy feeling afterwards didn’t help). It hadn’t mattered before if she went to a hairdresser or if Papa had taken the scissors to it - it hadn’t mattered if it was styled into braids or curls or pinned up or let down, it had always just been… [i]blah[/i]. 

But as Danni paused in the cut, and asked her how she was feeling… For the first time in her life, she didn’t have to lie. She blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes as she stared in the mirror and saw herself looking back - not a stranger, but [i]her[/i]. Really her. [color=42A9FF]“I-it’s so so good!!”[/color] April screeched. And then nodded frantically. By no means did she want Danni to stop here. Even the ticklish sensation of her now dramatically shorter hair being touched didn’t bother her. She reached a hand up to feel it, and it was trembling - not from her medication, but just from sheer joy. [color=42A9FF]“I never - I - I didn’t think anyone was supposed to like - to look at the mirror and see - see me. It’s fucking in-in-incredible,”[/color] she choked out. 

[color=E948FC]“Rillie, you gotta ‘old it in if you want t’is ‘aircut. If you cry, I cry, and we end up on the floor again and t’en t’e ‘air doesn’t get done and it’s breakfast time and-“[/color] Danni took a short step back, waving the tears out of his eyes. He was a reflexive crier, sue him. Once he felt a little more in control, Danni set about to portioning their hair again. Using scissors would be more difficult since they still wanted the length but considering how smoothly Danni handled it so far, he was brimming with confidence. He did a quick check of the reference photos again, questioned the mullet decision, and then decided it was fine – Rillie could pull it off with the right product. [color=E948FC]“Oookay, we’ll cut the larger sections off dry, add a little moisture, trim up, dry you out, and then style! Sounds good, yeah?”[/color] Danni didn’t wait for a response, instead starting to cut larger sections of hair off. His noise wrinkled as it hit his sock, but he powered through it – it wasn’t like Danni was going to be seen in this for Christmas anyways. 

April shut and reopened her eyes firmly several times, attempting to stop the near flow of tears. [color=42A9FF]“Sorry, I’m trying!!”[/color] She was a crier through and through - an instinct she had spent much of her life trying to deny, trying to suppress. It had gotten harder to hold back the tears since her time in CAGE, since she was forced to face the reality of the black stormcloud inside her mind. But those tears had been born of pain and insecurities, fears of failure and disappointment, and anguish each time she looked in the mirror, seeing someone else in the reflection. She had convinced herself it was better to hide and suppress how she felt instead of being honest - to manage her burdens alone instead of allowing her loved ones to help - that if she let them see who she really was, they would leave her in disgust. 

The tears now weren’t from that pain, though - or rather, they were, yet in a fundamentally different way. The water pooling in her eyes was from joy and relief - from a rapidly swelling happiness that threatened to send her floating away. Somehow, she managed to keep them at bay. [color=42A9FF]“Sounds amazing!”[/color] April agreed, resisting the urge to nod enthusiastically - she knew to keep her head as still as possible. [color=42A9FF]“You’re doing such a good job, I can’t wait to see it!!! And everyone is going to be so surprised when we show them!!”[/color]

The larger cuts came out as close to perfect as Danni could make happen in their bathroom at 6:15 in the morning. He turned April’s head left and right, just to confirm, and pushed her head over the sink. [color=E948FC]“I don’t ‘ave a spray bottle so uh… just gunna try ta get t’is just damp and not a touch more.”[/color] Danni carefully flipped the faucet and, guarding the hair from the direct stream, took handfuls and shook it gently across her hair. After a few times, Danni pulled April back and worked the water through their hair so it was relatively even and damp. [color=E948FC]“’onestly, worked way better t’an I expected so let’s keep t’is success train goin’!”[/color] Danni cheered, grabbing his comb and scissor and singing along with Jingle Bell Rock.

April had giggled a little bit about Danni’s frets over the water. If it had been too wet, she could have fixed that in a heartbeat. She probably could have dampened it for him, too, but he had already pushed her head into position over the sink and she wasn’t about to argue with him. He was in his element here.

It came out… fine. Everything was kinda even, nothing was incredibly janky, and Danni wasn't certain how it would be when it dried but he put down the scissors. [color=E948FC] “So, uh, t'ere it is! Tada!”[/color]

April looked in the mirror. 

Really looked at herself. It wasn’t someone else, it was her. It was her face, her eyes, her hair. She didn’t look pretty or beautiful. She looked handsome. She grinned widely, taking it all in for another moment, not wanting to look away - as if somehow, the long hair would come back the second she did, and it would all have been a dream. 

She wished she’d been born a boy. 

[color=42A9FF]“Danni, it’s AMAZING!!!”[/color] April screeched, getting up out of the chair and giving him the absolute biggest hug and a kiss on the cheek. [color=42A9FF]“Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”[/color] She couldn’t help herself, jumping up and down even as she embraced him. [color=42A9FF]“We gotta show the ‘rents!!! And Dori!!!! It looks so good - professional even!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”[/color]