The breeze blew down the steep bluffs of the Isle of Vigil. It flowed down into its deep chasms that reached the sea, channeling a strong gust that spilled over its edges. The leaves rustled and danced in the turbulence of the wind. Eventually, the wind caught on a young man's long hair. It blew across his face, revealing a wide grin and joyful eyes.
'I'm rich! That's right! I'm living like a goddamn king! Wait, kings aren't nepo babies. Wait no, they are…'
He had a hop to his step, walking with the confidence of a man that had absolutely nothing to worry about. Because in truth, he didn't!
At least for the next couple of hours.
'I don't understand why she's being so wary. I mean, I guess it would be immature for me to think that I can wave around my blood manipulation and not think that the Vigils would notice.'
He continued walking on the stone walkway. As he made one final turn to the right, he stood in front of a medium sized pagoda. It wasn't large in terms of square footage, but from what Quies could make out, it had around three floors to it. Outside of the building was a stone surface around twice the square footage of the building itself. To the left of him was a cliff edge, with fences guarding anything from unintentionally falling off.
He noticed three body shaped dummies, which he assumed to be stuffed with hay since there were a few hay bales situated near it. The path leading up to the stone surface was shaded, illuminated by small torches that emitted an orange glow.'
Quies stopped in front of the steps leading up to the building. Peering inside its open doors, he could see tall bookshelves. Some rows were full of vibrant books, while others stood empty.
'I'm starting to feel like I'm actually content with my hair currently.'
Despite this thought, Quies put one foot in front of the other and walked up the stone staircase. As he entered the quaint pagoda, illuminated by hanging yellow lamps, the change in humidity immediately hit him. He breathed in the slightly damper air as he heard a voice call out from his right.
"Yo! You here for a trim?"
"He moved his attention away from the alluring books towards a kind looking blue skinned man. He wore a collared white shirt with the sleeves pulled up, with a black vest worn over it. He held a metal pair of scissors in his right hand.
"Oh, yeah."
He walked over to the barber and looked around for a seat, however there was none.
"So… what are we thinking for today?"
"Uhh… am I supposed to sit in a seat?"
The barber had a look of confusion on his face.
"Huh? Who cuts your hair? Considering what you just said, I can assure you my haircut would be, like, a trillion times better."
Quies sat motionless, staring at the barber.
"It's my oath. Didn't really like fighting all too much, and there's been a shortage of barbers recently, so why not become a Fadetrimmer? Pays well too, and I don't even have to do anything! All I gotta do is just advertise my cuts as 'premium' and the customers start rolling in!"
At this point, Quies didn't know what to say, nor did he know what haircuts were popular during this time period.
"Could I just get a little bit off the top? The long hair really annoys me."
The barber looked at him once more, his look of confusion now more prominent.
"You sure man?"
"I mean, what do you think I should get?"
The kind blue skinned man looked Quies up and down and put a hand on his chin.
"You know what, how about we try a couple of styles? I can practically give you any haircut you want, no matter your hair length."
Quies nodded in agreement. With that, he turned around and let the barber do his work. He heard a cacophony of scissor cuts and combing in a short moment, yet felt no pain at all.
"Tell me what you think of this one. I took the courtesy of shaving your beard as well, it looked pretty rough."
The barber handed Quies a mirror and he received it with his right hand. He gazed into its reflective surface and saw a completely different person. His hair was almost completely cut off, only leaving about an inch left.
"By a little off the top I didn't mean that much!"
The barber flinched a bit at his loud remark.
"Ookay so you don't like the 16 guard. maybe a little bit of a longer hairstyle."
The barber worked on his hair again, but this time Quies was able to view the process through the mirror. It was nothing short of mesmerising. To him, it simply looked like a flurry of random movements, but Quies knew that those movements were nothing but random. Each hand movement was pre planned and calculated. Each snip of the scissor cuts off just the right amount of hair. He was watching a master at his craft.
"How about this."
Quies stared into the mirror once more. Now, his hair was longer, the edges of his sable hair faded into his skin. The layers were beautifully tapered, leaving a near seamless transition from the thick parts of his hair at the top down to the thinnest areas at the low areas.
"I sort of like this once. Although it does seem a bit… edgy?"
"I get where you're coming from. Alright, I'm 99% sure you'll like this next one."
With that, the barber began working on Quies' hair again. What Quies was most perplexed about was how the blue-skinned man was able to grow hair out of nowhere.
'Probably has to do with that oath thingy he talked about. I better ask Valerie about what those are.'
"Take a look man. I think you'll like this one."
Quies gazed at his reflection, and saw that his hair was now even longer than before. However, it still held a pleasing shape, having a pleasing flow to its movement. The hair was parted in the middle, and swept back across his sides, forming textured layers that pleased the eye.
"I think I'll keep this one."
His gaze was locked on his reflection. He tilted his head in different directions, looking left and right as he assessed how he looked from different angles. Oh, and it was also nice to not have a beard.
"How much do I have to pay…"
Quies began scouring the pocket he stored his notes in, however the barber refused.
"Ay man, first one's on the house. Don't worry about it."
Quies was already moving to give the barber his well earned notes, however the kind barber patted Quies on the shoulder lightly.
"Nah but don't try to cheat me the next time you come. I could always make you bald, y'know?"
Quies turned to look at his barber. The kind man had a smile on his face, still holding his scissors in his dominant hand. The blue skinned man outstretched his hand, and Quies reciprocated.
"Wally."
"Quies. Thanks for the haircut again, I really needed one."
As they finished shaking hands, Quies gave back the mirror to the kind man. As he walked out, he gave one last wave.
'Gosh he doesn't have to be so kind. What will Valerie say when she sees that I spent none of her money!'