Take it shorter by BuzzmeHT

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***This is the continuation to "Try something new", but can be enjoyed as a standalone story if you just want a quick… read.***

What did I just agree too? Was it too late to back off?

I looked myself in the barbershop mirror, I had just gotten the best haircut of my life and I could have just walked out of the door with my quiff safe and sound. But I had chosen this, it was due time. I wanted this. And I wanted Aidan to be the first one to scalped me.

"So, are you sure about the fade?", Aidan, my new barber was clearly excited with the idea. He rubbed his shaved nape all the way to the short pelt that crowned the top of his head. The fact that he had just told me that he cut his own hair made his severely cropped combover even hotter. I lost myself in my thoughts again, imagining Aidan razoring his own scalp against the grain to get the shave so close that you couldn’t even see the pores…

"Are you having second thoughts already?" Aidan’s deep voiced jolted me back to that moment. The moment that was going to change it all. I shook my head, unable to speak. Aidan smiled and combed my sides and back with his fingers: "’Cause once I start… No taksies backsies".

I gave it a thought as he fondled my hair way more that he needed to. Was he enjoying this too? Maybe it turned him on, knowing he was going to cut all my hair and that the last person that was going to touch it was him? He ran his hands through my hair again. I loved that feeling, he had given my long quiff just the slightest scissors-trim and there was still just enough length on the sides and back to grab between the fingers.

I finally took courage: "You said it would look much better with shorter back and sides". Aidan instantly corrected me: "I said with skin on the sides. I don’t have to shave you if you don’t wanna. But if I’m destroying my work, it’s only to give you a great haircut".

I remembered myself I had just made a mental promise, this time I wouldn’t cower at the last second. As hard as it was, I was determined to say "Yes" to everything Aidan proposed. Aidan grabbed his Osters, I didn’t know if he was trying to taunt me or to scare me: "So are you in or do you just want the beard trim?". He winked at me, friendly, and I knew I was putty in his hands: "I trust you".

He looked at the guards that were meticulously placed over the counter, I couldn’t see the numbers, but I could tell the longer one was about a number three. And that was Oster’s number three guard, which was shorter that any other brand by far. He didn’t pick the longest one as far as I could tell.

He snapped a guard on the clippers and went to work on the back of my hair. The fast-feed motor filled the barbershop with a high-pitched buzz. It got louder as the blades got closer to my head. I tried to sneak a peek looking in the mirror, though there was no way for me to see the back of the haircut, but Aidan put his hand on the top of my head and push it down rather forcefully. He was in charge and he had warned me: "No taksies backsies".

The clippers started up my back, climbing higher and higher. I knew this wasn’t going to be a low taper, but I felt them going so high I wondered if Aidan was going to give me a fade at all or if I was going to end up with a high a tight like him.

He pushed my head around with the strongest grip I had ever felt from a barber. He didn’t only look beefy, this guy was strong as f***. And he wasn’t asking for permission. I felt his fingers close to my scalp as he rubbed the stripe he had just clipped to check his work. It felt bristly, and that instant I knew my hair was shorter that it had ever been. I wanted him to keep rubbing it, but he moved on to the sides.

I managed to catch a glimpse of Aidan’s stare as he moved to the right side. He was so concentrated in making sure every hair was cut to millimetric perfection that he wasn’t even making small talk. I could only wait to see what he had in store for me, and it looks that he had everything already planned on his head. He drove the clippers straight up my sideburn all the way past my temple. I couldn’t help but gasp.

"Don’t worry, I’m just taking down the bulk". He had just shaved a strip of hair, no longer than a fully-closed number two guard on the side of my head. I wondered what Aidan’s definition of bulk was. "You’re going to look incredible with a high fade", he said driving the clippers again over the same section just a little higher. I wanted to tell him he was going too high for my taste, that I wanted to conserve the length of top… I had agreed just to a fade on the sides and back, nothing more! But I had also made a promise to myself, this time I was going all the way. I wouldn’t go home and jerk off to some unrealized fantasy.

He kept peeling my side and moved over to the left. I looked down, I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen so much hair in a cape during one of my haircuts. And, in his words, Aidan "had just removed the bulk" off the sides and back. I was excited and also felt a little sick to my stomach.

I loved the sensation now, as it was happening I knew I wanted Aidan to keep cutting and taking me shorter, but there was also another side to that. The sensation I was going to have the next morning. The few times I had gotten a "shorter" haircut, I had hated it the next day. I hated not being able to run my fingers through my hair or how my face looked without a long fringe. I hated having short hair and this, being the shortest haircut I had ever gotten, was going to take a hell of a lot of time to grow back. Although, if Aidan was going to become my new barber, I wondered if he would ever let me grow my hair back.

Aidan got close to my ear to make sure the Osters didn’t miss a single hair and I felt him against my shoulder. It was only a quick rub, but it was enough for me to know that I wasn’t the only one that was hard. He brushed again against the cape, I was sure now. Under the leather apron, Aidan was enjoying this as much as I was under the cape.

He stopped and looked at me: "OK, dude, so this is as long as I’m willing to go for this haircut. Now it’s your choice". I looked how ridiculous my hair was right now in the mirror. I had my long quiff on top, at least six inches on the front, and the sides and back were fully buzzed almost all the way up to the top. I asked him, "Which options do I have?".

Aidan leered at my hair, fondling the long quiff: "I mean, this is just the base of the fade. I can fade it to a number one, maybe taper it low and tight on the edges or…". He made a pause, rubbing my shorn sides with his strong hands.

Hook.

I wanted to know what my other option was.

Line.

Aidan looked at me and bit his lip like he didn’t want to say it: "I don’t want to scare you off". Now I wanted him to tell me so bad… "I won’t".
Aidan flashed a naughty smile: "Or I could give you a proper skin fade".

Sinker.

My mouth went dry. I looked at Aidan’s freshly shaved sides. Was he going to use the razor on me? How much would he shave off? How was that going to look with the long top? Did he plan to cut it too? I had too many questions, but I knew there was only one answer for all of them.

"Yes". I muttered.

"Sorry, what?". Aidan was looking at me sheepishly, but I knew he had heard me alright.

"Yes", I said louder. "Yes to what?", Aidan was definitely playing with me. And I was a looser already.

"Well, as long as you trust me…" Aidan was already changing the blade on the Osters. He didn’t need me to reply, he just when back to my back and turned them back on: "I’m going to give you the hottest haircut in town". He looked into my eyes as he thrusted the cold blade up my head.

I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe. I though I was going to pass out. The only thing keeping me conscious was the vibration of the clippers, which Aidan was pressing tightly against my scalp, stretching the skin to cut even closer. He was working quick though, efficiently, he wasn’t worried about scaring me anymore.

He moved to the sides, he was clipper-shaving everything a finger below where he had taken the number two. I didn’t need to ask, that was closer than a zero guard. He also faded the shaved skin into my short beard to make sure it all blended perfectly.

"I won’t take much off the top, I promise", he said with a wink. Aidan finished the second round of the clippers, "I’ve put too much work into that quiff to obliterate it so soon. Maybe next time". I looked at him not knowing what to expect from that promise. Aidan’s definition of "much off top" could be on par with his notion of "taking down the bulk".

He changed blades and started erasing the line, the fade was looking picture-perfect already. It was a perfect gradient from the two to a close ought. Although I knew he was far from finished.

"I’ll be right back". Aidan disappeared into the shop and I had a second to deal with reality. I had just been scalped. I turned my head, already regretting my decision. I slowly raised my hand from under the cape and touched the naked skin on my back. Oh, my god.

"It’s addictive, isn’t it?". I jumped and put my hand under the cape, feeling like I was doing something wrong. Aidan peered at me and gave me the biggest smile. "It’s okay. Give it a good rub, it’s the greatest feeling". He came close and rubbed the back. I was about to explode.

Aidan had a steaming towel in his hands: "This is your first time, right? I want to make sure it’s perfect. The first fade is the one you always remember". He put the towel around my naked sides and back. It felt unreal, and I was just beginning to realize there was no hair at all in most of my head.

"Now, this is the best part if you ask me", Aidan removed the towel and carefully covered my sides and back in foam. He took a straight razor and stopped at my side. He looked at me, he wanted to make sure I watched the first stroke, and he wanted to see my reaction to it. He slowly scrapped me clean in one pass against the grain. He rubbed against my shoulder for an instant and continued with his work.

It felt weird, but it was such a high. With the first pass, I heard the razor shaving the sand-paper grain that was left on my scalp, after that it just glided. It was exhilarating. I was being shaved for real. Aidan moved to the back and I had to restrain a moan as he scrapped me clean.

He was taking his time, but soon it was clear that there was no more hair to be shaved. He took a cold towel and cleaned my sides and back. They were proper whitewalls now, Aidan noticed too: "You should get some sun, but put on some sunscreen. I won’t be able to shave your fade it you get a burn". I got even harder, he was already planning to shave me again. I wouldn’t be able to take that thought off my head for days.

"I thought you wanted the haircut to have some contrast", I taunted him. Aidan was looking at me differently, like he was also restraining himself: "Whitewalls are the ultimate contrast, that’s for sure". Aidan took the electric shaver from the counter: "I want to make sure I take you as close as I can, it’s that alright?". I nodded.

He forced my head down even with more strength: "OK, now I need you to go down for me". He pushed harder: "Come on, I know you can do better than that". I tried my best to please him, he started shaving me again, so I guess he was satisfied. He was removing any semblance of a line where the razor-shave and the clipper-shave met.

The electric shaver felt nothing like the clippers. The vibration was softer, more subtle, maybe because there was barely any hair to shave or maybe because of Aidan’s technique. His grip softened as he moved my head around and his smile got back to his face. Though there was a spark in his eyes that wasn’t there when he was giving me my trim.

"How great does it look?" Aidan was proud of my new skin fade, as he should be. I had seen more fresh fades that I could remember, mine was a work of art. Fresh, perfectly blended, severely shaved to the highest it could go without being a high and tight. A classic, masculine fade. If it weren’t for the quiff, I would be sporting a military haircut. But Aidan hadn’t taken off the cape yet, so that was still on the cards. I didn’t want him to cut it short, or at least military short. But a promise was a promise, he only had to ask… and I would have no choice but to say yes.

"I have to cut some of the top to blend it", Aidan said combing my quiff. I wondered if he was going to give me any choice in the matter or if I had already submitted to his every wish when I said yes to the fade.

He eyed me through the mirror "I always keep my promises, though". He started cutting and blending the crown clipper over comb, I could tell he was taking off a couple inches at least. He rubbed my shaved scalped, which is contrasted with the long crown: "And I promised you I would keep your quiff full and long, you told me you liked it like that". He kept cutting towards the fringe. He took a section in the front and snapped off a little more than an inch. I was confused, was that all? I was divided. I though the rest of the haircut was going to be just as brutal, but Aidan clearly had another plan in mind.

He blended the longer hair on top with the extreme fade he had given me. It was shorter, but it was still a decent quiff and quite long in comparison. It was perfectly balanced, and I had to say I looked much better with the skin fade. Fresher, more proper, manlier. I didn’t look as masculine as Aidan with his extreme crop, but I was sure I wouldn’t have any trouble passing any haircut regulation. Aidan had given me a severe skin fade after all.

Suddenly, Aidan took the cape off and I had to shift on my chair quickly to hide how excited I was about my new style. I bet he noticed: "Best haircut I’ve given in all day. You look like a million bucks, my man". His man? I wished. I replied to the compliment with a shy smile. Now that the haircut had finished, regret was starting to take a hold of me. I took a look at myself in the mirror as Aidan helped me put my suit jacket back on: Boy, it was such a short haircut.

"Wait a second", Aidan came face to face with me. His big strong hands grabbed my tie, he pulled it tight to fix it and I felt the knot compressing my neck. "Now, everything is perfect", said Aidan giving me a detailed once-over. I was happy that this time I had gotten Aidan’s finishing touch of approval.

I opened my walled, but Aidan refused: "You already paid for your haircut. I told you that was on the house". I insisted, but he smiled: "Trust me, I’ve enjoyed giving you that fade more than you’ll ever know".

I knew exactly what he meant. We stood there a couple seconds in silence. He was giving me that look again, running his eyes up and down my bare scalp. It was a look of hunger.

The door opened and took us both back to reality. Aidan’s next customer had just walked in. Aidan greeted him: "Victor, my man, I’ll be right with you". That landed on me, I knew I wasn’t "his man", but it hurt hearing him calling that to another guy in front of me.

That haircut with Aidan had been an intimate experience for me. And maybe I had I imagined Aidan’s excitement because of that, maybe he wasn’t flirting with me. I was so high on adrenaline during the haircut… Maybe that’s what I wanted to happen instead of what had really happened. I turned to the door repeating to myself that it was all in my head.

Aidan called after me: "I’ll see you in a week to keep that fade fresh, alright?". A week? My heart fluttered.

"It’s a date", that sounded too weird as soon as I said it. Aidan looked confused for a second before smiling back to me: "Roger that. I’ll be waiting, so don’t go breaking my heart, dude". He shook my hand with a strong grip and laughed. I didn’t know how to make of that.

I walked back home, looking myself in all the reflections. And I instantly knew I loved my new haircut, but deep down I hated how short it was. I tried to grab the hair between my fingers at the crown and I barely could, I pulled my quiff down and It barely reach under my eyebrows. It was the shortest hair I had had in years.

I keep walking, rubbing my shaved nape… I could still feel Aidan’s touch on my scalp. And as much as I hated my new shorn haircut, I knew I would be back for whatever Aidan had in store for me. I could only say "Yes" to him.

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