Travis - Part 5: Carnal Rewards by Lavro

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Part 5: Carnal Rewards

Travis gawked at his reflection in disbelief. Did Nick really just do that? Did Nick actually lure him out to the field and spring on him with scissors? Was Nick really so hellbent on revenge that he held Travis down and snipped off a large piece of his bun? Travis picked up the severed locks from the floor and the sink. It was not a miniscule amount. He looked at himself closer, leaning in towards his reflection. Towards the back of his head where Travis would clasp the tie around his hair, Nick tried to sever the bun completely, but only made one snip. One devastating snip. Assessing the damage with his hair untied and loose, Travis saw the unmistakable patch of very short hair at the back of his head.

Despite the blood pumping through his veins and the anxiety about what to do now, Travis could not fight the tinge of pleasure he felt. Every aspect of his brain tried to deny that he didn’t like having Nick on top of him, trying to drastically change his image. Travis took a deep breath and retrieved his comb. He had never parted his hair in any intentional way, but now he parted it to the side, letting the longer hair cover the short patch on his head. After a moment of assessing his image, Travis knew it was not his look. He could just wear his hat until it grew back, he decided. His thoughts were interrupted by feint knocking on his front door. Travis walked out of his bedroom quietly, even though his dad would sleep through anything. He answered the door to find Nick standing there, still somewhat out of breath too.

"Can I come in?" Nick asked politely, his eyes pleading guiltily.

Part of Travis wanted to slam the door in his face. Another part of him though… "Sure," is all he said. Travis ushered him in quietly, waving him along towards his bedroom, shutting the door gently behind them.

"Travis… I, uh. I’m sorry." Nick rubbed his head shyly, which caught Travis’ attention. Nick’s red hair and slightly grown out buzzcut was attractive, even if Nick loudly expressed his dislike of it.

"You’re such an idiot," Travis answered, letting his frustration show.

"Look dude, we all did agree to do these stupid haircuts, and you are the only one who didn’t. But I get it. That didn’t give me the right." Nick paused, hoping Travis would respond, but only got silence. "Yes, I’m an idiot, ok? And I guess we learned something about each other tonight, didn’t we?"

"You learned something about me. Something that I’m not ready to deal with here," Travis gave Nick a stern look. "Not yet."

"Same here." Nick’s face turned red thinking about it. "Seriously though, I won’t tell anybody. Your secret is safe with me."

"Is that why you came here? To make sure I won’t out you?"

"What? No. I mean, it’d make me feel a whole lot better if you didn’t. But no, I wanted to maybe try to help you fix this mess I made." Travis saw Nicks eyes gravitate to the short patch on top of his head. "And damn, I think you need it too."

Nick reached forward, taking the short hairs in between his fingers to test the damage. Travis gave in, giving permission by leaning forward slightly. He noticed grass stains on the knees of Nicks blue jeans from their struggle in the field, and his boots with some mud at the edges. Nick also wore a plain beige t-shirt that he had converted into a tank top by cutting it from his armpit to his belt. Travis felt a connection between Nick’s hand touching his head and how his eyes moved along his body.

"What do you mean fix?" Travis responded, pulling back slightly. "Are you still trying to cut my hair?"

"Don’t get defensive. I just want to try to help fix the damage I caused. I feel like a jackass."

"You are a jackass. And it’s fine. There’s not much you can do. I’m just gonna keep wearing my hat." Travis sighed in annoyance.

Nick didn’t pay much attention to Travis as he quietly opened the bedroom door and grabbed a chair from the kitchen. He placed it in the bathroom attached to the bedroom, firmly in front on the mirror. He noticed the long locks left on the sink but didn’t say anything about them. Still, Nick was conflicted between his feelings of success and guilt.

"Can I just check it out?" he asked in a pleading voice, as if Travis were an agent in absolving his guilt. "Sit down."

Whatever calm Travis was beginning to feel immediately spiked back to nervousness, but with a thin layer of eager anticipation. Travis watched in the mirror as Nick, his hands still dirty, ran his fingers through his hair, examining the odd nature in which that one big snip altered it so dynamically. Nick had a focused look in his cool blue eyes as he continued his evaluation by pulling back the length on the right side, looking closely at the area where Travis’ had shaved it down with his trimmer.

"This is a bit all over the place," Nick said, "But I think I can fix it. If you will trust me."

"I don’t," Travis responded as if the idea of trust was ludicrous. "I don’t trust you at all."

"Where are your scissors?" A demand more than a question. "And do you keep any hair clippers around here?"

"Just the beard trimmer," Travis answered, pointing to the drawer where he kept the scissors and his combs, which Nick grabbed while Travis spoke. "We might… never mind."

"Might what?" Nick asked. Travis looked up to meet his glance. His entrancing, handsome glance. "Might what?" Nick repeated.

"We might," don’t tell him, Travis. Don’t. "We might have clippers. In the linen closet. But I don’t know for sure."

Nick immediately walked out of the room, quietly again. Travis had an opportunity to get up, to tell Nick to leave, but his glance was fixed on his own reflection. He felt ridiculous with those short hairs, trying so desperately to hold on to something. Nick was so enticing, so willing and bold. His brief moments of reflection were cut short by the sound of his bedroom door closing softly again. Nick appeared in the reflection with a black plastic box. Travis knew what was inside.

"Ok, found them," Nick sat the container on the counter and pulled out a corded pair of clippers and examined the various guards. "Don’t worry. I grabbed these just in case. I am going to try to just use the scissors."

"Are we really doing this?" Travis felt his throat go dry.

"Yeah," he said it so casually. "Unless you tell me right now that you absolutely don’t want to. You are going to lose some length. But if you are ready for that, I’ll make it worth your while."

"What does that mean?"

Nick didn’t respond verbally. He simply paused for a moment, looking at Travis with enticing eyes. Nick began to look nervous too, a slight sweat glistened on his forehead. After a deep sigh, he quickly stripped off his shirt. Travis’ eyes widened at the sight of his toned chest, freckled shoulders, and that orange happy trail that always caught his eye. Travis felt his hands fidget, knowing that now for the first time, Nick’s gaze was fixed on him too, and that he could reach out and touch. He lifted his hand timidly. Nick nodded with approval. Travis let his fingers glide across Nick’s lean abdominal muscles. Nick stayed still for a moment, enjoying his touch before he twisted to recover the scissors and comb from the sink countertop.

Travis had to contain his excitement as Nick moved to his side and began to comb through the waves in his dark blonde hair - hair that he loved and tried so hard to resist coming to this moment. Travis was waiting for Nick to ask him what he should do, but that didn’t happen. Nick simply combed a section of longer hair at his crown and gathered it clumsily in his fingers. He snapped the scissors open and closed a couple of times to get a feel for them, then took the first big snip through the long hair he had gathered. Nick smiled as the locks fell to Travis’ shoulder, leaving only a couple of inches of length. Immediately, Travis noticed it didn’t help the overall imbalance. He thought Nick would reassess his strategy, but he gathered more hair at the crown and cut it short too without a thought.

"Hold on, hold on," Travis finally blurted out. "What are you doing?"

"Calm down, Travis," Nick studied the top of his head for a moment before he moved in front of Travis, placing his hands on Travis’ shoulders. "I’ll make you a deal, ok? I am trying to save as much as I can. I think we can save some length and go for a sort of mullet. I will take some more clothing off if you let me keep going, ok?" Travis didn’t lose his focus on Nick, nodding in hesitant approval.

Nick immediately leaned back against the wall and pulled off his boots. He then released the clasp of his belt and pulled it through the hoops of his jeans. Still, he left his pants on. Stepping back to the right side, Nick combed the hair down to hang over the partially shaved sides, being careful to separate his bangs. The hair was long enough to hang to his jaw line, even with the loose waves and curled up ends. Nick slid the open scissors at the level of his temple, then closed them, revealing the short hair that hid below. Travis tensed but sat still. Nick reassessed before placing the scissors even higher, then cutting again. This time, he kept cutting horizontally until the right side of Travis’ head was liberated from his long hair. There was still a sharp contrast with the scissor-cut hair and the part that Travis had shaved.

"Take your shirt off," Nick ordered. "This is getting messy."

Travis did as he was told, flinging his shirt to the floor. Nick’s eyes poured over his physique, his lips curling to a grin as he stepped to the other side and combed the hair in the same way. Nick put the scissors to work, cut by cut severing the long hair with extreme pleasure. He left Travis’ bangs combed forward, hanging to his chin, although some areas were shorter from the assault in the field. Even with his forward vision obscured, he could still see his long locks massing on his lap and floor around him.

What he could not see, but feel, was Nick beginning to comb large sections of the top of his hair, haphazardly cutting down the length. There was disjointed rhythm in the sound of the metal scissors cutting through thick hair. He couldn’t tell how short Nick was cutting it, but he knew he had to be trying to match the short hair at the crown. If Travis had any doubts or reservations, they no longer mattered. After several bulky chops, Nick became more systematic, grabbing sections of long hair with the comb with more ease and cutting them, working his way towards the front where Travis’ long bangs still dangled.

"Is it ok if I say you are going to look really hot?" Nick failed to sell the comment as a joke.

"I better," Travis smiled, recalling Blair for the first time that evening, knowing it was too late to be worried about what he might think. Travis felt Nick’s finger on his chin, elevating his head so he could cut his bangs. "Please, not too short Nick."

"I got you," Nick replied.

Travis could feel Nick’s breath on his face, even through the hair that covered it. He wanted to feel more of him. The warmth of his breath was interrupted by the feeling of cold scissors along his cheek bone. Nick closed the scissors, gliding them along right under his nose, cutting the fringe short enough all the way across to reveal Travis’ mouth. Travis instinctively blew a loose hair tickling his upper lip. Nick responded by gently putting his finger to Travis’ lip, dusting off the loose hair. Their faces were close as Nick delicately caressed Travis’ lips with his finger, before leaning back to continue his work.

The enchantment was so potent, the desire so strong, that Travis felt like he was awoken from a dream when he felt the open scissor blade against his forehead, right above his eyebrow. Too short! He could not say it as fast as he could think it. The scissors closed, the fringe immediately falling away from his left eye, which immediately locked onto Nick’s chiseled face, which was inches away. But Nick was focused, moving the scissors along his fringe, snipping again, and again, in short snips, until the hair fell from his other eye. Nick blew against Travis’ nose, releasing the last severed lock so that his whole fringe fell to his lap.

Travis didn’t care what it looked like. He wanted to lean in and kiss Nick. But Nick, ever focused, simply raised his arm, and combed through his bangs. Even with his waves, they still fell in a jagged line right above his eyebrow. Nick tested the length on top with his fingers, furrowing his brow in contemplation. To Travis’ shock, Nick started to bluntly cut horizontally again across his forehead again. More than an entire inch fell past his face, his bangs sitting mid-forehead. Nick finally nodded in mixed satisfaction, mussing it up with his fingers so it didn’t fall so bluntly when Travis saw himself.

Nick stepped away, giving Travis access to the mirror. His desire for Nick slightly faded at the sight of himself. His hair on top was much shorter than he expected, but still longer than the original patch. Nick had cut it all down to about two inches. Still, it blended much better, and was passable in terms of aesthetic harmony. His bangs were too blunt, but not horrid, resting high on his forehead framing his and sharp facial features. His curls at the back flared up as usual. Travis now had every bit of the home cut, country boy mullet that he never wanted to have. But Nick gave it to him. It was Nick’s idea, or his fault rather, and that excited Travis. Yet even though it had grown out some, the diagonal line in the side of his head was no longer suitable without his longer hair to hide it.

"Yee-haw," Nick teased. "You are starting to look good, Travis. Really good." Nick licked his lips and awkwardly adjusted his jeans.

"Christ," Travis exclaimed, bringing his hand to the top of his head, and feeling how short it was. He grinned, but more in surprise than happiness. "Starting to look ok, yeah. Getting there. How are we going to fix the rest?"

"Well," Nick picked up the clippers with that devilish look of his. "You actually look good with the trashy mullet. But I think I need to cut the back and sides down. I didn’t think that line would look so sharp."

"It’s too sharp, isn’t it?" Travis admitted.

Nick plugged the clippers into the outlet under the mirror and began shuffling through the guards. He began nodding his head once he found the right one and snapped it on to the clippers. Travis lifted his hand to the back of his head, feeling the last of his long hair, not wanting to part with it, not wanting his hair short to begin with, but so enticed by the scenario. Turning back to Travis, Nick noticed the concern on his face.

"We can keep the mullet if you want. It’s a good look," Nick reassured. "But if you let me keep going… I told you that I’m going to make this worth your while, didn’t I?"

Nick unbuttoned his jeans and lowered his zipper, letting them fall to the floor. Travis noticed Nick’s undeniably excited anatomy through his tight boxer briefs, complimented by his muscular thighs. Nick clicked on the clippers, bringing them to life. They hummed smooth, with only the occasional rattle from disuse. They purred, as if the clippers themselves were excited to be out of the closet. He stepped closer to Travis, who battled anxiety and arousal, especially as Nick stepped over his lap, putting him eyelevel with Nick’s thinly veiled manhood. Nick took Travis’ head and placed it against his muscular stomach, neatly between his oblique muscles that cut a sharp V that disappeared under his boxers. His newly exposed forehead delighted in the sensation of Nick’s happy trail against it. Travis noticed a slight bit of moisture coming through Nick’s underwear too, confirming their mutual excitement.

Travis closed his eyes tightly when their excitement merged with the vibration of the clippers placed on the upper notch of his spine, just below where his hair hung. Nick held them there for a long moment, his stomach pulsing against Travis’ head as the anticipation grew. Slowly, Nick began to move the clippers upward until their excited tune changed as it met thick hair. Travis felt his curls falling down his back and into the crevasse between the chair and his spine.

Nick was systematic as he buzzed the hair down, allowing the clippers to glide all the way up to the crown. As Nick increased his pace, the curls too fell faster in large chunks on his lap, shoulders, and back. Beneath those curls that Travis loved so much was a pale neck that clashed with a brutal tan line. Travis allowed his hands to navigate to Nick’s thighs, squeezing them gently. The more that came off, the larger that bit of moisture in Nick’s underwear grew. Travis’ hands rose higher up Nick’s thighs with each pass of the clippers until his fingers crept under the band of his underwear. Nick contained himself, focused until the clippers had cut every piece of long hair from the back of Travis’ head. The mullet was gone.

Not moving from his erotic pose, Nick placed the clippers to the left side, jerking Travis head. Although Travis did not know how short the haircut was, Nick voiced his approval with an "oh yeah." Travis realized that meant the line on his sides was disappearing as Nick cut, that the clipper guard was very short. It didn’t matter. He could feel Nick flicking the clippers away as they met the length on top. Nick didn’t know exactly how to blend hair, but the flicking helped lessened the severity of the abrupt transition. When at last he powered the clippers off and stepped away, giving Travis access to his reflection, all of his back and sides had been clippered to a #1. Travis was completely rid of his long hair.

"What do you think?" Nick bit his lip.

"Um, well… it’s something." Travis barely recognized himself.

"Yeah, I know." The boys paused for a moment assessing the situation. "I still have one piece of clothing on," Nick said, pressing his midsection against Travis’ shoulder, taunting him. "If you’ll just, let me do my thing, I’ll take them off next."

Travis felt Nick pressed against him, hypnotized by him, wanting to get through this so he could touch him more. Travis closed his eyes, gulped, and nodded in approval, unwilling to say out loud what was about to happen, but thrilled, nonetheless. Nick took off his socks, then immediately put his finger in the band of his underwear, releasing them from his body. Travis was face to face with all of Nick’s anatomy, reflecting their mutual excitement.

The sound of the clippers filled the room again. This time, there was charge in the way Nick’s rough hand grabbed the back of Travis’ freshly shorn head, forcefully leaning it forward. By glancing up, Travis could see himself in the mirror. Nick placed the clippers against his forehead, directly in the middle of where his blunt fringe hung, pushing them through the top of his head. Travis was in aroused awe of the short strip of buzzed hair that coursed the middle of his head. Nick never released his grip, running the clippers front to back. Giving in felt good to Travis, even as his hand finally reached up and took hold of Nick. Nick did not flinch. He simply continued his work of giving Travis his long awaited buzzcut.

It might have been a minute; it might have been forty-five seconds. When Nick at last turned the clippers off, Travis was left with a head of even short hair. All of his hair had been clipped down to a #1, something he wanted and hated. He was happy to notice the corners of his hairline were not as receded as he thought. In fact, he liked how his hairline looked, only he was not so sure about the buzzcut itself. All around him, his hair was on the floor. Nick rubbed the fresh buzzcut, smiling. Travis allowed himself to feel it too, in complete disbelief. Although Travis thought about Blair again and wanted to frame this in his mind as being of his influence too, it wasn’t. Nick had won outright.

"Take off your pants," Nick demanded, interrupting his thoughts.

Travis stood up, releasing his belt buckle, and undoing the button of his jeans, which were tighter than usual. He stopped to run his hand over his head again, feeling the short buzzcut, realizing his hair was even shorter than Nicks now, which had been growing out from a #2.

"I’ll take them off, yeah," Travis nodded and smiled, "Only if I get to do my thing too," Travis said coyly, and picked up the clippers.

"Pardon me?" Nick exclaimed, standing there in is nude glory.

"You heard me, partner," Travis said. "Take a seat."

Nick turned to face the mirror, examining himself, relishing in the bit of growth he had since he was reluctantly buzzed the week before. He looked back to Travis, dazzled by how attractive he found him, wanting him to take his pants off too, wanting to feel his body. Nick sat down, nodding his head in feigned confidence. Travis let his pants loose and stepped out of them, his underwear not hiding his arousal. Travis stepped up to him, powering on the clippers, the #1 guard attached.

"What about your underwear?" Nick asked.

"If you want them to come off, the guard comes off," Travis threatened.

"Come on, Travis, don’t do this to me." Nick gently took Travis by his hips, toying with the elastic band of his tight boxers.

Nick tested his control, slowly lowering the band along the back until it cupped around Travis’ glutes. He ran his fingers to the front of the band, teasing to pull them down in the front, pleading with his eyes. Travis responded by removing the clipper guard, looking at Nick intensely. Although the corners of his mouth turned down, Nick nodded in irresistible approval, pulling down the front of Travis’ underwear. Travis let them drop to his ankles, stepping out of them, then pressed the bare metal blade to Nick’s head.

Travis delighted as the clippers entered at the corner of his hairline, peeling away any trace of Nick’s red hair, leaving only white scalp. Nick occupied himself with Travis’ body as the sharp blade rid him of his hair one slow pass at a time. Even though he wanted Nick physically, Travis knew he deserved this, to be stripped of his remaining hair, the way they did to poor Derek. It helped that both of them found pleasure in the act though, contradicted by their anxieties around it. It made no difference. They had to live with their decisions, corporeal passion being the benefit.

It was not long before Nick was buzzed down to his scalp, pale white and naked. Although his hair fell to the floor, it was lost in the pile of Travis’ curls. He stood up, glaring at his reflection in disbelief. He did not dare to touch the invisible stubble. His cheeks turned bright red. In the mirror, he saw Travis approach him from behind, pressing his body against him. They had played their game, and the results were final. It was time for them to claim their carnal reward, in heat and sweat.

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