CyberOwl Simp

"Fuck!" Sova cursed as he looked at the side of his head in the bathroom mirror, using the towel wrapped around his neck to clean the drop off blood running down his temple. It was the second cut since he started trying to style his hair.

He hissed at the sting. This cut was deeper than the other one. 

He looked through the corner of his eye in the mirror at the other side of his temple. At least the cut was in a similar place; it looked almost symmetrical.

He touched the patch above his right ear, feeling the fuzz with a sigh. It was uneven.

"Are you trying a new hairstyle?" A voice said behind him, making Sova sigh tiredly and roll his eyes. Of course. "The rugged look is not my favorite but for you dear owl I'd make an exception"

Sova dropped the towel around his neck. Thankfully it was a dark blue one, it wouldn't stain with the blood.

"Didn't your parents teach you how to knock, Amir?" He answered, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned to look at the sentinel "Or that you don't barge in in rooms that are not yours?"

"I don't recall" the sentinel chuckled, taking off his hat and stepping into the bathroom. He hummed as he inspected the side of Sova's head "It's uneven"

Sova gritted his teeth, turning back to the mirror "I know" he lifted the razor again "You try to shave your head with one hand"

Cypher tapped the start of the sideburn with his gloved finger. It was thanks to his self-control that Sova didn't chase him away. "You need to use a straight razor here to smooth it over"

"And since when are you an expert stylist?"

"Are you joking? How else do you think I achieve this perfect shave?" The sentinel sassed, touching his masked chin. Sova gave him an unimpressed look. "I could help you if you want" Cypher squinted in a smile "I've been told I'm handy with a knife"

Usually it was aimed at him stabbing someone in the back, Sova thought. Still, he didn't doubt Cypher was telling the truth. He was a maker, and also someone who he'd seen using lockpicks in miniature locks.

He had no doubt Cypher would be very careful.

"Would you?" Sova said, a little shy as he opened the cabinet and pulled out a straight razor "Help me?"

The sentinel nodded "of course, Sasha"

He hadn't jumped straight for the knife, which instantly gave Sova confidence in what Cypher was doing. Instead, the sentinel went back to the bedroom and came back with the desk chair, placing it in front of the mirror. He told to Sova sit and adjust the towel around his shoulders. Then, he took off his coat and rolled up the sleeves of his sweater before he was pulling off his gloves.

He was very careful as he raked through Sova's hair, redoing the bun in the process to keep his hair away. Then, taking a deep breath, he took the razor and started working.

Oh, he actually knew what he was doing. Just as he had thought, his hands were scarily steady with the knife as he worked, but he also seemed to know how to shave it just the way Sova always kept it (after a good trip to a barber somewhere in the world).

Sova looked at Cypher through the mirror, the sentinel too focused on his hair to notice it. Cypher's hand wasn't strained, it looked like a practiced motion as he swept the blade over his temple, shaving the hair just long enough not to be completely gone. A perfect stubble.

Maybe Cypher had a stubble too, well kept and soft, unlike Sova's own that he shaved daily, preferring to keep his face completely smooth.

"Do you really have a beard?" The question was out of his mouth before he could stop it. Well, sue him, he liked knowing things. He'd gotten the terrible habit of asking Cypher things ever since he'd gotten to know his real name.

Instead of using the razor to cut his neck for the audacity, Cypher just hummed and used the towel to clean Sova's ear.

"Only when I forget to shave, but I try to keep a stubble most of the time. It's uncomfortable wearing a mask and also having hair in my chin" Cypher grimaced "It also covers the breather if I'm not careful. When we were trying to catch Fade I forgot to shave for two weeks and my beard grew to be like Breach's. I nearly suffocated myself"

Sova couldn't stop the snort that left his nose, and Cypher held him by his shoulder so he wouldn't move.

"Only two weeks? It took him a month to grow it like that"

"I know. I'm not hairy in general, but my body concentrated all my hormones on my face. My hair and beard grow too fast."

Sova was getting information he did not have and his mouth lost all filters. "Your hair is long too?" He tried to imagine him with his own hair, but the only thing that came to his mind was a ridiculous picture of the sentinel with a wig over the mask.

"Not as long as yours" Cypher softly touched the bun, wiggling it a little with his fingers. "It's only long enough I have to wear it in a short ponytail" Then, he went back to Sova's head, resuming his work on the other side.

He worked in silence for a few minutes until Sova cut it off.

"You've been awfully open with information lately, Amir"

Cypher laughed, tilting Sova's head with his hand for better access. "There's exactly 156 people in the compound that fit that description last time I counted, dear owl"

That man really had the strangest information stored in his mind, didn't he? "It's not like that means something, you're always wearing a mask"

"Do I?" Cypher swiped the knife behind Sova's ear. His tone was teasing.

Wait a minute...

"You don't?!"

Cypher chastised him with a flick of his ear "Don't move, I'll cut you" he hummed "And to answer your question, It's boring, and a little suffocating, always going around with it. I enjoy breathing fresh air sometimes, or as fresh as it can be with us living underground"

"And... aren't you worried someone could find out it's you?"

Cypher shrugged "If they're smart enough to know it's me, maybe they deserve to know. So far, no one has realized" the sentinel smiled sweetly with his eyes, meeting Sova's own through the glass "You haven't noticed so far either, even when I said hello to you"

Cypher...what? "You, you've talked to me?"

The eye roll was really exaggerated "Don't look at me like that, it was passing by, I knew you wouldn't recognize me, most wouldn't exactly look at me and say 'Cypher' " the sentinel chuckled "I do look a lot like an Amir, though" with that, Cypher put down the razor and wiped his sides with the towel, then took the bun and let his hair loose so he'd see the final result "So, what do you think?"

It was perfect. His sideburns looked as short as he liked them, and he had delineated them perfectly around his ears.

"Thank you, Cypher" he answered, his voice completely sincere.

The sentinel nodded at him and took a step back, lifting his gloves and putting his coat back on. "It was my pleasure, Sova. If you ever need help again, I'm one door down" saying that, Cypher tipped the front of his hat in salute and left the bathroom, seconds later closing the bedroom’s door behind himself.

It had been months ago, and so far Sova hadn't even tried to go to a barber or hair salon, preferring to bribe Cypher with gifts or stories in exchange for a haircut every few weeks.

He winced as he walked back to the car, both Jett and Phoenix also stumbling behind himself, groaning in pain after the mission.

It seemed he'd have to pay another visit to Cypher again, the other Phoenix having tried to stop the defusing of the spike with a fireball. He failed, but Sova had been impacted by the fireball, charring his cape, part of his back – it hurted like a motherfucker – and catching part of his hair.

Jett was giving him sad looks all the way back to the base, touching his now loose hair with sadness. He'd probably have to cut a big chunk of it now.

"I feel like I jinxed it" the duelist whined as she touched the charred locks "There was I talking about how well kept it was and now-"

"Hair grows back, Jett" he said kindly, trying not to sit without resting on his back. "I'm more worried about the rest of me though"

And that was true, but only because he was not, in fact, worried about his hair, loving the opportunity to nag Cypher to help him out. He really enjoyed having the man touching and brushing it.

After Skye caught them back in the hangar – laughing at their state for a minute straight – and healed all of them easily, he was getting rid of his unsalvageable tools and armor before he was asking Yoru – who always checked on his friends after a mission – if he has seen the oldest sentinel somewhere.

"He said he was going to work in the first floor this morning, he must still be there"

He was there, as the register of his key on the card reader indicated, but after walking around for a few minutes, he couldn't see Cypher anywhere.

He should be walking around with a ton of papers – the only reason Cypher would come to this part of the compound – but everyone walked around with papers in the place.

Maybe he was unmasked, he thought after a moment.

I enjoy breathing fresh air sometimes, or as fresh as it can be with us living underground.

The first floor was the only place that actually had "fresh air". He must be here, somewhere, but who was he?

Cypher wore a ponytail.

He saw around 8 people that wore them, some blondes, some with darker hair, and even one with pink hair. None of them were screaming Cypher to him.

And then he noticed someone else,  a man that fit the description of his hair, and also was wearing a stubble that looked slightly unkempt, maybe purposely, a style choice. He looked slightly familiar.

You haven't noticed so far either, even when I said hello to you.

He didn't exactly scream Cypher to him.

He watched as the man flicked a pen around his fingers absentmindedly.

But he perfectly looked like an Amir.

He walked up to him, and the man turned to look at him with an honest smirk that reached his eyes. That was until he looked up at the mess of hair around his face.

"What the fuck happened to your hair, Sova?!"

He had been right.

Sova touched part of it with a grimace "I may have gotten into a fight with a fireball and lost" he paused "Would you help me with a haircut, Amir?"

Cypher's mouth lost the surprised look and after a moment contorted in a fond and sweet smile. Finally, he pushed a stack of papers under his arm, using the other hand to touch Sova's damaged locks.