Devil's Haircut - (Carnid)
Summary: The last time Carl got a haircut was before his mother Lori died. He's finally ready for another one, and he's entrusted the process in Enid's hands.
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Pairing: Carl Grimes / Enid Rhee
Warnings: Talk of parental death
Era: Not specific, but sometime around s10, pretending the Grimes family is still intact.
Word Count: 1.3k
~
"It's getting a bit long for the summer don't you think?" Enid sat cradling the boy in his own bed, whilst she ran her fingers through his hair, tangled from a long day of physical labour.
"Perhaps, but I don't mind it." He knew what was coming next. It didn't bother him as much as it used to, nevertheless he'd still sometimes catch himself accidentally holding his breath when the topic came up.
She ruffled his hair around, "Maybe I could give it a trim for you sometime. God knows when you last had a haircut." God might have known, but so did Carl, in fact, he remembered the occasion quite vividly. It was one of those memories he had clutched to in fear of losing after his mother died, she'd given him his last haircut.
After the tragedy, Carl had racked his brain for every reminder of his mother, mentally cataloguing it all, his memory was the only thing that wouldn't abandon him until he himself abandoned the world. For years he had spent hours each day making sure there wasn't one thing he'd forgotten about her.
As much as Carl wanted to honour her existence by telling everyone every story he had, part of him wanted to keep the small pieces of her that only he knew, right in his pocket. As if to remind him that she wasn't just stories, but she had actually, at some point in time, been tangible.
He could tell the story of his last haircut as much as he'd like, people would understand it, some had even been witness in the moment. But no one could understand how it felt to be protected by his mother's touch, comforted and soothed within such a trivial activity. In those last days before the world was ultimately doomed, whilst there was still hope, she'd kept only the most fragile of touches for her son, wanting to protect and shield him from what had seemed to be the short-term decay of the world. So that maybe, once the world had fixed itself, he wouldn't remember the global panic that froze everyone, only that his mother loved him.
He hadn't had another haircut since, he feared that if he let someone else handle him in that way, the memories would intertwine and his mother's touch would become watered down and worthless. It scared him.
~
Carl looked up from the poster he'd been blankly staring at, welcomed back to Earth by Enid's smiling face. God he loved her, sometimes he wanted to shout it from where everyone would hear, but other times he just wished to engulf her in the fact, in the comfort of his own room.
"You don't have to cut it if you don't want, it was just a suggestion. But, I do need you to help with mine tomorrow. Think you can do that?" Carl nodded his head. She planted a quick kiss on his forehead and thanked him.
They spent the rest of the evening doing their own activities, by each other's side, with only small chunks of conversation being exchanged every so often. They enjoyed the mildness of one another's company.
~
Enid set up on the front porch, clippers and fine combs, she carried a chair out the front door. Carl followed quickly behind, asking "So what do I actually have to do?" She sighed and replied: "Don't worry, it's nothing too laborious, just a trim."
He awkwardly approached the scissors, as if he'd never seen a pair before in his life. It took him a couple minutes, but he soon began feeling around Enid's head with his hands, reassuring himself that there was no possibility of screwing up.
She didn't rush him, and let him take his time. Enid enjoyed the closeness, and the domestic nature of the activity, it made her smile. She'd told Carl neatness didn't matter, she didn't mind whether it was raggedy or uneven, she'd live. At least it would be cut.
There was still hope inside of her that the act of cutting her hair would bring Carl around to letting her reciprocate the action on him. As she hoped, the further they progressed, the more slick his touches became, and the more carefree he was with the scissors, he might have actually been enjoying himself.
~
"Okay I'm done." Carl dusted off Enid's shoulders and let her come inside with him so she could view the final product. He looked proud of his work as she played around with her hair in the mirror.
Enid turned around and smiled into a kiss on his cheek. She pulled away to look at his face. Upon matching her stare, his gaze softened, "You know, maybe a small trim wouldn't hurt." Enid was ecstatic that he'd finally confirmed her this privilege.
She was quick to have him pulled away from her, as she led him back out to the porch. He sat down on the seat Enid had been sat in earlier, and she eyed up and down the length of his hair, deciding where would be safest to cut.
~
Carl wasn't even thinking of saying yes until he'd finished with Enid's hair. He'd seen the neighbours strolling past the house, quickly looking at the pair of them, only to smile and look away, as if they knew how sacred that moment was, even before Carl did.
He realised that these were the moments he wanted to outweigh the major events in his life, even though by comparison these ones were microscopic in importance. He wanted to make memories that didn't just bring joy upon reflection, but the ones that had also been joyous in the moment.
He didn't let these thoughts over-complicate the event, he sat patiently, feeling Enid take to his hair, double-checking every move she made. The segments of silence were constantly broken by pieces of playful conversation, which brought the pair to laughter. It was a peaceful environment, and Carl felt as though the interaction was encased by a small bubble, which no harm could penetrate.
~ Enid put the scissors down and took one final glance at her completed handiwork before telling Carl she had finished. He didn't immediately rise, he was still savouring the last of it, but as Enid followed him back into the bathroom, she was almost as excited as he was.
Carl took one look at himself in the mirror before letting out a single smiling breath. He could barely notice a difference in length and style, although he had to admit the load felt a lot lighter, and would do him much better in the increasingly warm oncoming weather.
"Do you like it?" Enid asked, the few seconds of silence had been too much for her, awaiting his feedback was painful.
"Yeah, you did good, really good." He looked at her once more, taking visual screenshots of the moment, that would last forever in his memory.
~
The thought of his mother didn't even hit him until well after the event had ceased, and the two of them were preparing a Grimes family dinner in the kitchen. But upon taking one glance at her, Carl concluded that he didn't mind that his mother's memory was beginning to become entangled by hers, in the end all his memories boiled down to love, and he loved her now more than ever.