Barduil Modern AU. Bard works in a professional hair salon and gets a call from a nervous customer booking an appointment. The customer, Legolas, tells him he’s bringing his father in, that an accident happened that can only be fixed with a dramatic haircut. Legolas stresses the fact that his father’s hair is very important to him and that he’s an utter wreck over having to get his hair cut. Bard reassures him and tells him to bring his father right in.
Less than a half hour later, two gorgeous men arrive, one more distraught than the other, eyes red and puffed from crying and his hair hidden under a hat. Bard knows right away that this is his customer and approaches them very gently. He speaks with the Legolas and his father, Thranduil, for some time at the desk before inviting him to remove his coat and come back to his station. They sit and chat some more before Bard carefully removes the hat. A fountain of long hair comes spilling out and he sees the problem right away: the most horrid knot he’d ever seen, the result of a hairdryer malfunction.
Thranduil starts crying and cursing in frustration, so Bard puts the hat back on and sits with him, holding his hands, handing him tissues, and calming him down. Once ready, Bard looks through books and magazines of styles with Thranduil. It takes quite a while, being that Thranduil is picky, but Bard understand and quite enjoys the mans company anyway.
Every cut and snip was especially precise, and he kept checking Thranduil’s expression in the mirror and asking him about his son and his work; keeping Thranduil talking would keep him distracted.
In the end, Thranduil’s hair is still shiny and beautiful, but remarkably short. He’s in shock when he leaves the salon and Bard worries about him for days, until he hears from him again. Thranduil thanks him excessively, saying that he was so grateful for Bard’s patience and tenderness and that his hair couldn’t have come out any better at the hands of anyone else in such a predicament. He insists Bard becomes his permanent hair stylist, so over months of hsi hair growing back, Bard continues to trim Thranduil’s hair...when they weren’t going out on dates, that is.
Even when they moved in together, Bard still shaped up Thranduil’s hair and even played with it, fixing it into different styles just for fun. Thranduil never complained, feeling utterly relaxed in Bard’s hands with not just his hair, but everything important in his life.
