Lake drove into the parking lot of their first stop of the day. There were only a few cars in the lot, and the sun rays were gentle, the sky cloudy.
It was perhaps a little too early in the morning, because only a few people were milling about. The hair salon had a catchy signboard that made Davian narrow his eyes.
He took the lead and opened the glass doors of the salon for Lake, a dark look on his face as he took a look around.
"Are we at the wrong place?" He muttered, disapproval spilling out his gray eyes.
Lake was struggling to keep it together, when he had looked up this salon online, this wasn’t what he had been expecting.
"I don’t think so," He said with twinkling eyes, smiling politely at the shirtless cashier who waved them over.
Lake had just wanted to avoid a repeat of the interview the day before, nothing else. It was why he had searched for places with an all-Alpha staff... it turned out to be quite the sight.
It was clear that hair care wasn’t the only service that was offered at the salon.
The cashier flexed his arms and then winked goodnaturedly at him as he offered them a list of their services, Davian wasn’t pleased by it.
"Are you sure we’re at the right place?" He repeated gruffly as they went into the salon proper.
Lake felt a little guilty but he wasn’t about to admit the real reason why they ended up here.
The staff were polite too, harmlessly entertaining him while keeping their distance.
All of Davian’s excitement for the trip dissipated as he watched Lake describe to yet another shirtless Alpha what he wanted done to his hair.
"Do you want to get your hair done?" Lake asked harmlessly.
It was impossible not to see how much Davian didn’t place, but there were no Omegas throwing themselves at him so Lake felt the opposite.
"No," The Alpha grumbled, sticking as close to him as possible. "Are you cutting your hair?" He asked in softer tones.
Lake pushed a hand through his hair as a cloak was placed over him to protect his clothes from hair strands.
"Do you think I should?" He half-teased.
"I think it’s fine however you want it."
Lake hadn’t thought to cut his hair, he just wanted to have it treated and touched up.
Despite their unique uniform and services, the hair stylist that attended to him was professional and really good at what he did, so in an hour he was walking out of the salon with Davian in tow, waving with smiles at the staff who blew him kisses as he left.
"You were smiling a lot in there," Davian accused as they got back in the car - it was a different one parked in the same spot as their first car.
Lake’s smile grew wider, "I’m really happy about how my hair turned out."
Davian opened his mouth to say something and closed it once more, a familiar look on his face.
"Where are we going next?" He changed the topic next, sulking.
Lake started up the car, "To a nail salon..."
Davian brightened up a fraction, a nail salon meant female staff.
"...it’s a subsidiary of the hair salon we just left-"
Davian slowly turned to look at him, his expression perfectly conveying the words he didn’t say.
Lake found himself enjoying this more than he should have. It was validating to know that the pangs of jealousy went both ways.
"On second thoughts," He retracted his words, "I don’t have to get my nails done, let’s just go right to the store."
It was just about noon when they got to the store, Davian might even be able to stay for a quick cooking class because they had cut right to their last stop.
After getting his hair done, Lake’s hair was more bouncy and refused to stay out of his face, no matter how much tucking behind the ear he did.
Unlike the hair salon, the clothes store had more customers, Davian drawing attention as soon as they stepped out.
"What should we get first?" Lake asked as they made their way across the parking lot, his hair in his face.
Davian reached out to push his hair out of his face, a futile effort. "A hair tie."
Lake ducked his head to hide his expression behind his hair, "Yeah," He cleared his throat.
Unaware of what he did, Davian took his wrist and guided them to the hair section of the store, stopping in front of a row of scrunchies.
Lake made a face, "Tying my hair up makes my scalp hurt."
Davian’s sharp eyes darted past the scrunchies and hair ties to pick up a wide polka-dotted hair band, "Can I?"
Lake took a step forward, wondering why he had never thought of hair bands. "Do you know how to put it on?"
"Stay still," Davian muttered, focusing hard.
Lake looked up with wide eyes, Davian was really close, the Alpha’s gray eyes dark with focus as he tried to get the hair band on correctly.
It wasn’t as jarring as it should have been, he had barely been living with the Alpha for a week, and he already felt so familiar... and safe.
"I hope you’re not tangling my hair," He huffed impatiently, it really shouldn’t take this long to put a hairband on, Davian was taking it far too seriously.
Davian stepped back then, taking his shoulders to guide him to a nearby mirror.
Lake was speechless, it really took some craft to fuck up this bad. "Davian? Hairbands don’t bend like that," He said with concern, turning to him. "Have you ever seen hairbands be put on?"
All of Davian’s confidence dissipated, "Not really."
Lake easily disentangled his hair from the accessory, holding it up. "It’s as easy as this," He said kindly, showing how to do it.
"You can also do it ," Lake tagged on, placing it on his hair without pushing it back to keep his hair out of his face.
Davian watched intently, "Maybe I should grow my hair out..."