Chapter 24
Misha
Misha was sat in a chair at the barber shop belonging to Tooth’s boyfriend, feeling nervous without the wheelchair, but Grim insisted it needed a technical checkup at his friend’s workshop and took it away. Grim assured Misha that Lucky could be trusted and that he wouldn’t be gone long, but it didn’t make Misha feel much safer. If anything happened, he wouldn’t be able to run, and crawling wasn’t nearly as effective as a method of losing a tail.
He was, however, relieved to realize that he wasn’t afraid of the scissors in Lucky’s hand. He’d wielded a knife without fear just yesterday, and it didn’t matter that Tomas had been dead already. What mattered was that Misha wasn’t afraid of the blade anymore. Maybe he was getting more confident, or maybe it was the way Grim had with knives that made Misha believe the blades were on his side. Either way, it made him feel good about himself, and now he would get his hair in order as well. Even staying among strangers without Grim was becoming easier as long as Grim vouched for them.
Lucky was a handsome guy around Misha’s age. His extremely long blond hair contrasted with an all-black outfit, but despite his big combat boots and a skull-shaped belt buckle, he smiled a lot and seemed friendly. A bit too friendly toward Grim as far as Misha was concerned. When Lucky turned around to pick up a comb, Misha noticed white patches on the back of his denim vest. They stated: “Property of Tooth” and were accompanied by the Coffin Nails logo.
“Did someone cut your hair out of spite? Jesus.” Lucky frowned and ran his fingers through Misha’s locks. “I’d cut a fucker who tried to mess with mine like this. ”
It felt strange to be touched by someone other than Grim, but Misha needed to get over himself, so he didn’t flinch. “No, Grim did it. It was getting too long,” he mumbled, annoyed by how shit his social skills were after spending years talking only to Gary or a webcam.
Lucky pulled on a few strands, watching the hair as if it were out to murder him. “I guess he tried.”
“I’m here for a reason. No need to rub it in.” Misha pouted and sank in the chair.
“Wow, I didn’t see that one coming,” said Lucky and put his hands on the backrest of the chair, glancing at Misha in the mirror. “What kind of hair do you want to leave with?”
Misha didn’t exactly spend his time looking through fashion magazines. “I want it to be … you know, attractive?” This couldn’t get any more embarrassing. Killing people was easier than this.
Lucky closed his eyes for a moment. “Okay. How does Grim like it?”
Misha frowned, watching his own reflection go red. “I think he likes to have something to hold on to.”
“You think ?” asked Lucky, lowering himself over Misha. His nimble fingers slid between the strands, massaging Misha’s scalp. It had been so long since Misha visited a hairdresser that he wasn’t exactly sure if this amount of touching was something American barbers did or if he was getting some kind of special treatment.
“Sorry, that was a bit too much information.”
“No, no. That’s viable information. A man’s barber is like a doctor. You can be absolutely sincere with me,” said Lucky, and he picked up a trimmer.
“Grim likes to be all slick and clean-shaven, but I’m pretty certain he wouldn’t like me bald.” Misha stared at his reflection. It’d been a while since he was prompted to assess himself so intensely. Gary had been insistent about Misha’s grooming routine, but he didn’t leave Misha any choice in the matter. Without the Rapunzel hair, with his arms exposed by a tank top, and fair hair dusting his forearms, Misha finally felt more grown up. As if his skin was his own again.
“Oh, I’m not gonna get rid of your nice, healthy hair. You’ve been taking care of it,” said Lucky, and he started easing the strands with a simple black comb.
The silence that settled between them made Misha choke up, and he was desperately trying to come up with something to talk about. “Soo … Your boyfriend’s Tooth, right? The VP here in Detroit?”
“Yep. And it’s thanks to me that all the members have fabulous hair,” said Lucky with pride as he switched on the trimmer and used it to cut some of Misha’s hair by pulling the buzzing device along the comb. “Tooth’s really amazing. We even have our own house now.”
“And no one bothers you? For being gay? We’ve been to Charleston with Grim, and it was … tense.” Misha winced when Lucky pulled on his hair a bit too hard.
Lucky rolled his eyes and gave a quiet laugh. “This isn’t West Virginia, babe. Our guys are much more open about this.”
Misha smiled, wondering how it would be to be a part of a community that kept their own safe. Where he wouldn’t have to fight tooth and nail for every step.Though, to be fair, not all the guys he met here so far wanted to interact with him in any way, so maybe it was just Lucky and Tooth that everyone was fine with. Misha and Grim went beyond the token gay couple everyone could use of an example of “gay friends” when push came to shove during a discussion at the Christmas table. “And if people who aren’t in the club see the back of your vest … they don’t bother you?”
Lucky shrugged as he continued to even out Misha’s hair. “They wouldn’t dare. My Tooth is famous for dealing with people who pick on his family.”
“That’s … nice.” At least as Misha watched the proficiency with which Lucky worked, he wasn’t anxious about the outcome.
Lucky looked at Misha with a smirk tugging at his handsome face. “I bet you’re having a lot of fun with Grim. He’s such an interesting person.”
Misha couldn’t help a silly grin. “That he is. Definitely. I’ve never met anyone like him.”
“I knew something was up when Tooth told me he wouldn’t be interested in me, because I don’t have ... the attributes he likes,” said Lucky casually. “I really wanted to meet him after that, but Tooth wouldn’t let me.”
Misha looked down at his stumps, which were safely tucked into a pair of pinned-up sweatpants. “Oh. This is … common knowledge?”
Lucky shrugged. “No, but Tooth and Grim had this fling once, and that’s how he must have found out. ”
“Tooth had a fling with Grim?” Misha reflexively wanted to look over his shoulder, but Lucky forced his head to stay put. “ You were hitting on Grim? I mean … yeah, I guess he’s handsome,” he uttered, suddenly losing ground from underneath his feet. He knew he was being unreasonable, but the conversation opened a gash in Misha’s newfound confidence about his developing relationship with Grim.
“Just don’t tell them I said that, or I’ll get spanked,” said Lucky with a cocky grin.
“Is that a thing with bikers?” Misha stirred in the chair, even more uncomfortable, desperately missing his wheels. If there was something he might want to run from it was this kind of conversation with a stranger. “They spank their ’property’?”
“No. It’s a private joke I have with Tooth,” said Lucky, and a few short bits of hair tickled Misha’s skin as they fell to his shoulder.
Misha sighed in relief. He needed to understand the biker culture better, but he kept stumbling over stupid shit like this. “Sorry. I-I guess it makes sense if they were both single. So even though you’re so cute, he wouldn’t go for you just because you’re … whole?”
“No idea, but once, there was a guy here, who had his fingers amputated, and Grim definitely had the hots for him.”
Misha took a moment to reevaluate his doubts. They were stupid. He and Grim shared much more than Grim having the hots for stumps and Misha considering Grim ridiculously handsome. Those were all just features a person could have.
“I suppose it’s nice to be liked for what you look like not despite it.”
“Very true. That’s actually quite inspiring,” said Lucky, glancing at Misha in the mirror.
Misha snorted. “I could put that on Facebook.”
“With a picture of Grim’s you-know-what?” asked Lucky, wiggling his eyebrows.
Misha went so silent the next clip of scissors sounded like a guillotine cutting through his neck. This conversation got out of hand all too quickly. “Facebook doesn’t even allow women’s nipples, so … yeah.” He hoped that would end the topic in a fun yet definitive way, but Lucky didn’t seem to get the hint .
“How is it with him? He’s enormous even when soft. Does his dick grow even bigger when he gets hard?” Lucky whispered with a knowing smile ghosting across his mouth.
Misha frowned, unsure if Lucky was unbearably rude, or if this was something gay guys talked about. “That’s … kind of private.”
Lucky switched off the trimmer and started combing Misha’s hair with his fingers. “Come on, I won’t tell. Tooth’s big, but Grim ... I mean ... can you actually take it?”
Misha crossed his arms on his chest, pretending to be assessing his hair as he desperately thought of a comeback. “I top.”
“Yeah right. I saw him going after a guy once. He wasn’t in the mood for bending over. Plus, it would be such a waste to have him bottom with a cock like that.”
Misha groaned, struck by the memory of how resentful Grim was about men always focusing on the size of his cock. Clearly, he hadn’t been exaggerating. “Okay. Whatever. So he’s got a big dick, but he knows how to use it.” At least Misha’s hair really did look nice and even.
“How does it feel? Is it painful?” Lucky petted Misha’s hair, as if he were a cat. “Or are you into that?”
“Why? Is Tooth so small, that you think it’s so differe—Ow!” Misha hissed when Lucky pulled his hair accidentally, yet so on purpose.
“No need to be mean. It’s just a question. I’m curious.”
“He’s more than his dick. He’s not a fling to me, he’s my … man.” Just like Misha wasn’t just the stumps.
Lucky scowled. “I never said he wasn’t. That’s your assumption.”
“I don’t want to talk about our sex life!”
The bell at the door rang when Grim entered in his all-leather outfit, pushing Misha’s dearly missed wheelchair inside. Misha couldn’t help but glance to the dick outlined so clearly in one leg of his pants.
“How are you two doing? I bet you’ve become friends by now.”
Misha put a hand over his face, flushing as he trailed his gaze up Grim’s powerful chest, all the way to the chiseled face. “My hair’s almost done.”
Grim smiled. “You look really nice. I’m not nearly as good at this as Lucky.”
“Grim! You’ve been here for a few days now, and we didn’t even get a chance for a chat,” said Lucky and reached out to him in greeting .
Grim stared at him for a split second but shook his hand. “I’ve been busy.”
“That’s a sign that you need to relax. Maybe I could tempt you with a treatment? On the house,” promised Lucky.
“I don’t know if we have time.” Misha looked over the back of the chair to catch Grim’s eyes and communicate his peril.
“Oh, you do, you do.” Lucky waved his hand with a smile and pushed Misha back into the chair when he rose. “I still have a hair mask to do on you.”
Grim sat in the other chair. “I suppose ...”
Misha couldn’t help glancing at the outline of Grim’s dick again. It was difficult to miss, especially when Grim shifted and the leather clung even tighter around the length.
“Here,” said Grim and put something in Misha’s lap. It was a folded leather garment, a plastic folder stuffed with paper, and an American passport on top. “Your new surname’s Babanin.”
Misha smiled and picked up the passport to look inside. His heart sped up, and he wondered how the Coffin Nails managed to do this. Did Grim have to bribe someone in the immigration department? For him? “Classy.” He looked through the document, ignoring the whole folder for the time being. The passport even had a picture of Misha’s that they took at a mall on the way here.
“And look at the cut. I had one of the girls sew on the patches.”
Misha gave Grim a quizzical look but quickly folded out the black leather. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of a row of letters that sent his head into a spin. The vest read, “Property of Grim.” Before he could say anything, Lucky whistled.
“Wow, things are getting serious in here.”
Misha ran his fingers over the patches, his skin tingling. “I guess they are.”
“You’ve got all your documents, your citizenship. We can get married now,” said Grim from his seat.
Misha’s voice got stuck in his throat, and for once even Lucky was deemed speechless, just silently working some gel into Misha’s hair.
“M-m-married?” Misha uttered with his eyes wide and squeezed the leather in his fingers.
“Oh, you might not know, but it’s legal now. We can just do it,” said Grim, wiggling his eyebrows .
Even Misha’s nape was getting hot from the conflicting feelings tearing through his chest. Could this even be called a proposal? Grim stated it so matter-of-factly as if they’d already talked about it. Was Misha’s memory failing him? Impossible. The concept of being married to another man was so completely foreign to him that he couldn’t even make up his mind whether he’d want to participate in such a non-traditional ceremony. He gave Grim a quick glance. Did he want to spend the rest of his life with that man? Yes, yes he did. But was this really the time to be discussing something so serious and personal?
Lucky thankfully opened his mouth again. “Haven’t you known each other for, like, a month?”
Misha swallowed. “There’s no rush, Grim. I’m not going anywhere.”
Grim looked up at him, and as a bit of light died in his grey eyes, it became clear that this wasn’t what Grim had expected to hear. “What does that even mean?”
When Lucky opened his mouth again, Grim silenced him with a single glare.
Misha swallowed. “Is this really the right time? With all the things going on?” They’d go to the court and get married when Misha could die next week? What would be the point?
Grin frowned. “That’s exactly why. I lead a dangerous lifestyle. What’s gonna happen if I can’t protect you anymore? You’d have nothing to keep you afloat.”
Misha wasn’t happy with Lucky listening to all this. This was private, and he couldn’t even say everything he wanted while they were here. “You’re not dying.”
“How do you know?” demanded Grim, staring at him from beneath his thick, well-sculpted brows.
“Can we talk about this at home?” Misha hugged the vest and the folder to his chest, as if they could somehow shield him from the terrible fate suggested by Grim.
Grim pressed his lips shut and got up from the chair, rapidly pushing it back. “Fine,” he said and sat on the red sofa in the waiting area behind Misha’s back. Not only could Misha sense the grey eyes on him now, he could also see Grim in the mirror.
Misha took a deep breath of fruit-scented air and didn’t feel any more relaxed when Lucky descended into chatter about his own engagement and how Tooth proposed to him in front of the whole club. Of course, Tooth did that. He didn’t just come to Lucky’s barbershop and announce they’d be getting married out of the blue .
Misha knew Grim had his own ways of showing affection. Instead of talking and showering Misha with declarations or grand gestures, he did all those small things that revealed the depth of his commitment, but Misha was still too stunned to understand what had happened.