Male shaving/depilation recs (12 SGA, 1 Inception, 2 House)
Does what it says in the title: These are many of the stories I've read over the last few years that have memorable shaving, waxing or other kinds of depilation scenes in them performed on male characters-face, body or private areas; characters shaving themselves, shaving their friends or romantic partners, being shaved or groomed by strangers; depilation that's sensual and arousing, or nerve-wracking, or endured, or watched or experienced with interest; shaving as preparation, as kink, as connection, as part of a cross-dressing transformation, as assistance after injury or trauma, and most of all, as a demonstration of love and trust.
For my Kink Bingo shaving/depilation square.
SGA
Missing/Inaction by crysothemis (with art!) - in which Ronon helps John shave using a straight razor after John goes missing for 6 months in "Epiphany." Nice use of shaving as metaphor, nice mix of actions with thoughts, nice semi-UST.
Ronon didn't even realize he'd made a noise until Sheppard opened one eye. "What's so funny?"
Ronon shook his head. "Just thinking."
"As long as you're thinking about not cutting my face," Sheppard said, and closed his eyes again.
Yeah, well, that was what he should be thinking about, with Sheppard's skin against his blade. But he was used to having Sheppard's life in his hands, used to guarding Sheppard's back. Until today, when Sheppard had gone on ahead, and he hadn't been allowed to follow.
Ronon eased the razor over Sheppard's chin, tracing every plane and angle exactly. Sheppard was relaxed now, trusting him completely. "You shouldn't have been the one to go through," Ronon said.
Revelations by stillane - another post-"Epiphany" scene, this time with Rodney giving John a haircut and shaving his beard, and skewed more toward overcoming the fact that John slept with Teer while he was gone.
Neither one of them says anything for a while. When Sheppard finally speaks, it's with a deceptively mild tone. "So, you've done this before, right?"
Rodney answers in his best voice of distraction. "Yes, yes. I'm not a threat to your precious follicles. I'm certainly better at it than you would have been."
A Complicated Friendship by sheafrotherdon - similar scenario as the above, but with more humor, a.k.a. Rodney running off at the mouth/brain.
Rodney huffs and reaches for the scissors John left on the sink. "You’re so fucking feeble," he mutters, roughly tilting John’s head to the side, beginning to clip the beard as short as he can.
"Yeah," John agrees. "That’s me. Feeble."
He sounds pleased, which only adds to Rodney’s confusion. "Sharp things," he says tightly as he cuts the hair around John’s mouth. "Perhaps it’s best if you don’t talk."
A muscle in John’s cheek twitches then stills.
"Or laugh," Rodney mutters. "And you are so cleaning up this hair."
Shaving it close by tielan - a short one in which Teyla gets to be the one who shaves John after an unspecified ordeal.
Her fingers close over his on the handle of the razor. "You could not have done this tomorrow?"
"It'll be beard by tomorrow and worse," he says, his voice rough with exhaustion.
"And if you cut your throat tonight?" Teyla reaches up and smears the cream across his face with one hand, then turns his head to run the razor down his skin.
Housekeeping by runpunkrun - in which Rodney discovers the joys of shaving his crotch and immediately puts it to practical use. Lit up by punk's trademark humor.
He was pleased with the results. The lack of pubic hair made his dick look huge, longer and thicker. Plus, he was in the best shape of his life and with his tighter, field-tested body, he felt kind of like a porn star.
He stood in front of the mirror and admired the view from the side, circling his fingers around his dick and giving it a few pulls. He was starting to get hard and it made his dick look even bigger, and then he realized he was standing around in his bathroom jerking off like a loser when he could be having actual sex with his new porn star cock. He threw on some clothes and ran across the hall.
Command Structure by tzigane and zaganthi - alternate reality or pre-series encounter in which a semi-anonymous sadist John shaves a semi-anonymous masochist Rod(ney) as part of the lead-in to a night of BDSM in a hotel room.
He blew away the last of the curls and stood, moving to the bathroom and coming back with a wash cloth. He dipped it into the now warm water and carefully washed away the stray hairs before he reached for the shaving lotion.
Rod inhaled, and exhaled in a slower, shaky breath. "I never thought of shaving as something sensual."
"Guess you've learned something new."
John warmed the lotion between the palms of his hands, watching the faint tremble that began to make its way along Rod's limbs before he laid his hands down. He smeared the lotion, slow and easy, tender along the areas of already shortened hairs.
"Yeah. Not going to argue you there." His stomach shivered for a moment, and he kept his head craned up to watch what John was doing. It was seriously better than the guys who laid there like puppets while John did the shaving.
Like She Owns Him by anonymous - which, yes, I've already recced under subspace/headspace, but which earns another mention here for its scene of dubiously consensual body hair removal while John is undercover with Sam in a slave-owning culture.
"He's awfully hairy," the observer says, not giving him any such respect, and Sam's head jerks around. The woman looks bored, like she's assessing a head of livestock. "We can take care of that for you."
John's face goes hot and it's all he can do to drop his head. It's nothing he ever did with Nancy. Nothing he ever wanted to do.
"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary," Sam says airily. "I like him the way he is."
Down to the Bones by perspi - in which John shaves Rodney's face when Rodney is laid up with a broken leg.
But the first thing to touch him isn't cold steel, it's warm fingertips above his eyebrow and a thumb on his cheek gently urging his head to turn away from John. The blade glides slowly over his skin, leaving a cool stripe of air from cheekbone to jaw.
John's breath puffs warm over Rodney's face. "Relax, Rodney."
"I'm trying," Rodney replies quietly, trying to move as little as possible under the foam and the weight of those fingertips.
"You trust me intellectually," John murmurs as the blade makes a somewhat faster second pass. "But for this to really work, you have to-"
"If you tell me I have to trust you emotionally, so help me, Sheppard, I will beat you with my crutches."
Horsehide and Badger Hair and an Old Tin Mug by darkhavens - in which Rodney is fascinated by John's daily shaving routine, having never received instruction growing up.
John picked up and opened the gleaming straight razor, laying it at an angle across his palm where it reflected back the stark fluorescent light from the overhead bulbs.
Rodney's gaze catalogued every detail and his fingers twitched at his sides, fidgeting with the frayed belt of his robe, but he made no move to reach out and touch.
"This belonged to my grandfather on my mother's side. He gave me the whole kit for my seventeenth birthday because it was obvious by then that I'd inherited the family follicles."
All Dressed Up And… by icarusancalion - first of three examples of depilation performed as part of cross-dressing. In which John takes a long, languorous evening preparing himself-body hair removal, nail polish, makeup, dress, shoes, etc.-while on leave, and then invites Rodney over.
He climbed into the tub and let himself soak a long moment, luxuriating. He moved his arms along the surface, splashing little waves against the sides.
Lathering a woman's shaving gel between his hands, the smell sweet, familiar, he started in on his legs. He sleeked the razor over curves, following the landscape of his muscles, rubbing his thumb over a spot he'd missed and returning. Rinsed the razor in the water. Changed razors frequently. After several days of this there would no longer be that gritty bite and catch as he slid the razor across his stomach, his chin lowered to watch. He was pale after years in Atlantis, his skin as smooth as glass. Underneath it all, he was soft.
Strong Enough to Be My Man by telesilla - in which John undergoes a day of preparation in a spa at Rodney's orders, the beginning of which involves hair removal (waxing and shaving) from the neck down, before being put in a dress and meeting with Rodney for the culmination. While this story lacks the sort of tension I usually enjoy in a kink piece, I always remember it for its long and loving approach to many kinks, d/s dynamics, and the freedom of experiencing and talking about kinky lifestyles with others.
Once he's in place, Sylvia picks up an electric trimmer and turns it on. "This might tickle a little," she warns, and before he can have any second thoughts, she puts a gentle hand on his cock and then sweeps the trimmer across the patch of hair above it.
He goes up on his elbows in time to see her flick an impressive amount of hair off the trimmer blades. "I'm probably a bit of a challenge," he says, feeling a little sheepish.
"Oh, you're not that bad," she replies, taking out another swatch of hair. "At least I didn't have to do your back."
It doesn't tickle, but the humming vibration of the trimmer and her hand moving his dick out of the way as she works has a rather predictable effect and he feels his face go hot. "Sorry," he mutters.
"Don't be." Her voice is matter of fact. "It happens to everyone. It's actually a lot easier to do this if you're hard."
By the time she gets the gel and the razor out, John's fully hard and more than a little turned on. The skin she exposes is incredibly sensitive and he can't help wondering what Rodney's going to make of it, what Rodney's going to do with him.
The Red Dress (Ardhanarishvara Coda) by auburn - in which John incorporates shaving into a spontaneous ritual that brings him closer to the time his body was transformed into a woman's.
It's a strange feeling, though, as he smooths the lotion down his legs, as if he's becoming the John Sheppard that was a woman again. He teases his fingers up the sensitive skin inside his thighs and gasps, wanting more, wanting McKay to come back and touch and push inside, fuck him until he's limp and mindless, more and more turned on as he sinks into the fantasy.
House
Damascus by nightdog_barks - in which House shows he cares by taking Wilson to his barber on his birthday for a haircut. By which he means a shave. And by "his barber" he means...
"Easy, Jimmy," House murmured, and Wilson tried to relax. More hot towels went up and around his face, wrapping under and over his jaw and across the bridge of his nose. Steam from the soft cloth began to permeate his skin, seeping deep into his pores, soothing his ever-jangling nerves. Slowly, slowly, he began to sink into the welcoming leather of the chair. He heard a breathy snap as a larger towel was shaken out, felt an increase in warmth on his chest as he was covered up. He raised his head a little as Joe's big hands drew the towel up a bit and tucked it around his shoulders.
The shop was quiet. The ceiling fans spun, the soft thwap of the blades sounding like birds' wings. There was the faint squeak of leather shoes as Joe moved away from the chair. The dull thump of House's cane accompanied him and Wilson was left alone. He was vaguely aware of the two men conversing in low tones, and after another moment he was asleep.
The Care and Grooming of Wilson by topaz_eyes - a humor piece in which House ties Wilson to the bed, blindfolds him on request and talks/taunts him through a shave of certain sensitive parts.
House laid his hand over the wet cloth, noting its temperature. "Almost there." He squeezed gently, and Wilson twitched again. "Don't get too aroused, that can make things a little difficult if I slip."
"Now that would be the unkindest cut of all," Wilson agreed. "I've been circumcised once already."
Inception
Unexpected Plot Twist by ethrosdemon has a shaving scene in it that is very much worth reccing here, but which is only a small part of a tech-centric wild ride of a story that you should go try.
He lets Eames pull him around so that the back of his head is resting on the muscle of Eames's belly. Two fingers tip his head back so Eames can stretch out his neck. This is the vulnerable moment when Arthur's heart hits the bottom of his feet and every instinct he has tells him to slither to the ground and get the guy's arms behind his back. Arthur stretches his neck further back and swallows.
"Watching that thought process work through your head was akin to my first sexual experience, I'll have you know," Eames sounds almost pained.
And the usual follow-up question: Any others I'll kick myself for forgetting?
For my Kink Bingo shaving/depilation square.
SGA
Missing/Inaction by crysothemis (with art!) - in which Ronon helps John shave using a straight razor after John goes missing for 6 months in "Epiphany." Nice use of shaving as metaphor, nice mix of actions with thoughts, nice semi-UST.
Ronon didn't even realize he'd made a noise until Sheppard opened one eye. "What's so funny?"
Ronon shook his head. "Just thinking."
"As long as you're thinking about not cutting my face," Sheppard said, and closed his eyes again.
Yeah, well, that was what he should be thinking about, with Sheppard's skin against his blade. But he was used to having Sheppard's life in his hands, used to guarding Sheppard's back. Until today, when Sheppard had gone on ahead, and he hadn't been allowed to follow.
Ronon eased the razor over Sheppard's chin, tracing every plane and angle exactly. Sheppard was relaxed now, trusting him completely. "You shouldn't have been the one to go through," Ronon said.
Revelations by stillane - another post-"Epiphany" scene, this time with Rodney giving John a haircut and shaving his beard, and skewed more toward overcoming the fact that John slept with Teer while he was gone.
Neither one of them says anything for a while. When Sheppard finally speaks, it's with a deceptively mild tone. "So, you've done this before, right?"
Rodney answers in his best voice of distraction. "Yes, yes. I'm not a threat to your precious follicles. I'm certainly better at it than you would have been."
A Complicated Friendship by sheafrotherdon - similar scenario as the above, but with more humor, a.k.a. Rodney running off at the mouth/brain.
Rodney huffs and reaches for the scissors John left on the sink. "You’re so fucking feeble," he mutters, roughly tilting John’s head to the side, beginning to clip the beard as short as he can.
"Yeah," John agrees. "That’s me. Feeble."
He sounds pleased, which only adds to Rodney’s confusion. "Sharp things," he says tightly as he cuts the hair around John’s mouth. "Perhaps it’s best if you don’t talk."
A muscle in John’s cheek twitches then stills.
"Or laugh," Rodney mutters. "And you are so cleaning up this hair."
Shaving it close by tielan - a short one in which Teyla gets to be the one who shaves John after an unspecified ordeal.
Her fingers close over his on the handle of the razor. "You could not have done this tomorrow?"
"It'll be beard by tomorrow and worse," he says, his voice rough with exhaustion.
"And if you cut your throat tonight?" Teyla reaches up and smears the cream across his face with one hand, then turns his head to run the razor down his skin.
Housekeeping by runpunkrun - in which Rodney discovers the joys of shaving his crotch and immediately puts it to practical use. Lit up by punk's trademark humor.
He was pleased with the results. The lack of pubic hair made his dick look huge, longer and thicker. Plus, he was in the best shape of his life and with his tighter, field-tested body, he felt kind of like a porn star.
He stood in front of the mirror and admired the view from the side, circling his fingers around his dick and giving it a few pulls. He was starting to get hard and it made his dick look even bigger, and then he realized he was standing around in his bathroom jerking off like a loser when he could be having actual sex with his new porn star cock. He threw on some clothes and ran across the hall.
Command Structure by tzigane and zaganthi - alternate reality or pre-series encounter in which a semi-anonymous sadist John shaves a semi-anonymous masochist Rod(ney) as part of the lead-in to a night of BDSM in a hotel room.
He blew away the last of the curls and stood, moving to the bathroom and coming back with a wash cloth. He dipped it into the now warm water and carefully washed away the stray hairs before he reached for the shaving lotion.
Rod inhaled, and exhaled in a slower, shaky breath. "I never thought of shaving as something sensual."
"Guess you've learned something new."
John warmed the lotion between the palms of his hands, watching the faint tremble that began to make its way along Rod's limbs before he laid his hands down. He smeared the lotion, slow and easy, tender along the areas of already shortened hairs.
"Yeah. Not going to argue you there." His stomach shivered for a moment, and he kept his head craned up to watch what John was doing. It was seriously better than the guys who laid there like puppets while John did the shaving.
Like She Owns Him by anonymous - which, yes, I've already recced under subspace/headspace, but which earns another mention here for its scene of dubiously consensual body hair removal while John is undercover with Sam in a slave-owning culture.
"He's awfully hairy," the observer says, not giving him any such respect, and Sam's head jerks around. The woman looks bored, like she's assessing a head of livestock. "We can take care of that for you."
John's face goes hot and it's all he can do to drop his head. It's nothing he ever did with Nancy. Nothing he ever wanted to do.
"Oh, I don't think that will be necessary," Sam says airily. "I like him the way he is."
Down to the Bones by perspi - in which John shaves Rodney's face when Rodney is laid up with a broken leg.
But the first thing to touch him isn't cold steel, it's warm fingertips above his eyebrow and a thumb on his cheek gently urging his head to turn away from John. The blade glides slowly over his skin, leaving a cool stripe of air from cheekbone to jaw.
John's breath puffs warm over Rodney's face. "Relax, Rodney."
"I'm trying," Rodney replies quietly, trying to move as little as possible under the foam and the weight of those fingertips.
"You trust me intellectually," John murmurs as the blade makes a somewhat faster second pass. "But for this to really work, you have to-"
"If you tell me I have to trust you emotionally, so help me, Sheppard, I will beat you with my crutches."
Horsehide and Badger Hair and an Old Tin Mug by darkhavens - in which Rodney is fascinated by John's daily shaving routine, having never received instruction growing up.
John picked up and opened the gleaming straight razor, laying it at an angle across his palm where it reflected back the stark fluorescent light from the overhead bulbs.
Rodney's gaze catalogued every detail and his fingers twitched at his sides, fidgeting with the frayed belt of his robe, but he made no move to reach out and touch.
"This belonged to my grandfather on my mother's side. He gave me the whole kit for my seventeenth birthday because it was obvious by then that I'd inherited the family follicles."
All Dressed Up And… by icarusancalion - first of three examples of depilation performed as part of cross-dressing. In which John takes a long, languorous evening preparing himself-body hair removal, nail polish, makeup, dress, shoes, etc.-while on leave, and then invites Rodney over.
He climbed into the tub and let himself soak a long moment, luxuriating. He moved his arms along the surface, splashing little waves against the sides.
Lathering a woman's shaving gel between his hands, the smell sweet, familiar, he started in on his legs. He sleeked the razor over curves, following the landscape of his muscles, rubbing his thumb over a spot he'd missed and returning. Rinsed the razor in the water. Changed razors frequently. After several days of this there would no longer be that gritty bite and catch as he slid the razor across his stomach, his chin lowered to watch. He was pale after years in Atlantis, his skin as smooth as glass. Underneath it all, he was soft.
Strong Enough to Be My Man by telesilla - in which John undergoes a day of preparation in a spa at Rodney's orders, the beginning of which involves hair removal (waxing and shaving) from the neck down, before being put in a dress and meeting with Rodney for the culmination. While this story lacks the sort of tension I usually enjoy in a kink piece, I always remember it for its long and loving approach to many kinks, d/s dynamics, and the freedom of experiencing and talking about kinky lifestyles with others.
Once he's in place, Sylvia picks up an electric trimmer and turns it on. "This might tickle a little," she warns, and before he can have any second thoughts, she puts a gentle hand on his cock and then sweeps the trimmer across the patch of hair above it.
He goes up on his elbows in time to see her flick an impressive amount of hair off the trimmer blades. "I'm probably a bit of a challenge," he says, feeling a little sheepish.
"Oh, you're not that bad," she replies, taking out another swatch of hair. "At least I didn't have to do your back."
It doesn't tickle, but the humming vibration of the trimmer and her hand moving his dick out of the way as she works has a rather predictable effect and he feels his face go hot. "Sorry," he mutters.
"Don't be." Her voice is matter of fact. "It happens to everyone. It's actually a lot easier to do this if you're hard."
By the time she gets the gel and the razor out, John's fully hard and more than a little turned on. The skin she exposes is incredibly sensitive and he can't help wondering what Rodney's going to make of it, what Rodney's going to do with him.
The Red Dress (Ardhanarishvara Coda) by auburn - in which John incorporates shaving into a spontaneous ritual that brings him closer to the time his body was transformed into a woman's.
It's a strange feeling, though, as he smooths the lotion down his legs, as if he's becoming the John Sheppard that was a woman again. He teases his fingers up the sensitive skin inside his thighs and gasps, wanting more, wanting McKay to come back and touch and push inside, fuck him until he's limp and mindless, more and more turned on as he sinks into the fantasy.
House
Damascus by nightdog_barks - in which House shows he cares by taking Wilson to his barber on his birthday for a haircut. By which he means a shave. And by "his barber" he means...
"Easy, Jimmy," House murmured, and Wilson tried to relax. More hot towels went up and around his face, wrapping under and over his jaw and across the bridge of his nose. Steam from the soft cloth began to permeate his skin, seeping deep into his pores, soothing his ever-jangling nerves. Slowly, slowly, he began to sink into the welcoming leather of the chair. He heard a breathy snap as a larger towel was shaken out, felt an increase in warmth on his chest as he was covered up. He raised his head a little as Joe's big hands drew the towel up a bit and tucked it around his shoulders.
The shop was quiet. The ceiling fans spun, the soft thwap of the blades sounding like birds' wings. There was the faint squeak of leather shoes as Joe moved away from the chair. The dull thump of House's cane accompanied him and Wilson was left alone. He was vaguely aware of the two men conversing in low tones, and after another moment he was asleep.
The Care and Grooming of Wilson by topaz_eyes - a humor piece in which House ties Wilson to the bed, blindfolds him on request and talks/taunts him through a shave of certain sensitive parts.
House laid his hand over the wet cloth, noting its temperature. "Almost there." He squeezed gently, and Wilson twitched again. "Don't get too aroused, that can make things a little difficult if I slip."
"Now that would be the unkindest cut of all," Wilson agreed. "I've been circumcised once already."
Inception
Unexpected Plot Twist by ethrosdemon has a shaving scene in it that is very much worth reccing here, but which is only a small part of a tech-centric wild ride of a story that you should go try.
He lets Eames pull him around so that the back of his head is resting on the muscle of Eames's belly. Two fingers tip his head back so Eames can stretch out his neck. This is the vulnerable moment when Arthur's heart hits the bottom of his feet and every instinct he has tells him to slither to the ground and get the guy's arms behind his back. Arthur stretches his neck further back and swallows.
"Watching that thought process work through your head was akin to my first sexual experience, I'll have you know," Eames sounds almost pained.
And the usual follow-up question: Any others I'll kick myself for forgetting?