Water (Daniel/Sha're, PG)
For those unaware, I decided to do the drabble meme, offering to write drabbles for those who made requests. This one is for Fig Newton and the prompt was 'Sha're and water', but at 833 words, it is once again, not a drabble. *facepalm* I give up. I'm not even going to try and pretend that I'm writing drabbles.
As I mentioned before, I'm doing these in the order that they come into my brain, not the order received. Once again, I made no arrangements for beta as it was supposed to be very, very short....
Sha’re watched Dan’yel shave his face with the strange tool he called a ‘razor’. It had tiny knives set in a removable piece that attached to a handle. The tiny knives were impressively thin, and while they were very sharp when he began using them, they grew dull quickly and could not be sharpened. He used each until it no longer functioned, complaining of the rash they left when dull.
Knowing he had few of the tiny knives left, she had procured a real shaving knife of the type used by Abydonian men and presented it to him. He had not recognized the purpose of the straight-bladed six inch knife. It was smaller than knives used for work, much sharper than those for eating, and had a narrow grip of polished bone.
When she had explained, he had looked so alarmed that she had been unable to contain her laughter. Dan’yel had not been offended. He had touched her face, smiling, and thanked her, then examined her gift with interest, but while he had placed the knife in a prominent position on the table which held his things, it was still unused.
The razor tool must be growing dull again, because he winced and gave a curse, which she would not have recognized as such but for the apologetic look he sent her way. Dan'yel lifted his chin and peered into the small mirror he had hung on the wall, scraping the razor beneath his jaw.
“You have not yet used your knife, my husband. Why is that?”
“Uh…well….” He lifted the razor from his skin and spoke to her reflection in the mirror. “It’s a beautiful knife, and a very thoughtful gift, but….” After one more pass of the blades under his chin, he turned to look at her, one eyebrow rising. “The longer I put off using it, the more time I’ll have with you before I accidentally kill myself trying to shave.”
“I see. So you do not use my gift because of your great love for me.”
“Exactly.” He put the razor on the table in front of him and dipped a cloth into the almost empty bowl of water, the last of the water they’d used for washing when they rose from their bed.
“And how much time was required to think of such a fine excuse?”
Turning his head to look at her, Dan’yel smiled, a wide smile. “No time at all. It has the advantage of being true.” He laughed at the expression on her face. “Okay, I’m exaggerating…a little, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to cut myself a few times before I get the hang of it. I’d just as soon delay that for a bit.” He wiped his face and neck with the cloth as though savoring the feel of water against his skin.
Sha’re was used making do with small amounts of water, never wasting it and valuing it above all things. She had never thought of the water they had as meager. It was simply the way things were, and she had never imagined anything other than this, until she asked Dan’yel to tell her about his world. One of the things he spoke of was water. He told her of a year’s worth of Abydonian rain falling in a single day, and it being a normal, frequent thing-of ‘lakes’ of water so large it would take over a day to cross them if one could walk on the surface. He told her of rivers that were as wide as the eye could see, and of others, smaller, but so common that most cities needed many bridges to allow passage over them.
While this was astonishing, it was not what amazed her the most. What truly amazed her was the thought of what people did with that bounty. They filled huge tubs with heated water and soaked in it, just to cleanse themselves, then let all of it drain away, making no attempt to save it.
They made water fall from above them, inside their homes, to create warm indoor rain to wash in-something called a ‘shower.’ Dan’yel tried, yet failed, to hide the longing in his voice when he spoke of this. Again, none of the water was saved.
Dan’yel had left a place where water was as plentiful as sand on Abydos.
As she watched him return the cloth to the bowl, soaking up the last of the water, holding it to his face again, she knew he missed that inconceivable luxury.
Sha’re never doubted Dan’yel’s love for her, not for a single moment of their time together, not even when they argued. He was not a man who was sparing in his affection. Had there ever been such a time, if she had doubted, that doubt would be erased now as she watched him hold that cloth to his face, as if trying to remember a forgotten delight, knowing-he had chosen her over water.
As I mentioned before, I'm doing these in the order that they come into my brain, not the order received. Once again, I made no arrangements for beta as it was supposed to be very, very short....
Sha’re watched Dan’yel shave his face with the strange tool he called a ‘razor’. It had tiny knives set in a removable piece that attached to a handle. The tiny knives were impressively thin, and while they were very sharp when he began using them, they grew dull quickly and could not be sharpened. He used each until it no longer functioned, complaining of the rash they left when dull.
Knowing he had few of the tiny knives left, she had procured a real shaving knife of the type used by Abydonian men and presented it to him. He had not recognized the purpose of the straight-bladed six inch knife. It was smaller than knives used for work, much sharper than those for eating, and had a narrow grip of polished bone.
When she had explained, he had looked so alarmed that she had been unable to contain her laughter. Dan’yel had not been offended. He had touched her face, smiling, and thanked her, then examined her gift with interest, but while he had placed the knife in a prominent position on the table which held his things, it was still unused.
The razor tool must be growing dull again, because he winced and gave a curse, which she would not have recognized as such but for the apologetic look he sent her way. Dan'yel lifted his chin and peered into the small mirror he had hung on the wall, scraping the razor beneath his jaw.
“You have not yet used your knife, my husband. Why is that?”
“Uh…well….” He lifted the razor from his skin and spoke to her reflection in the mirror. “It’s a beautiful knife, and a very thoughtful gift, but….” After one more pass of the blades under his chin, he turned to look at her, one eyebrow rising. “The longer I put off using it, the more time I’ll have with you before I accidentally kill myself trying to shave.”
“I see. So you do not use my gift because of your great love for me.”
“Exactly.” He put the razor on the table in front of him and dipped a cloth into the almost empty bowl of water, the last of the water they’d used for washing when they rose from their bed.
“And how much time was required to think of such a fine excuse?”
Turning his head to look at her, Dan’yel smiled, a wide smile. “No time at all. It has the advantage of being true.” He laughed at the expression on her face. “Okay, I’m exaggerating…a little, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to cut myself a few times before I get the hang of it. I’d just as soon delay that for a bit.” He wiped his face and neck with the cloth as though savoring the feel of water against his skin.
Sha’re was used making do with small amounts of water, never wasting it and valuing it above all things. She had never thought of the water they had as meager. It was simply the way things were, and she had never imagined anything other than this, until she asked Dan’yel to tell her about his world. One of the things he spoke of was water. He told her of a year’s worth of Abydonian rain falling in a single day, and it being a normal, frequent thing-of ‘lakes’ of water so large it would take over a day to cross them if one could walk on the surface. He told her of rivers that were as wide as the eye could see, and of others, smaller, but so common that most cities needed many bridges to allow passage over them.
While this was astonishing, it was not what amazed her the most. What truly amazed her was the thought of what people did with that bounty. They filled huge tubs with heated water and soaked in it, just to cleanse themselves, then let all of it drain away, making no attempt to save it.
They made water fall from above them, inside their homes, to create warm indoor rain to wash in-something called a ‘shower.’ Dan’yel tried, yet failed, to hide the longing in his voice when he spoke of this. Again, none of the water was saved.
Dan’yel had left a place where water was as plentiful as sand on Abydos.
As she watched him return the cloth to the bowl, soaking up the last of the water, holding it to his face again, she knew he missed that inconceivable luxury.
Sha’re never doubted Dan’yel’s love for her, not for a single moment of their time together, not even when they argued. He was not a man who was sparing in his affection. Had there ever been such a time, if she had doubted, that doubt would be erased now as she watched him hold that cloth to his face, as if trying to remember a forgotten delight, knowing-he had chosen her over water.