the least sexy bath ever
Nov. 21st, 2014 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smackenzieRainaut chuckles. "Such delicate sensibilities you still have. Our coupling has nothing to do with spiritual or bodily purity. You wash to show that your heart is sincere and that you come before God with a clean soul."
Which is something Brother Peire understands. He can even look into his soul and reassure himself that it really is pure and that he's still sincere in his faith.
His body, however, could use a bath. He isn't sure he's ready to eat anything just yet, but he's thirsty and some cold, clear water wouldn't go amiss either.
He lifts Rainaut's arm off him and slides out of bed, opens the window shutter, and looks out at the setting sun. So they've missed the dusk service after all. He's surprised to realize that he's a little disappointed by that - not because he's missed a time of proscribed worship, but because he missed a service in the heretics' church. But he can go to the chapel later and perform his own devotions.
Brother Peire has a momentary pang about the fact that he seems to consider the little chapel as his own private worship space, even though it belongs to the whole community and isn’t even consecrated to his particular faith. It's a little selfish and entitled of him to treat the chapel as his personal space. He's broken enough vows. He doesn't want to break his vow of humility too. Despite his belief that he can be both faithful friar and adopted heretic without too much risk of divine smiting, he still feels humble before God.
He puts on his robe and sandals, ties the rope belt around his waist, runs his fingers through his hair. He pulls his sun pendant out so it can hang outside the neckline of the robe. When he turns around to ask if Rainaut is coming with him, he finds that Rainaut is now fully awake and watching him.
"What?" he asks.
"Nothing," Rainaut says. "Have you considered putting aside that robe and dressing more like we do?"
"I haven't thought about it."
"Well, think about it. You're moving a little closer to us in practice, you may as well look more like us in fact."
"But I'm not one of you." It comes out before Brother Peire can even think about what he's saying. Rainaut's expression doesn't change. "I mean. Um. I'm still, a part of me, I haven't completely given up my faith or my God." He holds out the polished wooden sun that Rainaut made for him. "This still means something to me. You know that, or you wouldn't have made it."
"I didn't say you'd become one of us, only that you seem to have adopted some of our practices." Rainaut sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed. "I know you still creep off to the chapel in the middle of the night to say your own prayers. And I know Midsummer was meaningful to you. No, not just that - you felt the divine. You felt blessed by your God, and you felt like you were doing something to honor Him. I know you still believe in your God and not ours. It's ok. I thought you didn't like standing out so much, and you might be more comfortable in a shirt and breeches."
"You think it might help." Brother Peire feels himself grin almost unconsciously. Rainaut's continued attempts to help him fit in and make peace with his situation have become a private joke between them.
Rainaut grins in response and pushes himself off the bed. "Yes. I think it would help. It's up to you. When you're ready - if you're ever ready - talk to Felise or Rostans. Both of them have mentioned to me that they'd love to make you some clothes."
"I should thank them."
"Not until you make up your mind what you want to do." Rainaut pulls on his breeches and sniffs his shirt before tossing it onto the bed and taking a fresh one off a hook in the wall. "Now we bathe. Are you hungry at all? We could take some food with us into the bath house."
"No. Not at all."
"Hm. I think I am. Well, we'll swing through the refectory and the kitchen to see what's there."
The cloister outside is quiet, as it was earlier in the day when they came back from the fields. Brother Peire guesses everyone is either still sleeping, eating, or at maybe even in the church worshipping. It looks to him as if all the lights are on in the church, so the service must still be going on. They cross paths with a couple of people on their way to the refectory, where Rainaut cuts himself a piece of bread and spreads it with honey and he and Brother Peire both pour themselves cups of water, and then again going into the bath house.
Bathing, as with everything else in the monastery, seems to be a communal experience. The tubs are big enough for probably three people (although back in Montagui, in the Gray Friars' house, they had a couple of tubs big enough for two), all in one large room with curtains to pull around each tub if the bathers so desire. There are two women in one of the tubs, and Rostans is climbing out of another one.
"Peace be upon you both, my brothers," he calls. "And the blessings of Midsummer."
"And to you," Rainaut answers.
Rostans takes a towel off a rickety stand next to his tub, rubs himself dry, and puts on his clothes. His shirt looks festive to Brother Peire, with bright embroidery around the yoke and the ends of the sleeves. Rainaut's shirt is plain, if clean, and Brother Peire is wearing the same robe he's always worn. He feels strangely underdressed.
"Have you been to the refectory?" Rostans asks, combing his fingers through his wet hair. "Has the buffet been laid? I think I'm ready to eat."
"There's a lot left," Rainaut tells him. "It must have been set out right before the service. We're all on our own until midnight," he explains to Brother Peire. "Have I told you that already?"
"Yes," Brother Peire says.
"I thought I had. My brain is still a little fuzzy."
Rostans puts his hand on Brother Peire's shoulder on his way out and says "Let me know when you're ready to dress like a secular man. I should be able to make you something nice."
"Thank you," Brother Peire says, and means it. Whether he ever takes Rostans up on his offer or not, he appreciates the man's honest gesture of kindness and community. "Peace be upon you, and, and the blessings of Midsummer."
Rostans looks surprised at that, but he smiles and nods his head in acknowledgement and walks out.
Just outside the bath house is a fountain with a couple of buckets, which Brother Peire and Rainaut use to fill one of the tubs. It takes a while, during which the two women finish bathing, dry themselves off, get dressed, and wish the friar and his heretic blessings of Midsummer before leaving as well.
"We have the place to ourselves," Rainaut comments. "We won't have to pull a curtain around our tub for privacy."
"No one else did," Brother Peire says, heaving a full bucket over the side of the tub.
"Did you bathe together at the friary?"
"Sometimes, if we needed to be clean in very little time. We usually just washed our faces and hands and feet, and washed our whole bodies once a month." He remembers splashing Brother Gueri in the tub, and Brother Imbert ducking his head under the water repeatedly to wash his hair and then rinse it out, and Brother Hernaudin reminding everyone to dry off quickly, they don't have all day. It's a fond memory, and it makes him smile.
Rainaut is grinning at him, as if Brother Peire has just said more than his words might indicate. And maybe he has.
Once the tub is reasonably full, they strip off their clothes and climb in. The water is comfortable, slightly more cold than not, and Rainaut and Brother Peire wash themselves and scrub each other's backs with a giant square of coarse soap. Rainaut rubs it through his hair and ducks his head a couple of times, deliberately splashing Brother Peire in the process. Brother Peire cups some bathwater in his hands and throws it at Rainaut in retaliation, which leads to a good few minutes of them splashing each other and laughing like children.
The floor around the tub is wet when they finally wind down, but they're both cleaner than they were and feeling as if they've more or less recovered from the excesses of Midsummer.
Brother Peire lets Rainaut dry off first, and if he does so because he wants to admire the heretic's body, well, who's there to see? Rainaut flips the towel at him after he climbs out of the tub, and he vigorously rubs his skin and his hair until he feels clean and dry and fresh and pure.
And he thinks that maybe he will talk to Rostans, or Felise, about some new clothes. The robe the Gray Friars gave him was a symbol of who he used to be and who he still wanted to be, but now it feels like a reminder of what he lost - what was taken from him - and who he no longer is. He has his sun pendant to remind him of his vows to God and to help keep him strong in his faith, and Rainaut was right and he really doesn't like standing out so much. One of the reasons he loved the Gray Friars was for their community and conformity and the way everyone in Montagui could tell where he belonged.
He still doesn't think he completely belongs here, with the heretics in their repurposed monastery. But while he lives among them and participates in their community as much as he feels he can, he may as well dress like they do. He doesn't think he'll ever truly fit in - he'll never be one of them in his heart - but he misses the physical manifestation of his membership in the Order of St Austor, and asking Rostans to make him a shirt and a pair of breeches like anyone else here really will help him get some of that back.
He just wants to belong somewhere. He's only ever wanted to belong somewhere, to live and worship with his brethren. And Rainaut has made him feel welcome, as has most of the other heretics, and he's accepting some of their spiritual practice into his heart, isn't he? So he does belong, in a way. And he's comfortable enough with that now that he can dress the part as well.
"I thought you might feel that way," Rainaut says later, when they're sitting in the refectory with a number of other people - dusk services having let out quite some time ago - eating a little and drinking water and chatting. "It was only a matter of time."
"I have to, I think - will you come get me before the midnight service?" Brother Peire asks him.
"Do you need to have a talk with your God?"
"I missed too many prayers last night and today. I need it for myself."
"I'll come get you. Never fear."
Brother Peire finishes his water and gets up.
"Where are you off to, brother?" asks Helis, who is sitting on his other side. He knows he's made his peace with this place because he doesn't even bridle at the title or ask her not to call him that.
"Private devotions," he explains. "I need to, to worship. For myself."
"You need to worship before the worship?"
"...Yes. Is, is that - "
"We have no wish to curtail your faith. You've been here long enough to know that." She smiles benevolently and he heads out of the refectory and towards the little chapel.
words: 1960
total words: 44,487
Which is something Brother Peire understands. He can even look into his soul and reassure himself that it really is pure and that he's still sincere in his faith.
His body, however, could use a bath. He isn't sure he's ready to eat anything just yet, but he's thirsty and some cold, clear water wouldn't go amiss either.
He lifts Rainaut's arm off him and slides out of bed, opens the window shutter, and looks out at the setting sun. So they've missed the dusk service after all. He's surprised to realize that he's a little disappointed by that - not because he's missed a time of proscribed worship, but because he missed a service in the heretics' church. But he can go to the chapel later and perform his own devotions.
Brother Peire has a momentary pang about the fact that he seems to consider the little chapel as his own private worship space, even though it belongs to the whole community and isn’t even consecrated to his particular faith. It's a little selfish and entitled of him to treat the chapel as his personal space. He's broken enough vows. He doesn't want to break his vow of humility too. Despite his belief that he can be both faithful friar and adopted heretic without too much risk of divine smiting, he still feels humble before God.
He puts on his robe and sandals, ties the rope belt around his waist, runs his fingers through his hair. He pulls his sun pendant out so it can hang outside the neckline of the robe. When he turns around to ask if Rainaut is coming with him, he finds that Rainaut is now fully awake and watching him.
"What?" he asks.
"Nothing," Rainaut says. "Have you considered putting aside that robe and dressing more like we do?"
"I haven't thought about it."
"Well, think about it. You're moving a little closer to us in practice, you may as well look more like us in fact."
"But I'm not one of you." It comes out before Brother Peire can even think about what he's saying. Rainaut's expression doesn't change. "I mean. Um. I'm still, a part of me, I haven't completely given up my faith or my God." He holds out the polished wooden sun that Rainaut made for him. "This still means something to me. You know that, or you wouldn't have made it."
"I didn't say you'd become one of us, only that you seem to have adopted some of our practices." Rainaut sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed. "I know you still creep off to the chapel in the middle of the night to say your own prayers. And I know Midsummer was meaningful to you. No, not just that - you felt the divine. You felt blessed by your God, and you felt like you were doing something to honor Him. I know you still believe in your God and not ours. It's ok. I thought you didn't like standing out so much, and you might be more comfortable in a shirt and breeches."
"You think it might help." Brother Peire feels himself grin almost unconsciously. Rainaut's continued attempts to help him fit in and make peace with his situation have become a private joke between them.
Rainaut grins in response and pushes himself off the bed. "Yes. I think it would help. It's up to you. When you're ready - if you're ever ready - talk to Felise or Rostans. Both of them have mentioned to me that they'd love to make you some clothes."
"I should thank them."
"Not until you make up your mind what you want to do." Rainaut pulls on his breeches and sniffs his shirt before tossing it onto the bed and taking a fresh one off a hook in the wall. "Now we bathe. Are you hungry at all? We could take some food with us into the bath house."
"No. Not at all."
"Hm. I think I am. Well, we'll swing through the refectory and the kitchen to see what's there."
The cloister outside is quiet, as it was earlier in the day when they came back from the fields. Brother Peire guesses everyone is either still sleeping, eating, or at maybe even in the church worshipping. It looks to him as if all the lights are on in the church, so the service must still be going on. They cross paths with a couple of people on their way to the refectory, where Rainaut cuts himself a piece of bread and spreads it with honey and he and Brother Peire both pour themselves cups of water, and then again going into the bath house.
Bathing, as with everything else in the monastery, seems to be a communal experience. The tubs are big enough for probably three people (although back in Montagui, in the Gray Friars' house, they had a couple of tubs big enough for two), all in one large room with curtains to pull around each tub if the bathers so desire. There are two women in one of the tubs, and Rostans is climbing out of another one.
"Peace be upon you both, my brothers," he calls. "And the blessings of Midsummer."
"And to you," Rainaut answers.
Rostans takes a towel off a rickety stand next to his tub, rubs himself dry, and puts on his clothes. His shirt looks festive to Brother Peire, with bright embroidery around the yoke and the ends of the sleeves. Rainaut's shirt is plain, if clean, and Brother Peire is wearing the same robe he's always worn. He feels strangely underdressed.
"Have you been to the refectory?" Rostans asks, combing his fingers through his wet hair. "Has the buffet been laid? I think I'm ready to eat."
"There's a lot left," Rainaut tells him. "It must have been set out right before the service. We're all on our own until midnight," he explains to Brother Peire. "Have I told you that already?"
"Yes," Brother Peire says.
"I thought I had. My brain is still a little fuzzy."
Rostans puts his hand on Brother Peire's shoulder on his way out and says "Let me know when you're ready to dress like a secular man. I should be able to make you something nice."
"Thank you," Brother Peire says, and means it. Whether he ever takes Rostans up on his offer or not, he appreciates the man's honest gesture of kindness and community. "Peace be upon you, and, and the blessings of Midsummer."
Rostans looks surprised at that, but he smiles and nods his head in acknowledgement and walks out.
Just outside the bath house is a fountain with a couple of buckets, which Brother Peire and Rainaut use to fill one of the tubs. It takes a while, during which the two women finish bathing, dry themselves off, get dressed, and wish the friar and his heretic blessings of Midsummer before leaving as well.
"We have the place to ourselves," Rainaut comments. "We won't have to pull a curtain around our tub for privacy."
"No one else did," Brother Peire says, heaving a full bucket over the side of the tub.
"Did you bathe together at the friary?"
"Sometimes, if we needed to be clean in very little time. We usually just washed our faces and hands and feet, and washed our whole bodies once a month." He remembers splashing Brother Gueri in the tub, and Brother Imbert ducking his head under the water repeatedly to wash his hair and then rinse it out, and Brother Hernaudin reminding everyone to dry off quickly, they don't have all day. It's a fond memory, and it makes him smile.
Rainaut is grinning at him, as if Brother Peire has just said more than his words might indicate. And maybe he has.
Once the tub is reasonably full, they strip off their clothes and climb in. The water is comfortable, slightly more cold than not, and Rainaut and Brother Peire wash themselves and scrub each other's backs with a giant square of coarse soap. Rainaut rubs it through his hair and ducks his head a couple of times, deliberately splashing Brother Peire in the process. Brother Peire cups some bathwater in his hands and throws it at Rainaut in retaliation, which leads to a good few minutes of them splashing each other and laughing like children.
The floor around the tub is wet when they finally wind down, but they're both cleaner than they were and feeling as if they've more or less recovered from the excesses of Midsummer.
Brother Peire lets Rainaut dry off first, and if he does so because he wants to admire the heretic's body, well, who's there to see? Rainaut flips the towel at him after he climbs out of the tub, and he vigorously rubs his skin and his hair until he feels clean and dry and fresh and pure.
And he thinks that maybe he will talk to Rostans, or Felise, about some new clothes. The robe the Gray Friars gave him was a symbol of who he used to be and who he still wanted to be, but now it feels like a reminder of what he lost - what was taken from him - and who he no longer is. He has his sun pendant to remind him of his vows to God and to help keep him strong in his faith, and Rainaut was right and he really doesn't like standing out so much. One of the reasons he loved the Gray Friars was for their community and conformity and the way everyone in Montagui could tell where he belonged.
He still doesn't think he completely belongs here, with the heretics in their repurposed monastery. But while he lives among them and participates in their community as much as he feels he can, he may as well dress like they do. He doesn't think he'll ever truly fit in - he'll never be one of them in his heart - but he misses the physical manifestation of his membership in the Order of St Austor, and asking Rostans to make him a shirt and a pair of breeches like anyone else here really will help him get some of that back.
He just wants to belong somewhere. He's only ever wanted to belong somewhere, to live and worship with his brethren. And Rainaut has made him feel welcome, as has most of the other heretics, and he's accepting some of their spiritual practice into his heart, isn't he? So he does belong, in a way. And he's comfortable enough with that now that he can dress the part as well.
"I thought you might feel that way," Rainaut says later, when they're sitting in the refectory with a number of other people - dusk services having let out quite some time ago - eating a little and drinking water and chatting. "It was only a matter of time."
"I have to, I think - will you come get me before the midnight service?" Brother Peire asks him.
"Do you need to have a talk with your God?"
"I missed too many prayers last night and today. I need it for myself."
"I'll come get you. Never fear."
Brother Peire finishes his water and gets up.
"Where are you off to, brother?" asks Helis, who is sitting on his other side. He knows he's made his peace with this place because he doesn't even bridle at the title or ask her not to call him that.
"Private devotions," he explains. "I need to, to worship. For myself."
"You need to worship before the worship?"
"...Yes. Is, is that - "
"We have no wish to curtail your faith. You've been here long enough to know that." She smiles benevolently and he heads out of the refectory and towards the little chapel.
words: 1960
total words: 44,487
