She Danced

"Hey there," said Jasper.

Aki just just gave him a brief smile.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I think so," Aki said, not particularly interested in getting into what not sleeping well meant for her. "What time is it?"

"We're well in the afternoon now. Why don't you come down here? Go take a shower. There's a clean towel in the bathroom and you can get a t-shirt from the drawers back in the room. I'll skidaddle off and get you something to eat while you get yourself ready. How does that sound?"

"Did you just say 'skidaddle'?" Aki said.

"Yeah, it's a great word. It can annoy the living daylight out of the right people."

"Including me, if you keep it up."

"OK, I'll redefine my vocabulary for the sake of your happiness," he said with a grin.

Aki nodded and took careful steps back through the apartment and into the bathroom. A quick glance told her that it was probably the single room in the entire building that felt somewhat clean. All white tiles that still actually looked white, and not too much dirt in the corners. For some reason it lacked a mirror, something which Aki felt immensely grateful for. She was not quite ready to tackle her own appearance just yet.

The shower was just a big nozzle at the end of a pipe protruding from the wall. At first she couldn't find any controls, but she soon discovered two levers beside the sink. Pulling them at random, she got the hang of it pretty quickly, and soon a thick mist of steam and the hammering of hot water filled the room. Aki stepped in under the shower head and let the heated rain clear her mind once more. Hot and clean, the water hit her in the face, dug into the roots of her hair and washed the sweat and smoke off her skin, enveloping her in a flowing relaxing cocoon. She felt the soothing rivers flow down her limbs, and with it any traces of waste and headache from the night before.

She felt oddly at ease, as if someone has peeled off a thick layer of mud from her and replaced it with a warm blanket. There, in a strange man's apartment, in a strange city in a strange land in a strange world, naked, wet and warm, she stood and disconnected from this universe, to drift and dream for a few precious minutes. And for once, dream a happy dream, far away from shattered glass and steel bars.

Maybe this would turn out the way it always had before. A few days of happiness, before the darkness at the perimeter of her vision closed in again. Maybe he too would hurt her in the end, like all the others, a stríng of black pearls of experience around her neck. Or more likely he'd just be unable to handle her.

But all of that was far away. Too much to worry about. And for now Aki closed her eyes, let her face greet the warm jet from above, and stopped that damned dance. For once life was good, and that would have to suffice.

Thanks to Minsue and Black Shanglan for helping this story through the final tribulations.