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Chapter 8: The Beard of Steel
The sunlight tickled Shensé's cheek. He was on his stomach, lying fully in the bed, gripping the blankets, so tight. He barely opened his eyes. The sun caused him to turn his head to the other side and moan. He was beginning to feel like he was at home...a pot pie before bed...then he realized that Ganadella made it. He sat up quickly, almost astonished at himself for eating something that woman made! It could have been poison! ....but...he realized something else...he was tucked in.
Was he losing his mind or was this truly another act of kindness? Shensé wanted to believe that he crawled into the bed himself and slept, but he knew how exhausted he had been.
"...Did I really eat?" Shensé turned to the nightstand where an empty pie tin rested. He rubbed his eyes and jumped from the bed, which became a grave mistake. He managed to stumble over his neatly placed shoes, beside the bed. How careless, he thought. Rubbing his sore jaw that knocked the floor, he rolled on to his back and began to think.
What was I doing before hand? This isn't my room...
Shensé began to review all the way back to stumbling upon a book about the Greatest Barber in the World, to find out the book belonged to the G.B.W...Ganadella. That was long ago, he thought. It wasn’t making sense how he remembered being fed pot pie last night.
“What was she doing tucking me in away?”
The poor lad could not remember for the life of him, where he was and why he had an unnerving feeling...the faint smell of sea salt ran across his nose. Why was he smelling sea salt? Then his thoughts began to piece together as soon as he remembered his awful experience with Cassius while being tied to a pole outside a ship. Not just any ship, but…the one he was forced to aboard!
"Oh, no! I'm on a ship! Noooooooo!!" he screamed aloud.
Ganadella turned her head from a stern faced fellow and giggled while shaking her head. She was in rougher attire.
"I believe he has awakened, good sir."
"Is that...natural?"
"Oh, of course. Barber Shensé is quite the artist, really. This is just a routine he develops--eh...but let me check up on him, Mr. Locke."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Thom Locke?! He's out there, now??"
"I'm afraid so...dozing off past noon, tsk." she clicked her tongue while shaking her head.
"What do I do?? I do not have my supplies--"
"Hush now! Do you think I would actually leave land without being prepared?"
"The Golden--"
"YES, the scissors as well! Now, get cleaned up, but quickly! This one...heh...he needs your assistance."
Shensé noted her hushed laughter as he was pushed along inside the bathroom.
"I'll have some clothes laid out on the bed, when you are done."
Ganadella closed the door behind him and bumped into the night stand, where the empty pie tin sat. She smiled, slowly picking it up and staring into it.
"Silly boy..."
She ran her fingers over it as the events of last night played over again in her mind...
Shensé laid half way on the bed, his pot-pie next to his face. A few bites were taken and hanging from his open mouth. Ganadella had returned with a drink within her hands, but stumbled upon this moment, instead.
"..oh, ‘ha ha’, to this!" She placed the mug within her hand, unto the night stand and walked up behind him. She saw the fork loosely within his hands...classic.
Ganadella lifted his legs fully on the bed and removed his shoes. She placed them neatly beside the bed, oddly startling him awake...or so she thought. He was still on his stomach, but looking back at her with violet eyes. They were alertly peeking over his shoulder, through the strands of hair covering half his face. Ganadella paused...she did not know if she should have been afraid or thrilled. At any rate, the very look he was giving her was frightening enough. He looked similar to an animal preparing to leap for a gazelle.
"Ganadella..." his voice sent electrical pulses through her. So deep and soothing...powerful.
"Cassius..."
She held herself and turned away, biting her lip. Cassius' eyes looked down, then forward, as his hair brushed across his cheeks.
\"I see you...fear me..." he spoke again.
Ganadella shook her head.
"...then why do you stand away? I ache for a real touch..."
She turned around sharply, eyes just a tad wet. She looked concerned more than angry.
"You're inside...a boy!"
"...I suppose that does change things..."
Ganadella just shook her head and held it.
"How...how did you find him, out of the many possible hosts?"
"...He...found me."
Cassius rolled over unto his back, but remained cautious of the pot-pie. His right leg bent up, as he rested on his elbows.
"I...do not remember everything, however...I will never forget his face..."
"I thought you were dead, Cassius."
They locked eyes. Cassius swallowed hard and soon looked away. Ganadella burned inside. That nervous heat that fills the chest and stomach. Was her assumption...?
"You are...ain't ye?" her voice trembled.
"...it does not matter--"
"Answer the damn question!" she had swallowed the weakness in her voice and managed to explode with that.
Cassius looked at the hands that belonged to the youthful boy named Shensé. Innocence was the first thing Cassius learned about him. It would be his strength once shaped by the right person. He knew it had to be Ganadella. She fought this hard to see Cassius again...
"No." He finally answered. Ganadella almost relaxed until she managed to see something else flash across his face...guilty sympathy.
"I am just beginning to live."
Shensé's eyes rolled back into his head as he fell on his back. Ganadella rushed over to him, moving the pie aside. She crawled over him and shook Shensé several times, calling for a person that did not exist anymore.
"Cassius! Please, awaken!" she cried.
"I'm up! Gah!" Shensé popped up, causing Ganadella and he to collide at the head. They both cried out in pain, holding their foreheads.
"Goodness, I am sorry!" Shensé apologized. Ganadella was silent and looking down.
"Maman? Did you hear me? I said I was sorry."
Maman?
Ganadella felt the tears disappearing. Did he just...?
Shensé took her hands and pulled her into a hug. She was so caught off guard, she did not push him away.
"Are you angry with me?"
"...no, Shensé."
He held her tighter. Ganadella was stuck in between emotions, so her tone was emotionless, at first.
“Bon…I thought you hated me.”
“Why would your mother-I…hate you?”
“…because…”
“Because what?”
Something about the warmth of his face resting against her stomach calmed her. She felt herself rubbing her fingers through his hair.
“…I have no mustache…” he replied, plainly. He began squeezing the back of her shirt.
Ganadella gently took his chin and looked down at him.
“A mustache does not make you, Shensé. I respect you the same. With or without one.”
She kissed his forehead and rubbed the hair from his eyes…they screamed exhaustion. So squinted and faded.
Quickly, he straightened himself to lean his face within her neck and hold her close. With Ganadella’s previous feelings exposed, she was having difficulty responding correctly. He was fondling her fingers and talking to her about his vulnerabilities, some more private than what she was expecting. She almost stopped listening out of embarrassment…
“Maman? Maman? Are you listening?”
“…of course.”
“Could you…make me…a pot-pie, again?”
“You haven’t finished your first one.”
“Oh…I haven’t, have I? No…not at all…”
He was getting tired again, slouching against Ganadella, not that he was not before. He yawned, then pushed himself back, rolling his spine, vertebrae by vertebrae on the bed.
“So tired, but…so hungry…” he yawned again.
Ganadella pressed her finger against her lip, hiding her amusement.
“Could you give it to me?”
“What?”
“The pie…I’m hungry.”
With a nod, she reached behind her and handed him his fork and the pie. He rested it on his stomach, loosely holding the fork. Then…he sat staring at the pie.
“…I don’t know what made me think I could eat this…” he chuckled. Ganadella laughed quietly.
“Here. Let me feed it to you…”
“D’accord, Maman. Merci…”
She fed him till the last, sputtering bite. He fell asleep immediately after, leaving Ganadella to tuck him in.
“Ganadella!!” Shensé cried. He was in the middle of drying off, when he stumbled upon Ganadella still in his room.
“I thought you said you were going to get me clothes!?”
Then began their bickering, both fussing at the same time:
“I was! But no one told you to waltz out here half naked! Of course, but since you knew I was going to be here sometime, you could at least have some decency—ehh?! Fast enough?! Ugh! Just get dressed!!
“You never fail to see me naked-oh, now I can’t walk naked in my room?? And yet again, it is my fault that you can’t move fast enough! Ugh! Just let me get dressed!!
With that, Ganadella stormed out and slammed the door. After 30 seconds, she returned throwing a hand full of clothes at Shensé.
“There! Have at it, little, nudist boy!”
Shensé glared at the closed door and shook his head, then put the shirt over his head.
Moments later, Shensé arrived at the top deck where the ever fierce looking, Thom Locke stood speaking with Ganadella. Her arms were crossed, leaning against the railing. Thom held a mug of what smelled to be coffee. Shensé noticed how shiny and perfectly trimmed his hair and mustache was. Although perfectly shaped, Shensé could tell his mustache was overgrown. He studied him carefully before introducing himself with a friendly handshake and smile. Thom had a firm shake at that. It made Shensé slightly wince and blush.
“Soft hands, you have. You sure you’re a barber?” Thom asked.
Shensé had a feeling Ganadella was being sour with her words to him. Even if she did not, Shensé could tell Thom did not take too kindly to the physically weak. He supposed that it could be that he was so hardened by the seas.
Soft hands…really?
“Oh, I would like to say all my life I have been one. Barber Thomas was my mentor.”
Shensé pulled up his sleeves as soon as he noticed his box of supplies by an open door.
“Ah, the Golden scissors…I have been in hope of someone possessing those very pair…”
Thom stroked his beard. It sounded similar to rubbing his hands against a blade. Even the uneven bristles on his neck had very inhuman characteristics. Odd, Shensé thought. Really, everything of Thom was abnormally intimidating. He was red in the face, obviously due to the sun, and stuffed with meat Shensé knew to be called muscles….odd. At that point, Shensé did not want to touch him, in fear of doing something terribly wrong to his mustache and paying oh, so painfully. At the same time…he was very eager to cut again.
“If you’d come right through this door, Mr. Locke…we can get started. I know you have a schedule ahead of you.” Ganadella said aloud, more or so to Shensé. He only rolled his eyes and took in a deep sigh.
Mr. Locke, did not talk very much. In fact, he only spoke if asked a question. The room they all had entered resembled the very shop Shensé owned, however…brand new. Shensé felt himself fading away with his words as he gawked at the glimmering marble floors and freshly painted walls. Bright, happy and prosperous was the description for such a room.
“She was prepared with or without me…” Shensé breathed to himself.
“Ahem. Anytime, lad.” She said quietly.
“Right! Please…have a seat, Mr. Locke.”
His monstrously large boots managed to rest on the bar of the chair. Shensé became easily distracted by how powerful he looked and moved. He could destroy the chair with one heavy rock, if he wanted.
“I would like a trim of my beard and mustache. No side burns either.”
“All right, Mr. Locke.” Shensé replied cheerfully. Ganadella only bit her nail and giggled insanely. Shensé tried to ignore her as he draped the clothe around Thom. Immediately, he went right to work, applying the shaving cream smoothly—
“Ouch!”
Shensé yanked his hand back and stared at his bleeding finger. Thom looked at him from his peripheral, while Ganadella suddenly turned around and restrained from laughing.
“A problem?” Thom’s voice was heavy and demeaning.
“…It seems that I cut my finger. Can’t have that, can we?”
Shensé slapped another smile on his face, but as soon as he turned away from them he began to sweat. Something was different about that beard! Very different!
“Why is his beard so hard?!” he mumbled under his breath, wrapping his finger.
“In case you are not aware…my beard is made of steel, Mr…”
Shensé quickly turned around and smiled.
“Please, just Shensé.”
Thom turned and eyed Shensé a moment. His eyes were lines as his mighty jaw tightened.
“Do you not have a last name?”
“….Well--”
“It is said that a man without a last name is a man without a soul of his own…”
Shensé could feel his ears heat up from the eeriness of that saying. Other than that, he was half irritated by Ganadella’s continual giggling. Apparently, she found his misfortune highly entertaining.
“Steel, you said?”
“Yes…does that form a problem?”
“Non, non! Of course not! Ganadella…if you don’t mind pointing out where the scissors are?”
Ganadella coughed and nodded several times. She went over to a small drawer and opened it with a silver key attached to her hip. After opening a box, she tossed him the scissors, further angering Shensé. Who throws scissors, he thought.
“Now…the beard…”
“I must warn you…it is rather dangerous to cut without some form of heavy duty protection, Barber Shensé. Flies like a bullet and wounds deep. And if you don’t know what you’re doin’ things could get even uglier.”
Shensé fiddled with the scissors and stuck out his bottom lip, thinking. Thom and Ganadella watched him rub the side of his arm and tilt his head side to side before frightening them both with a quick movement to his towel. He wiped the cream from Thom’s face.
“It will be fine. That is what I have decided.” He finally said.
As if a commanded wish, the scissors within Shensé’s hand trembled and glowed, changing shape. A small, golden nozzle attached to a tube appeared, connecting to a miniature tank.
“A…blow torch??” Ganadella shouted.
“Are you trying to kill the man?!”
“I am not doing this! I just wanted to use the scissors!”
Shensé turned his head from the extreme flame that blew from the nozzle and past Thom’s shocked face. A gust of wind from his empty hand blew Shensé’s hair back. He soon felt something forming within it…a golden razor blade. Although Shensé had not expected this, he did imagine treating Thom’s beard like a Black Smith does a blade. Shensé did his best to feel comfortable enough to use the flame and razor blade. Once he did so, he managed to see more clearly and take his time heating the undesired areas and cutting them like butter. Ganadella only watched in amazement as Shensé truly cleaned up Mr. Locke!
“Finis!”
The flame calmed and disappeared with the actual torch, leaving the shimmering scissors. Shensé turned the chair around for Thom to face the mirror and removed the clothe. He nervously awaited a response as Thom rubbed his newly sharpened beard, mustache, and cleaned neck.
“Brilliant, sir. Brilliant!”
Shensé smiled excitedly and turned to Ganadella who returned the same expression. Thom’s hard slap on the back almost killed him, however. Thom had a big laugh and seemed to change for the better, now that he was shaven. Shensé shakily stood from the floor and smiled weakly, trying to avoid any other contact with that man’s hand.
“I must reward you, greatly! I have traveled to and fro for a good shave, but not one I could find, until this day. Wait here as I retrieve your gift.”
Ganadella playfully nudged past him and winked. Shensé just shyly smiled and looked down.
“Come along outside, lad. Too hot in here.”
He just nodded and followed after her.
