[Fic] "Doors" -- original, Ekanu

[edenfalling]

Yet another "Ekanu attempts to adapt to Estara, with Denifar's somewhat dubious help" snippet, written just because. This is quite early, so she's still very awkward with the language.

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Doors
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Estara is vastly different from home, but it's the small things that catch Ekanu off balance the most. She understands about the clothes, about the gods, about the language, and even about the formalized barter-system they call money. But the small things still catch her, the ones she's never even thought about because that's just the way things are.

Denifar walks into her room one afternoon, whistling cheerfully. "Hey, Ekanu," he says.

"E sok," she tells him, not acknowledging him with her eyes, and returns to her work. She is trying to read a basic primer on musical theory, with a dictionary and a few scraps of paper by her hand for reference.

"What's that mean?" Denifar asks, walking over and leaning on the edge of her desk.

She isn't listening; she's alone.

"Hey, Ekanu? What's it mean, 'ay-sok'?" Denifar reaches over and waves his hand over the pages, blurring the words she tries so hard to make sense of.

Ekanu closes the book, calmly, and glares at the boy. "E sok," she says, "I am alone. I say, then you make quiet. Not interrupt!"

Denifar leans back, raising his hands. "Hey, sorry, I didn't know. Here, if you want to be alone, you should close your door."

Ekanu blinks.

Denifar grins. "It is your room. If you don't want people to come in, just close the door. Of course, I'll probably come in anyway, but I'm not a good example."

It has never occurred to Ekanu that this room is hers. She was shocked when the Masters first showed her where she would sleep and work during her years in Estara -- the single stone room is bigger than some of her people's winter houses.

And now Denifar says that she may close the door. She's seen closed doors, but she thought people were simply trying to keep out the breeze or hold heat in. That's what doors are for, right?

"When you are alone, you must be body alone?" she asks, hoping she has the concept.

Denifar looks at her oddly, that sidelong glance she's beginning to associate with times they fall into one of the gaps between their peoples. "That's what alone means," he says. "Away from other people."

"Oh. My people, alone is in mind -- we are not body alone," Ekanu says, trying to put bone-deep knowledge into foreign words. "Is no space. Unless we go out ice or water, then we are body alone. We say, e sok, people know we are alone. They do not see, hear. Pretend? I think you say we pretend do not see."

"Strange," Denifar says. "If I tried that in the Mechanists' Hall, nobody would ever pay attention. You have to find somewhere away from people."

"I will remember. Thank you," Ekanu says carefully. "When I am alone, I will close my door."

Denifar grins. "I'll come in anyway, you know."

Ekanu shakes her head. Denifar is even more confusing than Estara.

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The sushi dinner fell through; Cat had a migraine. So Susan and I hung out and watched videos instead. We did a toss-up between Finding Nemo and The Empire Strikes Back, and ended up with the space opera. I do love that movie.

Comments

[redwolfoz.livejournal.com]

Fascinating cultural differences. I enjoyed this.