The spray of hot water felt like a little slice of heaven. Shannon let the water sluice over her, relishing the sensation. The stall was fully stocked with all the necessities; she'd pounced on the razor the minute she'd seen it, making Boone stand there and watch exactly what women put themselves through with the thing, ignoring his impatient sighs, and efforts to get past her to the water. She reached for the shampoo and poured some into her palm, finally stepping out from under the showerhead, making room for him. She lathered her hair, moved him so she could rinse it, then did his; he had one hand hooked over the top of wall and the other on her shoulder, concerned about slipping on the wet tiles. His eyes were closed as she massaged her fingers into his scalp. Shannon guided him back under the stream of water, working conditioner into her hair while he rinsed, then doing the same for him. The body-wash smelled wonderful as she soaped them both, bypassing his right shin. Jack would no doubt clean it up, if needed, when Boone saw him later, and she didn't want to take the chance of irritating it with the perfumed soap, or hurting him by trying to wash it. She was still crouched in front of him, when he reached down with his free hand and tipped her face up to look at him.
Boone was smiling suggestively. 'Our first shower together, I was thinking that maybe we should do something to mark the occasion.'
She suddenly realized that she'd been so immersed in the business of getting them both clean for the first time in a year; that not only had she washed every inch of him above the knees without really clueing in on exactly what it was she sliding her hands over, but she also hadn't considered that this was their first actual real shower together. She smiled back at him silently agreeing, then reached her hands out to grasp his hips pushing him cautiously toward the side of the stall, so that he could rest his back against it for support. Shannon leaned forward taking him in her mouth and heard him groan quietly in pleasure. After a minute he started sliding down the wall, she pulled back as he carefully lowered himself to a sitting position, then scooted out from the wall a bit so that she could straddle him. She lifted herself on to him, then moved slowly against him, kissing him deeply. His tongue explored the roof of her mouth, then tangled with hers as his hips pushed up into her. After they were done, they sat quietly on the floor recovering before she rose to her feet and held her hand down to help him up.
There were thick white towels and robes on a table at the end of the shower room. As Shannon fetched some for them she noted that all the other stalls were empty, they'd all been in use when Jack had sent them in, and there'd been more people waiting in line, predictably they'd taken longer than anyone else. She pulled one of the robes on, and starting drying Boone off, then towel dried his hair, wrapping the fabric round his waist when she was done and tucking the end in to secure it. She handed him a comb, then dried herself while he worked the tangles out of his hair. When he was done, she took the comb from him, used it herself, then fussed with his hair, raking her hands through it, fluffing it a bit and tucking it behind his ears.
There was no one else in the side room that held the sinks, mirrors and toilet stalls when they were finally finished in the shower area.
Boone faced his reflection for the first time in a year. He was sure his heart skipped at beat, his breathing a little shaky, as he stared back at the stranger looking at him. He felt like he'd been an unwilling participant in some bizarre Extreme Makeover, Craphole Island edition, but instead of better, he'd turned out worse. The eyes were his, sure, he'd never mistake those, but the rest; Christ, he wondered, who the fuck was this guy? He was thinner, but he'd known that, what he hadn't realized was how muscular he'd gotten, his island toned shape was completely different from the bought and paid for gym membership physique he'd had when they crashed. His gaze took in the scars on his chest, he'd been able to see them the past ten months, of course, just by looking down, but it was so different looking at them in the mirror, when he could see all of himself. His moved his hand, almost startled when the strange man in the mirror copied his gesture, and traced the lines of the angriest looking ones. Jack had told him they'd all fade over time; he sure hoped that the doctor was right. He reflected that if they looked this bad to him now, how repulsive must they have been when fresh? He was tanned, darker than he had ever been, even for a native Californian, and his beard? He breathed a little laugh, he'd always been clean shaven, but found he kind of liked the short sparse beard and mustache that covered the lower half of his face. Shannon had kept it trimmed for him; she hadn't minded the longer hair, in fact she'd secretly preferred it, but she'd drawn the line at kissing what she'd referred to as a Grizzly Adams look alike. The biggest shock was his hair, though just combed and still wet, he couldn't believe how different it made him appear. If he shaved, he estimated he'd look about sixteen. The shaggy strands of his bangs fell across his forehead and back to where she'd tucked them behind his ears, the sides and back brushed his shoulders. When it was dry, he figured he could easily be first in line to be cast in a Partridge Family remake.
He turned awkwardly to Shannon, resting his right hip against the edge of the sink for support. She'd already surveyed her appearance in the mirror, dropping the robe to the floor to check herself out, and been very pleased with what she'd seen. A great tan, and thinner, okay, a real bonus, she thought, she'd gotten her figure back and then some after giving birth. During her appraisal of herself she'd gotten a sense of disquiet from him and had turned, putting the robe back on and waiting for him. He seemed mesmerized by his appearance, most of the change had happened so gradually, she actually hadn't even considered how different he would look to himself.
She was standing watching him, her head tipped, an inquiring look on her face. He gestured to his chest, not meeting her eyes "I sure hope you got a discount for damaged goods." He was biting at his bottom lip and squeezing his brows together, looking anywhere but at her.
She reached out and cupped his chin, bringing his head up to face her, concern in her eyes. She waited for him to continue. He squeezed his eyes closed before opening them to meet her gaze. He shook his head, "What happened to careful, controlled, precise Boone Carlyle? I don't recognize myself, Shan. Who the fuck is this? What happened to me?" he cried, looking to her for answers.
"You're still you, Boone," she assured him, "but you've grown up, you had to. You rose to the occasion, like you always do. You brought us food, you protected the camp…"
He turned away at that and moaned a quiet "No" as he remembered the blood on his knife, the violent struggle in the jungle, the slackness of the face inches from his own before he'd let the body slide to the ground.
She grabbed his chin again and forced him to look at her. "You protected your family, Boone." She searched his eyes waiting for acknowledgement. He nodded slightly, but still looked disturbed. "You helped, you always help, it's what you do. You may not think you look like yourself, but it's who I'm used to. I love how you look, the crazy 70's hair, even the macho scars, but that's only just your appearance, who I really love is in here, you're still you in here." She tapped the side of his head. "Neither one of us are the same people we were a year ago, you can't possibly imagine that we would be. Even you aren't that stupid." She smiled at him, trying to get the haunted look out of his eyes. "If it's freaking you out so much, we'll get you a hair cut as soon as we're out of here, then maybe you won't feel like you look like such a stranger. Okay?" she raised her eyebrows and grinned, shaking her head a bit.
"Okay." He nodded, and then sighed, "I don't know why you love me. I'm so fucked up."
"I don't either, so don't press the point. I might just decide that I'm delusional." She smirked.
"No not delusional, just in love with your brother." He joked then frowned, as it suddenly dawned on him what they faced when they got home.
"You're not really my brother." She kissed him, not picking up on the realization to which he'd just come.
He just hoped their friends and family remembered that. Even if they did, he knew they were in for more than just a few awkward moments.
"Dude?" They turned at Hurley's voice. He stood at the entrance to the room, dressed in clean clothes. "Jack said to give you this." He held out a cane, a little hesitantly. He knew how much Boone disliked his intermittent requirement for one.
Boone sighed. "Thanks, man." He took it, hating to admit that he needed it.
"Uh, dude? Jack said to bring the old one out, sorry." He waited while Boone got the walking stick from where he'd propped it up against the wall between the sinks and handed it to him.
"Bitchin' to be clean," he commented before he turned to leave.
They continued getting ready in the bathroom, availing themselves of the various toiletries that had been laid out. He waited while she used the hair dryer, then protested futilely for a minute before allowing her to use it on him, keeping his eyes closed until she finished. She bit her lip as she worked, becoming increasingly amused with the results as the dryer, and the brush she was using, added volume and shape to his hair. Son of a bitch, she thought when she was done; it actually looks prettier than mine. "Okay, Boone, you can look. Now don't freak," she cautioned.
"Thanks for saying that Shan," he said snarkily. "I wasn't planning on freaking, but I'm probably going to now." He turned to the mirror and opened his eyes cautiously. "Oh, Jesus, Shannon, you've finally fucking turned me into a girl."
The laughter she'd been trying to contain bubbled to the surface, and she started to giggle.
He glared at her, the effect somewhat diminished by the soft under-curl she'd worked into the bottom of his hair. "You bitch, get it out, right the fuck now. Make it look, I don't know, less feminine. Christ, please don't tell me I looked this stupid on the island."
"No, it dried more like Sawyer's, straight, but not as stringy as his. I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. You were taking yourself so seriously earlier." She fought to stifle her laughter.
"Guys, Sun wants to know…"Charlie suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Holy shit mate." He dissolved into laughter. "You look…" He fought to get the words out. "You look like my ma." He covered his mouth with his hand and laughed till tears started, while Boone clenched his jaw and shot nasty looks between the two of them.
Finally having had enough, Boone grabbed the cane, brushed passed Charlie, and headed out to the gym. He could hear them still laughing behind him.
He scanned the gym looking for Sun, when he located her, he realized that she was holding Andrew and headed towards her. Her eyes got wide as she watched him approach, but she managed not to laugh in his face. "Charlie said you wanted to see me." He hadn't actually, but Boone assumed that that's what he was getting around to, before he'd lost it.
"We would like to go and eat. I just wondered how much longer you were going to be." Sun was very glad just then of her culture's habit of carefully controlling their emotions.
Shannon came up behind him at that point. Sun smiled at her and nodded, just happy to have something else to focus on other than Boone. "And, I think he might be hungry." She added, holding the baby out to his mother. Boone noticed that he'd been bathed and freshly diapered. As Shannon took Andrew and headed off to a quiet corner, Boone thanked Sun, then turned to Jin and, in flawless Korean, extended his gratitude to him as well.
"You are welcome, although I do not believe I like your hair." The man responded haltingly in English; then they both started laughing reservedly at him. Boone rolled his eyes and stalked away, as best he could while leaning on a cane, trying to conserve a little bit of dignity.
He rummaged through the laundry hamper of clean clothes till he found something for them both to wear, ignoring the amused glances thrown his way. 'Fucking bitch, fucking bitch,' he kept repeating to himself. He headed across the room to where she sat.
"Here," he said thrusting a change of clothes at her. She looked up from the baby at her breast and grabbed the handful of clothes he was holding out.
"I'm sorry," she offered hopefully.
"Yeah, right, sure you are, just like you're sorry Boyz II Men didn't eclipse U2, or that 2gether didn't get renewed." He glowered.
"I liked Evan Farmer." She teased, attempting to diffuse his anger.
"Yeah, and I liked looking like a guy. Get your shit together," he ordered, "we're getting me a haircut, now."
After being read the riot act by a highly amused Jack, and receiving a reminder that Boone was to see him in the infirmary before dinner, they finally left the confines of the gym to find a hair salon and explore the rest of the ship.