Author's Note: Drabble for the LJ tortall100 challenge. July 3's challenge: anything. I chose reflections from a past sunday100 challenge. I tried for 100 words, then 200, and finally left it at 265. (I figured, with a 1,000-word limit, why get picky?)
Skin Deep
By Trisana McGraw
Wheezing with the effort, Numair and Daine carried the full-length mirror through the door and set it down near the dresser.
"Everything's in," he said, stepping back and brushing the dust off his hands. "What do you think, magelet?"
Daine didn't pay attention to the full effect of rooms that they now shared; her focus was on the mirror only. She saw the two of them standing together: a tall, dark man, nearly forty, and a young woman who was only in her mid-twenties, and she began to feel uncomfortable. Something didn't look quite right.
Numair noticed the discomfort on her face and asked, "What is it, Daine?" Following her eyes, he realized. With a sigh, he placed his hands on her shoulders; in the reflection she saw his head come to rest on her shoulder.
"Daine, are you still worried about this?" He sighed and turned her away from their reflection. "Magelet, I'd expect more from a shapeshifter. Don't you know that one cannot judge another from outward appearance alone? I know it's a horrible cliché, but what matters is what is inside. In my heart — and hopefully you feel the same towards me — I love you."
Daine sighed. "I know, and I do love you. I just wonder sometimes, how others might see us."
"It doesn't matter what they see, as long as we know what's real." Numair started to lead her away from the mirror.
"You learned all this from being a shapeshifter?" she asked, smiling up at him.
He grinned back. "Well, I've had a few years more experience than you."