Bess learns she has something in common with another member of the Eden Advance group. (Prompt: 023 Bleach)

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Smiles and Secrets

Bess sighed as she took the sheet out of the wringer and headed toward the clothesline. Despite repeated cleanings, it was still a watery gray color. If she'd been back on the Stations — or even on Earth — she'd have washed it with bleach, but they didn't have anything like that here.

Stop grouching, she told herself. The sheet isn't torn. It'll still work just fine. And that's what really matters.

Still, she couldn't quite keep the grimace off her face as she pinned up the sheet. This wasn't the first white item that had gone dingy as a result of heavier-than-intended use here on G889. It wasn't just linens and clothes, either; the metal surfaces on the Dune-Rail were becoming more and more pitted, and even the tents were starting to show signs of wear.

This dismal environment sometimes reminded her of Earth a little too much. That it was gray and dreary outside wasn't helping matters.

Morgan had often teased her about the fanatical cleanliness she'd maintained in their flat on the Stations, but it had always been indulgent teasing. She'd never explained that she'd become so adamant because their flat could be completely cleaned, unlike many of the places on Earth. Or G889.

Finishing with the sheet, she went back to the rinsing buckets for another item to wring out. Her hands were raw and sore, but that wasn't anything she hadn't encountered before, either. She'd just never thought she would have to go through it again.

Oh, enough with the negative thinking, she told herself. You're only going to get yourself into a state.

"You look exhausted."

A smile automatically came to her face. She didn't fight it; the distraction was welcome, even though she didn't know Eben Sinh very well. "It's not so awful."

"Then why are you frowning?"

"I'm just tired."

"Exactly." Eben gently pushed Bess away from the wringer handle. "Let me do that for a while."

"Oh, no, it's all right and it can get messed up if you feed the cloth wrong —"

"I know how to do it," she replied before pulling a towel out of the water and drawing it out flat before feeding its edge into the wringer. Bess blinked, surprised. On the Stations, water was too expensive to be used for laundry; most people used ultrasonics.

Eben noticed the look, and a small smile appeared on her own face. "It's not my first time, either."

"But I thought you were from the Quads. How would you know —"

"Most people think I'm from the Quads. It's better that way."

Understanding dawned. "What part of Earth are you from?"

"The Himalayan district, though my family was originally from Bangladesh, back before the floods." She paused, cranking backward for a moment to make an adjustment. "We emigrated when I was sixteen. A little younger than you were when you went up, but it was actually about a year after you married Morgan."

"Yeah," said Bess. "I was twenty." If Eben had been sixteen then, then she couldn't be much older than nineteen or twenty now.

"I know. There was a media sensation when he married you. It gave a lot of the girls some hope, until they realized that they weren't suited for being a bureaucrat's trophy wife and…" she trailed off, a flush appearing on her cheeks. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It doesn't bother me," said Bess. "I've heard it before."

"That doesn't mean it's all right. And you know, it's not even correct. Not here, anyway." She indicated the wringer. "It's actually coming in handy, isn't it? Being from earth, I mean."

"I'm surprised you're still keeping it a secret."

"When we get back there, I won't have someone like Morgan to protect me from the gossip."

"Maybe things will have changed, or they'll change when people learn about G889. You never know."

Eben chuckled. "We both know how likely that is. I know you're an optimist, but I also thought you were a realist."

"Not so much an optimist," corrected Bess, "as someone who likes to think positively. We might end up as celebrities. And in the meantime," she continued, "I really appreciate you doing this."

Finishing with the towel, Eben laid it across the table and pulled another one out of the bucket. "I'll go pin these onto the clothesline in a moment. You looked like the wringing was starting to get to you."

Bess' lips quirked. "I thought I was hiding it better than that. I was actually thinking about how the sheet had gotten so dingy, and what I can do about it."

"Hmm," mused Eben. "I could always ask Maz if he has something you can use like bleach."

"It's not a big deal."

"If it'll make you smile, then it's enough." Eben slid her eyes up. "You said it yourself. You're always working to be pleasant and friendly, looking on the bright side. You don't have to be like that, you know, so people appreciate it. So if there's something small I can do in return, I'm happy to."

The smile on her face had deepened into a real one, instead of something politely pasted on. "Well, thanks. And I won't let anyone else know about you, if you don't want them to."

Now, it was Eben who smiled, and Bess suspected they were about to become friends.