"I said it once and I will say it again, I only shower once or twice a week, and I manage to smell just fine thank you very much." Spindler Man said almost proudly of this unusual proclamation.
"How can you stand not washing yourself?" replied Spindler Woman. "Or more to the point, how can others stand being around you for more than 4 minutes?"
"I clean myself everyday, but instead of a shower, I take a washcloth to rinse and soap off my more pungent body parts." He mimicked the motion with his hands holding an imaginary towel on his groin, armpits, and head.
"Are you doing it to try and save water?" She retorted with an eyebrow raise.
"No, its more about saving time, I don't want to spend 10 minutes or more rinsing, lathering, then drying myself off" he shrugged
"You only shower for 10 minutes?!" You could almost hear fists slamming down on the concrete as she shouted, even though she just leveled her eyes and raised her voice at him.
"Only if you include the waiting for the water to heat up and the toweling off after, I am in the water for maybe five minutes or less."
"And somehow you think that makes me feel better about standing next to a repugnant creature like you?" It seemed like she backed off a bit to distance herself from some newly recognized odor.
"Hey no need for name calling," he raised his arms defensively.
"Sorry, I should have said pungent, isn't that the word you used to describe yourself?" She had turned herself away from facing him, only turning her head over her shoulders to address him now.
"Eh close enough, anyways saving water is just a side benefit, I get so much more time in the morning thanks to not having to jump into the shower every morning." At this point his mind seemed to have wandered to other thoughts. He balanced himself on two hands doing a half hearted handstand, but only raising one alternating leg.
"What exactly do you do with this new found free time?" She almost scoffed at him in reply.
"Hold up", he raised one hand into the air, as if to signify a break in their conversation, "something is going on down there.
She moved forward on the rooftop where they were crouching behind the concrete edges. They had been overlooking a warehouse in an isolated part of the city. Now there was movement down there. Some supply trucks were making their way through the alleyways and right to the warehouse.
"Time to go to work."
YOU ARE READING
Zero Sum
Science FictionHumanity is not alone in the universe. More specifically Earth is not alone. It is an age of wonder for humanity. For all but a few. Our history has been altered, according to one who has visions of the fractured world that could have been but ne...
