"I understand how it is to make the difficult decisions to give up your lifestyle, your identity," Dominique reflected, reminding himself that it wasn't easy for either of them. He needed to be patient, give both of them time to adjust and get used to their new lives. To find a new purpose in these unfriendly times.
Beyond being grateful to be able to afford food at all when it was scarce, Dominique couldn't even find his usual joy in preparing complicated dishes or multiple lavish courses. That night's meal had been lacking, found no satisfaction in the bland simplicity that anyone could have accomplished without the years of intense apprenticeship he'd undergone. Those years seemed wasted now.
He wondered if it would upset the man if he splurged on a few nicer ingredients, no idea how tightly Caspar wanted to keep their budget. It'd be ultimately up to him how any extra they had was spent, and Dominique selfishly hoped it wouldn't be to any charity that the monk felt religiously obligated to give it to. He didn't allow himself to feel guilty for wanting more than the bare minimum that Caspar had glorified.
"This isn't what either of us wanted, but we chose it over death. It's all we have," he sighed, quickly removing his hand from where he'd been nervously picking at the stitching of the skirt. "You don't have to think of me as your wife, I know I'm lousy. But I hope that we can at least be friends." He suspected that the man lacked them as much as he did now.
"Do you sing?" he asked curiously, trying to imagine what the raspy voice would sound like when carrying a tune. Dominique had always been far too shy for singing, only did so when nobody else was around to hear and as quietly as he could muster. "I hardly know anything about you, like what's wrong with your fa-" Dominique quickly bit down on his tongue, looking slightly horrified at what he'd said. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't... My mother always told me not-"
Face hot with embarrassment, Dominique quickly turned away to stare directly into the nearest corner, braced for the scolding he deserved for making such a rude comment. The man's unusual features were difficult to ignore, unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Yet they didn't seem like a deformity or the effect of some disease, even though his skintone hinted at somebody suffering an ailment of some sort. But the overall effect was strange and unexplainable more than it was offputting, after the initial shock wore off he was admittedly not bad looking. Not that saying so would help anything.