Together, they went out to the antechamber to where the pile of food large enough for a family sat waiting. Ibi missed this about the High House--even at the Library meals of this variety were rare. When she sat down it struck her that Atet hadn't eaten in an age, so she allowed the ba control of her body and a choice of what to try first.
Atet pulled the fruit bowl over and took her time choosing her first taste: a plum. She held it to their nose, inhaling the faint, sweet aroma at the stem. The skin gave way easily, juice squeezing past their teeth, the sting of tart softened by the sugar-infused flesh following it. Chewing with deliberate care, their tongue exploring every texture, every flavor, Ibi and Atet savored every fiber of that first bite. Before taking the next, Atet sucked at the plum's open wound, drawing more and more of the juice down their throat, eager to quench their newly awakened thirst. Then she bit down again and again, reveling in the sensation of their teeth piercing the skin and the give of flesh underneath. She sucked the last bitter fibers from the pit before setting it on the reclaiming plate.
Though Ibi wasn't the one controlling her body, she felt breathless. Eating had never been this intense. Even the best meals of her life couldn't match the sensations and emotions reverberating through her through Atet. Was this because they were connected? Or because the ba-spirit hadn't experienced physical sensations for so long?
Excerpt from the steampunk novel I’m writing right now over on Patreon.
[Image description: scan of a papyrus from ancient Egypt depicting the ba spirit, a bird with a human head, interacting with a woman with dark hair, both surrounded by hieratic writing]
