Man Training (Tomer)

[Joshua Bernstein]

It had never occurred to Josh that Tomer's proximity to his home meant that he might on occasion be asked to teach his nephew life skills. Keeping him company, inviting him over for holidays, chauffeuring him for grandparent visits -- well, that last one was Sean, since Josh couldn't drive.

But shaving?

He barely shaved himself, because he wanted a beard, and the only way to acquire even a five o clock shadow was to simply not shave at all.

He thought this was terribly unfair, given that all the other men in his family and with whom he went to temple were extremely hairy. They joked about how their Jewish heritage made them hairy.

Josh had no shortage of body hair, but he couldn't seem to grow any significant amount of facial hair.

And yet, here he was, with two electric shavers and a nephew who needed to learn.

"Are you ready to learn how to be a man?"

[Tomer Berelowitz]

Turned out, shaving was one of those things that had to be taught in person - no amount of YouTube would prepare him for all the things that could possibly go wrong, which were a rather lot for something a lot of men did everyday.

Since puberty had started its intrusive and completely unwelcome party within Tomer's body, middle-school sex ed had been surprisingly accurate in terms of what he'd experienced already. Thankfully, his voice change had gone quickly, though it still cracked more often than Tomer liked. On uneventful days it seemed like it was going to settle nicely into the upper baritone range, when it was finished living out its soprano dreams. The less said about the appearance of body hair the better, along with everything else that occurred below the belt. Maybe Abby was okay with Mom getting her a cake when she got a bra, Tomer had told her if any such thing appeared for any of his pubertal firsts he'd stop speaking to her.

By Jewish standards, Tomer had not been gifted in the hair department either, though if his father was any indication, in time he'd be able to join the hipster movement if he so chose. The hair on his arms and legs was slightly darker than his head hair, and the bit on his chest seemed reluctant to commit. But now, the scruff on his face had to be addressed. Not only was it undeniable, but it itched.

It was also a teeny bit darker than his head hair, wiry, and centered mostly around his sideburns and chin, with a few free spirits making a go of things on his upper lip. And it looked as if he'd had a full beard given a very bad haircut.

Studying himself skeptically in one of the many Neville-Bernstein home bathrooms, he sighed, but smiled at his uncle, who for once didn't look as enthusiastic about things as he usually did.

"No, but I am ready to learn how to shave," he replied. Wedging himself against the counter and moving his crutches to the side, unless there was too much bending over he wouldn't fall. He'd released all the pent up energy already, before coming in. Last thing either of them needed was his power shooting a razor through a wall.

For someone so liberal, sometimes Tomer had to tease Uncle Josh when he let something through. "My Mom shaves."

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh winced at Tomer's correction. Despite his best attempts at being progressive he had his lapses, particularly where gender and class were concerned. He wanted to do well, but even coming from a more liberal home there was so much to unlearn.

Even at almost fifty-six he hadn't achieved the level of perfection he strove for.

"Ahhh...yes," He agreed, trying not to allow guilt to overtake him. Should his nephew mention this to Talia he knew he'd hear no end of this slip up. "Learning to shave. So...what we have here is an electric razor."

He gestured towards the gray plastic lumps on the counter before them.

"It's best to start with the neck, because it's the most sensitive area and your razor will heat up as you use it."

[Tomer Berelowitz]

For Tomer, it was just a joke, a throwaway comment. So Uncle Josh had nothing to worry about. Besides, it was likely his father's appreciation for teaching would outweigh his mother's indignation.

Picking up one of the razors, Tomer looked rather dubiously at it, turning it over and inspecting it from various angles. It looked sort of involved for just hair removal, but eh. Technology. Maybe there would be a roomba version someday that like, moved over his face as he slept or hoovering as he did his other bathroom tasks.

"Neck, got it." Tomer was thankful he had a clear demarcation between the hair on his neck and the hair that was scouting his chest so he didn't have to ask how far down to go. "Um. How hard to you have to press this? Does it hurt?"

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Don't press too hard," Josh answered as he positioned his own razor against his neck in order to demonstrate, "A light touch is all you need. Just pull your skin taut like this, and shave in one direction like so."

He brought his razor up at an angle.

"See?"

[Tomer Berelowitz]

"Mm hm," he said, holding the razor the same way, still powered off. Running something that felt a little how microphones looked over his face felt... silly. But Tomer was so ready to have all those little hairs buzzed into... wherever they went. Into the razor? Flying everywhere?

"Then where?"

[Joshua Bernstein]

"After you do the neck you'll do under your jaw," Josh instructed. "Be careful and don't rush or you'll hurt yourself."

Josh was not always very good at following his own advice there, as he had on more than one occasion been in a hurry and ended up nicking himself. However, he didn't want to teach Tomer his bad habits; Talia would surely kill him if he told her son to be impatient while shaving.

"Then you do cheeks, side burns, mustache, and then chin. Carefully."

[Tomer Berelowitz]

"I'll be careful," he promised. Then he smiled, wryly. "I'm holding a bunch of little tiny blades to my face. Doesn't sound like a good time to not pay attention."

Also, he didn't want to miss a spot. Not for how it looked, but because he was pretty sure he'd miss a place that would bother him tactilely.

"How far up the sideburns?"

That answered... Well. Okay. It was time to do this. The electric shaver was neither as loud or as vibrate-y as Tomer thought it would be. Starting, as instructed, at his neck, his tentative first try showed he had to press a little harder. Up, under the jawbone, to the cheeks, over the bits of mustache. Then he turned it off, and inspected. Frowned. "What do you do if you have a zit? Go around it?"

[Joshua Bernstein]

Oh, zits.

Josh had entirely forgotten about those, given that it had been awhile since they'd been a concern to him. He scrunched up his face as he thought back to when he had been a teenager first learning to shave.

"Go around them," He agreed with his nephew's assessment. "And....maybe I'll get you a different razor. Single blades are less dangerous for acne."

That would mean another trip to the store, but no matter.

"And when you're done you clean your blade with this," He opened the medicine cabinet hanging over the sink, rummaging through it until he found the bottle of cleaning solution. "And then wash your face with warm water. And I suppose if you use any sort of anti-zit creams that's the time to do them."

[Tomer Berelowitz]

Quite thankfully, Tomer didn't have any pimples to shave around this time; he had the beginnings of one on his forehead, he could feel it, and had some fading pink spots from ones that had just finished... pimpling. Would running an electric razor over a zit pop it? He shuddered.

"A different one? You mean the kind you use shaving cream with?" ...How would he remember where a pimple was if it was covered with foam? Shaving was... surprisingly complicated.

Following directions, Tomer cleaned his razor, shaking all the bits of hair out into the sink. Like pepper mixed with chocolate sprinkles. Rinsing it all down the drain, he asked, "So do you do this even if you don't have any stubble?"

As a very little boy, he'd had a very difficult time with the notion that even if his hair looked combed, he still had to do it. His sisters went through their morning bathroom routines together, giggling as they brushed their teeth, did or did not polish their fingernails, and did whatever it was girls did with hair, and by the time they were done, Tomer was immersed in his activities and interrupting them to do something as pointless as running a comb through his hair to make it look exactly as it had before had annoyed him.

"When did you start shaving? Dad said he started when he was fifteen. Well. He said he started when he was thirteen but didn't really have to till he was fifteen."