𝙍𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝘿𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙭

|9| Not a Louse

TAERIC

A day has already passed since my failed attempt to try to tell Emara why I was on earth. I wanted to pull my hair because the transmitter has been glitching so badly. We have spoken about small things since then. Occasionally it would work, but other times it would give a terrible translation that would leave Emara and the kits laughing and me embarrassed. I have been resigning myself to try to communicate without it.

Her planet is going to save my race, and I desperately wanted to tell her. But for now, it would have to wait. I only hope that the glitches were only affecting the translations and not the signals I have been sending to alert Captain Deorit.

I have been amazed by all the different things that needed to be done around this place. I watch as Emara looks over to the three kits that are playing with the vasdus and smiled brightly. She dunks the clothes into the water and scrubs them using the cleanser that they continue to refer to as 'soap'. Clothes on Dervidix rarely need cleansing, so I was very interested in the way she "did the laundry." Our cloth repels dirt and water. It is produced using silk from a kerdvurk and is incredibly comfortable.

"Taeric," she says, grabbing my attention. "I think some of my dad's old shirts might fit you. You can borrow a few if you want, since the one you have now is a bit ruined."

I nod thankfully, appreciating her kindness.

"Great! I can mend that for you if you would like, too," she adds with a short gesture to my shirt.

I glance down at it, noting the tears and small holes. It would probably be better to blend in with the humans if I wore their clothing instead, but if she was offering, I didn't mind having it fixed. I nod again, and she smiles.

"Kay, be right back, one sec," she dries her hands off on her pants and heads inside. She comes back a few moments later holding a large shirt. "Here you go. Hopefully, it fits. If not... I don't think I have anything else."

I thank her once again and grab the shirt from her to put it on.

She nods happily, "Of course!" As I begin to pull off my shirt, her eyes go wide. "What are you doing?" she looks embarrassed. I can smell a mixture of emotions coursing through her.

I stop pulling off the tunic and give her a confused look. What does she mean? I am changing, just like she said.

Her entire face looks a bit red. "You should go over there where you can have some privacy or go back to the hunting shed. Then bring the shirt back."

Evey and Lilly are snickering.

I nod and pull my shirt back down, quickly turning on my heels and making my way to the shed I slept in last night. Maybe it was considered indecent? Males typically wore a tunic, but it was not uncommon to see a bare chest on my planet. I have not seen another male's habits on this planet, so it was possible that it was impolite. I wish I could have read over customs before my ship crashed. I did not want to offend them and ruin any chance we had to create an opportunity to have mates again.

As I get farther away, I can hear Evey and Lilly's laughter break loose, Emara joining in with them. Maybe it is not as big of a deal as I worried about. I open the door and step inside, pulling off my shirt and holding up the one Emara had given me. It seemed oversized compared to her smaller form earlier, but as I slipped it over my head, I noticed that it fit very snugly.

Once finish, I grab my shirt to take outside so I can give it to Emara. She is just finishing up the washing as I make my way over to her. "Thanks," she smiles. "I'll patch this up later." She picks up a basket of wet clothes, and we move our way over by two large trees with a line hanging between them.

Evey and Jace sit by the basket and play with a small soft creature with a long trunk. It almost looks like an Aravom, I mused. Lilly dumps out the water Emara had used to clean the clothes and then joins the rest of us. I watch, hating to feel idle, but not knowing what to do.

"We are going to need some more pins, one sec," Emara says before running back inside.

"She has a lot of chores," Evey announces suddenly. "We aren't allowed to help with some of them cause she said we are too little or it is dangerous. I am getting older, so I can help! I'm not a baby."

Lilly lets out a small snort. "You are like a baby, Evey. You are only six and can barely do anything." She wiggles the toy in her hand, and the little kit laughs.

Evey huffs and crosses her arms. She spins toward me with a pout on her face. "I am not a baby. I am a big girl!" She turns back to Lilly, "And just cause you are twelve doesn't mean you are the boss!"

The young female is clearly upset, but my mind is elsewhere. Emara is all on her own and taking care of everything with close to no help. She is undoubtedly incredibly strong; this house and kits were evidence enough. But that didn't stop me from wanting to help her in any way I could.

I pull out my translator. "What does she normally need help with?" I speak into the device before handing it over to Lilly.

She taps her chin in thought. "I guess hunting and chopping wood, really. Those are the two main things. She can do them fine, but I know she would love help with it, too," Lilly informs me. "Especially with you and Jace here now. We will need much more food, and the wood just for heating the house is something that she has to do pretty much weekly. Evey and I can't do either of those things," she explains, "Emara doesn't want us in the forest by ourselves, either."

I nod my head in understanding. That is too dangerous for those two little females, and it isn't even safe for Emara, in my opinion. That is extremely clear after the incident with the beast that had attacked her.

I also haven't forgotten about her fear when we first came up to her house. She was clearly worried about something. I was no closer to figuring out what it was, but the smell of the male outside and the lack of a male presence in the house were suspicious, and I suspect it had something to do with that.

My anger flared at the thought of another male coming around, making Emara nervous. She clearly has no other male presence in the house: no father, uncles, brothers, or any other kin. Based on what I had seen as she led me to her 'home', there were no immediately close neighbors either. None that would be able to hear if she needed help.

Emara comes back into the clearing. "Got 'em! Took a second since I forgot where I put them last time," she laughs lightly. I tuck my thoughts away for later as she takes out several large pins and hands them to the young females. They each grab a piece of clothing. Evey hops onto a stool, and Lilly has to balance on the tip of her toes. I watch as they take the pins and press it down over the cloth onto the line stretching between the trees.

After watching, I reach over and grab a few pins of my own. Picking up a piece of clothing just like they had done, I set it on the line and pressed the pin down, securing the cloth.

Emara glances at me through the clothing. She looks shocked but simply smiles.