Quills

 'You cannot hurt him or cross her. Do not let your guard down,' Nora thought. Her guard went up another tenfold. No wonder she was being kept on a secure floor. She was grateful that he became distracted the next moment. She saw an icon blinking on the corner of his screen and watched him open up and read the scrolling foreign text that looked like Arabic and Thai combined. Liem looked at her finished plate and gave her a slight smile. He cleaned up the dishes in front of her and took them to the cart.

"More clothing and supplies have arrived. What you were sent with was inappropriate for the climate here, it is being altered for you as they were gifts and your personal property. It will be returned to you. So you may enjoy them if you decide to live in the colder region. Although your other garments had to be destroyed due to pollution issues, this made it through the decontamination cycle in your hair." Liem said, giving a smile as he handed her black handsewn scrunchie. 

Nora smiled and held her small lucky charm. This was made by her mother. "This is very precious to me." Nora said as she felt the fabric, lace and her mothers stitches. Nora's eyes watered. She slipped it on her wrist. This was the last thing left of her. There was no gravestone for her to cry at anymore. "It must have been hard for you," Liem said sympathetically. No trained Matriarch was so emotional in front of someone outside of her clan. "Thank you." Nora said, her voice hitched in her throat. She coughed. Liem reluctantly left her as the alert went off again. 

'Could they not be patient?' Liem thought again. It had been a very busy day. He had traveled for half a day to get here. He went to the door and opened it again. 

A huge rack of clothing consisting of mostly dresses was rolled in, some of it would suit her. Boxes came in on a cart next. Liem pointed to the room where she woke up, and the workers went into the room with the items. She always loved presents, but she was overwhelmed by it all. Liem seemed to be keeping himself between her and the workers at all times as he directed them. She listened and watched the translations. It was imperative to learn the language. The room was silent and awkward when they finally left.

"It is time for your medication, Nora." Liem walked to her room and came back with a metallic cylinder. It looked familiar.

"How does it work?" Nora asked.

"It is placed anywhere on the body, and it quickly injects the medicine into the skin." Liem answered patiently.

 'So it is like a needle or an insulin injector pen', Nora thought. She had a bad relationship with needles. Nora looked at him. 

"I cannot do it, I am afraid. Can you do it while I look away? Please?" Nora said. She turned her arm toward him. Liem placed the cylinder against her arm and she felt a slight pinch. "Is it done?" Nora asked, and turned away.

"Yes. You can look now." Liem said. Her reaction to the cylinder was really adorable. He cleared his throat. The awkwardness would happen next. He had to show her how to do everything and care for her needs. He cleared his throat. "It has been days since you have attended to your hygiene. I will run your bath since you have no clan people here and our technology is different. Our bathing cultures might differ as well. Please let me know how I can make the experience more comfortable for you. Do you need to use the toilet? I can show you how to work the controls." Liem said, quickly hopping up from his seat.

"I already used it, I know how." Nora said. As Liem reached the bathroom door she heard the same chime that rang when he and her meal had entered the room.

"We will get you cleaned up after the delivery is completed," Liem said. Nora sat down in her seat again. Liem unlocked the door. Another large garment rack with boxes on the bottom was delivered by a pair of staff. 

Nora decided to listen to the conversation to begin learning. When they had finished unpacking, they left, seemingly happy with Nora's gaze. After they left, Liem then opened a door that led into the bathroom, and she could hear rushing water. Nora fought her bashfulness and stood up. She watched him disappear inside. Her legs were still a little unsteady, she carefully walked to the bathroom. He did not seem to be impatient. On her way, he disappeared into the bedroom briefly. He came out with a change of clothes and a box.

"The bath is now full and at the right temperature. Please follow me." Liem said in a professional tone. He was not looking forward to this. It was going to be gross.

"Oh, I will need your help. I will have to wear a towel." Nora said. She was semi-confident that if the spigot was like that of the sink she would be okay to bathe on her own. But it was not. It was a panel with the alien text on it, with a lot of options that came up on her display. Of course, it was. She would have to accept the help to at least turn it on and off, drain it. Until she had the hang of it. There was a resting area for her head with a soft rubbery pillow and stairs to descend into it. The water looked to have milk and oils in it. A large area was screened off for her to undress and several large bath sheets were laid out on a bench. Nora could smell her body's odor. Nora dry swallowed. She reasoned that she would accept the help since it was culturally normative for these people. She had not been assaulted at all, or surely she would have been sore, since she had decided to wait to do it with Mark. He had not acted lewdly. No one had. Even though she had clearly had her clothes changed, they were professionals about it. She reasoned that she was safe. She disappeared behind the screen and disrobed. Skin flaked off her as she took her clothes off. It was as if she had a terrible sunburn. Nora had seen her hands when she arrived. They were burned horribly. There was no scar tissue. She should count herself fortunate that it was shedding like this.

"There are things for you to wear behind the screen, I did not understand some of that." Liem apologized.

"It is alright, I found what I needed. Thank you." Nora said back. The towel was massive and soft. Nora had decided to wear a bath towel in the tub like she had in the bath houses in Japan for her modesty. It was a big and long towel. Even though her world was gone, remnants of it would live on with her. Nora shyly walked out and stepped slowly down the steps into the tub. Her injured leg gave out. She was caught by Liem quickly.

 "I got you. I will put you in. You are very small, and still very weak." Liem said. She would have to accept help until she was not a fall risk. Liem was strong enough to pick her up by the shoulders and lower her in. She sank into the hot bath with a delighted sigh. She saw her Interface screen auto rotate and float above the water. She swiped at the screen and found an education section and beginning tier. She reasoned that this was for children. At eighteen years of age and with an eidetic memory, she had already had doctorates and had a grasp of multiple languages. She was confident that she could learn. A panel hissed open with a pneumatic sound beside the tub with shower heads of different sizes and purposes. One looked particularly phallic. That would not be used on her. She flinched a little.