Quills

"You shocked me." Nora gasped. Liem appeared from behind her and opened a wall panel to pull out a stool. He poured a cup of a minty smelling fluid into a tiny cup and handed it to her.

"Put this in your mouth and swish it around to clean your teeth." Liem gently said. Nora took the cup and followed the instructions that were still on her screen. He took a bowl out and held it under her chin and gently said "Now spit it out into this bowl". Nora looked down and spit into the bowl. She reflexively ran her tongue over her teeth. They were clean. Liem then put the bowl aside and grabbed a shower head from the wall, he tested the temperature, like he had seen his fathers doing as they cared for his sister. 

"Now I am going to wash your hair, I am afraid that we only have a couple of scents. I saw you liked the Uzuza in the hallway", Liem said. Before she could really react, he gently and tenderly moved her head back and shielded her eyes from getting water in them with his large but soft masculine hands. Warm water soaked her long curly auburn hair.

"You have very interesting hair, '' Liem said. Liem lathered her hair up with the deliciously scented Uzuza berry soap. The citrus-scented shampoo filled the bathroom with fragrance. He gently massaged her head and rinsed it out with warm water. It felt nice, her legs and arms were sore and weak from inactivity, so she let go and let him care for her. With her heavily academic centered life, she did not have time to go to the salon for hair cuts, let alone get her hair washed. The last time she had her hair washed by another person was many years ago. She really did not see the point and put her unruly hair in a bun.

He grabbed a soft natural sponge and soaked it, he added some Uzuza body soap and handed it to her for her to clean her body with. Nora weakly stood up with the wet towel sticking to her curvaceous body. Nora started to vigorously scrub the dead skin off her body, exfoliating all the dead skin. She felt like a bug shedding its exoskeleton. She rinsed the sponge repeatedly as she sloughed off the skin, revealing healed milky tender skin that laid below. Nora was grateful for the already foggy nature of the water. Nora rinsed the sponge again and placed the sponge at the side of the tub and went deeper into the tub to rinse it off. The water was filthy. 

"I think we will need to drain the tub and rinse you off," Liem said. Liem's adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. He did not mean look at her this way. He had to be here. The water quickly drained. The towel clung to her body.

"Alright, water will come from the top like rain and rinse you off. If you feel tired or weak let me know. It is better than falling." Liem said. Nora nodded. It was the biggest rainwater shower head she had the pleasure of using. Fresh warm water poured from above her. She was grateful that it washed the ring of dead skin and filth from it, or she would feel terrible for the cleaning staff. It felt like she was coming out of a Korean Spa. She had really exfoliated herself. Her pale skin and a rose tint, but it did not sting.

"I think I am going to be fine," Nora said. Liem pulled fresh large bath sheets from a heated compartment in the wall. He placed them on a wooden bench on the side of the tub.

"Discard the soiled towel and fully rinse yourself. The shower will continue until you leave the tub. Take your time to clean any other areas you missed when I leave the room." Liem said with a smile. After Nora read the translation, she smiled and nodded to him."These are to dry off with and to wrap around you before we dry your hair", Liem said, walking to the door. "Please call out for me if you need any help." He said as he left the room to give her privacy. 

Nora slipped the towel off and enjoyed the rainwater shower from above. What a transcendent experience. She felt like she had been reborn. She sat and let the water course over her like a baptism. Nora stepped out of the tub. It started to flush the water rapidly as she walked away and started a cleaning cycle. She saw the panel with the shower hoses retract into the wall and heard a 'whooshing' sound as it went through a cleaning cycle. She disappeared behind the screen with the warm bath sheets dropping the water logged one on the ground. She wrapped one around her tiny body a couple of times and used the other to dry her body and her hair. She then wrapped the old dirty clothes in a bath towel neatly and took it out of the room. Liem looked at her standing there, finding it odd that she cleaned up after herself. Just how was she being treated at home? 

"You can leave that anywhere, it'll be taken care of when someone comes in to clean this room," said Liem. She was like an eager little boy cleaning up after herself like that to him. Nora left it on the floor near the door. 

"My father was strict about this kind of stuff," Said Nora. Liem looked confused. 

"Your father?" Liem said, perplexed. 

"Yes, our bathroom was a nightmare, my sisters were filthy." Liem dropped the hairbrush he was holding. 

"Sisters?" Liem questioned. 

"Yes, women run in my family. My poor father never got that son he wanted." she answered. Nora realized that she had royally screwed up. She dropped her guard too much. 

'Damn, Damn, Damn. I should refrain from speaking too quickly and disclosing too much about myself and my origins. I messed up. I'm so glad I did not mention my stepmother and aunts.' Nora thought. People with eidetic memories were often highly intelligent, most of the time. The social impact of eidetic memory. Remembering everything with the ability to recall it without hesitation was a problem. She was too used to giving out information readily. That pampering left her emotionally vulnerable. She tried her best not to register any reaction. There was obviously something messed up about the biological sex ratio on this planet. 

'Do you want to end up cut up or worse? Stick to a story and learn quickly, or you will end up on an operating table or a secret prison like in science fiction shows like X-Files. Get yourself together, Nora.' Nora thought.

 Nora was worried that this slip up would cause suspicion. Liem was elated. A way to cure the problem could mean the end to male servitude. That is if she would be amiable enough to be part of the solution. She could be exploited if the wrong person knew how fruitful her clan was prior to its fall. Liem thought it was impressive of her father, someone that actually openly hoped for a son. He briefly struggled with the other facts he received. They thought that she had come from a northern tribe. There were no single fathers, let alone a mother with such high success with females on this planet in five hundred years. 

This meant the Northerners could have been cured of Morritts Syndrome from their isolation or had not been affected by it. Perhaps it was cured naturally by not using racks. It could be that the last two generations of the Quill Clan were cured. She was not an alien, she was a woman. That was verified. It was the first thing they checked, considering the skirmishes and tensions in the resource battle in the Outer Systems. Liem swallowed a mouth full of saliva and kept his face from registering shock. He was thankful that Kadir had encouraged him to pursue his interest in Northern Culture and their languages. He was lucky that he was the world expert on the very subject that led him to this miraculous discovery. Nora was worried that this slip up would cause suspicion. Liem was elated. A way to cure the problem could mean the end to male servitude. That is if she would be amiable enough to be part of the solution. She could be exploited if the wrong person knew how fruitful her clan was prior to its fall. 

"Our bathroom was quite busy at home, my brothers are very messy people. You would probably like them if you were to meet them. They are very nice once they open up. I have not seen them for a while." Liem said with an assuring smile. He made up his mind that he would build up a friendly, trusting rapport with her. He was not nauseated from being around her. He could not alarm her, he would act very carefully.

"I saw you looking through the educational resources. We start working on your language and reading first so you can understand the world around you. We can start tomorrow." Liem said. Nora was instantly filled with relief.