Illiya - Taylor Neeran Chronicles #1

Chapter 18 - Extracurricular

Hair

Char handed Taylor a lumpy green fruit as they walked along.

"Prill."

Taylor tucked her notebook under her arm and accepted the fruit. She turned it over in her right hand. "What's this one for?"

"Healing. Put on cuts and wounds."

Taylor pulled out the notebook and sketched the fruit, balancing it between the notebook and her left palm. She handed it back to Char, who shook his head and pointed at her leg. She had scratches on her calves, several of which were bleeding. "Ah. Thanks. I didn't know I got cut."

Char walked a short distance and sat down on a rotting log. Taylor sat next to him and took off her backpack. She tried to peel the tough skin with her fingers, but couldn't get it open.

Char took it from her hand and pressed down hard on the stem. The top of the fruit popped, splitting the skin into three equal sections. He carefully pulled the skin back on one third, lifting away the purple flesh in a triangular wedge. He placed the larger part open side up on the log, then scraped the flesh of the smaller piece away from the skin. He kneaded the flesh into a rough ball. "Must have some air to work best. Mix it in, make ball. Then pull off small pieces."

Char handed Taylor the purple ball, then pinched off a small piece. He spread it out on a finger and smeared it on a cut on her leg, then pointed at the patches of taller grass. "Skeem, seeds grow along the edge of leaves. Sharp edge, has... sleepy sap. Ana..."

"Anaesthetic?" asked Taylor.

"Yes, this word. Makes skin sleep, but only where it touches." He applied the purple paste to another cut.

"Why does it do that?"

"Leaves make small cuts in animals or catch on long hair, pull some seeds off. If animal felt cut, it would lick seeds off right away, drop seeds close to mother plant. With ana..."

"Anaesthetic."

"Yes, sleepy sap, animal will walk a long distance before it feels the cut and licks off the seeds. Some fall on the ground, some are eaten. Seeds spread both ways."

"Ah," said Taylor, "clever."

"Yes, clever," said Char, looking at her bleeding legs with concern. "But not expecting human leg, does not pull off seeds, just cuts skin. No fur. Just short hairs."

"Where?" asked Taylor, looking at her legs. "Oh, that. I haven't been able to shave for a few days."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, human females like smooth legs. Well, most do. So we shave off the hair, or use a cream to remove the hair."

"You have much hair on legs? Does it grow long, like your head? If so, it would make it difficult to walk. I see why you would want to cut it off."

Taylor laughed. "No, it's not very long. Just a little longer than the hairs on my arm. Girls like smooth legs."

"Illiya have no hair. Smooth."

Taylor smiled. "I can see that."

Char took her hand gently and examined her arm. "Small hairs, hard to see. Do you have other hairs?"

Taylor paused. "Well, I haven't really thought about it much, but I guess humans have hair almost everywhere, except for the bottoms of their feet and the palms of their hands."

"Let me see," said Char, putting his face closer. He examined the back of her hands and rubbed a finger along her leg. "Rough."

He brushed a finger along her arm, and then across her hand. "Soft."