It was too bad there hadn't been a female clerk in the shop. That young man Marcus Jr. had been helpful. But even the IDEA of mentioning her need for "ladies undergarments" to a MALE clerk still made her wish that she could just dissapear.
*Now which way did he say ?*, she wondered to herself, hurrying down the street. Several awkward packages of new clothing filled her arms. A backpack would have been a wise thing to bring along. But it had been accidentally left behind (on the bed) this morning, along with the map.
Gwenn was browsing near some shops specializing in Terranan goods, trying to figure out the purpose of the Terranan items in the display windows when he noticed a young woman struggling to balance a large stack of packages. He began walking towards her, planning to offer his help.
The stack swayed and wobbled this way and that, like a drunken man walking home in the wee hours of the morning. It was just barely stable enough not to topple. Unfortunately, Kay's attention was so focused on NOT dropping anything, that she didn't notice the dip in the ground ahead of her.
Gwenn had almost reached her when she mis-stepped on an uneven spot in the road. "Mestr..." was all he got out before she lurched forward, colliding with him.
Packages went flying everywhere as she lost her balance. "Oh -- ", she exclaimed in a startled shriek. Anything further was muffled as she collided with something firm and warm. Almost afraid to look, she cautiously peeked through the the thick waves of long hair that had fallen across her face.
A Thendara Guard uniform confronted her startled eyes. Goddess have mercy! Assaulting one of the Thendara Guards could NOT be a good thing -- even though it had been just an accident. But she didn't sense any great anger from him, so perhaps she'd get out of this in one piece...
Gwenn caught the woman as she fell into him and set her upright. However, his right hand had fallen on a soft spot and he pulled it away quickly and hoped that she wouldn't take offense. He then noticed her unbound hair. Was she a grezali? Had he touched a grezali? Would she take it as a proposition? He blushed furiously.
Kay looked up into a friendly-but-confused face. For some reason, the young man was staring at her hair -- and blushing. Both of their faces now matched the red in her MacDonald tartan skirt. Surely many women had hair like this, and the style was common on Terra.
Then it suddenly dawned on her. Perhaps long, loose hair was some sort of sexual-invitation signal here. THAT would explain his reaction and where his hand has landed. It would also explain all the stares that she hadn't liked. Kay knew herself to be cute rather than incredibly-gorgeous --- NOBODY had ever stared at her like that before. Why hadn't anyone ever told her not to go out without tying up her hair ?
Quickly she grabbed her hair and started twisting it up in a bun. This would be faster than a braid -- and she wouldn't need to tie the end. Hopefully, this would be better. *Oh Goddess, I am such a fool*, she prayed softly, *I could have ended up being raped by someone who thought I was a whore. That is NOT how I want my first sexual experience*.
*But now I'm in even MORE trouble than I'd thought*, she sighed. She counted up the growing list of possible charges. Assault on a Guard. Indecent exposure. Non-verbal solicitation of prostitution. Hopefully ignorance would be an acceptable defense -- she hadn't meant any of it THAT way.
To cover his embarrassment and confusion, Gwenn began picking up packages, saying (in cahuenga), "Let me help you, mestra."
Trying out her limited cahuenga, she began, "I thank you, dom. I did not see you, and I meant no offense and no invitation". She bowed as she had seen others doing. Better to err on the side of excess formality, rather than insult by too little. "I am Kay MacDonald, a scribe from the Terranan base. Forgive my poor cahuenga. I am still learning", she continued.
Gwenn finished gathering the packages and said, "Oh, I am no dom, Mestra MacDonald", he said.
Ooops. She had done it again. Fortunately, it looked like this cute young man had decided she was too harmless to be worth arresting. *Blessed be, O Goddess. I thank you*.
"Thank you for your help", she said, with a sigh of relief, "Please excuse my ignorance again. I feel like Durraman's donkey today. I keep getting myself into trouble by saying the wrong things". The more that she practised, the more fluent her cahuenga was becoming. All those hours with the language tapes had reinforced and expanded the cahuenga she dimly remembered her father's mother speaking to her as a child.
"It is no trouble, Mestra MacDonald. I am somewhat new to Thendara myself, and find these Hali-imyn ways strange," Gwenn said.
"I am Gwenn MacConal of Clan Bayerd. Please, call me Recruit MacConal...or mestru..." he added as an after-thought.
Kay grinned. "I'm pleased to meet you, Recruit MacConal. I'd offer to shake hands with you like we do at home, but I've been told that people don't do that on this planet"
"Shake hands? I have often shaken my hand when I hurt it, but rarely have I shaken my hand when someone else was shaking their's," Gwenn replied in slight confusion, "I suppose I could shake my hand, but I would have to put these packages down to do so."
"That's an entirely different kind of hand-shaking", Kay giggled, not quite sure that he wasn't just teasing her. "Back on Terra, we greet people by taking the OTHER person's hand in our own, and shaking it gently".
"Oh..." was Gwenn's only reply. He smiled self-deprecatingly.
A thoughtful look crosses Kay's face. "Now that I think about it, it does sound like a rather silly custom indeed. And it would make even less sense in a society like this".
She pauses and frowns before continuing. A deep wistful sigh whistles out from between her lips. "Here, I think there must be some sort of cultural taboo against physical contact (except for fighting or intimacy)". Things aren't like that on Terra, and it's difficult to get used to it. I have to keep reminding myself to do things differently -- like DROPPING the coins in someone's hand so that I don't accidentally touch their palm, and being careful not to brush against anyone else if I need to squeeze past them.
"You are Terranan? " asked Gwenn.
"Yes, though I was born here", Kay confessed.
"That would explain...eh...uh...." Gwenn blushed even harder and, straightening up, noticed that she had bared her neck.
Suddenly the whole situation struck Kay as being funny. A flurry of self-mocking giggles escaped. No matter how hard she tried, it seemed that (ever since she left the base) she kept making men either blush, frown disapprovingly or stare at her in ways that made her distinctly uncomfortable.
Gwenn also chuckled self-consciously.
"Forgive my ignorance ... ", she began, " but ... if I may be so bold to ask ... if it would not be improper or offensive ... ". Her voice trailed off. There was a long pause. Then the rest of the words rushed out in a frustrated babbled rush. "In the name of all that's holy, what is it that I am still doing wrong ?".
"What? Oh, eh, mmm, mestra, you are...baring your neck. Uh, proper women do not do that here, even in the lowlands." Gwenn blushed. "Also, I have heard it said that the Hali-imyn women do not look men- who-are-not-relatives in the eyes, though I have not yet seen any avert their eyes to me, and this custom is not common among my people. Most women use a butterfly clasp to pin their hair back".
What truly bizarre customs. Imagine something as boring as a neck being considered erotic. Now she would have to leave the hood of her cloak done up (or buy a ribbon so she could braid her hair). And why on earth would women regularly offer insult to non-related men -- were they too shy to manage politeness, or did they simply choose to appear ill-mannered ? It didn't make any sense.
Now it was Kay's turn to look utterly confused. "Where I come from", she explained, "it's actually considered very rude NOT to look someone in the eye when you're talking to them". She shrugged, then continued "Your people sound much more sensible. Which part of this cold world are they from ?".
"I come from the Hellers, off that way," Gwenn gestured to the North, toward the Wall-Around-the-World (not that it can be seen from here...). My family lives on a mountain called MonFiern, which means fiery mountain. It is much colder than here, but there are warm springs which help in the coldest of winters, and the Forge-Folk live in caves near the springs. Is it much warmer on the Terrannan world
A wistful look crossed her face for a moment, before being quickly swept away. "In some places, yes. Where I grew up on the island of Skye, summer could be hot enough to burn my skin if I was careless. Then would come the fierce biting cold of winter where the air itself would seem to claw at me with knives of wind. It made for a greater range of possible sports. It must be lovely to live on a mountain. We have them on Terra, though I've never visited any of them -- except for once when I went skiing. Do you miss it much ?", replied Kay, imagining how it might look.
"Aye, I miss m'family dreadfully. But I hope to help support 'em by my work here," Gwenn said. He quickly looked away in embarrassment at Kay's unbound hair (that hung in such a way as to mostly expose the back of her neck), and asked, "Do you need an escort?...to, ummm, wherever you are going?"
Out of sheer desperation, Kay pulled up the hood of her wool cloak and tied it firmly in place. From now on, she was NEVER going to leave the base without her hair braided. She smiled at Gwenn. "It is kind of you to offer, mestru. But would I not be taking you away from your duty ?" As much as she wanted more of his company, she didn't want to scare him off (or give him innaproapriate ideas) by seeming over-eager.