Good Source of Fiber

"I have another question, though…a little off-topic, but…," I trailed, glancing between the two.

"Go for it!" Leigh insisted with his big smile. I couldn't help but smile back and ruffle his hair a little, to which he wagged his tail in response. When I finished, I looked at Gharret.

"What's your fiber production look like?" I asked, then immediately regretted it. It was another one that he found he didn't quite know how to answer, so he frowned and scratched his chin.

"I'm not sure what you mean by 'fiber'. We grow some grains, wheat, rice, barley, and those sustain us, as well as some vegetables that the Goddess domesticated and renamed…carrots, potatoes, cabbage, uh…" He paused in his count as he tried to remember what all they grew. I remembered some of the fields and waved my hand.

"Fibers aren't edible. They're made into cloth." Again, there was another quizzical look, except it came from both of them and I sighed. How could I…oh! I know!

"What is cloth…?" Leigh asked as he looked to Gharret, who shrugged in response. If that was the case, even the bedding in Gharret's room was purely animal hides, though the thinness of which they'd made the sheets was absolutely incredible. Still, I reached into my purse and pulled out a handkerchief that I had stitched my initials into, and handed it over.

"This is made from linen," I said. Leigh took it from my hand and looked at it, running his thumbs over it and marveling.

"And what is its purpose…?" Gharret asked, though his tone suggested he'd rather not know, I'd begun to pick apart his facial expressions. He was intently curious about this one. I grinned in response.

"Lots of things. High-quality linen, which is the fiber extracted from flax, can be used to make clothing, not unlike the stuff I came down in. For weather like this, clothing made from linen would be perfect at keeping everyone nice and cool." Gharret nodded, scratching his chin. "And then there's sacks, bags, curtains, rugs…fibers can be used to make all sorts of things."

Gharret bobbed his head again, then lit up, as though he'd remembered something.

"We do have fiber, then. We just call it wool. And whenever we can forage cotton, we harvest it for the females during their estrus." He nodded firmly and I chuckled.

"Is the wool harvested from the sheep beastpeople or from feral sheep?" I asked off-handedly, not really expecting much of a good answer.

"Sometimes both. In the spring and summertime, the sheep villagers shed all their fur, as do the curly-haired rabbits. They then trade their dropped wool for supplies and we, in turn, can turn that wool into thread. I'm not aware of the specifics of how that's done, exactly, but with a hooked tool, we can then turn that long thread into any shape we desire."

I nodded my head, then began writing in my notebook again. This means they're fairly close to weaving if they've already jumped into crochet…but that could also be a result of Bai Quingqing's interference. Still, that would require a loom and someone mad enough to take on and build my design. And before ALL of that, I'd need to convince him to build a foot-cranked spinning wheel and convince several people to risk their fingers learning it.

Leigh sighed at all my scribbling and folded his fingers behind his head as he leaned back and cocked his hips.

"Are we really that bad? I feel like you've put down really bad opinions of us…," he whined and I looked to him and chuckle.

"Look here, silly boy…," I said, garnering his attention immediately. "I promise, I'm only writing things about potential projects and improvements I could make. So that your lives are nicer and easier. Understand?" I ruffled his hair and he giggled a little before batting at my hand. Gharret made a huffing noise, so I glanced in his direction and he had a thoughtful look on his face again.

"Why, though? You just got here. Why do you feel the need to make all these changes?" he asked, a thread of suspicion in his tone. I shrugged.

"I figured that's my purpose here. Why someone like me, from a highly advanced society, was dropped into…a very low-tech world. Otherwise, what else would there be to do?" I smiled gently at him. I suppose he saw something in my face that I hadn't meant to show, but he frowned either way.

"I see…," he mumbled and glanced away. I felt a pang of regret for what I'd said for a moment. "Well. It's never good to be idle, is it?"

He may have just shoved the issue down and decided not to talk about it. Honestly, that sounded like something he would do…not that I knew him very well to ever make those assumptions. I sighed.

"No, it is not! So let's hustle!" I pumped my fist in the air, then looked to Gharret and Leigh. "I want to know everything there is to know about the village and everything that happens."

Gharret chuckled and Leigh threw his hands up in excitement. I began marching onward, excited to continue this journey.

"Where would you like to go next?" Gharret asked, folding his arms neatly over his broad chest. The movement gave me cause to glance at the smooth skin of his pecs for a moment before I cleared my throat.

"The fields, I guess. I want to talk to the farmers and ranchers." I closed my little spiral notepad and stuck my pen behind my ear as he offered his arm, which I gladly took. He gave me a suave, confident smile, but his cheeks tinted pink as I sidled a little closer.

"Fair enough."

You know…when he wasn't being the biggest jerk on the planet, he was actually really…very…charming?

Yeah, we'll go with that. Charming.