32 Ears

Gray and I spent the next several minutes talking about ways to possibly earn money on our journey. We rejected most of them. Soon, we found ourselves sitting in silence staring at the tree. With Leafia asleep on my lap, and Ivy and Gray beside me, I found myself feeling strangely peaceful. I never knew I could find this kind of connection with people in such a short time. I had never really had the chance to associate with mortals. It took centuries for Faun and I to get this close.Mist and I have grown close over the last century but she did not have a body yet so there were some barriers in our relationship. I miss Mist. I hope she is doing well. This is the first time that she has been on her own. And Faun…. I let out a sigh. Gray saw me sigh and must have assumed I was sleepy.

"You must be getting tired. It has been a hard day for you." Gray said

"Not tired, just thinking. However, it is getting late. Thank you again, Gray. I suggest that you get to bed soon. We will be on the road again tomorrow."

"You are right." he said while standing up. "See you in the morning, Miss Ivy and Miss Laurel."

Ivy did manage to give him a nod back as Gray waved good night to us. It looks like listening to our conversation made it so that she was no longer completely petrified around humans. Or Gray, at least.

The rest of the night seemed to pass much quicker than normal with Ivy's company. Part of it was also that after talking with Gray there was not much night left. It was not too long before Emily emerged from her tent to start her practice. I noticed her pausing with a smile as she saw Leafia still asleep on my lap. But there was a hint of something else in her eyes. Emily should not be jealous that Leafia spent the night resting on my lap. After all, Emily was the only one that had a lover with them. So we should be the ones to get jealous.

With a smile of her own, free from any emotional conflict, Ivy went to join Emily at her practicing. I enjoyed watching the two at work together. They were both relatively close in actual age and they seemed to have a lot to talk about. Ivy kept asking about how Emily was able to adjust to living with humans. For being so scared of Gray last night she seems really curious about humans

Soon it was about the time that Leafia usually started waking up. She surprised me when she rolled over and started using my leg as something to hug, squeezing it tight to her chest. She mumbled something in her sleep about "soft."

Well if she was going to be enjoying herself, I might as well, too. I started poking the tip of her now exposed ear. Elven ears were not that much different than human ears, but they did stick out a little bit more and were about as long as your little finger. Dryads ears were similar to human ears, so it was a new experience to be able to play with her pointy ears. <Poke, poke.> Faun almost always had some sort of soft fluffy ears. Deer were always her favorite. <Poke, poke.> I do remember one time she imitated the ears of a snake, and the smooth scales were fascinating. <Poke, poke.>But elf ears were a novelty.

After a minute or so Leafia swatted my hand away. It seemed like coming into contact with something more substantial than a fly woke her up. She slowly turned and looked up at me. After a few blinks her face started to turn bright red. I could tell that she was about to sit up and start apologizing profusely. So I pinned her down with one arm and started stroking her hair again with my free hand.

"Leafy," I began, "you don't need to be upset or embarrassed. I enjoyed spending time like this. You helped me calm down and relax through the night. So please don't regret this." I continued to stroke her hair with my other arm across her chest to keep her from getting up. "Thank you," I told her, not quite sure what to say. "I just… just, thank you."

As I said that she turned brighter red for a moment, which I could not understand. But seeing my puzzled expression her face started to turn a little less red. The color was still a long way from normal when she eventually answered, "You're welcome." After a moment she asked, "May I get up now?"

"Do you have to? You are warm," I said with a sigh. "I like it." That is one thing I can't get from plants.

"But Istan and Gray will be out soon." She said turning red again. "What if they see me like this?" I felt it would be the wrong time to tell her it was too late for that. Slightly reluctantly I raised my arm that was pinning her down and let her go. She got up and fixed her clothes that were in disarray. She then looked at me and turned bright red. I also looked down and saw that my skirt was completely destroyed. The elves and humans were so worried about showing their body. Imagine getting embarrassed at seeing someone else's body.

"Laurel, why are you naked?" She asked with a higher voice than normal.

"The skirt crumbled while you were sleeping on my lap." I stood up and dusted myself off. "The birch bark strips off very easily. If I am not careful I can find myself completely exposed." I tried to say this with what I thought would be a calming smile. But it did not seem to work since Leafia did not seem comforted by it and was becoming a worrying shade of red. "I should probably regrow it." I let out a small sigh as I began regrow my skirt, then started moving through the morning routine.

Leafia looked …. I don't know the word for her face at that moment. "I can't believe I took off your clothes in my sleep," she said in a really tiny voice. That whole morning she was acting funny. I really did not understand why she seemed to turn slightly red whenever I started talking with her. But it felt like it was something I should not bring up, so I pretended nothing happened.