The next chapter is posted! Enjoy :)
Just as Galen said, they had reached the outskirts of what appeared to be a medium size village.
But before they could go on, Galen stopped them.
"Wait, before we proceed further, I'm sorry to say that I may have to refer to you as my servant. It's for safety reasons. Please understand." He tells her.
Maybe in her time being referred to as a servant would've rubbed Hanna he wrong way, but here, she understood. Especially, if it means safety for them both.
"I understand. What would I refer to you as if anyone asks?" She inquires.
"Servants tend to call us either Master or Sir." He replied.
A small smile touched her face.
"Really? Funny, that's how we addressed our superiors and other soldiers in the service. We'd address them as 'Sir' or Ma'am'." Hanna says.
He gave her a lopsided smirk.
"Well, there you go now." Galen said.
Then his smile disappears as he eyes her clothes.
He's wondering if they may draw too much attention to themselves with the getup, she's in. They may have to find a solution for it before going into the village.
"I am a bit concerned about your attire though. May draw unwanted attention to ourselves." He pointed out.
Hanna briefly looked down at herself. She almost forgot that apparently the women here only wear dresses and skirts. Then, an idea hit her.
"Galen, can I borrow your blanket?" She asks.
He gave her a questioning look, but he did shrug his pack off and reached into it for his blanket and pulled it out. Afterwards, he handed it over to her.
The chimp watched as she unraveled it, shaking it out. Then she proceeded to wrap it around her lower half and tie it off into what could pass for a makeshift skirt.
"How's this? I know there isn't much I can do about my tank top. But at least my capris are covered." She said.
"That could actually work. Great idea." He replied.
"You ready to go then?" Hanna asks.
"Yes, we can go in the village now. As a precaution though, tuck your tags in your shirt." Galen suggested, while gesturing to her dog tags.
She reached up for her tags then she pulled the front of her tank forward and dropped them down in between her shirt and torso.
"Alright, now we're good." He said, then gestured her to come with him.
The pair cleared the tree line afterwards and the village was now in plain sight.
Hanna was surprised to see a place that looked like it was straight out of the Middle Ages. The homes looked a lot like huts. With clay looking walls and straw roofs.
As they approached it and entered, Hanna continued looking around.
Both humans and apes were out and about doing various things. She saw wooden carts and some farm animals about. Some people were working on various things. Like tending to some of the animals or grabbing pails of water.
'Yeah, it's official. It's medieval times, ape style.' Hanna thought as she continued looking around.
As they continued through, it didn't look like anyone was really paying them any mind. Something Galen was relieved about. Looks like his blanket that she was using as a makeshift skirt did the trick after all.
Now, they just need to find the food and supply stands.
Galen approached a human woman off to his left that was carrying a woven basket filled with linens.
"Excuse me, but where are the food and supply stands located here?" He asks her.
"They are up ahead and around the corner to the left, Sir." She replied.
"Thank you." Galen said.
Afterwards, he and Hanna pressed on and walked ahead.
They walked a few yards down then made a left around a corner in the dirt path. Once they did, it opened into a more open area and the two of them saw various tables and stands set up on both sides of the wide dirt road.
"Ok, looks like we're in luck and there is a lot here. Let's get you a pack, some clothes, a water canteen, and a sack of food supplies." He told her.
"Alright, lead the way, Sir." She says with a small smirk.
He shakes his head with a small smile.
"Alright, Smarty. Let's go then." Galen said.
She walked with him to some of the nearest stands on the left and they started looking through them.
The first couple stands appeared to have various foods. Some she actually recognized like apples and peaches, others she wasn't so sure of. She may have to inquire Galen on what most of these fruits and vegetables are.
"Excuse me, may I have two sacks, please?" Galen asks the human man running the one stand they were at.
"Yes, Sir. Here you are." The man replied as he reached down beneath the table and pulled a couple sacks out of a wicker basket.
He then handed them to Galen, who thanked him for the bags.
"Here." Galen said, as he gave a sack to Hanna.
"Thanks, though I'm afraid I'm still unfamiliar with some of the foods here. You may have to tell me what they are." She says, in a low tone.
"That's fine. Whatever foods catch your eye, let me know. I'll tell you what they are." He replied back, quietly.
She thought if she were to ask such things out loud, other people at the stands may look at her funny and Hanna wants to learn everything she can so that she can blend in better.
Hanna watched as Galen started looking through the assortments and started bagging some fruits and vegetables.
She shifted her gaze to the choices in front of her and stared looking through them. Hanna grabbed some of the things here she was familiar with. Like some apples and peaches. She also grabbed what looked like berries as well. Then she spotted some brightly colored fruits that were an orange-yellow color and picked one of them up. It was oval in shape and the size of a potato.
"A graddo. Very sweet." He told her.
Hanna looked at him, then the fruit in her hand.
"I'll give it a shot." She said, bagging it.
She grabbed two more of the graddos and put them in her sack.
Then she went through a few others, Galen telling her their names and what they tasted like.
Her eyes spotted one type of fruit that was a bright lime green in color and around the size and shape of a baseball. She picked it up and examined it. Galen saw what she picked up and scrunched up his nose.
"That's a leema. Very sour. You wouldn't probably want that."
"Really? I love sour. I'll take a few of these." Hanna said and bagged about five of them.
She saw Galen cringe out of the corner of her eye with a grimace on his face. It brought an amused grin to her face.
Hanna looked at a couple more types of fruit and again, Galen told her what they were called and how they tasted. Some she put back and then some she took. Afterwards, she started going through the vegetable selection.
There was one in particular that caught her eye and she picked up the small bushel of the little red spheres with a long thin root still connected at the end.
'Please, tell me these are radishes.' She thought.
Hanna loved radishes, especially in her salads. Though there were times, she would take them out and eat them as a snack too.
She took a couple little bushes and bagged them.
"You like radishes, huh?" Galen says.
"I love them. One of my favorite vegetables." Hanna replied.
"Too bitter for me. Plus, they make me gassy." He said, while wrinkling his nose.
She had to purse her lips to keep herself from laughing out loud at his response.
"Thanks for letting me know, I'll be sure to keep them away from you then." Hanna teased.
He snorted, "You can keep them all. As I said, a little too bitter for me."
The pair continued looking through the vegetables. She found what she could identify as cucumbers and grabbed a few of those. Then she bagged a couple other vegetables that Galen told her about. They were at that stand for several minutes before moving onto another.
There was one stand next to it that had these strange foods laid out on the table.
"Those are dried out meat strips. Go ahead and grab some for yourself." Galen told her.
"Thanks, you getting some too then?" She asked.
He shook his head, "No, most apes don't eat meat. I don't."
"Ok." She said.
Then she went to the table and started looking through the selection. Though she couldn't really tell which meats were which as she scanned the table.
"Excuse me, Sir, but which meat is which here? Like which is cow, or which is pig?" She asked a man behind the table.
"This one over here on the far right is cow. The own next to it is pig, the one next to that is deer, and the one next to the deer is goat." He told her as he pointed them out.
"Thank you, Sir." She says.
"You're welcome. Would you like a sack for the meat?" He asks.
"Yes, please. Thank you." Hanna said.
Then man handed her an empty sack and Hanna started going through the assorted meat. She grabbed some cow meats, some pig meats, and even some deer ones. But she didn't touch the goat one. She tried goat when she was overseas once and wasn't crazy about it.
She got a decent amount before leaving. Then she placed the meat sack within the fruit and vegetable sack, as she walked over to Galen.
"Got everything you need there?" Galen asks.
"Yeah, did you see any stands here that sell other supplies we may need?" Hanna inquired.
"I believe there is a clothing stand a couple tables down. We should take a look so that we can find you new clothes." He told her.
"Fair enough." She replied.
As they walked down to the clothing tables, Hanna was a little annoyed at the fact that she would have to wear a dress or skirt. Seeing as she was never really a dress person. But if it means not drawing attention to herself and staying safe, she'll have to go with it.
They made it to the clothing tables within the next couple minutes.
Like the previous food stands they were at, there was quite an assortment of clothes here. There were shirts, pants, shorts, dresses, and skirts of many colors to choose from. There was also a selection of shoes at the end of the table too.
"You may want to look at the adolescent or kids' clothes. Seeing as I don't think the adult ones will fit you." He joked.
Hanna rolled her eyes.
"At least whatever I get, will be a better fashion statement than the clothes you're wearing." She quipped.
"Hardly, this outfit was well tailored when I got it." He replied.
She shook her head, then went to the table and started looking through what they have.
After a couple minutes, Hanna did find a few piles of neatly folded sleeveless shirts. Upon her observation of what the women here were wearing, some of them were wearing sleeveless tops and it has been pretty warm out.
She eventually found a soft lilac purple sleeveless she liked. She placed the sack of food down and held it up to herself. It looks like it would be a good fit, maybe a tad baggy. But she went with it and draped it over her forearm and continued looking for more clothes.
Hanna then found a greyish pink t-shirt with the sleeves going down to the elbow. She held that one up to herself to gage the size. This one looked a bit bigger than the sleeveless, but not too much. She decided to go with it regardless.
Then she got to the part she hated, looking at skirts.
It took her a little longer to find a skirt she believes will suffice. Though she kind of had to look at more of the adolescent skirt sizes because most of the women's skirts were way too long and bypassed her short legs, dragging on the ground.
Hanna threw Galen a look when she heard him snickering as he watched her hold up a skirt that was clearly too long for her.
"Quiet, before I make you squeeze into one." She whispered at him.
The chimp's grin quickly disappears, and he took a step away from her.
Then it was her turn to chuckle, at the look on his face and how he was quick to back away.
Then she went back to weeding through the adolescent skirts. At least they were very loose, which meant plenty of unrestricted movement, which if she's going to be doing a lot of walking and trekking through the woods, then she needs something that won't limit her movements.
Hanna eventually found one skirt that looked doable. She held it up to her waist and noted it came down to her shins. The waistline didn't look too big either. The skirt was a greyish green in color almost like an army green or olive green.
She figures this one will suffice then placed it over her forearm to go with the two shirts she had.
Then Hanna saw small, thin pieces of fabric next to the skirts and picked one up. She studied the piece of fabric, it was quite long. It didn't take her long to realize that this is what the women wore around their waist. Probably to keep the skirt in place below the shirt.
She found a green one that looked like the same shade of green as the skirt she had and took it.
Afterwards, she walked down the table pass a few people to where some of the shoes were and started looking through them. They were mostly off colors with most of them being brown in color. The trick will be finding a pair that may fit properly.
Hanna looked through them and found one pair that looked like around her size. She took one shoe and held it up to the bottom of her sneaker for size comparison. Thankfully, it looked to be around the same size, albeit a centimeter or two shorter at the tip then her sneaker. In the end, she went with them.
She turned around ready to leave the stand but paused.
'Shit, I forgot to look and see if they have underwear here.' She thought.
Hanna turned back around and went looking down the table again.
Sadly, she didn't see anything at the first table. So, she went to the second table of clothes right next to it and looked. She was there looking for about three minutes, when she spotted more small pieces of fabrics next to a pile of dresses. She picked up one and looked at it. Judging by the shape and size, it was underwear or close to it. The fabric around it was thin and beige in color. Then when she felt the crotch area, the fabric there was much thicker.
They were pretty stretchy too. She ended up grabbing a few pairs.
Hopefully, she was done. She was never really one for shopping and wanted to be done with it already. Thankfully, when she went over what she had, she was certain she got everything she needed.
Hanna saw Galen was still there waiting for her and walked over to him.
"You find everything you need?" He asks.
"Yeah, though I definitely think I should look for a pack next." Hanna said, while trying to juggle her armful of clothes on one side and carrying her sack of food in her other hand.
"Here, give me your food sack. I'll carry that for you while we continue here." He offered and held out his free hand to her.
"Thanks." She says, handing it over.
"Welcome, while you were looking at clothes, I scanned some of the other stands. I believe I saw at least one table across the way that sold packs. It's over there." He said, pointing across the dirt road.
Hanna followed where he was pointing and saw a large table that looked to have some leather-like items on them.
"Ok, let's go then." She says.
Then they start heading over.
It was pretty crowded here, so they had to dodge some people as they crossed the dirt road to get to the stands on the other side. But they made it across after a couple minutes and stopped at the table Galen pointed out.
Just as he said, there were a variety of leather packs here along with some other goods made of leather.
Hanna looked through them, she was impressed by the quality and design of the packs. They certainly looked very well made. There were also different sizes too. Since they were going to be traveling a lot, she wanted to find a nice size one to be able to fit all the important essentials she'll need in them.
Galen helped her look for one. Most of the ones he found didn't look like they are maybe big enough though.
She closely scanned the table until she spotted one that looked fairly large near the back. Hanna leaned forward, trying to reach it. But her reach was a bit limited. Then the one running the table picked it up and handed it over to her.
Unlike the last couple stands that she went to that were run by humans, this table was run by a chimp.
"Thank you, Sir." She says.
"Welcome. If anything, you reminded me to put some of my bigger packs to the front of the table." He says, with a small grin.
"Well, you're welcome for the reminder." Hanna lightly joked.
His grin turned to one of amusement, then he grabbed a couple more larger packs and started pushing them closer to the front of the table.
"Are you looking for a size in particular?" The chimp asks her.
"Big enough for traveling, to you know, fit all the important things in it." She says.
"Well, these few are pretty good for long distance traveling. I also have a couple others here." He says, then pushed two more decent size packs up to the front.
"These are very nice. You crafted them yourself?" Galen asks.
"Yes, been working with leather since my teens." The other chimp said.
Galen and the stand owner exchanged a few more words as Hanna looked through the packs until she found one that looked suitable.
It was around the size of a backpack. Kind of reminded her of the old Jansport backpack she had at home. She opened up the leather pack and looked inside it. The pack looked very roomy inside. Big enough to fit her own extra shirt, the underwear, her old clothes, and even a blanket. Could probably squeeze a wear canteen in there too.
"I think I'll go with this one." She says.
"Nice choice. One of my favorites. Have one like it at home I keep for long distance traveling." The chimp running the stand said.
"While we're here, can you point us out to a stand that sells blankets and water canteens please?" Galen asks.
"Sure. One of my friends sell water canteens and waterskins. He's two tables down from me. Then there's a large table all the way down the end, which is the very first table on this side of the road, that's where you'll find blankets, shawls, and aprons." The other chimp stated.
"Thank you." Hanna told him.
"Yes, Thanks." Galen added.
Before going too far though, Hanna stopped.
"Hey, can you take my new pack and open it for me? Then I'll squeeze these clothes in. Afterwards, I can take my food sack back." She said.
"Alright, let me place these sacks down first." Galen replied.
He placed the sacks of food down by his feet, then held his hands out.
Hanna gave him the new pack and he opened the top flap and held it open for her. She then grabbed her clothes, rolled the articles up and shoved them in. She shoved the new shoes in as well. Then she took the pack, buttoned the flap, and shouldered the pack.
Afterwards, she took her food sack back. The pair left then and walked the couple stands down to where the water canteens were.
Once they got there, Hanna started looking through the selection they had. There was an assortment of canteens and waterskins. She paid more attention to the canteens rather than the waterskins and look through those.
It didn't take long to find one she liked. The canteen was a nice size and had a nice, flat, thick leather strap connected to it.
"You good with that one?" Galen asks.
"Yeah, it's good. There anything here you need?" Hanna asked.
"No, we can move onto the blankets table now." He replied
They walked down the rows of tables to the very first one on the left.
There was a pretty big selection of blankets to choose from. Like the clothes, there were different colors and many even had some patterns on them. Some looked to be made of cotton or cloth while some appeared to be quilts.
As she looked at some of the rolled-up blankets, she spotted one that seemed to have caught her attention.
Hanna reached out and picked it up. Then she unraveled it and gave it a look. It was a very lovely color, a deep crimson red and it was very soft. The blanket was about the size of a large beach towel. It had streaks of lighter shades of red on either end.
"This looks like a good one." She said as she eyed it.
Galen looked at it and reached out to touch it. The material was quite soft, and it was a good size for a travel blanket.
"Not bad. Good size for traveling." He said.
"Yeah. Guess this is something else to scratch off the shopping list." Hanna teased.
"Good to know. Because shopping with females can be very tedious and quite the headache." Galen teased.
She snorted, "I didn't take that long, Galen."
"Really? You sure? Because I feel like I almost fell asleep while waiting for you at the clothing stand." He joked.
"And I say you're up to your eyeballs in bullshit. Because I didn't take all that long." Hanna quipped.
"Admit it, you love shopping just as much as the next female." He continued teasing her.
"No, I really don't. I'm more of an outdoors kind of person. I prefer doing things outside like walking, hiking, or bicycling." She said, as they walked away from the blanket table after she rolled it back up and grabbed the food sack of the ground by her feet.
"What's bicycling again?" He asks her.
"Another way to get around but can also use it for exercise. It's something with two wheels with a seat between them and there are pedals a couple feet below the seat. You put your feet on the pedals and got to push down on them to make it go. I'll show you pictures and videos of them on my iPhone later." She told him.
Still baffled her that the search engine apps on her phone still get a signal and work. There still may be satellites up there somewhere and possibly cell towers that somehow still must be working somewhere.
"Fair enough." He says.
"What shall we do now though?" Hanna inquires.
"Well, still a few hours of sunlight left. We can look around the rest of the village and maybe see if someone may have a spare room or barn we could hold up in for a night or two. Or we may get lucky and there could be a vacant hut we can use while here." Galen said.
"Is it common for there to be any vacant huts?" She asks.
"Depends. Usually, bigger villages may have some to spare. Not sure if this one maybe all that big. But it doesn't hurt to check. Even if we could find a spare room or barn, that would be good enough." He told her.
She furrowed her eyebrows.
"Did you say a barn? Like with actual cows, horses, and pigs?" Hanna implied.
"Yes, and don't forget goats and chickens." He joked.
"You mean to say, you slept in barns in some places?" She stated, a little surprised.
"Yes, I have. Along with my friends Alan and Pete. Some of the barns were actually quite comfortable. Especially, when there are several layers of hay to sleep on." Galen teased.
"And how many times did you wake up to find yourself curled up next to a pig?" She asked, with a wide smirk.
"Hah! Zero times. But Pete woke up to a goat licking his face once. Tried to give him a great big smooch on the mouth and everything." He joked.
Hanna chuckled at that.
"Talk about a rude awakening. Or more like probably startled awake. Can only hope he wasn't dreaming about making out with a girl and nearly kiss the goat back in his sleep." She jokes.
"I doubt it. As soon as he woke up to that, he ran and shoved his face in a barrel full of water. Alan and I were already up and saw the whole thing. We were practically laughing to tears the whole time." Galen said, with laughter in his voice as he recalls that memory.
He and Alan were teasing him about it all day after that.
The pair continued walking about the village. It wasn't huge but wasn't small either. They both learned the name of the village was Bronte. The people there seemed friendly enough.
Galen also liked doing walk abouts in villages, just in case they need to make any hasty escapes into the woods if any troopers trudge through here looking for them. Or mainly just him.
A part of him was still unsure if Urko and Zaius were still pursuing him. Especially, now with Alan and Pete gone. Two them, the two astronauts were the bigger threat. So, he wasn't entirely sure if they were still actively hunting him or stopped after his friends were killed.
His gaze shifted to Hanna as they continued walking around the area.
He can only hope that the troopers who saw her won't report her to Urko and Zaius. But he likes to think even if they do, Urko wouldn't know what she looks like because he has never seen her. Plus, with these new clothes, he hopes she'll be able to blend in before being noticed.
Because the last thing he wants, is to lose another friend. Galen feels, after losing Alan and Pete, that he needs to do his very best to protect Hanna and that he felt responsible for her.
The question is if he can keep her safe. Or will he fail her like he failed Alan and Pete.
Galen tried to banish the thoughts from his mind. Because the more he thought about it, the more upsetting it was. It hurt thinking about it. Even harder to get the horrible memory out of his mind of what went down only three weeks prior.
"You, ok? You suddenly seem very quiet, and you look conflicted." Hanna said.
The chimp was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her voice.
"Huh, what was that?" He asks, as he shifted his gaze to her.
Galen could see concern written on her face and she looked at him.
"I asked if you were ok. You were quiet for quite some time and had a conflicted look on your face." Hanna repeated.
He gave her a small smile, "I'm fine. Just my thoughts running amok on me again is all."
"Perhaps, you should set up a cage in your mind and shove them all in their and lock the door." She lightly joked, trying to cheer him up.
It must've worked, because a small chuckle left him.
"Not a bad idea. Shall I purposely misplace the key too so I can't find it?" He added.
"Just place them under some metaphoric couch cushions. Trust me when I say, it works. Can't tell you how many times I actually lost a set of keys because the couch ate them. Literally speaking." She teased.
That seemed to do it, because he really started laughing after that one.
"So, in other words, don't give you anything important to hang onto, because odds are, you'll lose it. Especially, if we're in a place where there are couches." He said, with some laughter in his voice.
"Or kitchen cabinets. That's another one. Plus, there was this one time, and I'm not even sure how, but I once lost my iPhone and couldn't find it. Then I went to open the fridge to grab some orange juice and there it was, next to a plate of left over steak. Still a mystery as to how they got there. Though I have a feeling my friend Jason did it as a joke. Seeing as it coincidentally went missing around the time he was hanging out at my place." She speculates.
Galen laughed a little again when she told him more of the crazy places she has lost things.
"Thanks for the advice. Now I know what to do when you do something to annoy me. I'll just hide your phone." He teased.
"Don't even think about it. Or I may be tempted to cut off all that hair of yours." She playfully threatened.
"Yeah, ok, you feisty little thing you. In the meantime, shall we go inquire if anyone here has a vacant room to spare or maybe a vacant hut?" He inquires.
"Sure, lead the way, Master." Hanna teased.
Galen smirks, "You know, I almost kind of like it when you call me that. May demand you call me that more often."
"Yeah right, keep dreaming, buddy." She says, rolling her eyes.
"I think I will. Considering sometimes they say, dreams do come true." He joked.
"Let's just see if there is somewhere we can stay the night, then we'll continue this little squabble. Ok, smartass?" She retorts.
"I'll hold you to it." Galen says, in a teasing tone.
Hanna just shakes her head with a small smirk.
They found themselves back in the center of the village where the supply stands were. Galen went to one of them and inquired if there was someone in this village who had a spare room or if there was a vacant hut. A couple of the stand owners didn't know though. But when he got to the fourth stand owner and asked, he said there was. He himself actually had a spare, unused room back home he can let them use.
Ironically, it was the chimp that sold Hanna the leather travel pack.
He introduced himself as Orzo. Whereas Galen and Hanna introduced themselves back. The chimp, Orzo eventually packed his table up once it started getting dark then he led them back to his home which was only around the corner from the town square.
Once he opened the door and led them inside, they were met with a female chimp who was sitting in a rocking chair, knitting. By the looks of her stomach, she was obviously pregnant. Orzo introduced her as his wife. Her name was Marta. Who seemed very sweet.
"So, Orzo told you about the spare room did her?" Marta inquired.
"Yes, my servant and I have been traveling a lot. We've mostly been camping out. Then we found ourselves her to mainly stock or supplies. We figured while we were here, we'd ask around if there was a spare room or hut to use for a night or so." Galen explained.
"Well, you came to the right place. That room hasn't been used for a long time. It is in fact a guest room. Though once our little one comes, it may be their room one day." She said, while patting her swollen stomach.
"Congratulations." Hanna said, while gesturing to her stomach.
"Thank you. Well, anyways, Orzo will show you to the guestroom. It's just down the hall here." Marta told them.
"Thank you." Galen says.
"Right this way then." Orzo says.
He then led them down a hall that branched off the living room.
As the three of them headed down, Orzo pointed out the bathroom on the left side of the hall on the way down to the guestroom, so they knew where it was. Then he stopped at a door near the end of the hall and opened it.
The pair stepped inside and looked around.
It was a decent size room with two twin size looking beds that were next to each other against the back wall. There was a small wooden nightstand between the two beds against the wall and it had a few candles on it. On the opposite wall across from the bed, was a big wooden dresser.
"It's a very nice room, Sir. Thank you." Hanna says as she looks around.
"Thank you and you're welcome." He told her.
Then his eyes shifted to Galen.
"Do you need anything while I'm here? Or you just going to settle in?" Orzo asks him.
"I think we are good here and are just going to settle in. Thank you, Orzo." Galen said.
The other chimp nodded, then he quietly closed the door to give them privacy and went back down the hall to tend to his wife.
"Guess we did luck out after all. And those beds look very comfortable." Hanna says.
"Indeed, beats the woods anytime." He replied, as he set his food sack down, then shrugged off his pack.
"I'm going to use the bathroom really quick." Galen tells her.
"That's fine. I probably should change into some of the new clothes I got." She said.
He nodded, then he walked to the door and left the room.
Hanna went into her pack and pulled out the clothes and shoes in there. She unraveled Galen's blanket from around her waist then stripped out of her clothes. She grabbed the skirt first and stepped into it then pulled it up her legs. The material around the waistband was pretty flexible, but she still had to give it a slight tug up her thighs. Then she pulled the sleeveless shirt over her head and pulled it down. The shirt came down to the top of her thighs.
Hanna then pulled out the thin piece of fabric and tied it around her waist to help keep the skirt in place, seeing as it was a tad loose around her small waist. Lastly, she picked up the new, soft leather shoes and started slipping them over her ankle socks.
Around the same time, that is when Galen came back from the bathroom.
She pulled on and loosened the leather laces, as she squeezed her feet in. Then she tightened the laces back up and tied them. The shoes felt pretty comfortable. Almost like slippers, but with harder soles on the bottom. Hanna took a few steps to test them out. They didn't feel too tight or snug as she walked, which was good.
"You look very nice in that outfit." Galen told her.
"Thanks. May take a little while to get used to. But I'll manage." Hanna replied.
She then picked up his blanket and handed it back to him.
"Thanks for letting me use it." She says.
"You're welcome." He said.
"So, what now, Boss." Hanna said, with a lopsided smirk as she put her old clothes, her utility pocketknife and iPhone that was still in its case into her pack. She also put her new blanket in here too.
"Well, even though the sun just went down, we don't have to turn in just yet. We can either stay in here and converse with each other to pass the time or go out and converse with Orzo and Marta." Galen suggested.
"We could. But what could we talk about with them without giving to much info away about us?" She asks.
"There are a lot of things to talk about. My friends and I have conversed with many people in the villages we went to. The trick is to just don't give away where you're really from." He told her.
Hanna thought about it a little more. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to converse with others. She knew how to keep a low profile when needed. This really shouldn't be any different.
"Ok, let's go chat with them then. After all, I'm not antisocial." She teased.
He chuckled, "Yes, I've noticed. Pretty certain you chewed my ears off yesterday afternoon and last night."
"Hey, I'm not that much of a chatterbox. Besides, I still say you were doing way more talking than me." She quipped.
"Well then, let's go out there and talk with them. Whoever they tell to shut up, between the two of us, wins." Galen joked.
Hanna let out a silent chuckle while shaking her head. Then she walked over to Galen and the pair left the bedroom and went back down the hall to the living room.
They found Marta siting back in her rocking chair, knitting again. While Orzo sat on the couch reading. When he saw Galen and Hanna enter, he invited them to sit on the large couch that could easily fit four people on it.
The four of them all took turns chatting. Mainly about simple things like where they were from, how long they have been traveling for, did they have any specific destinations in mind that they have yet to see. Things of that nature.
Galen and Hanna answered the questions quite fluidly without any slip-ups. But then Galen had been at this long enough and knew how to talk with others without revealing too much. Hanna knew how to talk in the same perspective as well.
They had a nice time chatting with the ape couple who really were very nice people.
The four chatted for the better part of the next three hours before they all decided it was time to turn in for the night. So, they all got up and headed for the hall in front of the living room. Orzo and Marta went to their bedroom which was the first and only door on the left side of the hall. While Galen and Hanna walked the few feet further down to the second door on the right at the end of the hall to the spare bedroom and went inside.
"Damn. I'm exhausted." She said with a groan as she belly flopped down on the bed.
Galen thought it amusing when he saw her literally drop down on her stomach onto the covers.
"Yes, who knew talking could take so much out of you?" He teased.
Hanna rolled onto her side and rested her cheek in the palm on her hand.
"You're one to talk. Considering it seemed like you were doing most of the talking out of everyone in there." She said.
He snorted, "You may want to rethink that one. It seemed more like you wouldn't let anyone get a word in with all the talking you did."
"Like I said, I'm just trying to blend in with the locals." Hanna joked.
"Oh, trust me, I think it's working." Galen teased.
She rolled her eyes.
"Uh huh, anyways, good night, smartass. Try not to snore too loudly this time." She said, as she pulled her shoes off and got under the covers.
"I don't snore." He says, as he goes to lay down in the bed across from her.
"Yeah right, practically sounded like a bear going through the campsite last night." She muttered as she turned onto her stomach and faced away from him.
"Just like I heard what sounded like someone strangling a chicken last night." Galen mumbled, trying to get the last word in.
Though it was a lie, she didn't snore at all, he was just trying to mess with her.
Then he watched as she lifted one hand up. She enclosed her fist and only her middle finger was up. It only lasted a few seconds, before she brought it back down.
"Do I even want to know what that gesture means?" He implies.
"Nope." Was all she said.
An amused grin appeared on his face.
Then the pair eventually drifted to sleep for the night.
Until Next Time ;)