Chapter 38

"What is that John?" Dalia asked, and she was obviously dying to know.

I held the mug to her lips and she took a sip. She twisted up her mouth for a second and then the little light bulb above her head came on.

"It is some type of bruga isn't it?"

"It is called beer. This will be good for us. When the ground is finished shaking and Georgo has told his tale we will ask him to have a ceremony for the new caves and the bathrooms."

"But you must not drink too much bruga John."

"Do you think Dieta and Geera will stray if I do?"

"They would never. But there are new men in camp and they may not know which of us is your mate. They could make a mistake that would make you want to kill them.

"Later, after some weeks, when everyone knows who is who it would make no difference, but you should not drink much bruga today," Dalia said, and I could tell she was serious.

"I rarely drink beer Dalia and never drink enough for others to notice. Do not worry. I would have understood if a man made a mistake. I know you will all set them straight. I don't care how much bruga a man drinks though, if he tries to force a woman he will not see another day. I do not put up with it. I wouldn't even if I were not the leader," I said.

"If it becomes known you may soon have a camp full of women," she said, and laughed.

"Nothing would suit me better. Women almost always work harder than men, and besides, I might want to sneak around and feel their asses. I'm even sure I could get around to welcoming them all sooner or later," I said, and laughed myself, she joined me after a second.

"I am sure you could welcome them all sooner and often," she said.

She pointed out some more new things then and I recognized the egg containers at once and then spied the bacon. I also saw there were three new larger skillets.

The strangest thing was three new containers of salt, each holding one hundred pounds. What in the hell did Argent think I needed with three hundred more pounds of salt? I guess he thought it would go more quickly now since we were sharing it with the others.

My mates had started using it for cooking and had begun giving some to the other women too since I had made it plain I wasn't saving it for trading, but we still had more than forty of the original fifty pounds left.

The only other new things were several insulated coffee mugs with tops, a lot more coffee, and a large party perc coffee maker. It was on a little table of its own with the new coffee mugs, I even saw it had come with a big sugar bowl and a giant plastic jar of powdered creamer. There was also a convienient receptacle to plug it into. I guess Argent was trying to spread the coffee addiction to all.

It only took a few minutes to show Dalia how to make coffee in it. She asked where the heat for cooking the coffee came from and I showed her the cord and told her it came through the wire. I was sure she cataloged it in her mind as more of my magic since she asked no more questions.

Dalia started on breakfast and I went in to try a ride on one of the new commodes. It worked as expected and it was a welcome change to have toilet paper again. I stripped off and took my first shower in a long while and enjoyed shampooing my hair again. I was a little let down after I dried off and noticed I couldn't smell pussy in my beard anymore. I would just have to get another dose.

After I dried and brushed my hair I decided to look and see if I had any scissors with my new booty. I knew I had forgotten to ask for any, but was hoping they might have slipped some in anyway.

Someone up there was paying attention to us now. A little looking in the drawers showed me a set of clippers that would be just right for trimming my beard. I also found there were several hand held hair dryers. I debated with myself over showing the women what they were for.

I hadn't paid any attention before, but when I found the clippers I looked back to the vanity top and there were plenty of receptacles to plug them into. I flicked them on and went to work on my beard. I left it but trimmed it fairly close.

When I'd finished I went back to Dalia. I could have found her by just smelling my way toward the frying bacon. I got one of the new insulated coffee mugs, filled it with coffee, and went over to fill a plate. I saw Geera was up too and she was cooking the eggs. She had fried some and scrambled some and I could see Dalia was watching her closely.

"Is any of it ready for me yet?" I asked, hoping.

They both turned to tell me yes, I think, but they didn't make a sound at first. They just stared at my face as if I were someone they didn't recognize.

"What has happened to you John? Where has your beard gone? Are you sick, did it fall out?" Dalia asked, because Geera was still too shocked to speak.

"I just trimmed it shorter. I found some clippers in the new bathroom."

"What are clippers?" Geera asked, as she came to me and ran a hand along my close-cropped jaw.

"Did it hurt?" Dalia, who was now also taking tactile stock of the situation, asked.

"It didn't hurt and clippers are for cutting hair. I know you all must trim your hair somehow. What do you use?"

"We can use small sticks with the ends heated to embers or we can use very sharp flint blades when they are first knapped. The sticks make our hair smell bad for days though and the blades usually make a stinging pull after a while," Dalia told me.

"You might not want to use the clippers either, but there are some scissors I think you can learn to use."

"What are scissors?" Geera asked.

"I will show you later. I am hungry now."

"It is ready. Where is your plate?" Geera said.

I gave it to her and she returned it piled high. I had just started shoveling food in when Georgo came into the cave.

"Welcome Georgo. We have a surprise for your breakfast and then we will have surprises for you all day long," I said.

"I could smell the breakfast nearly as soon as I walked out of the other cave. My mouth is watering."

Dalia handed him one of the new mugs filled with coffee and Geera gave him a big serving of bacon and eggs. He didn't waste any time getting some of it into his mouth either.

"Did you kill something on the way back while I was sleeping John?" He asked, between mouths full.

"No. This is a gift from a friend who is not here."