About forty minutes after I had arrived, Tear arrived on the landing, puffing and panting.
“Your tower is too tall!” she complained between breaths.
“Is it?” I queried, smirking. “It certainly doesn't take me more than 30 seconds to get the top. Maybe you just need to get fitter.”
She gave me a glare that was slightly ruined by her leaning on the wooden doorframe, getting her breath back.
I was sitting on a comfy looking couch, a book in one hand. I had only just sat down when Tear had arrived, but I was not about to let her know that.
“Come,” I said, standing and pulling the couch back into my world storage once she had recovered a little, “let me show you around.”
The floor had changed completely since I had arrived. Before it had been an empty obsidian space, now it was floored with a warm coloured mahogany wood, with stucco walls and ceiling painted a sky blue, and was separated off into various rooms. The stucco had been placed in solid, dry block form and had spread and bonded with the obsidian and other stucco blocks in a complete mockery of how it should be applied. I just thought it was convenient.
“First we have the entrance hall here-welcome mat, coat stand, shoe rack, weapons rack (she said something that sounded like an exasperated “really?” but I ignored it), and a short bench for exhausted people to sit on.”
Tear made an annoyed noise at the thinly veiled jab but didn't comment further so I moved on.
“Through the door here is the central room, two couches, a table and some chairs, a grandfather clock, a writing desk, a bookcase, some empty shelves, some paintings, two large windows, and... a portal gun? Sorry, didn't mean to leave that there,” I said, stowing it away back into my hotbar.
“Uh-hum, anyway,” I pointed at the central pillar that the room was bent round like the hole through a donut. “That's the central shaft, since you were worried about falling down it, I walled it off into its own room; there's a roughly metre gap between the door and the shaft, so I can land on it in if required.” I walked up a staircase on one side of the room, emerging onto a straight corridor that bent in a semicircle round the sealed off central shaft before continuing straight. A door was also set into it, though this one had a warning sign. Tear followed meekly behind.
“The two doors on this side lead to guest rooms in case you make some friends and bring them over to stay.
“That's the bathroom, containing a bath, flushing toilet, sink with a mirror, and a shower that I managed to rig up. Hot and cold water of course.
“And finally, through here's your room, a double bed, night lamp, dresser, and a rather nice section of carpet I bought in Durell. There's also a connecting door leading to the bathroom to make it a bit easier. Sorry but there aren't any nightclothes, so you'll have to either sleep naked or in your robe. We can get some in town tomorrow.
“So, how is it?” I asked, finally turning to look at her.
She was crying silently, tears running off her chin to drip off on the floor.
I flinched; surely I hadn't done something wrong?
“Is this really all mine?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“For as long as you'd like,” I replied, trying to sound reassuring.
She came up to me and wrapped her arms round me. I stood there for a moment, surprised, then returned her embrace as warmly and gently as I could.
After a few minutes she pushed me away and sniffed.
“You just looked like you needed a hug,” the catgirl said with clearly false confidence, and I smiled softly at her.
“Thank you for it,” I said gently. “Now it's late, so you should go to bed. I'll be on the floor upstairs so if you need anything, just come and wake me up ok?”
She sniffed again and nodded and I made my way upstairs. Sometimes her shifting mood confused me, but this time I could understand the ex-street urchin completely.
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