Blake's alarm went off at 430, a soft sound that was more than enough to wake her up. She yawned, ears flicking back for a second before she slipped out of bed. She gathered her clothes and went into the bathroom, quickly showering and running through some other parts of her morning routine.

  She stopped by Weiss' room and tilted one ear toward the door, resting a hand on it. She heard haggard breathing and hesitated before knocking. The lamp rotated a bit on the table and she could no longer make out the noise generator she'd put on Weiss' scroll the previous night. After that, though, the door cracked and Weiss looked at her, blue eyes wide and she clearly shook. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you," Blake apologised.

  "I-It's fine... I just..." Weiss shuddered visibly and opened the door. The clothes hung off her thin frame in a way that made Blake frown. She had seen just how thin Weiss was yesterday, but this was still sad to see. She had to be careful with how she fed Weiss, though... She didn't want to send her through refeeding syndrome which would require medical assistance. Currently, Weiss had no government identification but... She would deal with that soon. Hacking the Valian government's systems wouldn't be too terribly hard.

  "Come on. YOu're awake. I was getting ready for the day anyway but...I might have to stay closed today to help get you on your feet." Weiss looked down at that. Blake held her hand up to Weiss then rested it on her shoulder, Weiss tensing noticeably. She winced. She knew what that felt like all too much. She still wasn't great at accepting touch after what Adam had done to her. "It's fine."

  "If you're sure..."

  "I am. Come on; how about I get us some breakfast?" Weiss nodded a little though her gaze remained cast down to the floor. Blake took her hand back and headed into the kitchen. She cooked up some of what Anna had said was okay for Weiss, just sticking to it for herself. Not her personal choice, but it was easier to just cook multiple servings of one meal than try to make two different ones. She was all about efficiency in the kitchen at this point. Sometimes she would make elaborate Menagerine meals for herself, but at this point, simple, hearty meals were usually what she preferred. She was always exhausted after a long day. She had nobody to help out with cleaning and such, so she needed to do it all herself. It was fine. She'd get some help once she was making more money. But for now, it was all on her.

  Weiss picked at her food. Blake could feel the literal starvation in her body, but her aura was almost entirely shut down from how triggered she was. Whatever had happened had severely made her not want to do anything. "Weiss... I can sense I did something wrong. Can you please tell me so I don't repeat my mistakes?" She kept her tone soft and gentle, not wanting to upset Weiss any further, but she couldn't make amends for what she didn't know what was wrong. All she could sense was that she'd triggered her badly and stressed her out.

  Weiss frowned. "...You knocked on the door." Blake blinked. That was a trigger? She knew triggers could be highly specific and individual and even downright strange. Something so common though... THat was definitely odd. "I can see your disbelief..." Weiss looked down at the table. "That was always the first thing they'd do right before a torture session." That would definitely do it then…

  "I won't do it again then. Will talking through the door be okay if I want to check on you? Like just saying your name. And I heard I startled you when I knocked... You hit the lamp, didn't you?" She'd heard the circle around a couple times as if she hit the lampshade.

  Weiss blinked. "You heard that?"

  Blake twitched her cat ears. "They're real and just as sensitive as an actual cat's ears. I can hear ultrasonic frequencies without any problem. My hearing ranges high above a normal human's." She couldn't really blame Weiss for not thinking things through all the way... It definitely wasn't the primary thing at the forefront of Weiss' mind right now. She'd told her about the Faunus but just being out of torture like that... Yeah. It wasn't going to be high on her priority list.

  Weiss frowned. "Oh... But yeah... YOu startled me and I hit the lampshade... It rotated a few times but didn't fall over."

  "It's fine. Don't worry too much. I didn't mean to startle you. I just heard your breathing being hard and wanted to check on you." She couldn't help it. And it wasn't like she wanted to just open the door and barge in either. Privacy was incredibly important to her. "Do you think you know why you were breathing so hard...?" If she could do anything to help Weiss' stress lower, she would. She was really trying but it was hard when she didn't have the appropriate training. She had her own experiences to go off, but everyone experienced PTSD differently. Weiss was less than 24 hours out from torture but...she clearly had it from how hypervigilant she was being. It would probably only get worse as Weiss settled in and reality hit her.

  "It's just...too quiet. They used soundproofing magic to make my cell completely soundproof. The only sound that came through was someone knocking on the door." Weiss' frown remained etched on her face. Blake winced a little. No wonder she'd started so badly and been so triggered by the knock on the door... She'd try to not do that anymore. She was trying, but it'd take time to figure out all of Weiss' triggers and how to avoid them.

  "We'll definitely look into a white noise machine for you or something... I'm guessing the noise from your scroll still wasn't loud enough?" She'd tried. She really had. But she'd needed to think quickly to try to make sure Weiss didn't fall asleep... "Or maybe a wireless speaker at least."

  "That would probably be a good idea... The little speaker in the scroll wasn't loud enough on its own for me."

  It was about then that a message came from Anna. Hey, Blake. If you want, I can drop off your usual baked goodies for no extra cost, then you can swing by my shop. How's that sound? Blake blinked a bit. She made a fair few little pastries to be sold alongside her coffee and other drinks which was why she woke up so early. But if she could cut that out for at least today... That'd be useful.

  All right.

  I also got Weiss all set up with the government. Well, that also saved her time. She could probably open on time today. Of course, she knew that meant hacking, but she wouldn't complain. She could open on time. Though that did leave one question…

  "Weiss... I'll need to leave you alone unless you feel like you can work... But it's all on your feet." She felt like leaving Weiss alone was the last thing she should do, considering how isolated she'd been for Holy Mother knew how long. She couldn't not just open. She could've stuck with translation work, but a cafe was more her speed with how much she adored food and tea and such.

  Weiss frowned again. "I mean I could easily run the register if you'd be willing to give me a chair or stool or something. There's no way I'd be able to be on my feet all day like that though. My body's way too ravaged from the lack of good food and nutrition..."

  "I can do that. Most cashiers in Vale are allowed stools. I can be barista and you handle the register. For now, how about we consider me covering your room and board as your pay?" Weiss wouldn't be able to do much on her own or go very far yet. It wasn't like she'd be able to go out into the city for hours and ride public transit yet. She wasn't trying to hold anything above Weiss' head. It just...made sense to do that until Weiss was able to handle more on her own.

  She nodded. "Okay." She paused. "You won't...turn me out on the street if I don't feel like I can work, will you?"

  Blake shook her head. "Absolutely not. I know you can't handle doing much right now. It'd be cruel to do so." She knew what it was like, to be at rock bottom and having escaped a horrible situation with nowhere else to run or go. Even now, her life was under threat if Adam ever found her. She knew that staying in one place wasn't good for her, but she had become comfortable in Vale and could only hope Adam wouldn't find her... It'd been a few years so she could only pray and hope…

  "Thank you..."

  Blake smiled. "IT's no problem." They finished up with breakfast and she heard the buzzer for someone requesting access to the house. She got up and flicked on the little screen, seeing Anna. She waved then motioned off screen into the alley and left. Blake tilted her head. "Would you be okay to walk with me out to Anna's shop?" She thought that was what Anna was asking about.

  "It's hard for me to get up and down the stairs..."

  "I'll help you; don't worry." Weiss' body was incredibly fragile right now, so she knew one bad tumble would probably cause severe damage. Her body was so weakened that her bones would probably break and take a long time to heal with how bad it was. With that done, though, they headed down the stairs, Weiss leaning against Blake.

  In the alley, a small tent had been erected. It was relatively nondescript and Blake helped lead Weiss into it. Inside was a full-blown shop with everything one could need: clothes, TVs, and so on. Anna stood behind the counter and waved, grinning. "Feel free to pick whatever you want, Weiss. It's all coming out of Mister Gele's pocket." The name made Weiss tense and Blake's ears twitched a little. Jacques Gele was head of the SDC, at least in this world. What had he done to Weiss in her world...?

  Weiss nodded a bit and started walking around, but then she looked at Anna. "I can't really carry much... Even clothes feel heavy right now." Blake winced a little.

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  "It's unusual, but just drop non-fragile things like clothes on the ground. If you want bigger items or anything, here." Anna tossed Weiss a pad of sticky notes. They landed with a soft thump on the ground and Weiss picked them up.

  Blake leaned against the counter and watched her shop around. It was strange to see someone just dropping clothes on the ground after examining them, but if it worked, it worked. Anna went around and started picking them up and putting them into a basket. Anna was really accommodating... She seemed to be motivated by profit almost exclusively, but she wasn't a heartless monster. If she was, she'd be demanding profits from Blake for this additional stuff. But no, she was allowing Weiss to take her time and shop in a way that was good for her and not forcing her to carry heavy objects.

  Weiss eventually came to the TV section and looked at Blake. "Can I get one?"

  Blake smiled at her. "Your room, get whatever you want." Weiss nodded a bit and started looking through them, obviously comparing specs and such. Blake looked at her scroll and her eyebrows went up. Time hadn't passed at all despite how long it felt like it had been. She looked at Anna, an eyebrow raised. The merchant did nothing except grin at her. Well, at least she wasn't going to be late opening unless she wanted to bed. Apparently timespace was a mere suggestion to Anna... This woman was crazy.

  Eventually, Weiss picked out a TV of a moderate size and tagged it with a sticky note along with a bracket. Anna picked those up and brought them behind the counter. Weiss also stopped to look at laptops and took quite a while with those which Blake could understand. She wanted good specs for her own devices and, being a technomancer, she could only imagine how much good specs would mean to someone like Weiss. And she eventually picked up a box and brought it to the front counter. "There... I think I have everything I want." She looked at Blake, eyebrows creased inward.

  "Weiss, it's fine. I said you can do whatever you want to with your room. We can probably go furniture shopping sometime soon..."

  "I can drop by tomorrow with furniture and other knick knacks for decoration." Anna grinned. "If you give me a key, I can get the TV and everything set up." She looked at Blake. "By the way, I set up a rotating cash drawer on your register before I left last night. I also set up a rotational control that'll let you control where your cafe is, as well as show you where you are right now.”

  Blake blinked and nodded. "All right then." So she'd essentially broken into the cafe. Then again, knowing Anna, she could probably get into anywhere. She hadn't given her a key but yeah... That was important. Knowing where she was and being able to change to where she wanted to be would be a good idea. She would just let things fall where they may, at least, but there might be times she was needed or just wanted to be somewhere else. Well, that was fine and dandy with her. Being in control over something like that would be good.

  She got in her pocket and pulled out a spare key then handed it to Anna. "I'll drop it back off once I'm done getting everything set up. I'll have one of my sisters drop off your baked goods for today." She smiled.

  "All right then." She wasn't really sure what that meant, but it was best to not question Anna.

  Weiss had picked up a massive stock of books in the meanwhile, though. Blake shook her head a little,but she could and did understand the appeal of books. Then again, she'd probably want explanations if she was on a new world entirely. Weiss really did have a lot to learn. She really wouldn't hold it against her if she couldn't work much, though... Being through that couldn't be easy. It'd taken her a long time personally to settle down from being released from Adam's hold. She still held some level of anxiety over him finding her, but she hoped it would never happen. She was only eighteen, though... That left a lot of decades for him to find her especially if her cafe grew in renown in Vale... That was a threat in and of itself. Everything was a threat as far as Adam was concerned…

  Anna threw the books into a messenger bag and smiled. "I"ll bring it all up. I promise~ Just feel free to get ready for the day and such~" Blake nodded and helped Weiss back up the stairs.

  "If you want to shower or take a bath or something, feel free. I don't open until 7 and it's only 515 right now." She smiled at Weiss. "Just text me when you want to come down. I can't have you breaking a bone and needing to be taken to the hospital."

  Weiss nodded meekly. "All right." Weiss went back into her room and gathered some clothes up, then Blake saw her head into the bathroom. Blake headed back down to the cafe and started opening up everything. Normally she'd be baking right now, but she saw Anna come in with boxes of goodies. Blake opened up the display cabinet and let her start filling the plates with all sorts of pastries and baked goods. She would definitely miss the scent of baking brownies and such that morning, but if she could get a bit of time off this morning... Well, she was glad she'd be able to open on time.

  Anna left eventually...then came back in with a key and put it on the counter. "Everything's all set up in Weiss' room. She has the TV and everything... I'll be back and you can go furniture shopping tomorrow morning~ I'll have my sister bring more goodies~"

  "Okay, thank you." She smiled at Anna a bit and the merchant slipped out the door.

  Eventually, she got a text from Weiss and headed upstairs. Weiss sat on the couch, her body shaking slightly and her hair dripping wet. She was struggling with the cord for the hair drier that Blake had on the rare occasion a guest stayed. "...How about I do something better?" Weiss blinked and looked at her. Blake sat behind her and started running her back-length hair through her hands. She applied some aura and it dried. She had it done within five minutes. "There."

  Weiss ran a hand over her head. "How did you do that?"

  "Advanced aura. In this world, people have the manifestation of the soul to help protect them. We each have a unique ability that usually corresponds with our personality called a Semblance that can evolve. To put advanced aura simply, it's the esoteric side of aura. I call it esoteric nonsense because it's hard to learn to do and is an entire lifestyle and mindset, not just a set of techniques." That was the best way to put aura in its simplest terms without getting into the nitty gritty of it.

  "Interesting... So you don't have magic?"

  "Not...as a staple, no. There is magic in the world but few people know about it. I've seen places where it exists. Places caught in time, thousands of years old built in stone and such, with food still fresh that you could eat off the plates. Castles caught in time with fresh wine. Ruins where there should be no people inhabiting it before. My home, Meangerie, has ruins even though it wasn't colonised and inhabited until about 80 years ago in lieu of an attempted genocide." Her ears flatted. She'd grown up on stories of the Pogrom from her great-grandparents. Though rare, people were still alive that remembered the Great War and the era of slavery. She wished she could've done something to record those stories but she just didn't have the ability. Not with who she was.

  Weiss' eyes widened. "A genocide? And Faunus...in a place called Menagerie? That's...twisted." She smiled sheepishly. "I mean... Assuming they're Faunus."

  Blake nodded. "Mostly, yes. A couple humans are there, but they're people that have fallen in love with Faunus and moved there. So you're right; it's absolutely twisted." She hated it. It was the name the Mistrali and Mantaline had given to the place. "It was a penal colony until the Faunus Rights Revolution some sixty years ago. The Mantle and Mistral governments literally wanted their slaves to die and sent them there to do so." Her anger bubbled up. Even though she was no longer radical, she still felt righteous fury when thinking of the history of her people in this era... She hated thinking of the people. In a sense, slavery had never ended in Atlas... At least the SDC was now in Winter and Weiss' hands and they were doing what they could to reverse the course that Gele had put the company on some decades ago. "Anyway, let's head down to the cafe."

  "One second." Weiss got up on shaking legs and went into her room, then came out with the messenger bag Anna had given them. "We still have some time until it opens, right? Maybe I could read? Though...what will you do if I need to rest?" Weiss frowned.

  "I've been manning the register myself. If you need a break, just let me know. Right now, we're considering your room and board your payment. If I were paying hourly, then...honestly, I'd still pay you." It was her cafe and she could do whatever she wanted. Weiss had literally been tortured and starved. She wasn't going to punish someone for lacking mental and physical capabilities right now.

  "You're...really kind, Blake." Weiss offered a small, fragile smile. Blake patted her head and she tensed a bit. "Most people would just dock my pay..."

  "I mean I'm not really paying you yet but once I start, it'll be full service. I don't care if you're working the whole time or not. You have severe limitations which have disabled you. I was where you are once. I was tortured in my own way, and I had somebody kind take care of me. I know he'd want me to return the kindness. He let me stay free of charge." She smiled at Weiss. She felt Weiss' soul drop and her head went down into her hands. It was the truth. Tukson had taken care of her after she'd been free of Adam, near death's door. If it weren't for his kindness, she would be dead or worse. Adam would've found her again and completely broken her for her transgression. Weiss was really no different than her for a long time following... Just...well more put together. She was shocked how coherent Weiss was, because it had taken her weeks to fully come down.

  Blake rubbed her arm which resulted in tensing. Yeah, she didn't blame Weiss... She was still not great with touch... She was pretty sure she'd be set off if anyone had touched her ears. "Let's go." Weiss' voice was weak but she motioned. Blake nodded and helped her down the stairs. She set up a chair behind the register where Weiss dug through the bag and took out a book. A reference collection offered at Beacon on Vale for Atlassian students... She'd seen the set in Tukson's shop before, but older editions.

  "I'll warn you now that, if you're from an egalitarian society, those books are gonna be disturbing for you. Atlas is...a dystopian hellhole where women are property and Faunus are still slaves in all but name."

  Weiss looked at her with worry written all over her soul and face. "Places like that still exist?"

  "Unfortunately." She wasn't going to mention her radical past to Weiss until they felt more comfortable with each other. She wouldn't even know who to report Blake to and she doubted she would if given the chance but still. It was best to let Weiss get to know her for herself before telling her that she was a radical terrorist that had killed people just for being associated with a bad corporation they were being menaced by.

  Weiss frowned but nodded and went back to her book. Well, Blake had warned her. But it was still the most comprehensive way to learn about Vale. Blake just took the time to get everything ready and made herself some tea, offering Weiss a mug. "Here."

  "Oh... Thank you. Isn't that eating into your profit though?"

  "It's one mug. It'll be fine." She smiled at Weiss who nodded. It was just some water and some tea. She upcharged a lot for it, but she was fine with it. She enjoyed these quiet mornings...