I told Cáit that same night that I will go on quests with her again and you could see how a stone falls from her heart. "I hope you know I would never have forced you to do this, right?" she asked a little uneasily, but I smiled wearily at her, "I know. Don't worry about it. But first I have a promise to keep. So if you don't have any plans tomorrow, we'll finally go for an ice cream."
"So you didn't forget," Cáit laughed a little embarrassed and I winked, "As if you wouldn't have reminded me anyway at the first opportunity."

Cáit obviously noticed that I was feeling a little better today, so for the first time since the events in the dungeon she asked, "Shall I sleep here again? We might need a bigger bed at some point if you want me to stay longer." She didn't sound reproachful or annoyed, and I actually got the impression that she was coping better with the lack of space than I was. I had noticed that Cáit slept quite well, as I usually spent half the night awake listening to her snoring.
It wasn't easy to answer her question either. On the one hand, she was definitely right that the bed wasn't very big, but on the other hand, I had got used to Cáit in such a short time. So I decided to give her the choice, "Your choice. At least you're the first person I don't mind sharing a bed with." 
That was probably because she hadn't tried to get into my pants.
"If you let me choose, I'll sleep here until you finally get a good night's sleep," Cáit grinned and dropped onto the bed. I knew how she would decide, and judging by the chaos in my room, she had probably already settled in a bit herself. For the moment it was fine with me. But let's face it - as sweet as Cáit could be, she was definitely at war with tidiness as soon as she entered a room with a bed.

The next day we went to Cáit's favourite sweet shop, which was - how could it be otherwise - tucked away on a side street in Dubstep. Cáit seemed to know every little shop in the capital. Even though the last few days had been hinting at summer, today was the first time it had been so warm that I would have preferred to walk around in just a tank top. But Kirsty didn't really have anything that simple in her repertoire, so I had to make do with one of my skirts and one of the few shirts I had. It was imperative that I sat down with Kirsty as soon as possible and worked with her to create some fashion from my old world. I was in desperate need of T-shirts. After a few days I had developed a phobia of shirts. And it didn't really suit my personality. But Cáit was in great shape. To my surprise, she had also dressed a little more girly today, swapping her leather trousers and coat for a short skirt and loose shirt.

"I promise you, you're going to love this place as much as I do," Cáit started to sound enthusiastic, but I could only manage a sarcastic "I hope you're not mad at me for being a bit suspicious after the lingerie shop." 
Cáit just stuck her tongue out at me before running a few steps ahead. "Hurry up," she called after me, "Or all the good stuff will be gone."
I couldn't imagine Cáit's fears coming true, but then I had no idea how much she really wanted to eat. We then entered a small shop that resembled a bakery from my old world and, of course, Cáit's fears proved unfounded. The selection was surprisingly wide, ranging from shortbread to scones to chocolate cake. "Just sit anywhere, I'll be right with you," a man said, and Cáit headed straight for a window seat to enjoy the sunshine. 

"Oh. It's you. Long time no see," the waiter greeted Cáit directly, "As usual? A slice of everything and a large cup of coffee?"
"Is that all right for you? At least you’re inviting me today," Cáit suddenly looked at me questioningly and I murmured, "Didn't you just want ice cream?"
"You can have ice cream with everything, can't you?" Cáit looked at me innocently and I couldn't refuse her request at that moment. 
"Don't worry about the price," the waiter laughed, "Cáit's food orgies are affordable."
"Food orgy? Your ass," Cáit giggled, "I can't help it, I just like sweets."
"Then I'll just have the coffee and the chocolate cake for now," I reasoned, and at that moment the waiter disappeared.
"Thank you," Cáit smiled a little shyly at me, to which I simply replied, "It's the least I could do for you after the last few days." 
It felt a bit like going on a date - only this time I was the one paying the bill, and I knew the person across the table wasn't just trying to pick me up.

It didn't take long for the waiter to turn up with at least our coffee and say to Cáit, "That I get to experience the day that you don't turn up here alone."
"I'm just taking a friend to my favourite bakery," Cáit mumbled, "What's so special about that now?"
"Do you really want me to answer that in front of her?" the waiter grinned, but Cáit just shrugged, "Do what you want. I couldn’t care less."
You could see Cáit's insecurity at the moment, but the man didn't really seem to care because he said, "You've been sitting here once a week for four years and I can't remember you ever being in company. I think you once said that you would only show this place to a very special person. It's just nice to see that after all this time you seem to have found someone you trust enough."
The whole thing fitted in with Angus' story, and the man didn't sound like he was making fun of Cáit, but that he was genuinely happy for her, even if it was very insensitive. But they really seemed to have known each other for a long time.
Cáit's reaction was surprisingly childish and she stuck her tongue out at the man before blushing.

"I'm Em," I said, "And when I'm not injured or on the verge of a nervous breakdown, I explore dungeons together with Cáit."
"I'm Rian," the waiter smiled at me, "Proud owner of this little bakery. And before you ask - No, I’m not the creator of all these cookies and cakes. My wife is doing the baking. I just look after the guests."

As soon as Rian was out of sight, I started giggling, "Where's my tough Cáit gone?"
"I don't want to have to be strong all the time. Or tough," Cáit smiled shyly, "Just spend this one hour with me where I can be the little girl I was never really allowed to be outside of this bakery."
It was moments like this that made me realise how little I really cared for the people around me. While this may have been a bad character trait and self-protection in my old life, I felt incredibly bad now when it came to Cáit, who had been by my side since my first minute in this world.
"Does the little girl want to tell me about herself?" I asked and Cáit looked at me a little irritated, "What do you want to know?"
I had already learned that the members of the guild were as unwilling to talk about themselves as I was, so I replied, "Whatever you want to tell me. I won't force you."

Cáit didn't seem to be sure at first, but after Rian had brought the order to the table, she suddenly opened up and shoveled the cake into her mouth, "Take this as a small leap of faith. Maybe one day you'll tell me more about yourself. If I start to bore you, just stop me."
It was a bizarre situation for me at the moment. Cáit had no reservations about walking around naked in front of me in the bathhouse or buying lingerie with me, but it took her a while to work up the courage to talk about her life.

"Where do I start? You already know I'm an orphan. Both my parents died of the White Death when I was four. My dad threw me out of the house at the first sign and sent me to stay with the neighbours. That way I could somehow avoid infection. From then on I lived in an orphanage or on the streets until I was fourteen. At the orphanage I learnt to read, write and do some maths, and when we found out that I had some alchemy skills, I was allowed to use the herb garden for training."
I listened to Cáit in silence, and I got the impression that we understood each other quite well, for our lives had some parallels.
"We soon found out that I had another ability besides alchemy - and the problem was that this ability was too dangerous to keep me in the orphanage. It was my talent for making my own bombs and grenades. That's why I was kicked out when I was twelve. I don't blame the staff for that - it was more important for them to protect the other children from harm. They even tried to find me a place to stay, but it wasn't easy to find a place for someone my age."
"The whole thing is unbelievable to me," I muttered, realising that I was getting quite angry at the moment.
"You really don't need to be angry," Cáit smiled, "The orphanage is one of my biggest customers for my potions these days. And to be honest, I really couldn't have developed my skills any further there."
In her place, I would have refused to do business with the orphanage, but when Cáit wasn't in her adventuring mode, she just had too much heart.

"Then one day I bumped into Sara and Angus in one of the dungeons, looking for something to sell for good money. This was back when Sara was still treasure hunting herself. They took pity on me and gave me shelter as a little stray, and then Angus and the twins helped me improve my explosives skills. Abby and Sara are like family to me now. Without them, I would probably have joined the Adventurers' Guild to make a living. Or, to put it bluntly, I'd probably be dead by now, as I would have been nothing but cannon fodder for the Guild.
I was startled by the callousness with which she said that last part.
"Other than that, I don't think there's anything interesting to say about me," Cáit thought, "The crossbow is the only memento I have of my family. I took it with me when my parents died and kept it safe. But I'm not very good with it. I prefer blowing things up. I don't have to be so accurate. Have you fallen asleep yet?”

"No?" I smiled, "I'm only listening. I just have one question. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. Why was it so important to you that I joined the guild back then?"
"Back then. I don't know - you were cute? Is that reason enough?" 
Now I was the one who blushed, before I said, "At least it's probably a better reason than the things you mentioned back then." 
Cáit smiled at me before answering surprisingly directly, "Seriously - I just couldn't let you go. It was a good decision at the time. I certainly don't regret it. Even with all your quirks and complexes."
Cáit was the first person in a long time who didn't seem to have a problem with all my insecurities, complexes and weaknesses.
"Promise me something, Em," Cáit said suddenly, "If ever you want to leave Dubstep and go back to the North, take me with you. Show me your home. We don't know much about the North here, and I would love to explore it with you."
Cáit had managed to completely overwhelm me with this simple request. Would I like to show her my old world? Of course - although she would probably be completely overwhelmed by the technological advances and the noise. Would I like to show her the North? How should I know? I didn't really know anything about it, and any parallels with my old world were purely coincidental. But I also felt that she wouldn't forgive me if I said no. Not now, when she was being so vulnerable and honest. So I just said, "If it's all right with the others, I'd love to." I could see that Cáit was really happy with that reply, and I have to admit that I was too. And somehow I wasn't even lying to her.

It took a good hour for Cáit to eat her way through the range of sweets and ice cream and when we got back to the mansion Sara made us go straight to bed, "You need to rest for later, we don't know what will happen when you press that switch."
"Ideally nothing. At least for once," I mumbled before actually taking a nap without argument.