Kate was practically bouncing with joy as she approached the pavilion Joro had dubbed ‘the reading nook’. The octagonal building was more than large enough for two huge armchairs, currently covered with large tarps, to sit comfortable in the centre facing a fireplace surrounded by bookshelves that made up four of the eight walls. The only things missing were the movable glass panels that would make up the remaining walls, door, and roof.

“So, Kate, I said I had a thing I needed to show you here.”

“You did. What is it?”

Joro handed Kate a small glass panel. “Look at the sky through this.”

Kate did and nearly dropped it. “No way…”

“It’s not perfect and I am still experimenting on linking multiple panels together to form a coherent image, but I was certain you would like this.”

“How does this work? I had assumed that only Noxite could…” Kate looked through the glass again, casting the amber Hell sky in a midnight black dotted with all the stars she knew from her earthly home.

“It’s a recording. It will loop perfectly, but it is only the sky of one day. No real replacement for your grotto, but it should be enough for some good ambience.”

“This is so good!”

“And it will delay the finishing the nook by a lot.”

“Can’t you just put in normal glass first then replace it later?”

“I could, yes. That would push the enchanted windows even further into the future though.”

“That is worth it. Being able to use the nook once I move in and having the new windows to look forward to too would be great. Maybe, if that isn’t asking too much, maybe you could also upgrade the bedroom windows?”

“I could. This is only a prototype anyway, I don’t know when I will be able to make linked glass panels and when I have the time to put them in. Both of your human friends are about to plan their homes too, it might be after all that is done.”

“And that will be fine. There is no rush.”

“Alright. I will finish the reading nook when we start tomorrow and then get to work on the enchanted panels. One last thing in here to show you is this.” Joro made the armchairs disappear and replaced them with a table and six chairs. “Now it’s a gaming nook.”

“You actually did it then, nice. How did you decide to handle this?”

“A perfectly fitted storage space underneath and an inscription under the floor that basically directs your desire to switch layouts.”

“Simpler than I imagined. Let me try.” Kate turned the furniture back to the previous setup of two armchairs. “That is easy, wow.”

“Are you happy with the nook overall?”

“I am, thank you.”

“Good.” Joro sighed.

“That didn’t sound too happy.”

The spider demon shook her head. “You left me with many liberties here and I even made the enchanted glass. I get a little insecure when I get too much free reign over someone else’s home. That was a sigh of relief.”

“Hey, you did incredible work. This is the best home I could imagine… well, almost. It still needs that patio you mentioned.”

Joro smiled. “That means a lot to me, thank you. Let’s talk patio, shall we?”

“Okay, so we have a spot down there in the shadow of the hill, a path down from the nook here would be great.”

“Easily done. The path from the house to here is basalt, shall we just continue that with the patio itself?”

“Definitely.”

“How many people do you want to fit on it? Should we also include a fire pit with an option for like a barbeque attachment?”

“First, yes to the fire pit. As for the size… hm… I want to be able to invite all my friends to have a little party out here if I want.”

“Reasonably I think we can provide space for twenty people with a U-shaped table while keeping access to a slightly off-set fire pit.”

“Re-configurable like here?” Kate ran her hands over the armchairs.

“Of course.”

The young Nightmare didn’t respond immediately but instead stared at the empty bookshelves. When she talked again, she didn’t turn around. “I will have to talk to some artist about decorations for when the large tables are not there.”

“Good idea. If you don’t mind me asking, you seem distracted, is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine. It’s just… your eyes allow you to see more, right?”

“A wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum and a wider field of view in all directions, yes. Why do you ask?”

“Did you ever have a moment where you saw something that was normal otherwise, but something felt off because your extra senses didn’t respond to it? Like, I can feel emotions that cling to books or art. When I look at these empty shelves, they feel hollow. The books are missing, the emotions I would pick up are missing. It’s strange…”

“I do know that feeling. The modern human way of showing, uhm, I think they call them movies is weird to me. I can see people doing thing, actions happening but part of the image is missing or even replaced by noise for me. It’s distracting to say the least.”

“It truly is. I’m sorry, I should not let this keep me from focusing on talking about the patio.”

“Unless you want to talk actual measurements, I am pretty clear on what to do with the patio.”

“I will leave it in your capable hands. It would be a massive understatement to say that you have never disappointed, in fact the only thing you have ever done with your work is amaze me.”

“Hearing words like yours are the reason I switched from creating public infrastructure to planning homes. Watching someone find their place is truly fulfilling.”

Kate turned back to the spider demon. “And to be on the receiving end of such a wonderful home watching your reaction to my excitement feels good too. I worried if I had been a burden asking for an actual house and all these special things.”

Joro shook her head. “You’re far from being a burden. Remember, everyone who worked and will work on this house does so voluntarily, me included. I could have simply told you to ask someone else to be your architect. I am proud that you asked me.”

“I should return to the library soon.”

“Of course, I might even hasten my plans and get to work right away once you leave.”

“I am patient, work whenever you want.”

“Thank you, but I am eager to continue.”

“Then I will just ask for one more thing before I let you get to it.”

“What would that be?”

“Let’s first head back to the balcony.”

“Okay, sure.” Joro stepped out of the way to let Kate lead on.

 The young Nightmare made her way back to the house and onto the balcony. She paused to look out onto the city of Sheol, which lay just downhill from her new home, and the ocean in the distance. Joro leaned onto the railing beside Kate.

“You picked such an incredible place.”

“It’s still so hard to believe where we are and what I am… and what this all means.”

“Five years is not a long time.”

“Certainly not long enough to prevent the occasional feeling that this can’t be real. It’s too good.”

“Well, I will strive to keep you feeling like that. What was it you wanted to ask?”

"I just wanted to share this view with you and take a moment to let this all sink in. Actually, where do you live?"

"One of the smaller houses in the middle of Dis. It's nothing fancy."

"Huh. I almost expect you to have built the best for yourself."

Joro chuckled and shook her head. "I could never."