"Not long at all. A couple of weeks—we barely got the the old furniture out when you arrived," Vex brightens with the topic. Despite everything, she's proud of her house. If only because it's hers.

She pushes aside the tug of guilt in her breast, as though she'd given up on going home by making a place for herself here.

She refuses to be drawn into that line of thinking now.

"It's still a work in progress," she warns him. At the top of the stairs, he'll find a water closet style bathroom, and then turning, an open great room on the second floor. There's a kitchen along one wall, space for dining and living. She's managed to get in a couch and dining table.

And very little else.

Stairs lead up to the next story, suggesting more to see.

"Enough space to entertain, once things are cleaner and we get the stove addressed."