Sitting in her little alcove, Nis fiddled with the glass globe lamps she’d brought up with her. Lacking access to whatever technology had lit this place up in the dim past, she wouldn’t just have to make the best of things and use the stuff people had always relied on. Besides, with enough lamps, she could make it fairly bright. And her explorations of the caves had yielded a few spots that looked as if rock had been broken and tumbled inwards. But if she could clear them out, she might have some windows or skylights.

She would need to find something cleaner than kerosene to burn though. But that was a tomorrow problem. For now, her apartment glowed warmly as various flaming lamps cast their light over the stone walls. The softest of sizzling just by her ear would be the wisp, bopping along to whatever little wispy thoughts it might have.

“Okay! We have light! I guess it’s time to build some of this Ikea s**t I’ve been dragging up and hoarding, huh.”

Pulling out box after box, Nis armed herself with the included alan wrench and got to work. She needed shelving if she wanted to get this place organized. She’d found the old brackets that had supported shelves along the walls and she had no problems reusing the ones that still seemed sound. Metal and rock didn’t age the same way cloth or wood might. Once the shelves and bookcases were done, Nis was sweating and cursing herself for not buying pre-assembled. But, she had to remind herself, she’d brought the chaise up and that had been a lot harder than boxes. Some assembly required was a pain in the a**, but easier on the back when it came to transport.

Next up were some old clothing racks that she’d painted and cleaned up. Those were easy enough to place. Hanging the curtain meant to hide her little ‘closet’ was a bit harder, but the stone walls were mostly smooth and tension rods were a godsend. And she had to laugh when the wisp discovered the curtains and began to play in them, darting under and into the fabric.

Other curtains were hung as taste demanded and by that time, Nis was tired and ready for a lazy swim in the lake. Stripping and grabbing a towel, she dove into the icy waters. It was too cold to stay for long, but a quick bath was all she needed to feel somewhat human again. Wrapping her towel around her, she headed for the alcove that she’d designated for sleeping and stood there considering. Hauling a full bed seemed excessive. Using a sleeping bag seemed like a recipe for destroying her back. Besides, sleeping bags lacked elegance and if she was going to spend time up here, she wanted things to be nice.

After some thought (during which her hair had managed to almost completely air dry), Nis sighed. There was no help for it. She was going to have to enlist some help in carrying some sort of bedframe up. But that would have to be much later. She still had a couple of tables and chairs to put together and she wanted to rig up something along the shoreline of the lake that would let her explore without constantly having to dive in the dark. All in all, still plenty of work to be done. But she could tell her wonder was enjoying the attention.

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