She finds himself breathing stale but decidedly non-sandy air. The room is apparently some kind of small dormitory. It looks a weird mix of recently cleaned and "was dirty for a very long time" while being liveable.

After the days of incessant brightness, suns and the other lights beating down, it's nice, in ways, to be somewhere less bright. She looks around the room. For traces of people, for any signs of how many people. For technology level, or magic forms.

There is a bedside lamp with shade that reveals a burned out lightbulb inside. The light on the ceiling might also be electricity powered, but harder to tell from a distance. By the way the glass is mildly yellowed out, then scrub, the two pieces of technology looks several decades out of date. There are no obvious signs of people around, except the lack of dust.

That's something to notice, that someone scrubbed the maybe-old bulb, but didn't change it. She's careful - she doesn't want to disturb others' belongings in any case, and if she's in a restoration she wouldn't want to damage it. 

How many beds, of what kind? Any books, or pictures?

A single bed with a metal frame. A wardrobe with the door half-opened revealing the back boards but no clothes. A dresser, bedside table, and a dressing table with a wooden chair. All but the table appears to be made of the same dark brown wood in the same style - simple, with solid rectangular shapes or utilitarian curves, with chamfered corners.

No books or pictures visible, despite plenty of space for such things. She might be able to identify nails on the walls surrounded by the faded mark of pictures that hung from a long time.

She takes it in. 

Is there a window? A door? (She'll try to look out a window first if there is one, standing carefully so it would be harder to see her from outside, were someone else looking.)

There is a window, yes, showing a ground floor view of an empty street. The nearby buildings don't look like they are used as residences, and much of everything looks overgrown. Like a less visited part of town. It might be late morning or early afternoon.

This side of the glass has been cleaned. The other is not, and has iron bars.

Can she see vehicles in the street, or signs, or anything written on the road...

If there are plants on the bar or very near the window, she tries to push one a little. Just to move a little, as it might naturally. (It's good to know if she can, here. And nothing had grown, in that desert.)

No vehicles, but there are street signs visible from her point of view. Too far for a normal person to read.

She can easily spot some ivy growing diligently around a metal bar. It moves normally under the effect of her magic.

She smiles a little at it.

Door?

The door is open, leads to a far, far dirtier hallway. There is all sorts of junk: bits of furniture, torn pieces of paper, collections of trinkets like glass beads, and much more.

Nearly everything is covered in a thick layer of dust.

...Except for the trails showing that the hallway has been recently used.

It's suggesting that someone has come to live in a left-abandoned place, maybe, more than restoration. But she doesn't know yet. She follows the trails (more likely to lead to an entrance, than if she walks some other way, even if more likely to meet someone also.) Will try to hide from view, if she hears or sees someone.

The dust shows various trails around the floor, which shows itself to be just as cluttered as the hallway she was on. There is an entrace space (with a large door to the house's exterior), but that door is locked. If she navigates around, she will find a door to the backyard.

The building is largely silent, but if she pays attention... there, sounds from upstairs.

Locked. (From outside). That - means different things, often.

She'll look for more doors, or windows that might open and be unbarred. Can she leave through the backyard?

The backyard doesn't appear to have an exit. But maybe one is buried deep under all that dead foliage of what was once a beautiful garden.

All windows are barred, and there are no more doors leading outside.

She'll try to feel through the dead foliage. 

She finds... a lot of damp and half-rotten leaves and twigs of assorted sizes and states of decay. But no visible door or passage to leave the plot of land.

She didn't expect to, really.

She isn't going to try to batter the door down herself or climb the yard wall. She's not alone here, isn't going to risk bringing something down on whoever else is locked inside. (If there is someone, and if they are.)

And, if she can't leave - better to find who it is than have them stumble over her. Better to meet them earlier.

She goes toward the sound, careful.

She climbs the stairs and doesn't need to go all the way before spotting a young man cleaning up another set of stairs across the first floor hallway.

A cat is dutifully watching the proceeding with typical cat aloofness.

She stops some ways away - they'll see her if they look, but if they're alarmed by her it'll be very obvious that they'll have a few seconds before she could physically get over there (which won't help if they think she can do it some other way. But). (And she'd have the same few moments, unless they can move some other way, if they react in the other direction. Not that that's likely to matter.)

She knocks on one of the walls, as though on a door.

The cat turns to stare at her.

The young man was in the process of removing a piece of furniture out of the stairs and nearly jumps when he hears the knock. Then drops the piece of furniture upon seeing her. "What?"

She holds her hands raised but not too raised, away from her body, neither palms nor knuckles pointed towards them. "Excuse me, I'm sorry. I don't mean to disturb you."

"No... I... how?"

"I woke up in -" she describes the room in question. (She doesn't know how normal or unheard of appearing, if not like she had then at least something like it, might be here. She can explain better later, if they don't part first.)

"Do you know where we are?"

"Ah, it's just an old house. Did the old lady catch you too?"

"The door was locked from outside when I went down.

Old lady?"

"Yes... she lured me with the promise of a job, then locked the place when I crossed the door."

"I'm sorry.

Does she - want something?"

"She said she wanted me to clean the place... which I have been doing because there isn't anything else to do, but..." he looks at the distance, trying to find words. "It's more than an extreme way to do it."

"...Yes. 

Are you alright? Are there - supplies, here?" She doesn't know for sure what sort of sustenance he might need, if any.

"The old lady brings me food three times. Maybe she will bring it for you. There is some old, but still edible food too."

She nods. (She has no reason to think that person would bring her food. Wouldn't really like to take his, if it's all he has. But they can get into that later, if they have to.)

"I have friends who might - end up here too, soon. They might be able to help. But I don't know how strong everything here is."

"...Oh, did she catch them too? What happened to you?"

"I woke up here," she says again. "I never met anyone. But they were - with me, before." That's close enough to true. "If they don't end up here I think they'll find the house. They're - good at that."

She is, Henry might notice, dressed somewhat strangely, in loose drapey things, more worn than he might expect most people to wear around. Her hair is dark green, solidly so, no washed out parts or other colors at the roots (he can't see the tips from here; her hair is fastened in two long knots on her head.)

"Oh, they might get us out of here..." Henry says distantly, like he doesn't know how to react to that. "Or at least call the police or something."

That is very weird attire. But maybe she was at some sort of party? Henry doesn't know fashion. And he isn't going to judge's anyone haircolor.

(She takes information from this he probably wasn't thinking of: calling exists, the police exist, people consider the police worth calling sometimes.)

"They might not be able to. But they'll try if they can.

Can I help you with anything, meanwhile?

"I don't know? I guess since there are two of us, we could try to escape. My latest plan was to clear up the path for the upper floors... Ah, I am Henry, what is your name?"

"Is there something an extra person would help with? I could help with that.

I'm Xeyr."

"Henry, oh, I have already said  that. And this is Tama."

Tama meows in a surprisingly agreeable tone.

"An extra set of hands would help a lot. You can walk around the floors despite the clutter, but they prevent movement on the stairs. I was hoping there could be an open window we could go out of. Or maybe something on the upper floors we could use..."

She makes a greeting gesture at Tama (she didn't understand that, which doesn't necessarily mean this isn't a person. She doesn't ask, yet.)

"That makes sense. I'm glad to help. What should I start with?"

"Uh... I don't know, are you strong enough to help me to remove these things around? It's like a jenga tower, and I'm afraid to make something collapse if I pull it the wrong way."

He points his attention to the staircase which looks like the victim of a flood made out of broken pieces of furniture and rubbish.

She looks over. "I'll need to check to be sure, but I should be I think." And she can figure out how to stand so if anything falls it hits her and not him. She doesn't say that.

"Okay, hold this steady? While I try to pull this? Four hands make it much easier."

He is probably thinking of similar lines as her, but the movement doesn't look particularly dangerous.

She won't get into an argument, but she almost certainly has more experience in the matter; she can manage becoming the one most things hit if she needs to. But she agrees with Mia at least that it's better if no one needs too.

She holds this steady.

Then they can do that very, very carefully and only suffer a puff of dust for their inconvenience.

And now, they only need to do that a dozen more times.

"This plan felt smarter when I was not imposing someone else to do it."

"You're not imposing, please don't worry.

I do cleaning work a lot. And I'm glad to help. And I don't have something else to do here anymore than you."

"Thanks... It's just... a very weird situation."

At the rate they are going, it will eventually be time to break for lunch well before they will be finished.

Nod. "I'm sorry." She doesn't know anything about time cycles here or his schedule, and will follow his lead.

"Sorry for what? If we have any fault at being here, I having a larger share of it."

Henry checks the mailbox slot. "Yeah, two plates with sandwich and fruit. ...At least there is that."

"Other kind of sorry. 

It's not your fault at all." That's - interesting. She'll take a plate, then. Tries to watch him eat without it being obvious - it won't hurt her, to eat something that shouldn't be eaten but looks like it might be, or eat in a strange way for where they are, but it might be odd to him.

Henry eats, apparently being very mindful that there is someone else besides a cat watching him. He is also not sure... what to do? Should he be making small talk or something?

"So... err, is there anything you'd like to know?"

"It didn't sound like you knew much either." (She takes in what the food is like.)

"I mean... I don't know, any idea why you were targeted? I didn't have a home before..."

"I'm sorry.

I - don't think the same thing happened to me as happened to you. Though, it looks like your captor knows about me too, and wants me here." She indicates the food.

Confusion. "You think someone else took you here, and she is just... keeping you in your behalf?"

"I'm not sure what she's doing. Maybe she was involved in bringing me here. But - I know about part of what happened to me, and it wouldn't have had to do with her. She didn't take me from where I was. But maybe she took me to here.

It's strange."

Henry bites into his sandwich and waits for an elaboration.

None appears to be coming unprompted. Xeyr eats.

Well, now Henry thinks he poked at a sore spot. He eats the rest of his sandwich despondently.

She notices the emotion, if not the reason. "It's alright. I've - been in worse situations. I'll be alright. I'm glad if I can help you at all."

Henry nods. "Okay, do you want to take a longer break or go back to decluttering the staircase?"

"I'm ready when you are."

Back to it. Henry is industriously quiet.

Tama helpfully monitors from various perches.

She is good at industriously quiet.

The sun goes down and Henry turns on the lights. "Dinner is going to be a salad," Henry says after a long period of silence. "It's always the same things. Uh, I haven't gotten around to cleaning up the library, but you can take books from there just fine."

Lights are nice. And now she knows how to operate them. "I like salad.

Oh, what kinds of books are there?"

"Oh, all sorts. Philosophy, mathematics, physics - decades out of date - and so on. A lot of occult nonsense too."

"Occult nonsense?"

"Yeah." Then realizing she might want an elaboration. "Books about alchemy and astrology? I had cleaned mostly of the stair's smaller detritus, but some were cheap crystals and amulets. I think the owner just believed that kind of stuff."

Nod. That's good to know. What's nonsense here, or at least known to be. 

Is he heading back to get dinner?

Yeah, he is doing that.

Leaving her with Tama. The cat is giving her a pointed look and then at the library, visible from the second floor hall.

She was going to follow Henry but she notices the look. Is still not sure if Tama is a person and so if it means anything. 

"Do I need to know something?"

Tama answers that by walking into the library without breaking eye contact.

She'll follow.

Tama jumps up a table and seats atop an open book like a dignified throne.

"What is your deal?" She says.

That answers that. She's not sure if that's normal here, that Henry didn't include her in conversations before, and so no one mentioned it, or - something else. 

"I came here from another world. When I died, there. That's what happen to me."

"Weird... I don't think the house brought you here. You don't really feel part of it."

Nod. "I can arrive all sorts of places.

Feel part of it?"

"This house is to preserve lost things. So they don't fall off reality again. You don't feel like that. Lost? Yes, but not the right kind of lost."

"No. I'm - the opposite, really. I can't fall off reality.

Is Henry lost?" 

"The opposite. He is the anchor, actually, keeping the house and the things grounded in reality," she flickers her ears and tail in a way that communicates exasperation, "he might be too good at it."

"You should ask people, before having them do things like that. And explain it to them.

Too good at it?"

Disapproving tail slash. "I didn't set the up system." To the question she answers. "Cleaning some rooms is supposed to grant magic boons, but he sort of... stops the magic? I figure it's related to his anchoring."

She's not sure if the disapproval is for her. "...Are they treating you alright, whoever did?

Why did you talk to me and not to him?"

"I am alright, all oblivion considered. And he doesn't know how to talk to me, and thinks magic is fake."

"It takes knowing, even if you talk first?"

"Yes, he doesn't understand me natively, like you do." Her ears twitch. "And he can suppress magic if it's against his expectations. Also, he is coming with dinner."

Ah. "Any magic, or only yours and the house's?" she asks. Turns, meanwhile, to look toward the door.

"I think any he is aware of?"

Henry walks in with a tray he must have scrounged up from somewhere. "Did you say anything?"

"Say anything?"

"I thought I heard you talking." He offers her the sandwich.

She takes it. "Thank you. I was talking to the cat."

"Oh, yeah. I do that sometimes." He takes a bite.

"Not that he ever hears my advice," Tama lowly growls. There is no sign of recognition from Henry.

She'll also eat the sandwich. 

"I could relay it, if you wanted," she suggests. (It won't sound to Henry like she's speaking a language he knows, if Tama uses another one.)

Henry blinks at that. "What did you just say?"

"Sure. Any diplomatic way to tell him he is kind of a dolt and should obviously take the books I showed him seriously?"

"...I don't think I'd want to tell him the first, but I can try the second. What books did you show him?"

And, "Sorry," she says to Henry. "I hope the multilingualism isn't too rude."

Tama pats the books she is sitting on.

Blink. "No...?" He says slowly.

"I'm sorry, did I do something strange?"

She looks at the books. What are they?

They are intro books to magic and familiars.

Henry doesn't really answer that verbally, but he is looking at her like she is acting strange.

"Uh..."

Well, if he tries to hurt her for being strange, it won't be anything she hasn't lived with (or not lived), probably. Mia will be upset, but they can deal with that if and when she's here.

(She could have not talked to Tama in front of him - she thinks that might be the problem, though she's not sure how - but she didn't do that.)

She'll try to take some of the books, if Tama lets her. And if he does something while she's doing that, then, she'll know more of what it will be.

Henry just... keeps eating.

Tama goes against all her cat instincts and lets the human have the thing she is sitting on.

The book Tama lets her have is an intro to familiars, and how to call for one, or increase one's connection to theirs.

She looks at it.

"Are you the familiar?"

Unimpressed look. "Yes. His familiar," her ears and tail flicker in Henry's general direction.

An intro to familiars would be useful then. She tries to read it.

A familiar is a creature whose is bound magically to another, usually a practicioner of magical arts. The book notes, that from a purely academic standpoint, they are great way to passively train your magic into long lasting, but not exhausting effects. But the companionship is also useful, some familiars can even be used as messengers and diplomats between the material and the spiritual world.

The most basic bond of a true familiar allows, the practicioner to extend the familiar's lifespan and have a useful connection to extend other powers through. Some familiars may also use that line to grant back abilities to who they are bound to.

Spiritual world - she'll want to try to learn more, about that, if there is one here. But it can wait.

"Should I - try to tell him?" she asks Tama.

Tama meows affirmatively. "See if you can get him to do one of the exercises that lets me talk to him directly? If he believes you."

"I'll try." No strategies for this that she has. So just -

"Tama says she's your familiar," she says to Henry.

"Does she know?" Henry says, he sounds like the kind of impatient one while talking with a small child that is clearly saying something ridiculous.

It's far from the worst of responses she could have gotten.

"I don't know much, but I think so? She wants me to ask you to do one of the exercises that would let her talk to you directly.

...I could ask her about something that happened while you were here and I wasn't. If that would help."

Henry is eyeing her dinner and what remains what his own with a worried look. "Do you... usually talk with cats?" He says after a while.

"She is far politer than you in that respect." Tama mumbles.

She thinks this is that most cats in this world aren't people, and not that people-like-Henry look down on cat-people. For how what she can see and knows fits.

"She talked to me first," she says. "If other cats do I'll talk to them too. If most cats don't talk to anyone else at all, or each other, and can't, I wouldn't be different than anyone else."

"Can you tell me something that happened while I wasn't here?" she asks Tama. 

"He cried when I came in, dunno if that works and was kinda personal. Ah, I think cleaning the stairs to this floor gave him a power he has been suppressing. I wasn't paying attention at the time."

"Could you tell me - what order he cleaned some rooms in, or what was for a meal I haven't seen, or something like that?"

"Ah. The meals have been about the same, and I don't eat what he eats. But after I came he cleaned the bedroom, the garden, the kitchen then the stairs to this floor, this hall and the library."

"Thank you."

And to Henry, "She says that after she came you cleaned the bedroom, the garden, the kitchen then the stairs to this floor, this hall and the library."

That gives Henry pause.

"Are you in league with them?"

"With whoever might be keeping you here? No. I don't know more about them than what you told me. It's true that I woke up here." (If he's the kind of person to blame whoever he can land blame on, he won't believe her. But she can't do anything about that.) She waits to see if Tama will give her an answer to relay, or if she should say something herself.

"How do you know any of this then?"

Tama hisses. "I told her you, dolt." She stands between Henry and Xeyr just in case.

She thinks she can get back in front of Tama if she needs to. (That's kind of Tama, though. Not needed, but kind. And Mia would like it.)

"Tama told me. I said I could ask her about something that happened while you were here and I wasn't, and I asked her." But it makes sense, to think what he thought. She probably could have thought, of that.

"I could leave the room, and you could tell her something, and I could come back, and ask her? If that would work," she adds to Tama.