"This other one controls the temperature, so you're really nice and warm." Cynthia turns the right handle on the blending battery.

"And we don't use magic, we just use water, as you suggested, to clean things out."

"You have warm water coming to your house! Just when I thought I couldn't be more surprised. I think I'm going to try the warm rain, thank you."

And Sana gets to enjoy standing under comfortably heated rain in the all-white marble bathroom, in an enclosure big enough that her hands don't even touch the walls if she spreads them out. If she turns up the heat, she'll notice that the water heats up instantly. She can also use the handheld head if she wants to focus the water on certain parts of her body, or even lie down and have a proper bath, thanks to the divider.

She will luxuriate in the warm rain, almost burning herself when she turns the temperature up and the water goes from warm to SCALDING in an heartbeat.

She tries the handheld head, appreciating how it allows her to direct the water, and the pressure that it can exert.

She gets almost carried away in religious bliss, but then remembers that she's not home, and just finishes washing up.

When she's done she grabs her clothes in one hand and walks back to the main room.

"Hope it was nice, Sana." Cynthia waves. "I think you'd want some more, new clothes. Especially if you're thinking of returning to your old work. I can show you some of my work clothes, maybe. If you think we have the time."

"I already have five full sets, why would I need more? I even have one which is reserved for the bed.

Oh, I get it, is it because I would stand out as foreign? Then it might be worth getting one outfit, possibly two.

I'm not sure I can afford clothes of the same high quality you have, though. On my world, I would be able to afford 6 or 7 outfits with my savings."

"Well, yeah. I haven't seen your sets. But I think it's unlikely that they're to our tastes, that'd be quite a coincidence. There's a tailor that I recommend highly, and I think that one set reserved for the bed would end up a bit untenable, so you'd want more than just one such outfit. And you'd want to have spares for when you normal clothes are being sent to the laundry, as well. I'm pretty sure you'd be able to afford clothes like we have, even if you were so poor that you could only have 6 or 7 sets in your world. And I'm sure the hospital would give you an advance to buy the clothing you need."

"Anyway, would you follow me?" Cynthia leads Sana towards a closet in one part of the main room. It's maybe 10 feet wide. She opens the sliding door, revealing that it's packed with all sorts of dresses and leggings and underwear and tops. She grabs out 2 from a drawer under all the coat hangers, those being a fairly long pair of shorts that match her skin color more or less perfectly, reaching a bit above her waist to just a bit over her knees, together with a bra in the similar skin-like color that's nearly impossible to distinguish from the color of the hand that's holding it. "These are really my workhorses; I can wear them under anything and for anything. I use these maybe 80% of the time, and I can wear em all day without feeling remotely uncomfortable. And they let me basically ignore it if I'm wearing a short skirt or revealing top. You'll want a similar set for yourself, first of all. After that, it gets more subjective. You'd want to look at some inspiration."

"Ooooh, so you can look undressed and be suggestive while still being technically covered. Such a perversion of the rules. I LOVE them!!!"

If Cynthia is paying attention she'll be able to see a rare genuine smile at that.

"The seams are invisible, these must be worth a lot of money!"

"No? I did a lot of rounds of tailoring for them, which added a fair bit to the cost. But they're just a single piece of fabric glued together. They're maybe the cheapest thing in my wardrobe."

"Well, this is what an outfit would cost in my world." She counts out 8 pieces of solid gold from her bag, and shows them to Cynthia.

"Which makes me think, it may be easier to get an advance from your hospital than try to explain why my coins are stamped by a kingdom nobody knows."

"... yeah, it would be easier. But well, coins like that could buy you a lot more than a single outfit. At the same time, it doesn't take many days of work to earn that amount at a hospital. So it's not really that much in terms of money, no offense."

"Your world is so rich I could scarcely believe it if I hadn't seen its magic firsthand. Being able to buy an outfit with mere days of work is unthinkable for most people in mine.

It's so weird to me that the hospital would give me money without really knowing who I am. Although I guess you could vouch for me, if you're so foolish."

"Yup, it's glorious to be rich. The hospital wouldn't need to know who you are, in every situation but this. People get paid money from the government just for being alive, so the hospital doesn't really need to know you to be sure that you're good for it. I could vouch for you, but the advance from the hospital pales in comparison to the income you earn from doing your work, so it's an impossibly stupid decision for you to betray me. Although I guess you could betray me after I vouched for you, if you're so foolish."

"Wait, what? You get paid money for being alive??? But then why does anybody work at all?

And, I'm not going to betray you, I'm Evil but not, like, evil. Nor stupid."

And I like you. She doesn't say.

"People work at all because they want more than what merely being alive earns them. I'm sure that there are those in your world working, even once they have enough income to keep themselves alive. It's called basic income, and I want it for everyone in every world, including yours."

"I still don't understand how you can raise enough taxes to give money to everyone if people can just... not work and then pay no taxes, but I've never been smart enough for wizardry after all."

"Well, I'm paying taxes, right now, for being allowed to live here. If all that tax money goes to everyone, then half of people pay in, and the other half get money back out. And the money people get back out proves enough."

"Now, Sana, because I find the idea of having a single person dedicated to serving a single other person so uncomfortable, and I'm not 100% comfortable with you getting Sofia to do things. I'll want to hire a part-time housekeeper to do all the things that Sofia is doing now, just so I can be 100% sure that she isn't in an uncomfortable position where she has no choice but to do what you're saying. I just think it feels so much nicer to not have that weird, kind of power imbalance, in a master and servant relationship. Just because it feels so much nicer, on my end."

"You all really are just incredibly wealthy."

"But nobody is forcing me to do what my mistress asks! I'm her maid, not her slave!

If I don't agree with something I can just pack my things and go away, and I have threatened to do it in the past.

If you hire someone else to do my job, what will I do with my life? And someone else will not know how to do things properly! My mistress deserves perfection."

"I told you I was fine."

"No, you were not. There is a reason he will not be allowed back."

"Hey, Sofia, I'm doing this for me, not for you. If you feel like doing service for Sana, I'm not gonna get in your way! I just feel uncomfortable with the idea of full-time, live-in servants, is the thing. So... I guess I'd be fine with it if you kept it out of sight? Or just tell the housekeeper you don't want something done, if you're really wanting to serve Sana. Or, actually, you could work as a thomassian housekeeper, if you want something to do with your life, and serve many people instead of just Sana; I mean, it sounds like something you'd find gratifying."

"Oh, I can be very discreet, don't you worry.

Working for... more people?"

She looks at Sana, unsure.