[ she's right that heine misinterprets the smile—between the two of them badou has always been the more personable, and heine can only assume that's the reason nill is happy to hear his name. it has been a comfort having badou here, though, even if heine has a hard time acknowledging that they're actually friends—a comfort, but also a complication in some ways he probably won't tell nill about immediately.

better to let her settle in for a day before he starts teaching her all the ways this city can be dangerous.

fortunately, "random danger on street corners" isn't one of them (so far), so there's less tension in heine's frame as he guides nill down the street toward their apartment building. he keeps a hand on her shoulder, a reminder that he's there—more contact, again, than heine would normally initiate, but there's very little that's normal about their circumstances. ]

The streets are usually pretty empty. [ may as well explain some things while they walk, he figures. ] Nobody works at the stores but they also never run out of food. Whatever you need, there's probably a store for that. [ food and clothes, sure. also the psychic, the ice cream shop, the laundromat. crafting supplies, sewing supplies, pharmacies. stores that heine had never even conceptualized before getting here. ]