health care

[Locksmith]

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The seconds between the first sound of her voice and the opening of the door were painfully long. That fear that was squeezing him in its fist was pressing so hard that the young man momentarily caught his breath. But as soon as he saw her soft smile, this inexorable grip around his soul melted away like the last ice floes under the warming heat of the sun in spring.

The contrast of sensations made Roland freeze for a moment, but her second sentence brought him out of this brief pause. He nodded slightly in greeting.

"Thallia. It's good to finally meet."

He follows her inside, looking around the room with mild curiosity. For him, who was used to living in a small room, this place looked respectable just from having a separate place for clothes and shoes. He shrugged slightly, hanging up his coat and taking off his black shoes to put them below.

"Quite calm. There were some patrols, but I easily got past them. As always."

Having finished removing his outer clothing, Roland turned back to Thallia. The offer of a drink made him pause for a moment. On Invergordon, he usually tried to make do with plain water, as the quality of other drinks was questionable. Here he had no such concerns.

" ... Tea, if possible."

The sight of Planet Sudbury on one of the monitors behind Thallia made the young man rest his hand on the side of his helmet as he recalled how visits to Ontario were becoming increasingly painful for him. It seemed that even the simple image now triggered phantom pain. But Freud pulled away from it, focusing his gaze back on Thallia.

Suddenly he realizes something.

"... Right. Helmet."

As usual, Freud simply forgot about this piece of equipment. The feeling of the helmet closing him off from the outside world became so familiar that the young man almost never took it off in public places unless necessary. And even then, he felt a certain uneasiness. But there was no one here except the two of them, and that made it much easier.

Freud raised his hands to his neck, touching the base of the helmet. A clicking sound, and then another. Then a hissing sound, like the one door had made when it opened. With a fluid motion, Roland removes his helmet, releasing a stream of long, dark hair. The tall, young man with pale skin squints slightly as his grey eyes adjust to the light. Then, as if remembering that he is human, he looks at Thallia with a small, slightly shy smile.

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