The eyes of 3109 suddenly burst open, an extreme fear could be read in them before being immediately replaced by an overwhelming relief.

His back wasn't resting on a rough floor but on the softest, most fluffy thing his body had ever touched, the surface he was staring at didn't remotely resemble the dark ceiling of the imprisonment cell he knew only too well. That's what he was repeatedly telling himself to calm his heart that was still beating furiously against his chest.

Getting used to the fact that he was no longer in the prison would take time, that much was certain, and if the new state of his body was any indication of what his future held, there were many other things he would have to get used to as well.

Indeed, after the shock of his awakening had passed, the first thing 3109 did was to check what happened to his body since he could now move it and feel it again, and the least one could say was that his surprise and happiness were showing when he did so.

To begin with, the sensation that was coursing through his entire body was just great, he was still very tired and fragile, but all in all that was it, nothing else. No more constant and intense pain, not as much difficulty in moving his limbs, and these simple facts had succeeded in making him cry a torrent of tears of joy that only intensified after he pinched his left shoulder as hard as possible to double check if what he was feeling was real.

While 3109 was wiping his tears counterproductively as the dirt on his hands only made him want to cry more, he heard a warm voice he recognized instantly, "You might want to use this instead." Said the giant man who was sitting on the edge of the large, soft rectangle on which 3109 was lying while handing him a small white cloth.

Understanding the intent of the giant man and not wanting to upset him in any way, 3109 grabbed the cloth without making a sudden gesture, lowered his head in reverence, then wiped his eyes.

---

[Harry's POV]

---

Managing to rid him of the fear he has of me was going to be a long and complicated process, I already knew this, but this assessment was further reinforced when I saw the look of pure terror on the boy's face when he noticed the dirt he had left on the handkerchief I had just given him as well as the spot where he had been lying in his bed.

After that, the kid frantically rubbed the handkerchief with his hands in an attempt to get rid of the dirt, but it was a waste of effort and although he seemed to have realized it too, it didn't prevent him from continuing to try.

I wasn't that surprised by his reaction, but it still pained me to see that he was thinking I would hurt him for something as trivial as dirtying the bed I put him in and the handkerchief I gave him. If he had to blame someone for that it was me not himself.

But well, if that's the way he felt, I could adapt.

I nudge him a bit to have his attention and I held out my hand to him with a smile that was meant to be reassuring.

He understood what I expected from him and he gave me back the handkerchief with a frightened look and trembling hands.

I now had the handkerchief on the palm of my right hand, in full view of the boy. I then slowly moved my left hand over my right so that the handkerchief went out of the child's field of vision for a brief moment. When he saw the handkerchief once again, it was completely clean.

His eyes bulged out of surprise for as long as 2 seconds and... that was it. I was expecting a little more amazement than that but yeah, I guess it's not nearly as impressive as the time I teleported him from his cell.

Anyway, I gave him the handkerchief back, which he put aside on the bed, and to my astonishment after he did so he opened his mouth for the first time.

As I was wondering what could have made him decide to break his silence, he told me with a muffled voice and in a russian even worse than mine, "Teach. Talk. Please."

It had the merit of being direct.

---

[1 hour later]

---

Harry and Lise were side by side, leaning against the wall behind them in a dark, narrow room 15 feet long by 5 feet wide. They were looking straight ahead through a glass window that was transparent on their side and on the other looked no different from the vegetalized walls of the room that the aforementioned window overlooked; the bedroom in which 3109 was.

They were both smiling for slightly different reasons as they were watching 3109 devouring Lise's cantonese rice as if it was his last meal.

For Harry, it was more than anything else because he had spent half an hour teaching the kid how to eat with cutlery and he could see that he knew how to use a fork and a knife properly, while for Lise it was essentially because she was happy to see that someone appreciated her cooking so much.

As 3109 was licking his plate Harry opened his mouth and before he could say anything, Lise interrupted him, "If it's to ruin the moment, I advise you to shut it." She said in a threatening voice before exhaling a large puff of smoke coming from her cigarette.

"Calm down..." Harry replied in a falsely offended tone, "...I was just going to ask you if you were aware that the reasons why he liked your meal so much were that he was starving and had no standards since he had never eaten anything good in his life?"

Lise threw a dark glare at Harry without saying a word, 'That's it bitch, tomorrow morning I'm asking Zoro to take a shit in your cereal bowl.' She schemed, spending the next few seconds figuring out all the imaginable countermeasures in order not to let Harry find out until it's too late when the time comes.

"Anyway..." Harry started to say while walking towards the glass window till he was right in front of it, "... I think you will get to meet the kid earlier than expected."

Lise raised an eyebrow, "What made you change your mind?"

"At first I thought he was terrified of me, but now I'm sure that's not exactly how he feels. What he's terrified of is making me regret helping him. Therefore, I don't think meeting you will be as traumatic as expected." He answered before blowing the smoke of his cigarette on the glass window.

Lise stood behind Harry and began to gently caress his right shoulder with her left hand, "You must be thrilled to see that he already has developed daddy issues." She scoffed.

Harry turned around and grinned at Lise while displaying a teasing gaze, "You have no idea how much I've missed your bullshit." He told her while crushing her with a hug on purpose.