Friday morning brought grey clouds and drizzle.

Not that I minded the change in weather. After the excursion into the hills the previous day and sharing my mental burden with Tobi, I was feeling lighter somehow, and that overshadowed any sorrow the weather might have brought.

It wasn't that I was feeling less guilty for what I'd done. On the contrary, the remorse was still very much present. But there was something about not having to shoulder it alone anymore that made it a little more tolerable. Something about the way Tobi had handled my revelation that helped me to be a little more grounded.

I stared out of the window at the light rain that snaked down the glass, deep in thought as I brushed my teeth.

Other than the obvious distress created by my confession, I'd enjoyed being outside my home with the platinum blond. The turtleneck had covered any evidence that he was Katki, and he hadn't displayed any behaviour that would have drawn attention to himself.

Getting him used to public places seemed like the most sensible next step. As I continued to watch the raindrops meander down the window, I determined that if we were going to try visiting a public place, a rainy weekday would be better than a weekend because there would be fewer people to contend with and I didn't want him to feel overwhelmed. There didn't seem much point in waiting for my next leave of absence from work, so I considered whether this was something we could attempt today.

Other than the relatively short time that Tobi had been free of the compliance drug, I couldn't think of a good reason why we shouldn't at least try. We appeared to trust each other already, and I felt the overall risk was small.

Tobi seemed excited when I proposed the idea to him, and we set off soon afterwards, sharing the only umbrella I owned.

I decided the most sensible course of action was to take a transport bus to Linn, a town that was further away than I'd normally travel to, as this lowered the probability that we'd encounter anyone I knew.

Upon our arrival, Tobi disembarked the transport bus before I did, wide-eyed and excited about his first experience of being relatively unrestricted in a public place. The bus had stopped in the small shopping area, and I watched as his sky-blue eyes took in everything from the brightly coloured displays to the people scurrying through the light rain to reach their destinations.

"This is incredible!" he enthused from under our umbrella.

I smiled.

For me, this was just a drizzly Friday in the shopping district of an adjacent town. To Tobi, this was a whole new world, and he was looking at it with the joy and wonder of a child in a playground.

"Do you want to have a look in some of the stores?" I asked him, and he nodded his approval eagerly.

We soon found ourselves in a small clothing store with a couple of others. Looking every bit like a fish out of water, Tobi followed me, his curious blue eyes darting around the clothing rails and other customers with interest. I bought him a couple of hooded sweaters with high necklines that covered his markings, to give him options if he found he wanted to visit other places in future, and a winter coat, since the colder season was approaching.

I wondered what we might get him to wear once the warmer summer weather arrived, but decided anything could happen by then, and we'd cross that bridge when we came to it.

"You didn't have to do that," he said to me quietly as we exited the store.

"I wanted to," I smiled back. "These will hopefully give you a little more freedom to move around in public. And besides, you have no way of earning money, so if you need something I'll get it."

Further up the street was a store that sold local food produce. Each town had evolved organically over time to produce goods that varied slightly from those found in the other towns and villages. These would often get transported to the Mart, the central trading hub, so that residents from other urban areas could buy the wares if desired. The commodities were often uneconomical to transport to more remote areas, which meant there were products on sale here that I wouldn't often find in my own village.

The greenhouses of Linn specialised in growing citrus fruit, which was one of the crops we didn't see much of on our side of the river, so we picked up several oranges to eat and a couple of lemons to make a lemon cake.

The next store sold handmade games and carved wooden ornaments. There were fewer people in this shop, and a large ornate wooden clock high on the wall could be heard ticking away the seconds we spent inside.

An elderly gentleman greeted us as we browsed, asking whether there was anything he could help with. He didn't notice anything obviously amiss with Tobi, and I liked that the Katki's masquerade was working.

"What's this?" I asked, picking up a thin wooden box, less than half a metre long.

"It's a two-player game called Mancala," he replied, opening the box.

The inside was carved from birch with small pits for the different coloured small, polished pebbles that were contained within, which the gentleman informed us were used as playing pieces for the game. After explaining the rules to us, I decided to purchase it – partly because I was in a jovial mood, since Tobi's first town excursion was going so well.

I also remembered to stock up on paper and pencils to cater for Tobi's artistic impulses.

After a successful morning, I suggested we stop at a local café for lunch. Having never eaten out before, Tobi was intrigued by the whole process. I suspected that part of the wonder was triggered by the role reversal, since he was undoubtedly used to being the one providing the services rather than being on the receiving end of them.

We chose a couple of seats at a table tucked in a corner away from the window, and I gestured to the menu so that Tobi could choose something from it.

He looked at it in confusion.

"How do I know what tastes good?" he asked me in a low voice, leaning forward a little so that he couldn't be heard by anyone around us.

It was a fair point. I didn't know what the Katki were given to eat at the Kinnisvara, but it was unlikely to be of the same quality as the food available outside it.

"Well, everything looks good, actually," I decided after skimming my eyes over the simple card in front of me.

I went on to explain what the different types of fillings for the sandwiches and jacket potatoes were, as well as the various flavours of soups and omelettes. Tobi opted to try the ham and cheese omelette and I decided I was in the mood for some wild mushroom soup.

When the young waitress came over to take our order, I did all the talking, since Tobi wasn't practiced at this, and I didn't want to risk him giving us away through inexperience. However, it was evident by the way the attendant's eyes flicked towards him during our discourse that she found him alluring.

I chuckled lightly to myself as she ambled away to fetch our food. Tobi was integrating so well into everyday life, that not only could he pass as a civilian, but a young lady was already showing an interest in him. If only the employee knew he was a Katki, I wondered whether she would still have the same reaction.

But I had to admit, I understood where she was coming from. Sitting across the table from me, with azure eyes still full of wonder, I could tell he was attractive. I had already noted it from the moment I first laid eyes on him at the Mart, but his bright personality was adding an additional layer to his undeniably striking exterior appearance. His eyes shone with emotion, holding more depth and life to them every day. His genuine smile when the waitress had come to take our order warmed my insides on an otherwise wet and dreary day. If he hadn't been branded for having such a high match to the Katki template, I knew he wouldn't have had any trouble finding a wife.

It wasn't long before the young lady returned with our food and an extra big smile for Tobi.

"What did they give you to eat at the Kinnisvara?" I asked him as we tucked into our respective lunches.

"Well, on a good day we had bread, with either soup or stew," he replied. "But we were sometimes given gruel, which was disgusting. I mean, we ate it when there wasn't anything else, but none of us liked it."

That seemed logical. All of those things would be relatively cheap and easy to make in bulk.

"And how does this compare?" I asked him, indicating his omelette.

"Really good," he enthused, grinning. "Whenever we went to the Mart I half-expected never to be aware of anything again. So, this – all of this – it feels like a dream."

I nodded slowly to show my comprehension.

"I guess you must have known that it was considered normal for custodians to permanently give their Katki the Ravim," I concurred. "I can't imagine what it must have been like to be faced with that every month, knowing you might never be conscious again."

"Pretty scary," he admitted. "But it becomes part of your life, you know? You kind of get used to it."

After considering his words carefully, I concluded it must be similar to facing your own death every month. Every time they took the Ravim, the Katki were faced with the very real possibility of losing themselves forever. I could feel my temperature rise as my anger levels rose. How could this be happening to people like Tobi?

"You shouldn't have to get used to it," I replied candidly while trying not to spoil our visit to the café with my escalating wrath.

Tobi's icy blue eyes met mine as he gave me a weak smile from across the table.

"I'm glad you were the one to choose me," he declared sincerely after a slight pause, with an indecipherable, almost wistful countenance. A couple of seconds passed before his expression abruptly changed, shifting his eyes back to his food and adding, "Or I wouldn't have been able to try this amazing omelette."

Despite Tobi's sudden and odd change in stance, I chuckled lightly to match his shift in demeanour.

"Wait until you try the desserts," I grinned, gesticulating to the cake display near the checkout.

The porcelain angel immediately looked more at ease and beamed back at me, which in turn helped to dissipate my own anger.

We ended up ordering a slice of carrot cake and a slice of chocolate cake so that we could share both flavours, since Tobi hadn't tried either before – at least to his knowledge. It turned out he preferred the chocolate cake, and he chose to eat it more slowly to savour the taste.

After visiting a few more shops, we decided to get the transport-bus home, and found places to put our new chattels while practising our custodian-Katki interaction.

The remainder of the afternoon was taken up with making a lemon drizzle cake using the tangy citrus fruit we'd picked up earlier. Despite getting ourselves and the kitchen covered in flour, we somehow managed to create a relatively satisfactory result through all the laughter and chaos.

After we'd cleaned up our mess and had dinner, the aroma from the freshly baked lemon cake proved too difficult to resist, and we rewarded ourselves with a slice each and a few games of Mancala. Our newly purchased game proved to be simple, but somewhat addictive, and took us later into the evening than I'd intended.

Climbing into bed and wishing Tobi goodnight, I found myself staring at the number that he would forever carry on his neck. So many questions whirled through my mind from my recent experiences with this Katki, and one thing was becoming increasingly clear.

For better or worse, curiosity had a hold on me, and would be a difficult creature to shake.