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Lystral watched as Tegral and his crew left and she scoffed at how easily they retreated but was certain she should give them more respect than she was. She went over to retrieve a drink for herself and looked around the room at the strangers as she did so. She looked around for Sephon and spotted him only when he hopped down from out of the rafters where he and his new friend had been sitting. She rolled her eyes and crossed one arm over the other which was holding her drink in front of her lips. She took a sip from the glass and watched as Sephon walked over to her.

"You shouldn't be drinking that stuff."

"What are you? My father?" she hissed and walked passed him, but he grabbed her arm to stop her. He looked off to the said where Than was talking to Aria. "We can't go separate ways here, Lys- we have to be careful and stay close."

"I guess the months have mellowed me a little.... or maybe those party drinks weren't non alcoholic..." He chuckled a little, raising his arms to suggest he didn't really know how he'd changed from being worried about everything to being so casual. He gave Aria a moment to breath and hopefully calm herself down before he hugged her again, this time using both arms. If she allowed it, her head would probably be rested by his shoulder. "Do I look like a guy who'd benefit from getting into a panic attack anyway? I'd probably be a lot worse off if I got over excited about everything. If nothing else, I'm there if you need help; the least I can do to make up for being gone so long. How about you come by the citadel sometime? There's nothing to worry about if you're with me, and I bet my little sister and brothers would be a lot more comfortable with you if they're in their own home." Than's invitation was motivated as much by wishing to get reacquainted with his old friends as much as he'd like to see his siblings become friends with someone who wasn't pretty much family.

"Your little brother? If that's what he wants to do, sure." He stepped back from the hug and let his hand rest a few moments longer on her shoulder. "I guess my siblings are in the same boat. It might be nice to meet another kid. They don't exactly get to go out a lot, since our parents are a lot more protective of them than they are of me. I've been in the conflicts that go on since I can remember, but they're still in a lot of danger if they go out, and I think there are a lot of people, Xol, Tegral, and KB included who would attack them." Although he hadn't been distressed a moment ago, he did visibly sigh, rather depressingly, before he realized what he was doing and picked himself up. "It's not bad though. They're happy little kids when I get to see them; I guess it's an advantage of having two twins their own age for each of them. Oh, and I promise my dad won't pull anything if you don't. A lot more people would probably be welcome in the citadel if they just knocked instead of firing."

"Oh I know it's because of my dad... but sometimes I think even he regrets the fact they can't be safe because of how people feel about him. Although, honestly, I think they'd be in danger even if they were unrelated to him." He listened to her talk about D's demise, and how it affected her. When she apologized, he raised his hand and this time put his index finger on her lips. "Hey now, don't apologize. You've had it hard; I can sympathize with that." He took his hands away from Aria's lips, and decided to share his own story. "My little siblings are always worrying about me given half the time I go out I come back injured, or at least used to. When I started losing my sight all together, my little sister started acting more like a big sister to me. I hope they'll understand why I put myself through so much when they're older. I guess I'm not too good a brother to make them worry a lot." He chuckled and leaned back against the wall nearest them. "Don't through what we did? Yeah... I can get behind that idea...."

"Then it sounds like your brother and mine will get along fine. They can bond over their older siblings' mutual stupidity." Perhaps for the first genuine time, Than was amused enough to laugh happily. He was more hardened than the last time he'd met with Aria, but her comment did provoke a pinkening reaction from him. "Oh come on, I just told you all the ways I screw up as a brother. I'm not that great." He brushed some of the hair out of his face. "I'm glad you think so. But still, my attitude isn't enough to change anything..... that's what I've been training for....."

"I wouldn't exactly call being absent for days or weeks at a time a good role model. They spend more time with their mom and dad. I kinda don't want them to follow my example though....... or maybe I mean I want to make it so they don't have to follow my example. It would save them a few limbs." He chuckled a little, before tilting his head back and lightly hitting it on the wall. "Pretty much everyone was at that ball..... I hardly said a word to any of them though. I didn't even so much as get within a few meters of Kai...... although I think I may have almost tripped over her daughter...."

"She has 2 kids, twins," Than added to the end of Aria's statment, chuckling for a moment at the thought himself. "And wouldn't you know it, they're already as big as us. If I'm right and the person I almost tripped over was her daughter, then they sound quite a bit alike. Her son, on the other hand, seems pretty defensive. I don't think we got off on a good foot though. Maybe it's just as well that her kids don't know me."

He nodded as well, returning to Aria's initial question. "Yeah, Twilight was there, but I didn't talk to him much either. He had some deal to make with the guy who threw the party. Althoug... a little before we left, he did approach me out of the blue, shake my hand hard, slap me on the back hard enough to knock me over, and then scoot off. I didn't even get a chance to say anything back."

"What happened to everyone here?" Than repeated Aria's own question, grinning, before he looked in her direction and lightly indicated his hand toward her. "Our being here kind of answers that question." He chuckled, letting Aria think about it for a moment before continuing. "What happened is everybody had kids...."

He dropped his arms and let his muscles relax again. "Phia liked me huh? Well that's good to know, but," he chuckled again for a moment, "she's got her own son now. Not really much need to have me around anymore I guess."