Arctang set aside the paper and leaned forward, rubbing his eyes and the bridge of his nose. It wasn't that the tallies were difficult, nor were they discouraging. Work in the forge had been going well, production was up. It was just... well, something was missing. If he was honest with himself, a lot was missing. He stood, straightening his vest reflexively, and walked out into the sunroom.

It was peaceful in this room. There was another just like it next door, for the guest suite. It was one of his favorite spots in his spacious domain. Sunlight filtered through curved windows, glowing through thick greenery and leaving large portions of the room in shady coolness. It was quiet, with only the distant sounds of the rest of the household bustling about and the soft trickle of the fountain that ran out into the pond outside. With a deep sigh, Arc settled himself into a comfortable chair and gave himself some time to relax.

He wasn't doing much of that lately. Things had gotten too lonely and monotonous here at home. Ever since Pris had gotten her own rooms, his own home had felt empty. It didn't help either that Taj and his crew were off on some adventure, and Lisana hadn't come for a visit or been around the grounds when he'd been out and about. So he'd kept himself busy at the forge. It seemed there was never a lack of things to get done there, and time had passed without requiring a lot of his attention. What had snapped him out of his mind-numbing cycle was Hatim bringing his lunch to the forge the other day. Arc leaned back, kicking both heels up as he recalled.

He'd seen Hatim quite often, of course. The boy had been kept busy himself with lessons, some from Arc while most were from others. However, something about him that day had struck Arc like a slap of cold water on his forge-warmed face. Perhaps it was the realization of how tall he was now. Or it could have been the deepness of his voice as he addressed Arc familiarly. It even could have simply been the size of the hands that had handed him the food he'd forgotten at home. Whatever the reason, it had caused the Pie Bird to stop and look intently at Hatim. The boy, no longer a boy but a teen, had laughed at the scrutiny and turned to go. Arc had shaken his head as if to clear the cobwebs and looked again at the broadening back as it retreated. No, it was no dream. Hatim was growing up.

This had made his heart ache, for it meant so were so many others, including Pris. He had a flash of worry that perhaps the little girl was gone already, but he sternly held his mind from that inevitable sorrow. Time enough to dwell on that later. He refused to let it drag him into a loop of grief for his own Rairne. This was how it worked, and raging against children being implanted wouldn't change it. He reached up to scratch at his own deeply implanted gem. It was migrating, which was astonishingly itchy. Maybe soon it would find a place and stay. Kinda like him? He glanced around at his beautiful surroundings and heaved a sigh. Well, enuogh dawdling. Time to go peek at what Kreeant was making for dinner. He smiled at the thought of the mock-huffy cook shooing him out of the kitchen while also slipping him a snack. Yes, it was definitely time to check on dinner!