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Adenah had been gone for the better part of a month now and while Arkadios was trying not to think about what could be happening it was hard to ignore the shift. Until she came back the ones who loved her would always carry a certain amount of worry, even if life pulled them in other directions and he himself turned that stress into cooking.

The young hybrid was nothing if not productive. There were still dishes that needed cleaning, stews that needed cooking, fish to debone, beds to make, linen to wash; it was never ending in a big family. Still, it was inevitable that one day Ari's veneer of calm would break and when it did it was big.

He'd been in the market when it happened. Normally he could brush nasty comments off his back, but lately he'd been particularly irritable. If he wasn't working he didn't want to spend time with anyone much less a few punks who had snide remarks about his sister.

Instantly he was brought back to the same punks who'd hurt and without even thinking about if they actually were he'd laid into them.

Now he was sitting inside the guard house with a handful of bruises, a busted lip and split knuckles. The other boys had been hauled off to a healer and while it had been written off as a squabble between teenagers, as the aggressor, Arkadios had to wait for an 'escort' to go home. It was to help him 'cool off' or so they said.

While he wasn't deemed dangerous enough to warrant a cell, he had been separated from the general populace. It gave him time to calm himself and even if he had punched the wall a few times he could still think. What was he even doing here? He knew should have just walked away, kept a level head all throughout and yet it felt really good to just hit them until it stopped.

The teenager was still wrapped in his anger, albeit less so now, when a figure arrived. He'd expected to see his Aunt or Uncle, but when he saw Dovian instead Arkadios' heart sank. Was he supposed to be visiting and Ari just forgot?

He nodded demurely and moved to stand. Parts of him ached, but not in a way that meant anything was broken. At least, so far as he knew. The adrenaline was still strong enough to block out most everything beyond the wounds he could actually see. Most likely even with the help of a healer Ari wouldn't be as active in the next few days.

The teen didn't say anything as he walked past his father. After everything was squared away with the guards who watched over him they were given clearance to leave and a simple warning;

"Don't come back."

Spoken as good natured as it was, Ari knew it for the warning that it was. Next time he wouldn't be treated as kindly.

When they were out, he waited a moment before turning to Dovian, "I didn't know you here."

Arkadios let out a breath and gave a brief nod. It was a relief to know he hadn't royally messed up even if this was far from ideal. In all honesty he had no idea what to say. It was hard enough piecing it together himself let alone explaining it. He'd have to say something though; Siofra would be beside herself and his guardians would want answers.

He could choose not to open up to Dovian, but Ari had never been that type of boy. Even when he wasn't feeling particularly social he had no problem expressing why.

"How much do you know about what happened to Sio?"

"I was in the market and I overheard someone saying things about her. I try to keep my nose out of things, especially if it's just going to cause more problems because people like to talk but I just..." Ari flexed his aching hands before clenching them. He could still see the smug expression of the first boy he'd hit quickly turn into shock the moment his fist connected. "I can't do anything about Mama, you, or Aunt Thea but I can do something about Sio."

There was just so much happening at once that Arkadios had a hard time coping with it. He didn't want anyone to worry about him - not when there was so many other things to fuss about - and yet, he'd gone and screwed up.

"I don't even think it was the ones who actually hurt her." Which meant this whole thing might be repeated in the future and that wouldn't be good. The fact he wasn't even pretending Thea was his mother in public was sign enough that his mental state wasn't the most composed.

"Yeah, well...it sucks and they shouldn't." Ari groused. As they walked the exhaustion of the day started to pull through the adrenaline that had kept him awake for so long. It kept him a little grouchy, but more so fed up with the community as a whole. Most days he could see life for what it was; a little bad with a lot of good. Now? Now he just hated everyone and wanted to slug the lot of them.

"So you said you weren't planning on coming by? What brought you here then?" Not that he wasn't happy to see his father, but it wasn't exactly the best of times. Arkadios usually tried to make sure they had a nice meal when Dovian came by and he wouldn't be doing much of anything when he got home now.

"A little." Ari grunted and twisted his back to pop it. In one way it helped to relieve tension, but it also proved that he'd done something to his side. He curled his lip with a hiss before ultimately huffing in aggravation at himself over that one.

"...Does it bother you, that we don't live with you?" Arkadios stopped then to look at Dovian. "Sorry - it's abrupt, but...Mom came to see us before she left and I haven't heard anything. I just...I've talked to her about it before but I never really got to talk to you. I told her when she comes back that we could spend more time together and she tried to play it off like I wouldn't notice, but I did."

She'd promised that it wouldn't take long. As far as she was concerned her mission would take a few weeks at best and most of that was travel, but that had been months now.

"I think...I'd really like that." Ari knew the reasoning behind his living arrangements and he wasn't bitter toward his parents so much as the circumstances that led to it. "I love living with Aunt Thea, Uncle Rydan and everyone else, but it would be nice to visit. Me visit you that is. I mean, both ways are fine but I'd like to know more about you without everyone else. Except Siofra; if she wanted to come she could."

Growing up he'd never lacked in affection or company, but there'd always been that feeling of strangeness that pulled at him. Maybe it started when Siofra called Thea mom because, in all fairness, he'd also thought of her like a mother. What if he'd been the one to make the mistake?

"When mom comes back we should do something together; just the four of us."