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Upon (somewhat belatedly) noticing the message on her cellphone, it took the Infamous Jack-of-all-Trades, Arrien, all of two minutes to abandon the tedious work of installing lighting in the basement, throw on a clean outfit, scoop up her backpack, and head out of the wrought iron gates that surrounded the place she now called "home". It would be a lie, to say that Arrien hadn't been wishing for such an excuse to escape the nagging responsibilities that her new residence demanded. More to the point... it would be a lie to say that Arrien hadn't spent the past half hour attempting to construct such an excuse, trying to justify putting off the much-needed rennovations for her soon-to-be bedroom.

It was a much-welcomed sight, to see the building of the Fa'e HQ again. Arrien had hardly realized how long it had been since she had last gotten a chance to stop by. She might have dropped in once or twice, after the move... but otherwise, her time had been wholly occupied by the gift (or, as she was beginning to suspect, curse) of home ownership. She almost hadn't even realized how many days of her life had snuck away, until, hesitating only a moment in order to straighten out her bunny-ear headband, she strode confidently through the door. Greeted with the familiar sights and smells of the room, she became acutely aware of how much time had passed, between her last visit. Almost as startling was the sudden realization- she had missed this place....

"Hey!" With an enthusiastic grin, she slung the backpack off of her shoulders, letting it hit the ground roughly. "Long time no see!"

It was much to Arrien's relief that the Fa'e had come toddling over at that very opportune moment. Arrien didn't even want to have to think of the frustrations of her Fa'e research... or, more specifically, the lack thereof. In the process of moving, the black notebook she had used to store all of her observations, notes, and theories had disappeared. Tearing her old hotel room upside down (much to the protest of the management... but ha, she didn't have to suck up to them anymore!) had turned up nothing, and performing similar sacrilege to her house had given her no better results. Even if she had only been casually researching them, using the project to fill up some spare time (and give her an excuse to drop by)... losing her precious notes had been disheartening, to say in the least... perhaps that had even contributed to her temporary absence from the Fa'e HQ.

But such trivial facts paled in the presence of the little Fa'e. Arrien's eyes lit up upon seeing Lethe - she'd grown so much! So fast! She had to resist the urge to readjust her glasses and double-check that she was seeing the girl accurately.

At Lethe's comment, Arrien just chuckled. "I'll bet I do!" As usual, she did not use a condescending tone to Lethe, as many people would to one much younger than they, but kept her voice in a perfectly normal range of pitch as she continued, "I probably look a lot smaller, now. You've gotten bigger, haven't you... Lethe?"

It wasn't very likely, she reflected, that the Fa'e would take notice of the high compliment that Arrien had just paid her, in those words. After all, it had been a perfectly ordinary question. But it was the name that was the honor- the fact that, even with so much time having passed since their last meeting, the oh-so-forgetful Arrien had made a point to keep track of Lethe's name. And, really... it was satisfying enough to the woman that she had succeeded in retaining that information, it didn't matter so much to her if Lethe realized the significance of it or not.

The Jack-of-all-Trades paused a moment to give Cerena a sidelong glance, eyes twinkling. "Looks like you didn't exactly have trouble with raising her, after all," she commented, wearing a smug 'I-knew-you'd-do-fine' grin.

Arrien had to blink a moment at Cerena's description of Lethe's growth. She had just... grown up? Just like that? But why would it occur in that manner?

Presented with a challenge, her mind sprinted off, forming theories and conjectures as quickly as it could manage.

The Fa'e were creatures of magic; Arrien had once played with the idea that their entire existence might be nothing more than dreams and stardust, a long-delayed reaction to the sudden disappearence of the creatures of legend so long ago. Their lives thus powered by magic, their growth would also be directly dependant upon the gathering of power over time. It might be reasonable to suggest that rather than growing bit by bit as flesh-and-blood creatures would, the Fa'e would first store up enough magical energy, and then switch over to the next stage of life - as Cerena had suggested, "level up" to a new form.

Or perhaps the sudden transformation had more to do with the connection of the Fa'e to time, rather than any sort of magic. After all, they clearly had a different temporal relationship than normal humans would, first by being reincarnated at a different point in the timestream, then by their lifespans passing by so much more quickly. Perhaps it wasn't that they weren't growing during the period in which they maintain the same appearence, but simply that the growth was not occuring in unison with the sands of time. The Fa'e might exist partially outside of the normal flow, meandering in and out of its reach. At the point when the Fa'e would again connect with the present, perhaps they would "refresh", so to speak; their form would be reset in order to match with how they should be.

She twitched a finger, itching to write all this down. But, alas, that was simply not an option. She'd just have to settle for relying on her memory, to keep from losing track of these thoughts....

Arrien hadn't been aware how much she had zoned out, until she felt a sudden grip around her leg. Surprise passed over her face as she looked down at the pale face beaming up at her. That smile was infectious; Arrien couldn't help but return it, putting a hand on Lethe's head and ruffling her hair playfully.

"Looks like you've learned a lot since last we met," Arrien grinned, before stooping down to get Lethe at eye-level. "What else can you do now?"

Lethe was learning how to paint? It seemed rather fitting, actually, for such a beautiful little girl to learn how to make beautiful things. Arrien half-expected for the child to produce one of her masterpieces for inspection- rather hoped it, actually. You could get a good idea of a child's interests, from the art they make; Arrien was dying of curiosity, to see what Lethe would have drawn. But, alas, she either didn't have a painting with her, or didn't think to show it. Maybe next time....

"If you count learning how to get people to doing work for you, yes," Arrien replied with a laugh, thinking of the fox-tail that had assisted her with the carpeting for her basement. What'd his name been... Evanin? Ah, damn, she'd forgotten already... she had his name listed on her cellphone, though, so it ought to be okay. She'd just look it up there, if she had any need to recall it.

"I got a new house, you know," she added. "It's got a huge yard, and a pond with koi, and even a little playground in the backyard. Maybe you'd like to see it sometime?"

Arrien wandered lazily after Lethe, gazing at the stuffed creatures with no small amount of curiosity. She hadn't quite pictured Lethe as the sort who would depend on dragons for silent companionship... but, then again, she didn't especially want to be able to predict all of the behaviors of the little Fa'e. Things were much, much more interesting when she was surprised.

"Mousas," Arrien repeated solemnly, wondering if this was the name of one of the dragons, or all of them, or if it wasn't really the dragons she was naming, but what they meant to her....

Had Arrien ever been that young, with a stuffed animal at her side to whisper secrets to and never, ever have to wonder if they would tell someone else? Eh... she didn't think so. Or maybe she just didn't like to think so. Either way.

Besides, an almost morbid part of her piped up in a mock-cheerful manner, that's what you've got C-A for!

... it was all Arrien could do to suppress a shiver at the thought of confiding in the android that haunted her life.

Eager to clear her mind of such thoughts, the young woman quickly made a mental scramble for some way to make conversation with Lethe about her dragons. "Do you take care of them? Or do they take care of you?" Arrien found herself asking, wondering at the sort of relationship that Lethe would have with her plushies.