Ranvir put the last of his notation onto the shelf, leaving only his current notebook out on the stone tabletop. Taking a step back, looked over the new wall. It wasn’t much, mostly the counter and a wood shelf on the wall to store his notes. There were a few experiments he’d yet to set back up again, like the ritual looking for random folds and the one looking for his mana signature.

He’d need to redo that last one, since his basement’s location had changed slightly and his beacon had changed location. Figuring out how to make the ritual ignore signatures from certain areas had taken a long time, but had been really satisfying once he’d gotten right.

In the basement’s corner, he’d sanded down an area of the floor until it was a finger’s width deeper than the rest and slotted his beacon stamped in bronze into it. Already, he had it back up and running. Similarly, he now had a beacon in Elpir’s orphanage and one with the Sentinels in Legea.

He also had a mostly empty bookcase against one wall where he’d stored all of his puzzles from Kasos and any other books he owned, which were strikingly few. He’d been living off Limclea’s libraries for the past few years, which was less than perfect. Borrowing a book without paying for it was fantastic. Looking something up to make sure a theory was correct was already frustrating. It taking upwards of a couple weeks to verify was beyond stifling.

Ranvir already had a list of the basics that he’d need to grab at some point. Unfortunately, there were a few other things that might come first. Like proper kitchen equipment, making sure both Vasso and Frija had everything they’d need, and making sure the entire house was at least somewhat furnished.

“Well, that’s as good as it gets for now,” he muttered, taking the stairs up. He’d carried most of their stuff in his spaces, only leaving what Frija and Vasso needed during the everyday at Ione’s.

The stairs up took him into the pantry. Most of the space was taken up by the bare shelves. Ranvir let the trapdoor shut with a thump behind him as he stepped out of the mostly bare room. The kitchen wasn’t much better. All of his previous items were functional, but they looked out of place in the more modern setting. His cauldron, from which he cooked stews, now sat on the wooden countertop. His pan and knife at least looked like they belonged somewhat.

The silverware and plates and towels were functional enough, so he would not replace them. Even if they looked like they’d belonged to a homeless person. Shaking his head, Ranvir foresaw lots of work in his future. Most of his things would do in the short term, but he needed to look to the horizon if he wanted what was the best of his children.

Speaking of which, someone knocked on his door. He quickly strode to the door and opened it to reveal Elpir, Frija, and Vasso on the other side.

“Daddy!” Frija cried, tackling his knees. Vasso nodded awkwardly, so Ranvir drew him into a hug, which made Elpir smile.

“Amalia on mission?” he asked, a thought striking him.

She gave him a terse smile. “Yeah, she won’t be back until sometime next week.”

“Sucks.”

She nodded, then once he relinquished Vasso and Frija him, she opened her arms for a hug of her own. Closing the door behind them, Ranvir’s cane slapped the floor with a loud clatter of wood on wood.

“Shit,” he muttered, kicking it up to lean against the wall.

“Why do you still keep that around?” Elpir asked, looking down at the implement with an arch brow.

Ranvir shrugged. “As a reminder, I think. Also, I vaguely remember something about it belonging to Amalia’s grandfather or something,” he shook his head.

“A reminder?” Elpir gave him a long look. “That’s not morbid at all.”

Ranvir smiled at her. She’d been the one who’d taken care of him when he’d first been crippled. She’d had to wash him. He’d dug the cane out when he realized his soul was compromised again, putting it next to the doorframe to remind himself.

“Tough times,” Ranvir said, as Frija and Vasso returned from exploring the kitchen. “But I’m tougher.”

“Is this our house?” Frija asked, stomping her tiny feet on the floorboards. “It’s got a floor!”

Ranvir scratched the back of his head. “It sure does, so we should probably take our shoes off?” he looked questioningly at Elpir.

“It’s wood, so that would be a good idea.”

Ranvir nodded and took his own off. Back home, he’d never take his shoes off, but it was so cold it could make you sick to walk around with bare feet. Not so in Korfyi, however.

Once shoeless, Ranvir had to catch Menace, who’d finally caught up and nearly ran inside with its muddy paws. Wiping its oversized paws was a task for five people at a minimum as the kitten squirmed and fought.

He’d grown even further over the last month and a half. Presumably, it was finally reaching its mature size, though each body part traveled at differing rates. He now stood taller than Frija’s waist, but still had some growing to do if he was going to match his paws.

“Phew,” Frija said, leaning back and wiping her brow emphatically as Menace squirreled away from them. “That was tough!” she wiped her brow again for even more emphasis. Of course, she’d only been patting his side, and hadn’t actually wrestled with the overgrown cat.

“I think it’s about time you show us around, Ranvir,” Elpir said, wiping mud from her cheek where Menace had sprayed her.

Winds rushed outside, loud enough that they could hear it hissing through the door. An odd cawing followed, then some taps on the door. Around the handle, if Ranvir were to guess.

Opening the door, he felt a slight resistance as he pulled it out. Vulture stood on the other side, nipping at the brass handle. It gave him a long look before letting go and straightening. The bird screeched so loudly, Menace instantly transported up the stairs and into the farthest room from the entry.

Ranvir looked down at its talons. Though they weren’t muddied, they were lethally sharp. “You better not scratch my floor.”

Vulture trilled at him and stepped inside, forcing the rest out of the entry. It had to bend over and still its feathers rustled against the ceiling.

“That’s…” Elpir muttered, taking a step back. “Bigger than Amalia made it seem,” then she brightened. “I’ve got something for it,” she pulled out a paper and started reading. “Windfall, Stormrush, Beakon?” she looked questioningly at Ranvir.

“Did Amalia give you that?”

She nodded.

He took the paper and rolled his eyes. “Forget about it. The bird’s not a pet.”

“Those are names?” her face screwed up as Ranvir nodded. “Those are horrible.”

“Yeah,” Frija said from the hallway. “Just look at how big and silly it is. That should be his name, Silly!”

Ranvir strained against the sheer force of her innocence and will, pushing back until he finally uttered. “Not a pet. No pet names.”

Frija’s face fell.

“What do we call it?” Vasso asked. “You said it’s a vulture, right?”

“Best I can figure,” Ranvir said. “It’s a called maned vulture and they’re big on corpses.”

Frija made a face, as Elpir’s grew thoughtful, and Vasso frowned slightly.

“Eww.”

“What about Graywing?”

“It’s big on everything.”

The words came out in a jumble. Ranvir blinked. “I guess I like Graywing,” he shook his head. “If for no other reason than you came up with it, and Amalia didn’t.”

Elpir laughed.

“He meant it likes to eat corpses.”

“Oh…”

Ranvir smacked his lips. “Right, let’s go through everything, won’t be long.”

They all nodded and headed off. Despite its size and clumsiness, Graywing didn’t scratch the floor or break anything. They first stopped by the kitchen. Elpir looked at it for a little while, but Frija and Vasso were already tired of it before their second breath. Moving on, they went to the meditation chamber. A bare room with lots of windows looking into the forest, a single cabinet sat in the corner for incense.

Next, they headed upstairs, where Menace hissed and spat at Graywing. The bird ignored the cat and followed close behind. Best Ranvir could tell, it wasn’t intelligent. Or at least not intelligent, like humans and kortians were. A cunning animal, but nothing more. Still, it seemed interested. Perhaps it understood the house as its nest?

The upstairs were dominated by three bedrooms and a bathroom. With real indoor plumbing, Ranvir was excited. There was also a small lounge in the hallway between rooms because there’d been spare space and Ranvir hadn’t known what to do with it.

Each of the bedrooms were essentially the same. His was located as far from theirs as they could put it, on a recommendation from the inspector himself. When asked why, the man had simply explained ‘Teenagers’ and moved on.

Frija’s room looked much like her old one, except slightly bigger and with a balcony that she shared with Vasso’s room.

The boy paused as he stepped into the next room, recognizing the sheets covering the bed. He stared at them for a long time, before inspecting them closer, as if to make sure. Vasso glanced at Ranvir before returning to run the sheets through his fingers.

“I…” his voice was rough, so he cleared his throat. “I get my own room?”

“Of course,” Ranvir said with a nod.

Vasso clutched white-knuckled to the sheet. “I really don’t want to cry again…” he muttered quietly. Ranvir nodded understandingly. Next to him, Elpir sniffed hard, her own eyes so wet she had to be using an Ability to hold back the tears.

“It’s okay,” Frija said, patting her leg. “We’ll get him more stuff. I’ll share my figures with him,” she held up one of Ranvir’s earliest attempts at a stone figurine. Even he couldn’t recognize what it was supposed to be, other than a quadruped. “Here,” she offered it to Vasso, who gingerly accepted it.

“Thanks…” he looked at it for a long time, then placed it next to his bed.

“Thank you, Ranvir,” Elpir whispered as Frija explained he was supposed to play with the figure. “I know it’s a burden to take on another kid, and I jumped it on you kind out of nowhere, but he seems so happy.”

Ranvir sent a skeptical look towards the puzzled Vasso, as Frija put the figure back in his hand. Most of the time, he looked nonplussed or even slightly bored to Ranvir, though he had to agree there was some change in the air around him over the last couple of months.

“It’s not a burden,” Ranvir said finally. “I earn more keys than Amalia. It’s no problem at all.”

Elpir smiled and touched his shoulder. “If you say so.”

Ranvir nodded. He had.

Once Elpir left and Ranvir had gotten Frija and Vasso in bed, he returned to his basement workshop and the only room he hadn’t shown them. Then, he set to work on a schematic for a wedding gift.