The trip to Ayvir’s home was a quick one. Between his time as a student, his somewhat truncated time as an important tethered soldier, and his time as a Master at the academy, Ayvir had been making enough money to buy himself a good house in a nice part of the city.

Walking the city itself was another experience. With Esmund, they’d been walking a ‘newcomer’ route, similar to what Grevor had done for them when they’d first arrived. This time, they were walking straight from Grev’s estate to Ayvir’s place.

They passed through a messy market. The square was darker, the place louder, more tightly packed than what Ranvir would find in Legea. There was a harried air to the people, even as they exchanged pleasantries. People looking from the corner of their eyes, glancing warily at the surrounding people.

They glared at Vasso especially, standing out with his darker skin tone and unusual clothing. Even Ranvir, tanned by his long time in Korfyi, caught the occasional look. The city was on edge, a wounded animal constantly on the watch for any eager predators.

Frija, with Menace once more in a pocket-space, noticed it quickly and drew closer to Ranvir. She dug her fingers into his feathers, pressing against his wings. Folded up as they were, she would have a difficult time getting past them.

Vasso similarly withdrew, letting himself get blocked in between the adults. Ranvir wasn’t sure if Ayvir was aware of it, but the man drew back until they were all walking close. Something similar to a combat formation escorting valuables between them.

Passing through the market didn’t alleviate the pressure any. Despite the fine weather, his eyes seemed to wander only towards the city’s flaws. Old boards that needed replacing. Chipped paint. Small things on the grander scale, things usually only the vainest and richest care about, suddenly jumped at him everywhere he turned.

There were no dilapidated buildings, there were no broken shutters or smashed windows. Kids played in the street, wagons traveled by. People greeted Ayvir, clearly recognizing him.

Master Ayvir stopped in front of a house. It looked much like the others in the area. Well maintained, but not maniacally so.

“Not quite as you’re used to?” Ayvir asked them as he unlocked the door with a hefty key.

Ranvir shook his head. “Legea is a little different.”

Frija nodded intently, still clutching his feathers. Though she said nothing. Vasso stepped inside silently, ignoring their conversation. They exchanged looks, then Ranvir hurried Frija inside.

The house initially seemed smaller than Ranvir’d expected. The kitchen and living room were crammed into one narrow space, following the wall corner-to-corner. However, the space had been sacrificed for an additional room. Three bedrooms, rather than two. In some areas, even a single bedroom was the norm. The children sleeping in the common room at night.

There was some mess, but with Ayvir’s normally neat appearance to now, Ranvir’d feared worse. It could’ve done with another sweep a week or two ago. The kitchen had a growing stack of dishes, and it definitely hadn’t been aired out today.

Thankfully, neither Frija nor Vasso seemed too bothered by it. Ranvir let Menace out into the living room. The monstrously sized cat looked around once, let out an avalanches mimicry of a ‘meow’ and slumped into a corner.

The back of the house looked out onto a square of actual green grass. Ranvir wasn’t sure there were places like that in the city, since he’d never seen one. Only muddy old roads and cobble-paved streets. A few families were outside at the moment, but he ignored them.

“The two rooms at the back are yours,” Ayvir said, pointing down the hallway.

Ranvir nodded, even as Frija ran down the hall. There was some debate about which room the kids would take, but eventually, Frija won out and got the smaller room, but with a window looking into the square.

“Daddy!” Frija called, tension in her voice.

Ranvir exchanged another look with Ayvir. “Uh oh,” he murmured and headed down the hall as the light tethered returned to cleaning his dishes.

Frija was kneeling on the bed, her shoes lying discarded next to it. She glanced tentatively at the door after he’d passed through, then waved him closer. “Closer!” she hissed when he didn’t go far enough.

Finally, with him kneeling next to the bed, she cupped her hands over his ear and whispered. “There’s something wrong with the bed.”

Ranvir cocked an eyebrow and tentatively tested it. It was hay-stuffed rather than her usual cotton. He frowned and tested it more firmly. The hay was lumpy, uneven, and wasn’t nearly as soft as the cotton. Ranvir had spent his fair time on bedrolls, so he was still accustomed to sleeping conditions worse than this.

“It’s hay, Firehearth,” he whispered, caressing her hair gently. “That’s how they feel,” he pulled the pillow over. This wasn’t hay, but feathers. Down, he realized with wryly. Could he make one of these? He shook his head. “That’s how beds are made here.”

She peered at the door again, then leaned close to his ears. “But it’s…” she peered towards the hallway one last time. “So bad.”

Ranvir chuckled. “You slept on bare ground with me on Belnavir.”

“But this is a house,” she fidgeted with her fingers, picking at her fingernails. Ranvir gently covered her hands with one of his. “We… are we moving here?”

He pursed his lips, looking into his daughter’s worried eyes. “No,” he shook his head. “We’re visiting for a time, but this isn’t our home. This is where many of my friends, and your grandmamma and granddaddy lives, but no more.”

She hid her relief poorly before nodding and throwing her arms around his neck. “I didn’t like how they looked at Vasso,” she whispered to him.

Ranvir’s heart thrummed in his chest. “Me neither, Firehearth. Why don’t you go tell him that?”

She pulled away, making a face, then smiling. “Okay.”

They ate dinner around Ayvir’s dining table. It was big enough for all of them, even if his high-backed chairs were a little uncomfortable for Ranvir’s wings. Ranvir also had to fully reveal his hand to Ayvir, which earned a few long looks. Especially the wicked talons at the end.

The food itself was simple fare. A bit of bland dried meat and fresh vegetables. Neither Ranvir nor Ayvir were cooks, and both had spent significant time eating like soldiers. Not that Ranvir’d had been a picky eater before that.

Frija, unsurprisingly, took to it with gusto. Devouring anything that was put before her. Ranvir could’ve easily been convinced she would eat dirt if it was put before her, if not for the evidence. No need to persuade a witness into believing, after all.

Vasso, on the other hand, took far longer to eat his food, only barely seem to scarf down the meat. He made quick work of the vegetables, but then again. Fresh greens were fresh greens almost anywhere Ranvir’d gone so far.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Ayvir asked as they were cleaning up.

“Dropping a beacon in the forest,” Ranvir replied. “Then I’m grabbing Pashar, if she has the time. We originally planned for me to drop by tomorrow, but time is a little misaligned between the Vednar and Korfyi.”

“Korfyi’s the other world?”

“Our home,” Ranvir said with a nod.

Ayvir let the statement linger in the air for a moment. “Is it better than here?”

“In some ways, at least. But it’s where Frija was raised. It’s where my house is. It’s where Vasso grew up. I have friends both here and there.”

Ayvir nodded, and they cleaned up in silence.

“You know,” Master Ayvir said. “I almost moved to Ankiria after the front lines. I’d been apprenticed by a Triplet Master and one of her other students. She’d…” he winced. “Well, it didn’t work out in the end. We drifted apart, differences in ideology. I asked for a special compensation to return to the academy. I never even gave it another chance.”

Ayvir thumbed his rolled-up sleeve, the pin’s head gleaming in the light. “Now she’s buried with my old master beneath the Sun Palace’s ruins.”

He sniffed and looked away, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I’m just pulling you down,” he waved his hand at Ranvir.

“It’s okay,” Ranvir said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t have a gift with words. He couldn’t make Ayvir feel better. But he could be there for the moment. He could hold him.

Ayvir’s eyes reddened. He squeezed them shut, standing before Ranvir, the one human hand crossing the distance. Ayvir’s voice wobbled as he spoke. “I don’t even know what I’m doing. You’re so much younger than me,” Ayvir shook his head and stepped away, his voice firming. “Go. Go with your beacon and grab Pashar. We’ll be fine here.”