He came to breakfast late, walking in to the rest of them having a not-so-hushed conversation. It was really just a sign that they weren’t talking about him; such a topic was always much quieter and never in such obvious of a place.

“More nightmares?” Imre mumbled. “I suppose a couple could have been expected, but…”

“You two made sure it wasn’t a Myaló?” Kiah asked.

“I’m sure,” Samone replied with a nod. “It was completely normal.”

Kiah seemed to have an idea for whatever they were discussing. “What did you say he told you they were about, again?”

“The Stone Estate,” Dimas sighed, “and what happened there. It was pretty close to the descriptions you gave us about it, except, well… from the point of view of someone who actually experienced what happened.”

“It’s just a couple of nightmares,” Natheniel murmured as he went to sit down. “Tell him to deal with it.”

For a past couple of nights, Tavin had been having nightmares about what happened to the Stones. Natheniel was confident that he was either faking it or over-exaggerating, though the adults must have thought it was actually something worth being concerned over.

Kiah’s only sign of acknowledging him was a glare. “Minne told me how something similar happened when she got Takane, Umber, and Zenas as spirits.”

Imre moaned, putting his face in his hands. “Oh, that makes everything so much worse…”

“I can try to get a hold of Tyche,” Samone offered. “A visit to the Lysha could clear this up pretty quickly.”

That was when Natheniel realized this really was important. “Wait, you’re going to Levi Asari? Can I come, too?” Ihu, from their spot on his shoulder, chirped in agreement.

“We haven’t even made a decision yet,” Imre sighed.

“So assume you were going, can I go with you? Please? I’ll keep Ihu from flying off this time and I promise I won’t complain about the old dude in public again.”

“Nehi,” Samone corrected. “Though that was hardly the worst of the things you did…”

“In my defense, I was eight and completely unsupervised.”

“Only because you snuck off,” Kiah pointed out.

The display contributed to Dimas’s confident decision, “You’re not going. It won’t be a casual trip—they’ll just be there to talk to the Lysha and leave again.”

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“So let me guess,” Natheniel grumbled, taking a piece of fruit out of the bowl on the table, “I’m going to Qizar for the rest of the month?”

“No, there’s no point in dragging you out there,” Dimas said. So now there had to be a reason? What about every other time they brought him there seemingly just to get rid of him for a few weeks? “You’ll just be staying with Kiah and I.”

…

Natheniel had watched them from his room; the four of them gathering at the gates, the short conversation they had. Dimas kissed Imre, ruffled Tavin’s hair, and gave Samone a mutual glance before seeing them off and heading back inside.

“What do you think, Ihu?” Natheniel sighed. “What are my chances that they’re not just going to do whatever they can to avoid me?”

They chirped, affectionately rubbing their head against his hand.

“Never know unless I try, huh..?” He waited for them to hop onto his shoulder then went to leave his room. “Here goes nothing, I guess…”

He was walking back down and could see the two of them, slowing to a stop when he heard Dimas’s serious tone.

“Kiah, there’s something I want to tell you.”

“Hm?”

“I tried catching a fog yesterday…”

“I swear if you—“

“I mist.”

“How are you so much more of Casper’s son than Imre has ever been?”

Dimas simply chuckled. Then he noticed Natheniel, giving him a smile as he asked, “Need something?”

Ihu gave an encouraging chirp. It still took Natheniel a minute to make his suggestion. “Can we… go out to town together? Or are you going to be busy..?”

“Don’t you have something else to do?” Kiah remarked. “I’m sure there’s plenty of schoolwork you haven’t even touched yet.”

“Yeah, but…”

“I’ve got nothing better to do,” Dimas said, walking over to him. “When we’re done we can look at that other stuff together.”

Nothing could have meant more to Natheniel than that moment, though it soon faded once they went out. He’d gotten what he wanted. So why wasn’t he happy?

“Something wrong?” Dimas eventually prompted after a couple of minutes. “You’re not usually this quiet.”

“It’s been three years,” Natheniel mumbled, “and we’re not even all here.” Even quieter, he continued, “It feels like you don’t even care about me.”

“Of course we care about you. You know we’re busy.”

“Doesn’t seem like it. You spend plenty of time around everyone else, but then there’s me… either being rejected any time I offer something or getting yelled at for nothing in Qizar. You’re always doing something but I’m never a part of it.”

“There’s some things that you’re not ready for.”

“Yet Tavin is? Sometimes it’s like Philyra knows more about me than I do. Why do they get to know what I can’t?”

“A lot is going on right now. Everyone needs to be on the same page in order for things to be as safe as possible.”

“Everyone except me, apparently. When am I going to know about it?”

“When you’re older.”

“Give it a couple of years to forget about it, so you never have to tell me anything?”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say.” Dimas sighed. “I’ll talk to Imre about it when he gets back, okay? I don’t want you feeling like there’s something important going on around you that you don’t understand.”

Natheniel muttered a response.

“We’ll make sure to spend time with you, too,” Dimas offered. “It’s about time we start making these moments together a little more frequent.”

Ihu chirped. Even they knew it wasn’t going to last long.