He chuckles softly. His smile fades after a moment, though. He looks away.

"I should have listened to you," he says softly.

"What's done is done," he says. "It's all right. We'll do what we can for them."

He thinks for a moment, then says, "I think I should bring Izaneth and Kemar."

"I'm not surprised," he says. "...Have they...listened to you more, on the subject?"

"Yeah. And - well, they're both good to have around just in case things get... troublesome. And Izaneth being Izaneth, he'll remodel all the rooms to be more comfortable - he'd do it even if he didn't care about the captives, he just finds that sort of thing aesthetically offensive."

He snorts. "Yeah. Nerine'll be pleased."

Talyr smiles. "Was she complaining of the conditions? What's she like?"

"She's...crazy forgiving. And amazingly masochistic. And she's got a great sense of humor.'

"Sounds like someone I'd get along with."

"You really would."

He laughs. "I can't wait to meet her."

"I can't wait to introduce you!"

"I look forward to it. How soon should we leave?"

"How soon is convenient? She's not in a hurry to be rescued and not likely to die anytime soon."

Shrug. "A day or two? Kemar's between classes, so we're not held up on that."

"Convenient."

Talyr looks thoughtfully at Khythen again, and then hugs him.

Khythen is briefly startled but then hugs back. Hugs: yes.

Hugs: important.

So important.

He stands there hugging his friend for a good long while, but eventually breaks away and says, "I should probably go home, while I'm here."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow," he says, gives him a last brief hug, and leaves.

And Talyr tells Kemar and Izaneth what's up, and they spend the following morning packing for the trip.

Khythen returns the next day.

Talyr greets him with a hug.

Hugs: continue to be so important.

"I don't think I realized how badly I needed a hug yesterday before you gave me one."