（ whatever he notices — or doesn't notice — is put away. this isn't chicago, and she's not one of the kids at the center. it doesn't mean he can't care, or have concern, but it does mean that there's a likelihood any help he might offer would seem gauche. ）

That's two for two on stories that end in horrible death.

（ he says it mildly. sure, it's an equally common theme in things of earth. hero and leander ends in them both being drowned.

but sankt is also german for saint. he walked through half a dozen towns named after one or another, after al-hajarah.

come to think of it, juris is — latvian? 'nina' was a short enough collection of syllables he'd been willing to overlook it as one of those commonalities humans are good at, like how most languages have some form of the sound no, but he's starting to wonder if their worlds are really as separate as they appear. ）

If the next one you've got is about someone who dies in a mudslide...