Well, Damn! I Didn't Expect That for a Homecoming

Little Haulean had been a bit of a grieving wreck, of late. He was mourning his mother, and the thought that he was going to be sent away again. And maybe it was just his imagination, but it felt like Nairn was avoiding him. To be fair, he'd lost all sense of time, and couldn't exactly pinpoint what day it was.

The revelation with Nairn could've happened last night, for all he knew. Or last week. How long *had* it been? Who even knew. But Haulean hadn't been accepting any meals, or visitors. He'd just been sleeping, and occasionally waking up for a good cry.

There was a knock on the door, but the boy didn't budge from his bed, though the voice did make him peek his head of fluffy blonde bedhead out from under the covers. His eyes were puffy and bleary, and he was definitely looking more pale than he already was. The normally sunny boy would ordinarily have tacklepounced Colt by now, and been clinging and cuddling. But all he managed was to look up with those big, sad eyes.

"My mum..." he said hollowly. Not much more needed to be said. Her being sickly was why he'd been sent there. Haulean had enlisted Colt's help to sneak out so he could visit her, more than once. "And... and now..." he gulped, and fresh tears began rolling from those broken eyes. "Now N-Nairn wants to send me away."