Dawnlark Plains the city is burning around them

the boy's bristling didn't concern him at all; for all that had transpired in the last few days, aditya didn't blame him in the least for being on edge. certainly, it was better than the comatose state shale was in. . .right? thus permitted, adi moved up beside dauntless, still keeping a comfortable distance between them. he wasn't as close with dauntless as he had been with easy. . .but, perhaps with time, that would change.

his ears flicked at the question, shoulders rising and falling in a delicate shrug. "everyone is handling it differently," aditya said gently. "about as well as you'd expect, though. most of them are learning to move on. all you really can do."

adi cast his gaze at dauntless, then, face solemn. "i'm so sorry," he intoned. "how are you holding up?" the young man had always been the most stoic of his siblings, more like grayday than anyone else. he'd never seen grayday grieve, but he imagined it must be quite like this--quiet and determined, voluntarily removed from the group.