Northstar Vale Your art was the prettiest art of all the art.

Her raised brow caused his own to furrow, unused to being met with doubt. Reiko almost always played along with their fantasies, indulging her children and showering them with praise. It would be a rude shock to Haruki as he realised the rest of the world didn't quite operate this way, but for now he simply blamed it on this girl being much too dull to fully understand his importance.

"It's Hotaru," he corrected, as if personally offended by the younger girl's still developing grasp of speech. It was then his turn to cast a dubious look over her as she went on to mention her own sister. Witu and Aweel. What kind of names were those?

He watched as Witu's attention then drifted from him and towards the fireflies still flickering around them. "They out here every night," he said, enunciating every word proudly, believing her den wasn't graced with such ambience. "Where d'you live?" Not that he was interested, of course. No, he asked only so he could avoid the area.