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He sighed as the Abolish random wriggled in his grasp. When had the guy even ended up there? He supposed it hardly mattered. There was no threat here. He was operating on autopilot, and as usual, it would make no difference in the situation's outcome. Everything would be taken care of, easy as could be.

He was even asking the relevant questions without trying. Pressing for names. Connections. Plans. Time frames. General news of the world. Might as well use the opportunity to start getting caught up on things. No doubt, it would take a while.

It always did.

So much downtime for something so simple. Perhaps this was why some of the Primordials had honed their ability to read very deeply into minds and auras. To prevent exactly this kind of sluggishness.

Hmph. But that wasn't really the issue for him, was it? The slowness wouldn't be a problem if he was simply better at being alone with his thoughts. At maintaining a sense of the present. Not dwelling on the past so much.

He'd been hoping to meet Osgar more than anyone else, but thus far, no luck. And thinking about it always got to him. Brought back old weariness.

The melancholy.

One of many possible reminders. He had to pause and rub his eyes, knowing that this wasn't the time.

But it never was, was it? That was the whole problem. Constantly pushing it away. Pretending it wasn't there. Keeping busy. There was always some convenient crisis to distract himself with, wasn't there?

Sermung. Stop. You're drifting again. Listen to my voice.

I know, he told Tenebrach. I don't need another reminder.

Yes, apparently, you do. Concentrate on the situation at hand.

I am. That's the problem. It's not enough. Don't you get it? We could be doing so much more than this, right now. Let's hurry this along already.

Someone was talking to him. One of the civilians he'd just saved. Thanking him for his help.

And he was talking back. Giving her assurances and a smile. Ensuring she could feel safe and warm in his aura. That was so important in situations like this. Everyone in the building needed it.

He recalled many other times in which that had not been possible. When his aura had been too weak. Or when he hadn't even known about such things in the first place.

What horrors he'd witnessed.