Palamedes follows after her, taking in the apartment as the door shuts behind him. Like his own, it’s enormous; unlike his own, Gideon has had the time to make the place cozily cluttered. It’s another reminder of how long she’s been here—and how long he, too, might have to wait before he sees another familiar face again.

He tries not to think about it.

With a nod Pal wanders over to the couch and takes a seat, absently picking up one of the books sitting nearby. The amount of paper he’s seen since he got here has been remarkable. As far as he can tell, people use it for everything, even to clean their hands. Before coming here, Palamedes had probably handled more paper than almost anyone else in all of the Nine Houses, but it still amazes him.

He smirks faintly at the illustration on the cover of the paperback he’d picked up at random and flips it open to read as he waits.