"Just a little, yeah," he teases, though his smile no longer reaches his eyes. He'd assumed the worst, based on Hope's presence at his boarding school, but Freya's joke had indirectly confirmed some of his suspicions.

He looks older than the last time Freya's seen him, for certain; he's taller, and his facial features have settled in, as if finally telling the world that he's growing up.

"You staying just for the night, or...?" He sounds more hopeful than he wants to let on. "Maybe a little longer than that?"