[ A day. A whole day. It's both not very long, in the larger span of things, and long in the fact that the Grove is not very large and most newcomers come to the Inn, and it's just... funny, he supposes, that they have missed each other's comings and goings. The things that happen during winter, when everyone is trying to stay warm.

He nods to Clive in thanks, taking the seat that he'd pushed out and neatly folding himself into it. ]

A drink would be wonderful.

[ But his eyes keep going back to Dion, and he can't help the smile that stays on his lips. Founder, it's so good to see him alive and well. The last time he'd seen him, he'd feared - no, known - the worst. That Dion sacrificed himself so that they may have a chance. And yet here he is, hale and whole, as though nothing ever happened.

The same had happened to him, though, hadn't it? Clive had said that the wound he had suffered as a result of Ultima leaving his body had claimed his life, and yet here he is, without Ultima, uninjured and whole. If Dion had also been brought from the point of his death...

No. That is a question for later, not for happy reunions. ]

In fact, it seems more that we have found trouble in coming here. This place... It is in danger. A fallen god means to see the end of the people here, and he will use all manner of underhanded tactics to ensure that it is done.

[ His smile fades as he speaks. ]

Even turning us against each other. Corrupting us, using us.