"I kept most of it locked up, before," Yoshi explained. Liya wandered across the room, sparing a glance for the mirror propped up against a wall, before an open wardrobe in the far corner caught her attention. "People would break in a lot, you know. A lot," Yoshi added quietly, and then. "But the Cynn--after we left your room, we spoke."

The lower shelf in the open wardrobe was unremarkable, housing a jug of something and a wire basket full of neatly-folded clothes. The upper shelf, however, hosted what seemed like a small, odd altar. Liya bent slightly to inspect it; Yoshi was no longer watching her, instead retrieving something from the greenish metal set of drawers on the other side of the pillar.

"And he made me a lock charm for my door," he was explaining. "So now I don't have to worry about anyone breaking in any longer."

Resting on the shelf, on a red cloth edged with a gold pattern, were several objects: a children's book with a dog on the cover; a small, brightly-colored kaleidoscope or toy telescope, standing on its end; a snowglobe with a small statue inside it; a dull grey plush animal with beady eyes and long arms; a copper dish full of clear water, and a smaller copper bowl resting inside that, full of what might have been charcoal or black gravel; and a white vase that held a simple bouquet of some feathery yellow flowers. In the middle of it all was a framed strip of four photos, rather like the kind taken in a photobooth. Each of the black-and-white photos showed a small child sitting with a broad, dark-haired woman. In the last two photos, they were no longer posing for the shot--the woman had gathered the child up in a big bear hug, and was kissing his cheek, making him giggle.

Yoshi was turning around from the chest of drawers now, having extracted a book and a small bag. "He actually listened to me talk about my problems," he said, half to himself, and Liya realized he was still talking about Cynn Numair. "He took notes. I didn't really expect--I mean, he must be very busy. But he really wanted to help."

Liya bristled, but did not look at Yoshi. "I keep hearing that," she said pointedly.

There was a pause, while she continued to look at the altar without really seeing it, and Yoshi looked at her. Finally he came over, offering her the book and the bag.

"I'm not on the longest shifts anymore, either," he murmured. "So I had time to make these."