The vivid image of the yellow plain under the dark sky receded some, and there was Hawk at the glass door, filling the entire frame of it as he peered in. He spotted Numair and gave a sheepish little wave.

Numair hastily put the knife behind his back and sheathed it, not exactly relieved at the sight of Hawk. Nevertheless, he went over, and Hawk stood back a bit as he opened the door. The balcony on which he was standing was otherwise empty but for a built-in ladder that went up past the door, and the intrusion of foliage that was growing over the sunny outside walls.

"...Hawk," Numair said.

"Um, hi," Hawk replied.

"Come in."

Hawk did, having to bow a bit to get through the doorframe. Numair turned away from him, asking plainly, "Why are you on my balcony?"

"Oh, uh," Hawk said self-consciously, closing the door behind him, "Helly tried to give me directions, but I still got lost. So I just flew up. But hey, no one saw me!" he added quickly. "I promise--"

He broke off abruptly, his eyes falling on the knife, which Numair had tucked into the ties on his pants.

"Uh, were you expectin' someone else...?"

A silence fell. For a moment, Numair just leaned against the desk, which was laden with stacks of paper, his back to Hawk. Then as he turned to face Hawk again, his expression became briefly almost pained, as though bracing himself--and then just as quickly, that had gone, and he regarded Hawk with only the slightest frown.

"Hawk, do you need something from me?" he wanted to know.