Merrion left his order -- a banana nut muffin and a regular coffee, just to follow suit -- untouched for the moment, but instead of meeting Ari's eyes, his were fixated on his food. He wasn't too hungry, really, come to think of it, but since it had been hours since he last ate, he suspected his stomach would disagree with him soon. He'd eat soon enough; it would be embarrassing to get sick here and now!
"It... has been, yeah," he agreed. "Council meetings, new responsibilities -- well, not really new, since I guess it's our job anyway -- and extra training." He poked his fork at the muffin top before digging in for a bite. "You weren't there, were you? I thought I read somewhere on the network that you weren't."
She was very much okay, that much was obvious, but it would still bring Merrion some relief to confirm that she had remained safe. Not that she was helpless, of course, the encounter with the Mousse was a sure sign of that! But everyone, though recovered, still dealt with aches and pains, and it'd be comforting to hear that Ari didn't.