brand new colony

The ship from New Britain docks down in Arden's port city of Amiens around midday, releasing a small crowd of bleary-eyed passengers who've just come out of their artificial sleep. The small shuttle stamped with Arden's diplomatic plates detaches from under her wing and skates into its own dry-dock, and a little while after Saigremort emerges with his smallest piece of luggage; the rest will be forwarded to Clarie's house until he finds a place of his own.

He's spent the last fifteen years living either at the Academy or the diplomatic housing complex. It's his first time with no actual home of his own, and he looks a little lost, holding his suitcase and peering around for his sister.

After Lanselos leaves, Saigremort sits on his bed for nearly half an hour, looking at his hands and trying not to cry, aware all the time that since he came here he has lost almost all sense of professionalism and it's hurting him badly.

Finally he turns on his comm console and keys in the code for Arden, waiting for Clarie's face to appear on the holo.

Some time later in the evening, after approximately half the bottle, a discreet chime sounds to let Saigremort know he has an incoming message. (The computer console itself, tucked in an alcove near the bed, is small and limited and at least ten years out of date, but unlike the climate control, it works properly.)