Looking around, Faelan rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants, and let out a breath, trying to relax his shoulders. He couldn't have said why, but the flat felt like Padma, looked exactly as he would have thought it did, and it made him feel a little better. The place was warm and colorful, and everything looked soft. It felt like a home. When she moved the books from the couch, he noticed that the dark, velvety fabric looked slightly worn. He could picture her sitting there, legs curled up, while she frowned in concentration over the migratory patterns of the phoenix.
"The wild phoenix?" he asked, stepping further into the room and straightening a beaded silk pillow that had fallen over in the seat of an armchair. "That sounds kind of heavy for liesure reading." Still tense, Faelan perched on the edge of the couch, looking around at the vast array of books, lit here and there by the soft glow of candles that hung in sconces from the ceiling. "Looks like you have plenty of subjects to choose from."