Vandelin watches him leave with undisguised fondness (though it's only the fact that nobody's looking that allows him to leave it undisguised.) It remains a mystery to him how Kit can possibly do it, maintain that endless gentle patience day in and day out under the most trying of circumstances, escort Chuck kindly back to his own house for what must be at least the fourth or fifth time when Vandelin would have been lining all the doors and windows with booby-trap glyphs after the first.

He takes stock of the small spartan room while Kit is gone, envisioning comforts he could procure for it, things Kit doesn't have and should--things Vandelin finds himself in the curious and unfamiliar position of wishing that Kit had, for no other reason than that he wants to imagine Kit being content and comfortable when he's here alone. When the door opens, Van reaches out to him, his smile serene.

"We'll fix that. This place has all kinds of potential, you know."