The way she said his name hung in the air, even hours after their deal had been sealed. It was something that kept repeating in his mind, and he had grown frustrated at this point. Through the storms rolling thunder and frequent bursts of light, this was the thing that had made it impossible for him to sleep. He had rolled from side to side, sat up, paced around, read his favorite book in the dim light of his Sun’s Stone- nothing helped with the restlessness. 

Oren pulled his journal from his satchel, retelling the day. He noted what he had heard at the tavern, making sure to include the responses from the old barkeep. He wrote about the bargain he had made with Asteria. A twinge of sadness sunk in when he recalled and desribed the desperation in her voice when she had thought that he would not help her due to her lack of coin. 

Everything that he thought was important or noteworthy from each day was written down in this journal. It included cases he had worked: successes and failures. It held information about his own- a rather personal matter he did not have the heart to revisit. 

His eyes wandered across the cave, drifting from where he knew she had fallen asleep to the sky outside. Through the trees he could see that the sky was starting to grow lighter. If he didn’t try one more time to sleep before the sun rose, he knew the day ahead would be unproductive and slow. He knew he wouldn’t be much use. Oren tucked the stone into a small leather pouch to keep it safe, then he slipped both the pouch and journal into his satchel. He laid back against the cool stone floor once more, staring at the ceiling until he was able to drift into a brief, soft slumber.