"That's good." Bariyan lowered his head, smiled. "I'm glad. I'm glad-- that it worked out, for her."

He sighed and looked up, towards the ceiling, mulling the conversation over. He wasn't sure why he felt so relieved, not right away. But the answer came to him easily enough, because it always came down to Martin's own well-being, in the end.

"I'm glad... that you had a good family." He was still speaking to the ceiling, but now he lowered his head to look at Martin again. "Even if it was just for a while. But a while is better than no time at all."