[ this is a great fucking question actually!!!! he gets up and after a moment comes to sit beside him on his bed, hands folded together in his lap, shoulders dropping, head bowed. ]

Twenty, with our new arrival, before we have any suspects. [ which is a whole other thing but you know.

he's calm and quiet as he says this, though the sorrow weighs him down like a cloak - it is taair's usual to try to keep a wide perspective, and this is no different, though saying the small figure makes his heart ache. ] And... seventeen, if we consider after. But - we do not necessarily know that is the case, either. We won't know until tomorrow.

...nor does it make the pain any less, either, to know that they are safe somewhere. [ ... ] My heart feels heavy.