Please--let me get my bearings, [he says, and if he's a little shorter than usual in his response than he would have been in The Good Old Days, well, those days were never particularly good anyway, and the new days include melting mirrors, da-ge's little brother, and too many staircases. Jin Guangyao carefully leverages himself back up to his feet, and if nothing else in the universe remains constant, at least his still being shorter than Huaisang hasn't changed.

Which makes it easier to do what he has always done in a crisis: compartmentalize. He packs away the tumult of feelings into a tidy little box and squirrels it away in a blackened, shadowy corner of his heart to be sorted through later, and turns his attention to examining their surroundings. It gives him a headache, but--]

Does Huaisang remember where he was in Trench before arriving here? [He chances another look at Huaisang's face, and it is easier, now, to not look away, because it is always easier when he has a job to do.] Were you going anywhere in particular in the city? Do you recall any landmarks? [Knowing Huaisang, him recalling anything outside of a fancy tea shop might be a stretch, but even that could be helpful.]