It has only been a half hour since he's risen for the night and Arnold sits at the table in his small haven. His eyes are closed, and he's moving his hands over the small wooden box he'd received from Ishani. It had been like this every night since they'd met, and he'd had his lesson, and he had yet to pierce the mystery of the box.

He had been practicing enhancing his sight during his patrols, and overlooking the floor at the Avalon. He had taught himself to see the color of a woman's eyes from across the room, or to read the license plate of a car from down the street, as well the movement of every insect that crept and buzzed around in the night.

Also, when he focused, his sense of smell increased in ways that had alarmed him somewhat at first. He had heard of the heightened senses of Auspex, but this was the first time he had really smelled people and it was quite foul. He was glad that this was a power one could stifle at will.

He had yet to solve the box, however. Every night he would sit at the table, sometimes for hours. Eyes closed, his hands would cover the box's surface while his mind focused on the slight curves and intricacies of the carving. His senses entirely focused on the sensations he was feeling with his hands.

His brow furrows as he concentrates, fingernails trying at the cracks along the edges of the box, palms sliding across the surface. Suddenly, something gives. He hears a click.

He opens his eyes, shocked at first, and looks down to find the box opening in his hand. He finds nothing inside the box but a sense of self satisfaction.