139 135

The next morning found Alexei tossing and turning before he finally conceded to getting out of bed.

All night, he'd tried to understand what Calibri could have meant by his strange behavior, to no avail. After many hours, he knew that he wasn't going to understand unless Calibri decided to tell him himself.

'Calibri is an awful liar… We all are, but he is several times worse than us all… If I coax him enough…' Alexei thought, running his hand through his hair. With a loud sigh into the quiet bedroom, he tossed back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

He'd already made many snacks and desserts for Calibri to keep in the cooling and storage unit the night before, but he wanted to get a start on a good breakfast for him. It hadn't escaped Alexei's attention how Calibri looked worryingly sleep-deprived the night prior.

'Who had he gone to meet yesterday evening? With those muddy boots… He must have visited the forest.'