Alec stood in front of the smooth granite counter in Gael's kitchen, sipping on a steaming mug of black coffee. He had a mild headache from tossing and turning for most of the night. He was also ready to throw his cup at anyone who would try to annoy him at any moment. His new room had taken a while to get comfortable with, making it difficult for him to sleep.

The room was half the size of his house in Arktis and the bed was twice as big as his old one. It barely had any furniture, aside from the black-sheeted bed in one corner, and some dark wood cabinets and empty shelves. As a result, the space seemed to be way too big than what he was used to. It had left him feeling vulnerable, forcing him to sleep with his back against the blue wall. At midnight, he was woken by Asher's familiar sleepy grunt before he heard a loud thud come from the area where the stable was. He tried to get back to sleep again but the sounds of the wind rustling the leaves and the chirping of insects from outside of his window kept waking him up.

When he saw the clock had struck five in the morning, he got up like he always did. He had nothing important to do this time around, but his body still moved like it used to. In the end, he raided Gael's kitchen for some coffee, keeping his movements quiet. However, he had not been quiet enough for Gael's ears. Based on the urgent footsteps that came from upstairs, Gael must be coming to check who was causing the ruckus. But a moment later, those footsteps slowed and stopped. Alec concluded that Gael must have remembered that a new person was living in his house. The footsteps started again, slowly moving towards the stairs.

Alec eyed the pot of coffee on the stove, wondering if he should prepare another mug. When he heard Gael's bedroom door open, he sighed. He got another mug and poured the black liquid, eventually dumping six sugar cubes into it with a grimace. He had noticed that Gael liked his coffee this way back at the inn in Gelun. Why Gael liked having six sugar cubes in his coffee was beyond him.

He was only doing this because he felt guilty for waking the man up. The moment they arrived yesterday, Gael had shown him to his room. Then with a quick shower and a change of clothes, told Alec to help himself with the books in his study, and ran out the door. He had to attend a faculty meeting discussing the start of the new semester. Alec said a brief goodbye to the empty air before he took a nap on the couch and then planted himself in the study a few hours later.

Gael did not return until sunset, and the moment he arrived he prepared dinner. Gael had turned in for the night after Alec insisted on doing the dishes. Alec had forced him to bed when he saw that the man was dead on his feet. Do people get more stubborn as they grow older?

Alec was still stirring the coffee when Gael entered the kitchen doorway and sat on one of the stools at the counter. Without a word, Alec turned around and placed the coffee in front of the older man. Gael rubbed his eyes and tried to fix the messy bird's nest that turned out to be his hair. The man stared at the mug, before lifting it and taking a sip. Gael perked up at the taste and smiled at Alec.

"How did you know I like my coffee with six sugars?"

How can you tell the number of sugars added from taste alone?

Alec shrugged. "I saw and heard Kreis commenting on your...taste."

Gael gave a throaty chuckle. "Well, thank you for preparing my coffee."

Alec continued to drink his coffee, sitting in front of Gael. They sat there in silence, lost in their morning thoughts. Alec started to feel relaxed as the headache from the fitful night started to disappear. Traveling all over the mountainous regions near Gelun in search of the thief had tired him out. The entire trip from Arktis to Draeyer Academy had added to the fatigue. He needed to get properly rested to be ready to help in the search for the thief at any time. Alec began to plan what he wanted to do today but stopped when Gael spoke.

"Headmaster Donovan wants to meet you sometime this morning. Is that alright with you?" Alec knew that it was the Headmaster of Draeyer Academy who ordered and led the search for the thief and stolen item. If he wanted to meet Alec, he really could not say no.

Alec nodded. "But first, I want to go for a run. It's been a while," he said.

"You can join me then. I like to go around a few laps around Detrian Lake when I can."

I wanted to run alone.

-------

An hour later, Alec found himself seated on a bench facing Detrian Lake as he tried to calm his breathing. He and Gael had made one lap around the lake before he had to take a rest. Gael, who had gone to a nearby drinking fountain, handed him a water bottle.

"It looks like your body will take some time to adjust to the new environment," Gael said. "It's best not to overexert yourself for now."

Alec could only nod as he drank the water Gael gave him. He thought that a run could help him relax like it always did, but it only made the headache come back. He released a sigh. Rushing to adjust to the environment of this region was not an option.

"You can continue your run," he said to Gael. "I'll take a walk around the lake instead once I feel better."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm not a child who can't take care of himself, Gael."

Gael seemed a bit hesitant to leave him, but the man eventually nodded and resumed his run. He soon disappeared from his sight as he turned a curve in the path among the trees.

Alec drank from the bottle again, his gaze going to the orange-red sunrays that started to appear above the lush tree line. The morning sun would be appearing soon, and Alec decided to enjoy the scene for a moment. He had been too preoccupied the last few weeks to enjoy the sunrise like he always did. He wanted to see how the sunrise differed here compared to Arktis.

His thoughts went back to Crimson again, remembering the times they sat on his porch and watched the sunrise. The drae always had a confused look on his face whenever they did that like he couldn't understand what was so interesting about the rising of the sun. Still, the drae would always sit with Alec, head on his lap, as the day began. As he watched the sun crest the tree line, Alec couldn't help but miss him. With a bittersweet smile, he lost himself in his memories as he watched the sunrise.

A few minutes later, he was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a tug on his pants. When he looked down, he was greeted by a pleasant sight. A little draeling the size of his forearm stood at his feet. Judging from the small horns, it was female. The orange sun glinted over her silver armor and dark emerald scales. She also had an adorable toothless smile that melted Alec's heart in an instant. She gave a happy chirp like she was greeting him, and he resisted the urge to coo at her.

Two of my weaknesses combined. Tiny cute creatures and draes. A lethal combination.

"Hello there, little one," he said. He bent down and reached out. The baby drae jumped on his palm, climbed to his forearm, and stretched her neck. Alec bent his head, allowing her to nuzzle her snout against his nose. All the draes he met so far always liked to do that when greeting him.

He pulled back and ran a hand over the star marks on the draeling's neck. Bond marks.

"Where is your Draeyer?" he said. "They must be looking for you."

The little creature tilted her head and went back to nuzzle against his neck. She curled and made herself at home in his arms. A few moments later, she had fallen asleep, letting out quiet exhales. Alec couldn't resist the wide smile that formed on his lips. A baby drae trusted him enough to fall asleep in his arms. As far as he knew, most draes did not like making contact but it seemed he was lucky so far. All the draes he had met were always friendly towards him. It was a nice feeling.

He held still, the walk he had planned forgotten as he made sure not to jostle the tiny drae awake. When the sun had completely risen, he figured it was time to head back to Gael's house. He looked down at the draeling. Maybe he could bring her along for a bit and ask Gael to help him find her Draeyer. He stood and headed for the direction of the teachers' community. Throughout the walk, he would look down and make sure the draeling was still sleeping.

When he was halfway to his destination, he paused. A blur moved from the trees toward him. He dodged to the side, a knife missing his side by a thread. The knife was flipped in a reverse grip, slashing at his chest. Alec spun, batting at the hand holding the knife, sending the weapon flying to the trees. But his attacker was relentless. A leg aimed for his groin, but Alec clamped down on it with his hand and flipped the attacker on their stomach. They fell, crashing towards the cobblestone path with a groan. Alec pressed down with one knee, quickly pinning both hands above their head.

With the attacker embolized, he finally got to take a look at their appearance. A young woman with reddish brown hair glared at him with dark blue eyes as she lay prone. The expression on her face was stone cold, but a quiet anger burned in her eyes. "Your first attempt wasn't enough? Now you dare to enter academy grounds and steal my draeling?"

Alec looked down at the draeling in his arms, that was still miraculously asleep after all the movements he made. He tilted his head in confusion. It seemed that the young woman was misunderstanding something. He was about to answer but stopped when Gael came up the path with two people following him. All three paused at the sight of him pinning the girl down.

"Areisha? Alec? What is going on?" Gael asked as he ran to them.

"Someone from the trafficking—"

"She thought I was kidnapping her draeling and attacked me." Alec caught her off before the misunderstanding could continue. When the girl's head turned to him in confusion, he released her and got up. Gael reached for her hand and pulled her up.

"Wait? What do you mean by that?" she asked as she turned to him.

"Exactly what I meant," he said. "I don't understand why you would assume that I'm some kind of kidnapper."

The girl's eye twitched. "My draeling, who snarls and snaps at anyone other than me, is sleeping peacefully in the arms of some hooded stranger who is walking under the darkness of the trees. The only conclusion I can come up from that was that she was drugged and being carried off to who knows where again."

Alec gave a small cough and pulled his hood off his head. His head tilted in confusion when the girl and Gael's companions' eyes widened when he did. He frowned at them. "Did you have to attack me? You could've talked first."

Before the girl could answer, the draeling in his arms stirred and awoke. They watched as she yawned and looked around her surroundings in confusion. When her pink eyes landed on the girl, she gave a happy yelp. She nuzzled Alec's chest once, before jumping towards her Draeyer. The girl immediately sighed in relief, hugging the baby drae fiercely. "Don't do this again, Emera. I thought you got taken again."

Again? Did someone kidnap the baby creature before? The anger he had for being mistaken for a criminal again slowly quieted down. If that was the case, then he could let this slide. He read that Draeyers were extra protective of their draes, especially if they Bonded when the drae was a draeling. He was also partly at fault for scaring the little draeling's Draeyer. Note to self: no picking up Bonded draelings without their Draeyer around. Wild draelings on the other hand...ask for their mother's permission.

Gael clapped his hands together, bringing him out of his musings. "Apologies and introductions should be made, yes?"

His eyes met with the girl's dark blue ones. The anger had disappeared from their depths and was replaced with wariness and annoyance.

With great reluctance, the girl was the first to reach out. "I'm Areisha Roselintine. I apologize for jumping to the wrong conclusion and attacking you," She gave a small bow of apology, but to Alec it looked forced. He found that the anger that he had decided to let go earlier, came back slowly at her attitude.

"If you're going to be insincere about it, then I don't need your apology."

An awkward silence enveloped them after. Areisha's eyes hardened when she looked at him.

Gael coughed. Alec's eyes twitched when he saw the man's eyes asking him to speak. He ignored him and so Gael decided to introduce him. "This is Alec...Alec Arden," he said. "He's my little brother."

Areisha's eyes, as well as the two people he brought, whipped towards him.

"Half-brother," Alec bit out.

Gael only gave an awkward laugh.

-------

Longest chapter so far. I was so motivated today.

------

Alec: Do you have a grudge against me? Why do people keep mistaking me for a criminal?

Me: You're the one who likes to wear hooded clothes and walk around under the shade looking menacing.

Alec: How is that my fault? You made me, idiot.

Me: Then should I have made you like wearing dresses? Skipping and smiling amidst flowers?

Alec: ...

Alec: I have nothing against people who like that sort of thing, but...please no.

Me: Good.

Alec: Still your fault.

Me: *thinking of all the troublesome stuff Alec will be dealing with* *evil smirk*

Alec: ...