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Bereck smiled wider and gave a little shrug. "I wanted to do something for Aleck; it seemed like a good gesture. He was certainly very pleased." He liked to think that he had won dome 'dad points' with that one, hoped that he had pulled his son's mind away from the weeks where he had been totally insensible, and then the weeks when he had drifted in and out of consciousness with his mind clouded by heavy doses of fellis. He was still worried despite Alina's earlier assurances, but at least now he had been able to do something for Aleck that Aleck hadn't been able to do himself. It mattered. He needed Aleck to need him.

"If you've got a scarf you don't wear much anymore... well, that would be nice," Bereck went on after a pause, planting a kiss on his own fingers and then pressing them to Alina's brow; he couldn't bend down well enough to kiss her properly. "The old one is somewhere in Malvren... and it was getting old anyway, to be fair."

Bereck's eyes closed as her lips found his wrist and he made a quiet noise of pleased amusement at her comment on his parenting skills. "Well obviously nobody else is trying hard enough." He didn't think he did enough but that didn't mean he thought other people were better parents than he was. So many just dumped their children, or didn't make the proper time for them, didn't teach them and try to foster a love of the world and all its secrets....

The healer's blue eyes opened again as they were mentioned and then half lidded and flicked away from Alina. "I would be pleased to have it... I'd hate to clash." He would remember her comment whenever he used it. It would make a practical moment that would otherwise pass unnoticed pleasurable. She loved his eyes. A lot of people observed how pretty or striking they were, but she loved them, and knew them better than most people who had known him for decades, but had known him impersonally.

"I don't know about anything else," Bereck sighed and looked back at Alina. "There are other things I would like but... I suspect they won't find them. I had a little box of things, precious things and... I think the things with monetary value will have been taken, and those without will have been thrown away. I knew to send the flitts to the creche to look for Hissy, but I wouldn't know where to begin with the other things I want back."

"I suppose so," Bereck agreed with a half-stifled yawn. "Can't succeed if you don't try.... I'll have them hunt. Can't do any harm." It would be good to find it, really good. Aleck's first glasses. A piece of Berath's shell. A brooch his mother had worn a lot (he really out to go and see her). A few old drawings, notes and amateur blueprints by Aleck. That ring he'd been planning to give to Alina 'when the time was right'. Maybe the flitts could even find his chest of marks - it had been well hidden - but he wasn't sure if they'd have the strength to transport it back. The marks weren't important anyway; useful but not important like the contents of the plain little box.

"I don't want to move either," Bereck observed drowsily after a moment, taking his wine from Sanguine again for another sip. Nice wine. Nice food. Very nice woman. Comfortable(ish) seat. Pain, yes, but the good outweighed that piece of bad. Bereck stroked Alina's hair a bit more, passing his glass back up to Sanguine and curling his now freed arm around his aching side absent-mindedly. "By my calculations we must both have a severe cuddle deficit," he added, "clearly we're doing the right thing by reducing it."

"I... think I could do with lying down," Bereck admitted after a short pause. "My side's still hurting. I should rest if I don't want it to get worse." He really did not want it to get worse. "I'll send more of the flitts out to keep watch... does your door lock?" He always felt more relaxed behind a locked door, knowing that the whole world and its dog couldn't barge in on him and demand things when he wanted space, rest or privacy.

"Mmmh." Bereck smiled and closed his eyes at the gentle kiss. "Of course, that sounds... nice." Sleeping together. Not sleeping together, just... yes. It did sound nice.

Only trouble was that he didn't actually think he could stand up by himself. There were no arms to push himself up by, and his side was stabbing too much for him to want to risk struggling to get up. Bereck's lips pursed and his eyes flicked around as he tried to think of a way to solve his problem without asking for help.

A solution was not forthcoming.

Alina had headed off to lock the door.

Bereck watched her back, opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again.

He heard the snick of the bolt, and as she turned back around he forced himself to speak.

"Lina... would you help me up? I... can't."

Bereck clenched his teeth together as she helped him to his feet, squeezed his eyes shut and tried to keep his face expressionless. He didn't react to her joke, and her clever bed-couch mechanism only got a glance. When she pressed her lips to his brow he lent against her and closed his eyes again. "Don't joke. It doesn't help. It just makes me feel more of a fool.... I do need your help again, please." Rest would be good. Pain would ease once he was lying down - hopefully - and she would be there. That made everything seem much more bearable.

Controlled breaths. Calm. Tensing up in pain would just make him hurt more. From the sitting position Alina had helped him into he managed to ease himself horizontal, and lay there flat on his back with his eyes closed.

"Yes. Please." He took off his glasses and held them out towards where he thought Alina might more or less be. "Find somewhere for those?" Once the glasses were taken from him he shifted carefully across the bunk to make room for Alina; his wounded side was near the wall so she would be able to get close without damaging him, so long as she was careful of his chest and he was sure she would be.