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Bereck gave a rather tight smile. "You just said it; Thread. White riders don't fight Thread. That's a bias I could get behind for Aleck."

"I'm grateful regardless," Bereck mumbled with a small shrug, trying hard not to think about Aleck and Thread. It had been bad enough when he had known - thought - that he would at least be in the air too should Aleck Impress. At least then he had felt as though maybe he could look after him to some degree, keep an eye on him, and had known that he wouldn't exactly have had time to worry anyway. Now though he would just have to wait on the ground, wait and worry and hope that his son wasn't brought to him screaming in agony. Hope that a tall bronze rider with fancy knots didn't come to tell him that he son wasn't coming back at all.

Part of him wanted Aleck to Impress, to find that perfect bond, but the idea of him fighting Thread made him feel sick. If it happened despite Aleck not standing... well he didn't see how he could feel unahappy - of course he'd be happy - but he knew it would set a ticking clock in his mind, fears for the future, things he couldn't protect his son from.

Taking a deep breath in through his nose and letting it out slowly through his mouth Bereck gave Alina a tight squeeze. "Let's talk about something else, shall we?"

Bereck sighed slightly and sipped at his own wine, as much at a loss as Alina was for a new subject. Eventually looking around the room in order to avoid a potentially awkward look from her gave him one.

"I like your office," he said, making a little gesture at the space in general with his glass. "Is it new? Almost everything was rebuilt after the Revolution, wasn't it? Did you lose much of your equipment? Notes and so on?" Maybe not an entirely happy subject but at least something that they could discuss, and something that was in the past not the future.

Bereck made a little grumbly noise in return but not a cross unhappy one, just a sound for the sake of answering Alina's. "Well, of course not." He gave her a squeeze. "If I had been vertical I could have given you some medicinal strength klah, or if you were really tired some of mine. Every so often one of my new apprentices will sneak some on a dare and spend the next few candlemarks either bouncing off the walls or just shaking. Soon teaches them not to touch my things, or imbibe anything they're unsure of though so I've never made a great effort to prevent it."

Good; subject definitely moving on now. Bereck finished off his wine and started to relax again, more quickly this time probably thanks to the aforementioned beverage.

"Oh?" Bereck's brows rose with interest as the brown appeared and he watched with interest as the young creature made its way down the desk and across the floor. "He looks good," the healer nodded approvingly, "are you oiling him at all?" Firelizards didn't need it as much as dragons of course - there was no comparing the growth rate - but without a faire to groom with their hide did still need attention. This little fellow's looked good, at least from where he was sitting.

Giving a chirp of interest Vena Cava hopped from her perch down onto the floor and trotted towards the other flitt; though she was older they were about the same size, and doubtless it wouldn't be long before the brown far outstripped her.

Leaving the firelizards to greet one another Bereck turned back to Alina and quirked a little smile. "It has become rather more potent as I've taken on more and more commitments. I don't think I'd function well without it, at least not in the routine I used to have. If you thought I was hooked on the stuff back then you'd probably have been appalled to see me six months ago... but it worked; no arguing with results."

"It was... efficient." That was the best way to describe it. Bereck closed his eyes to focus, and a moment later Marrow fluttered across to pick up the wine bottle, which he ferried over to Bereck. "A three hour block of sleep, and three or perhaps four twenty minute naps through the rest of the day and night. It was amazing the work I could get done when most people were asleep. As for now... well I suppose I intend much the same. I can keep up the same level of work I was doing before, have the same time for Aleck and Berath and make time for you, because I won't have wing duties anymore," he said as he poured another half glass for himself and proffered the bottle to Alina. He missed work. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch, it was restlessness and anxiety and... wrongness. Working was what he did, was an integral part of his identity. He felt lost without it.

While the humans talked Vena chirped and sniffed the brown in return, sending him a feeling of 'greeting!' and 'groom?'

Vena gave a happy little squeak and tumbled down with her new friend to snuggle and scratch itches.

Bereck watched the firelizards for a few moments, taking an absent minded sip of his wine as he pondered how best to respond. She hadn't been criticizing him, not exactly, so he didn't feel defensive; he just needed to explain. "I know it's not normal," he said eventually, "and I don't know that I would recommend it to anyone else because it is hard, but it was worth it for me. The things I was able to achieve because I didn't spend eight hours a day asleep and didn't spend as much time socializing as others...." Bereck looked back over at Alina and shrugged. "It made me feel fulfilled. I miss that. I want it back."