An early update as an apology for the late update last time. 

Also, I am trying to give you people some fluff, I swear this isn't due to my hormones(mostly).

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ALPHA KING'S POV

Have I turned my study upside down to search for keys to this room? Yes. 

Am I going to find loads of dust and old junk in this room? Also yes. 

I haven't opened this room for a good few years now. This isn't technically a room. It's a section of the underground garage that I had requested from my father to separate from the rest of the area when I first got my bicycle and Huxx kept stealing it and running off with it before I returned from my lessons.

Later the bicycle was replaced with a bike and the small garage became my escape from reality. I used to tinker around it making modifications to my bike. Slowly and steadily the area got filled with tons of power tools and supplies. I would lock myself up there and spend a good couple of hours tinkering, fixing and hammering away to stop my brain from spinning. 

And I need that today more than ever before. I can't for the life of me figure out what to do. Which lead to follow? What to focus on? What to do? Because the last 24 hours have been absolute hell. 

The constant reports from DeLarger's have been clean. That means they have been tipped off by someone to be careful. There were dead bodies of young dwarves found in the forest but the land was not tempered showcasing that the landslide was caused by nature itself. The Syndicate Leader, DK, was found dead in his prison cell this morning at Alpha Jason's territory.  

We tried to test the poison found in DK's hair and the prisoner's hair but as soon as they were both placed in the same test tubes they created some reactions and vanished into thin air. That was concerning.

Our delegates at the Giant's territory were refused entry into their palace. And then the prisoner's condition worsened overnight before we could figure out a way to extract information from him. 

The Council even after multiple written complaints has refused to provide their reasoning behind their disagreement at Felix's coronation. They have however agreed to visit me in a week's time to offer "alternate solutions".

From what Felix told me last night her mother's condition has worsened out of nowhere. However, Miss Ruby, the Giant's ambassador has responded positively to her inquiry and said she would try to discreetly send details of the council's decision to her in a few days.

So yes, this has been an extremely disappointing and distressing day for me and I would very much like to escape for a few hours. Which is why I sought refuge in my garage. 

It was after an hour of mindlessly checking my bike for any damages and repairing them, that  I realised that I had never shown Felix my bike. And since I hadn't called her the entire day I can take this as an excuse to video call her now. 

I dialed her phone but she didn't pick up. I dialled again. She didn't answer. I stared at the clock it was just a few hours shy of midnight, and I know from our time living together that she doesn't sleep this early even when she is sick. So I decided to wait 5 minutes and then call her again. If she doesn't pick up I will call Flynn. 

5 minutes go by as I run through my head what I could talk to her about, I call her again. The phone kept ringing and ringing. And after three rings, I heard something fall behind my bike so I propped up my phone on a low shelf so I could keep an eye on it and decided to inspect where the noise was coming from.

I had bent down behind my bike to pick up a screwdriver that had dropped down when I heard Felix's voice.

"Hello, What are we do- Is that a bike?? Oh my lord, it's a bike!!"

I tried to get up in a hurry so that I could talk to her, but in my scramble to do so, I forgot I was no longer 18 and therefore no longer slim and knocked into the shelf behind me with force. 

"Rei REI MOVE AWAY FR-" 

Before she could warn me I felt something wet trickle down my shoulder. I looked at the pink paint dripping down my shirt and pants in disdain. I never thought I would pay for leaving a can of paint open but here I am.

"Hey don't move around much, or it would drip on that beautiful baby. Go change we can talk later." Felix suggested. 

"No No, give me a second I might have some clothes lying around here somewhere. I will be back." I offered in hopes of getting her to stay on call. I couldn't see much on the screen from here but she seems to be somewhere dark. 

"Okay if that's what you wish for. You go, I will admire the beautiful bike until then." 

I quickly entered a small room connected to the garage where I used to keep some of my old stuff, hoping I had something, anything lying around. 

Once again today, have I turned this room upside down to search for a shirt or bottom? Yes.

Did I find loads of dust and old junk in this room? Also yes. 

I didn't find a shirt, but I did find my old glasses and black sweatpants, which I am sure have seen better days. Well at least it's better than nothing, so I decided to skip the shirt and just changed into sweatpants. I also cleaned my glasses with the unstained part of the shirt and contemplated whether I should wear them in front of her or not. Will it look weird? 

At last, I decided that I would wear the glasses anyway. If the protagonist in Felix's colourful comics can, then so can I. Without wasting any more time, I returned to the garage and made my way towards the shelf where my phone was. 

"Hey, I am back," I called out to her. She seems to be sitting in a stationary car with lights on scrolling through her phone. 

Felix locked her phone at looked at me through the screen, "Hey- are those your glasses? You look sensational in them." She said giving me a once over before I picked up the phone and brought it closer to my face. 

I couldn't help but smile at her compliment. Should I start wearing them like Acimer? 

I stored away that question for later, "Thank you, I used to wear them when I was about 17-18."

"Why did you wear them? I mean were they a fashion choice or something else?"

I didn't have any chairs in the room, so I sat down in front of the bike, propped the phone on some boxes and answered her, "Not fashion but there were some reasons. It was the time I had started accompanying Dad in his meetings and I just wanted everyone to take me seriously too. In my young mind if I wore glasses like my grandma I would look mature and wise," Felix chuckled at that so I continued, "They are also great when you wanna ruin pictures."

"What? How?"

"So when those obnoxious delegates would come and try to click pictures with me. I would  take off the glasses right as they were clicking the picture to ruin the shot or pretend to fix them with my middle finger so they can't publish it." I explained. 

"That's genius. Petty but genius. And I love it." Felix exclaimed and burst out laughing. The kind of laugh that leaves you coughing and tearing. Seeing her laugh I too felt happy. 

Once she had calmed down she said, "Today really has been filled with surprise. First, you call from a strange garage. Then I see your bike. After that you respawn with stunning glasses and now you telling me this. Where is this garage anyways ?"

I tell her the story behind this place and how I came here to have some peace of mind. In the end, I told her the reason I was here, "But you were correct when you told me that today was filled with surprises. I was just about to send you the report about DK because-"

"Rei, leave it."

"Huh, what?"

She adjusted herself so she was relaxed in the car seat, "You went there to de-stress. Don't talk about stuff like that in that room. It negates the purpose. We can talk about that later. Right?"

"We can," I replied. I was about to ask her why was she in a car as a way to change the conversation when she beat me to it.

"Tell me about that beautiful bike. How come I didn't know you had one?"

"I bought it when I was in my early 20's, never used it as transportation but I used to love going to abandoned roads and speeding up and down as fast I could during the night. It was so liberating. Do you know how to ride? I can teach you how to ride."

By the end of my sentence, Felix's eyes went wide and she paused for a few moments. Did I say something wrong? 

She glanced once again at me and then smacked her forehead. She snickered and before I could ask why she started talking with a hesitant smile, "That is why they say shit like that to you and me. We are so hopeless."

"What do you mean, I am a little lost here? Who says what? Tell me." I questioned.

"Leave it, now-"

"No, tell me. I want to know." 

Felix shot me a slightly annoyed look but agreed to tell me. "It is not something cryptic or anything. I just noticed the comments Acimer, Huxx and Chorlette have been passing at you and me."

This time I got what she meant. I never considered that she might feel differently about those. I really need to start keeping a diary of what I need to talk to her about. But I decided to take this opportunity to discuss this, "I still don't understand the connection between my words and their comments but do you want me to stop, are you upset over them?"

Even in the dim lights of the car, I can make out Felix's rapidly turning red cheeks, "No no, not upset. Just embarrassed. I mean we haven't even, you know-"

"So what? Let them be. It's not something embarrassing. We are mates, we will do whatever we want. We can do-"

The garage door swung open and Acimer stood there, "Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Not at all sorry about it.

And I couldn't help but curse.

"OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE GO AWAY."

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These I tell you. I will just go sleep on that highway, anyone wanna join?