#turns out flitmouse is the most amazing mentor for efnisien

[not-poignant]

Daily excerpt from today's writing, chapter 83 of Underline the Black:

‘I don’t know Dr Gary all too well,’ Flitmouse said, ‘because he tends wall off anyone who wants to get to know him better. By comparison, Temsen is very friendly and even transparent. Augus is kind, at least to omegas, which is unusual for peak alphas. Dr Gary can come across as cold and aloof, but Anton pointed something out to me a long time ago, which is that if you want to get to know him better, you have to watch his actions, and not his expression, or even his words. ‘And his actions are that…he’s devoted his entire life to this centre. He will humble himself with apologies when he knows he’s wronged someone, which is rare for alphas, let alone peak alphas. He’ll listen to me or Anton lecture him about how he’s treated you, and he’ll change for you, or perhaps more accurately, reveal the instincts that he’d repressed. He wants to see you stronger and happier, doesn’t he? Can’t you see how his actions prove feeling, even where his words don’t?’ Efnisien stared at the floor for a long time. He thought about the way Gary paid attention to everything he ate, and how the things he didn’t like never appeared again, and the foods he did appeared with more regularity. He thought about the way Gary automatically knew which blankets were Efnisien’s favourites, and sometimes fetched them for him when he was having a bad night. Gary hungrily reached for him at times – even when they weren’t talking about something depressing, weren’t talking about anything at all – and kept hold of him for long periods of time. Efnisien was almost always the one who had to pull away first when Gary reached for him like that. Gary had yelled at Temsen for using alpha persuasion on Efnisien during his heat, even though it was fully deserved, because Efnisien had been trying to bite through Temsen’s bones. He’d been the one there by Efnisien’s bedside when he’d woken up sore or groggy. He respected that Efnisien might need other people to talk to, and he was…kind.