Edmund's bedroom was just down the hall from Nalsy's. It wasn't much different aside from having a stack of papers on his desk by the window.
He sat down to work on them, but he couldn't focus. There was a lot on his mind lately.
Nalsy's sudden appearance caused a bit of a ripple in his monotonous life.
He found himself more distracted than usual, with his thoughts often drifting towards Nalsy.
In some ways, she was a good distraction. Evenings with dinner and Nalsy were comparatively much more relaxed than what he was used to. Even a dinner they've shared in silence beat him, laying in the dark consumed by his thoughts.
But he couldn't stop his worries either. After all, Nalsy was targeted by the Darks, their biggest enemy.
He couldn't understand their motive to attack someone like Nalsy, who was the most straightforward and most innocent person he had ever met. He couldn't imagine Nalsy doing anything to infuriate the Darks. He would go as far as saying that he was sure that it wasn't her that the Darks wanted and that she was just unfortunate enough to get in their way.
He wondered whether her parents might have been the ones that the Darks wanted. But he couldn't understand why the Darks would worry about Earthians at all. It was bizarre to see them travel so openly to Earth and attack humans.
It wasn't until the early morning hours until his mind settled and he managed to fall asleep.
Yet, he was still up before Nalsy was. It wasn't that she slept long, but rather that he didn't seem to need that much sleep.
***
Edmund was already preparing breakfast when Nalsy came down.
He shaved and even combed his hair. It made him look much neater than what he looked like over the past couple of days. He was wearing all black clothes. As he moved around the kitchen, his t-shirt exposed his muscular arms. Nalsy froze as she watched him. She didn't mean to stare, but the view in front of her was too entrancing.
"Good morning," Edmund said cheerfully, dishing out the food and placing two plates on the table. It snapped Nalsy back out of her thoughts, and now she tried to look anywhere else other than Edmund, a task surprisingly challenging.
"Good morning," Nalsy said shyly, blushing in embarrassment as if she was caught doing something inappropriate.
Edmund pointed towards the empty seat, and she slowly sat down at the table, cautiously looking at the food in front of her. Their breakfast consisted of burnt toast, fried egg, crisp bacon rashers, and some undercooked sausages. It was hardly appealing in its presentation.
"I messed up the cooking thing, but I hope some of it is edible. If not, we can grab something after your appointment." Edmund said in a soft voice.
Nalsy wasn't sure what was more unnerving: Edmund's cheerfulness or that he cooked.
"I'm sure it is going to be alright," Nalsy tried to be reassuring while scraping the top layer of burnt toast. She made her way through the majority of the food, besides the sausages. Her appetite wasn't quite back yet; moreover, she didn't want to risk food poisoning. Burnt food might have been hardly palatable, but it was less likely to make her sick.
"I'm sorry, it tastes much worse than I expected," Edmund said apologetically, looking at Nalsy's plate. However, his plate was completely emptied. As a soldier, he was used to surviving on much worse.
"It's alright. I'm not that hungry" Nalsy tried her best not to say anything mean, and she hoped that she successfully concealed her disgust.
"Well, even then, we'll need a decent lunch. Do you fancy anything in particular?" Edmund could see right through her, but he appreciated her white lie. This mishap wasn't enough to break his mood today.
"Why don't you pick something yourself? Maybe your favourite?" Nalsy suggested.
"Fine", Edmund agreed as he quickly started cleaning. His movements were swift, and it wasn't long before he hurried into the hallway to get ready to leave. Nalsy slowly limped into the hallway behind him. "I've managed to dig this out." Edmund turned around and passed Nalsy a black coat as well as a pair of gloves. Nalsy hesitated. "Why don't you put it on? It's cold outside. It's already October; autumn here is cold." Edmund encouraged her.
"Thank you." Nalsy took them and put the gloves on, which were big enough to go over the cast and a brace.
Edmund was keen to help her get the cost on, which also was big enough to go over the cast without any issues.
"It suits you," Edmund concluded as he was putting his leather jacket on.
"I'm afraid that if I take the wrong step, I'll end up rolling into the city instead," Nalsy said with a chuckle.
But Edmund was right. As big as the coat seemed on her, the dark shade of brown accentuated her pale skin in a warm kind of way. Her hair was lying across her back, contrasting against the colour of the coat, making it appear even more golden in the shade.
"Don't be so dramatic." Edmund nudged her out of the door.
"It's not dramatic. Besides, it would make my walk down so much quicker and easier. If I weren't worried about destroying your coat, I would have already been rolling down." Nalsy said in thought, already imagining in her head how much easier rolling down the hill would have been.
"I do not recommend rolling down this hill, and it is not because I'm worried for the coat but rather yourself. Seeing that I found you in a rather dreadful state from your last tumble down the hill, I would highly appreciate for that to not be repeated."
"This time, I have armour!" Nalsy exclaimed in excitement, lifting her arms and pointing at the cast and braces.
"I am not convinced of your cast's feasibility as an armour, Nalsy," Edmund said with a chuckle.
"Oh, well. It was just an idea." Nalsy let out a disappointed sigh.