A soft click echoed through the small flat as he shut the door gently. Another migraine thrummed painfully through the young inspector's mind, an occurrence that was happening all too often lately. It had been worse than that today, however. For the second time in a very long while, his control… slipped.
Running his hand through his hair carefully making sure no piece fell in his face, Alfendi let out a deep sigh as he shuffled over to the sofa and collapsed on it. His mind raced with the all too vivid memories of the final case, and the not so savory threats he had thrown out to both the current suspect Strapping, and his assistant. Indeed, Lucy looked more tense than normal after that case wrapped up. To make matters worse, Justin made an appearance.
The inspector had nothing against the man- strike that, he knew one part of him did- but every time the other detective showed his face a sharp pang shot through his entire body. No doubt about it, he always wanted to lash out and make an appearance when the man was nearby, but as of late it was harder to maintain. On top of that Justin started asking probing question. Clearly he saw the lack of color on Layton's face and hazarded a (correct) deduction on what had gone on in the confrontation. In fact, Lucy and him could very well still be talking about it, though a small part of him wished they weren't. Alfendi knew the insatiably curious nature of his assistant well enough by now to know she probably burned with the need for answers. He groaned quietly.
He needed to stop thinking. It just made matters worse. He needed complete silence inside and out. Leaving with the excuse of a TV programme, he had left the matter of their conversation in their hands. Surely Justin wouldn't reveal too much. For now the inspector just had to trust his old friend to steer her away from anything she didn't need to know. A flash of searing hot pain shot through his mind, a sign of contempt and protest no doubt. Suddenly he felt ten times more ill and twenty times more exhausted. Why was this happening? What was the trigger? It had been so placid and without incident for months before, so why was he piping up now?
The questions and the responding thrums of pain played back and forth, until, as if he were counting sheep instead, the inspector fell asleep. The mystery left itself to be solved for another day.