Sophia tried to ignore the fact that Alex had just been in her room, tried to pretend that nothing had happened, and that it had all been a bad dream. But a bad dream was what caused all this, wasn't it? The rosy stain upon her cheeks slowly began to abate, but the torrent of thoughts that she was enduring remained constant. Surely she should be able to remember what had caused her to cry out in the middle of the night, but nothing she did could make herself remember.
And suddenly, the darkness of the night seemed to converge around her, enveloping her in its suffocating grasp. She whimpered, frightened, and squeezed her eyes shut, trying in vain to block out the fear the blackness seemed to evoke within her heart. How she wished Alex had stayed just a bit longer, even if it was only so she could feel as though she wasn't the only person living on the heartless metal ship.
Alex walked soundlessly back to his office, trying to ignore the fact that he had just seen his co-captain in her night garments. Which were considerably smaller than the black Silvana uniform he was used to her wearing. But no matter how clothed, or unclothed, Sophia was, it did nothing to outwardly affect his unfazed gaze. And though he thought about the moments before he had shaken her awake, it did nothing to soften his hardened eyes. He was still the emotionless captain of a traitorous air ship, and he was a lover to no one. No one since Euris.
Alex entered his room once more, closing the door firmly behind him. Further disturbances to his study would not be tolerated, he silently told himself. But even as he tried to sit back down and continue to research Exile, his hypocritical mind wandered to the image of a his subordinate, completely out of her element. Maybe it was the way her long brown hair had hung down past her small shoulders, or the way her eyes glistened with apprehension at the sight of him, but Alex could not tear his thoughts away from her, and the way her eyes had softened once she realized who was standing over her, protecting her from any possible harm. How wrong she had been, for the only reason he bothered to awaken her was for his own selfish desires. Was it wrong for him to wish so strongly for the tranquility of the night? Surely he had deserved this one indulgence, but a small part of his mind still urged him to think more of the situation. Sophia was not one to be easily frightened, and the cause of her cry was surely more significant that the lack of progress he was currently making with his research. His papers could wait for a while longer.
Alex stood up once more, this time shedding his wraith-like cape, and exited his study as soundlessly as he could manage. His long strides soon carried him to his destination, positioning him right outside of Sophia's quarters.
Sophia shook silently, her blankets drawn up to her neck as she sat, poised in quiet anticipation of every danger that lurked in the shadows. She had long since remembered what had caused her to cry out in the night, what had aroused Alex from his ponderous study, and what currently caused her to quake at the thought of being alone in the darkness. But the dream was meaningless now; the darkness was the only thing that Sophia could focus on, though it was the single thing she wished she could shut out of her mind. Curling into the covers of her bed, she buried her face into her pillow, trying to fall back into what should have been the serenity of a peaceful night's rest. But she could not stop thinking of him for just one second. But when had she ever been able to forget him? Had there ever been a time when she had stopped caring about what he thought of her, a single moment when she had thought solely of her own feelings and not about him? She cried softly into her pillow, she was so tired of being alone, and not having him caring. But she couldn't stop the affection she had for him; there was no way to get over him. No matter how he treated her, she would always care only for him. And this only saddened her further.