Alexis is staying up on his watch with the smell of smoke still coming into the mansion of the Crimson Calling. He has spent the time on his watch so far pacing to try and stay ahead of the memories from his time with Malkar.
During his pacing Alexis checks on Gustav, and notices Sally as well. Alexis is able to forget about himself as he remembers what Sally went through.
Alexis squats next to Gustav and speaks to Sally “we both went through a lot today, didn’t we, although I might have come out with fewer scars than you, huh?” Alexis smiles faintly at Sally and reaches out to pet her.
Alexis gets up and walks away coming back a few minutes later with some morsels for Sally. After feeding Sally Alexis asks “I’m going to keep walking around, did you want to join me?” Alexis extends his hand for Sally to hop on.
Gustav overhears and sees Alexis interact with the Crow and then he quickly falls asleep.
The next morning With a heavy tiredness and a long breath, Gus says:
“Hi Alexis. Why were you trying to talk to the crow last night? It doesn’t speak common.
Were you trying to take control of the crow? It only seems to take my direction. I try to avoid giving it commands as it isn’t my slave. But if you want to talk to it I can tell it to follow you if you promise to avoid putting it in danger. Although I don’t know what use that will be.
Do you think it would be a good idea for me to go back to Malkar so he can help release the bonds between me and the bird. I wonder if I made a mistake turning down Malkar’s offer.”