Alex finished packing. He had more clothes than he thought, clothes that were magically imbued to not fall apart. If he concentrated, he didn’t make the items turn into rags, but it took all his concentration to do it. He wouldn’t work well in the field, then.
He walked out of the room, the backpack over his shoulder. He knew Kelvin and Andy were having breakfast together before going out to work. Alex stopped at the base of the stairs.
“Morning,” he said.
“Morning!” said Andy. He looked at the backpack. “Moving out?” he asked with a grin.
“I’m thinking about it.”
Kelvin and Andy both turned to look at him. “What?” asked Kelvin. “Why?”
Alex looked away from the two of them, looking down. “I think I’ve outstayed my welcome here. You two…you’re both together. I’m a third wheel.”
Kelvin put down his cup of coffee. “That’s not true. We like having you around.”
Said Andy, putting a hand on Kelvin’s arm, “Maybe he needs a break.”
“Is that what you and Scott were talking about?”
Alex lifted his head to look at Kelvin. “Among other things.”
“Where will you go?”
“I’m going to the garden.” He shrugged. “It’s the safest place for me.”
“The garden?” Andy glanced at Kelvin before looking back at Alex. “Are you sure that’s safe for you?”
“the entire place is self-healing. I can’t destroy it.”
“I didn’t mean about that.”
Alex shrugged again. “I’ll deal with the side effects.” He hitched his backpack up. “I’ll let you know if I stay there.”
“Casey lives there,” said Kelvin. “It’ll be crowded.”
“We’ll see.” Alex started to walk past them. He turned around and said, “Kelvin, thank you for believing in me.”
Kelvin smiled. “I hope you can come back.”
Alex inclined his head, then went out to the elevator. Downstairs, he used his ring to teleport to the base, and from there walked through the side door to the garden.