Several days later, the morning sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains into Gern's bedroom, bathing it in a warm golden glow.
The once simply furnished bedroom now featured plenty of carrot-themed decorations.
Carrot-patterned cushions, curtains printed with carrots-even the painting on the wall had been replaced by Lipo with a landscape of carrot fields.
On the large bed, Gern slowly opened his eyes, feeling a tingling numbness in his right arm.
He turned his head and found Lipo curled up beside him.
Her furry floppy ears rested against his chest, her breathing slow and even.
She wore carrot-patterned pajamas, and sleep had left her cheeks faintly pink.
A satisfied little smile still lingered on her lips, as though she were munching on her favorite carrots even in her dreams.
"You climbed into my bed again?" Gern gently nudged her shoulder. "Lipo, wake up..."
"Mmm... five more minutes..." Lipo mumbled indistinctly. She rolled over, treating Gern's arm as a cushion and hugging it even tighter.
Gern smiled helplessly.
Zephyr's intensive training had worn Lipo out over the past few days. Every day, she came home and fell straight asleep, barely managing half of even her favorite carrot cake.
Seeing that, Gern decided not to keep waking her. He carefully slipped his arm free and quietly climbed out of bed.
Of course, before leaving, he gave her head a casual rub. The soft feel of her floppy ears was as soothing as ever.
After washing up, Gern got dressed and glanced at the mountain of documents on his desk, his mouth twitching.
His teacher Zephyr certainly lived up to the name "Black Arm." Not only was he merciless during training, he had turned Gern's paperwork duties upside down too.
With some time left before his transfer to G-3 Base, Zephyr