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The fire was low in the crematorium. Still burning -- Calvin made sure of that. But low.

Calvin hadn’t slept. It wasn’t shocking, and had become the norm over the past few days. As was always the case, after an hour spent staring at the ceiling, he had stood up and walked to his forge. Alexandria was steering clear tonight. He was thankful for that.

However, unlike previous instances where sleep had eluded him, Calvin found himself unable to work either. It wasn’t lack of care, or effort. It just seemed as though all his best efforts came out twisted. Blades with deviations in angle. Ill-weighted hammers. Good metal that could have been used to make something of value lay strewn about the room in odd shapes with dents from a few angry blows of a hammer. The last time Calvin had found himself wanting at the forge... had been in dire circumstances similar to these. He had barely come back then. Would he come back now?

Calvin sat next to the burning hole in the wall where bodies were supposed to be deposited and burned to ash. Was he defending it? What good would it do if he tried to stop someone? He shook his head, lightly. He had no idea what they did with the bodies. He wasn’t sure he wanted to either. His arms still ached from his confrontation. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t forge. Bliss’s pick was damaged beyond a normal smith’s repair. He recognized dully that he would need to fix it. But in his current state there was no chance for it. He stood up slowly, rockily. He needed to eat. 

While he normally would have gone to the dining room, he had no interest in seeing people or reliving that night. He walked to the break room quietly, pausing at the end of the hall as he saw Felix and Daimyon leave it. They seemed to be in a good mood, and it made Calvin shiver a little bit. Where the fuck had Felix been that night? Or Daimyon? How had Willow been able to rejoin her sister? He wanted to confront them, but knew that nothing good would come of it. Besides, if they were leaving there was a chance that the break room was empty and he could grab some food and sneak back to the crematorium. He let them walk away, ducking into the break room once he was sure they were out of sight. Methodically, he loaded himself up with food. Fuel for a smoldering fire.