Sighing, Neikirk left the food in the kitchen and returned to the bedroom. Cerant's eyes had closed again and he did not look as though he would be waking any time soon. Neikirk combed through Cerant's dark-auburn hair, smoothing out the tussled mess, then traced the lines of his face.
"Neikirk " Cerant mumbled in his soft, sleepy voice, then seemed to sigh and settle even more comfortably into his rest. Neikirk permitted himself a small smile. Retrieving his tea, he sat down and finally picked up his lists, adding to them, starting new ones for incantations he wanted to modify to better work against the new type of demon.