Even if Arthur hadn’t wanted to turn back around to face Alexi, he had no choice. The man was huge, and his strength reflected that. Arthur could have resisted, but it would have been useless.

“Little bee?” he repeated, a bit incredulous, a bit embarrassed. Arthur glanced around the street t the other people milling about, and took a step back from Alexi as he cleared his throat.

“You can’t start on dinner until we get to my home. That’s where I work, where my office is, so! Either I turn my back on you to lead you there, or neither of us gets what we want.”

The doctor gave Alexi another look, though it was weaker for the pink across his cheeks. Arthur’s only solace was his face was so bruised, it might have not even been noticeable.

“And I did not fight back, of course not! The patient was a mentally disturbed man. I believe it would have been wrong to strike him back, however much he hurt me. In the end, I was able to calm him down and get him properly treated.”