Brat, he thinks, affectionate instead of annoyed. It's easier to pretend nothing's wrong when this conversation takes shape as if they are planning to go sight-seeing, nothing more.

"I knew there was something to make our exile bearable."

Because it is an exile. Perhaps they have not been home in many months, but they had the option to go if it pleased them. Now, Aleksei can't tell whether or not they'll have any say in where they go. Or worse, if he would, and Doki wouldn't.

"We'll get you a glove," he promises, which would at least make it easier to pretend nothing had changed. "And we will befriend all their pirates so when their war is over they'll let us sail with them."

When the war is over. What a big statement. Aleksei hadn't spared a single thought for the war. Is it even close to being over?