The Little Crow

Chapter Fourteen - [Odd Balls]

As she had told Niall, Thea chose to go back to work the next day, even if she still didn't feel entirely up to it. Both Luana and Milo were happy to see her, offering to take her out for dinner to celebrate her return, and though Thea was touched by this, it didn't stop her from being on edge over the fact that strangers from her university days were around Achlis.

She didn't want to see them again. Ever.

She would have done almost anything to never see Adrien again, and the same certainly went for any of his friends... or even acquaintances, for that matter... but what could she really even do about it? Could she really tell Niall? He said that he was on her side, afteral, whatever 'on her side' even meant.

What could he really do for her anyways?

Sighing as they made their way towards Rue's cell, she caught the attention of Luana. "I know you say you're feeling better, but you've been rather distracted today... are you sure you don't need more rest?"

Thea smiled at Luana, pushing her own current concerns to the back burner. The worry that her new friends were showing her made her feel rather warm and that was enough to, at that moment, try to forget about the other people. "I'm fine, really," she simply responded despite Luana being right about her being distracted. Even all the men she talked to today seemed to notice. Vetori even went as far as to ask if she was having "boy troubles."

If only he knew.

"I guess I just need to get back in the flow of things."

"Well if you're not feeling up to talking to Rue today, we can head back–"

"No," she said. "I definitely need to talk to Rue today." After her conversation with Niall, all she could think about was what she was going to say to Rue. It also helped that focusing on him helped her to stop thinking of Adrien and her past. She had to know her priorities.

Plus, now she had some idea of how she was going to move forward with this.

When they arrived at Rue's cell, Luana, as always, opened the door and let her in. Once she was in, however, she was surprised by the look on Rue's face.

Though she had not seen him in three days, his cold and unamused face was burned into her memory. That was what she expected to see when she walked in, but she didn't. Today he didn't look that cold, nor did he look that unamused. In fact, he looked rather surprised.

He looked surprised to see her.

It seemed like he realized his own surprise soon though, because he hid it immediately, covering it all back up with his usual look of indifference. "You're back," he said as Luana shut the cell door behind her.

"Sorry I left without a word, I was feeling under the weather the last few days," she said, smiling as she felt a hint of happiness. Somehow, knowing that her absence had some sort of impact on him, whether it be good or bad, made her feel hopeful.

"You don't need to explain anything to me," he said. "I don't care."

"You didn't miss me?" she asked, sarcasm in her voice.

This humored the man, making him reveal a smirk. "No," he said. "But I did think that you wouldn't come back."

"You thought I gave up?"

"You don't really seem like the giving up type," he said, looking at her. "I thought you might have been fired... or dead, even."

Thea's brows furrowed, not really knowing how to feel about that. "What?"

"That Capital isn't good to naive little Elorian girls."

Now she rolled her eyes. She knew how to feel about that. Why did everyone just love to call her naive? After a moment, she crouched down in front of him, hugging her legs. "Well, in my time off I was able to think a lot about how I want to move forward with our conversations," she started. "And, I know you don't want to answer my questions because you suspect me and my intentions... and you think I'm naive... but I still want to get to know you."