The Little Crow

Chapter Thirty - [Warmth]

It was Friday morning and Niall had heard from Julian that Thea and Milo had spent the whole night in their office. Though Niall knew that this was a necessity for the time being, he did feel bad, so when he came in that next morning, he brought them both the finest breakfast he could buy on his way in. He even made them their coffee himself.

After Niall dropped everything off in their office, pleased at how appreciative they were, he reminded them to make sure that they rested tonight as they had planned to take the train into Abureth tomorrow morning and would need the sleep.

Then, he made his way back to his own office to get his day started.

Of course, his plans were interrupted by the sight of Kaya, a frown forming on his face immediately. "Party planning committee at your service," the woman, who was already within his room, her feet on his desk, said.

Of course, Niall wasn't actually unhappy to see her. Honestly, he was actually quite pleased. With everything going on, the two were so incredibly busy that it did feel like it had been a long time since they'd had a chance to sit around and just be... well... friends.

"Party planning?" he asked with a raised brow as he shut his door and walked over to her.

"I heard Milo and Thea are heading out tomorrow morning?" she said. "We should have a night out as a pre-leader meeting, good luck party. I was thinking Sunday night but I talked to Luana and she pointed out that they should rest after a long trip."

Niall rolled his eyes as he took his seat at his desk. "We don't have time–"

"Niall, you know as well as I do that these kids have been working their asses off for the last week."

The fact that she called them 'kids' made Niall oddly uncomfortable. He would have thought nothing of it not too long ago, but somehow, considering Thea a 'kid' now rubbed him the wrong way.

"No sleep and no play for so long... a night to just relax would do them some good, don't you think? It'd be a good reset for them, and a reminder that no matter what happens we, their bosses, are on their side."

She wasn't wrong.

Frankly, she might have been completely right. A night out would probably be exactly what everyone may need. "Fine," Niall sighed. "But we can't stay out too late, Milo and Thea need sleep."

"Perfect," Kaya grinned. "I'll let Mayra know to keep a table reserved for us. Let's meet at Eight?"

"Seven," Naill said. "I want everyone home by ten."

She stood, giving him a lazy salute. "Understood."

Thea was more than a little bit surprised when Luana told them that they were celebrating tonight. At first, Thea thought Luana was lying when she said the General was covering it, but when Thea arrived at Mayra's with both Luana and Milo, seeing the General, Julian and Kaya already there, she was proven wrong.

When they entered the bar, it was as crowded as they expected it to be, seeing as it was a Friday night, and when they reached the three Luana slumped down next to Julian and Thea next to her, while Milo took his spot on the other side of the booth, next to Niall who was beside Kaya.

Kaya was first to speak. "Oh my goodness, look at you two," she said to Milo and Thea. "You guys look absolutely exhausted!"

They were.

Both Milo and Thea were still wearing the clothes they put on yesterday, seeing as they spent the whole night in their office doing their writeup and consolidating all that they learned. Frankly, Thea could barely keep her eyes open, but she thought it would be rude to decline the offer.