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."

He let out a frustrated breath.

She continued despite his unhappiness. "I've come to realize that I may not know anything about you, but it's safe to infer that you are not only honorable and trustworthy, but you have a kind of strength and resilience that..." she hesitated, blinking a few times to get the image of Adrien out of her head. "That... I really need in my life."

"I can't help you with that," he said.

"No," she said. "Maybe not. Which is why I'm going to stop talking to you."

One of his brows rose as he suddenly looked a little confused, though Thea also didn't fail to notice the slight look of relief on his face.

She started to smile. "I'm going to talk at you."

Now both his brows rose, the relief vanishing. "What?"

She chuckled. "I want to learn from you... so I'll talk at you. You don't have to talk back, though I'd appreciate you listening... I'm sometimes good at reading faces so my hope is that I'll be able to figure out your thoughts myself."

His lips parted a little, revealing a dumbfounded expression. "You'll be wasting an incredible amount of time."

"Maybe," she said, standing up. "But I'll be honest of my intentions right now, seeing as you don't really trust me... my hope is that as time passes, you'll grow comfortable with me... you'll see me for who I really am and then we can become friends."

"I don't want to be your friend."

"Maybe you will once you know a bit more about me." He didn't have anything to say to that, so, Thea gave him a big smile. "See you tomorrow."

To this, he sighed loudly, sounding defeated.

She did feel a little mean and childish, seeing as she was forcing the man into having to deal with her when he really didn't want to. But she knew no harm would come out of this, and she knew that befriending him would most certainly be considered 'progress.'

If annoying the living hell out of the man would push back his death sentence, then she was willing to do that.

As she turned and left him though, allowing Luana to lock the door again, she suddenly realized that this was the most words the two had ever exchanged.

Progress.

This was progress.







"That's a brilliant idea, Thea," Milo said to her. "It's certainly going to be a lot of work but I can't imagine it not working. He'll certainly warm up to you eventually."

"Or he'll beg the gods to get his execution date to come faster," Luana joked.

"Don't be silly, Luana," Milo scoffed as Thea chuckled.

The three were at a bar called Mayra's, a bar that Luana had taken Thea to a few times already with some of the best food she's tried in a while. Today, she tried one of their many sandwiches, one that Milo had raved about. "Thanks," Thea said to Milo, who was sitting across from her and next to Luana in the booth, "but I can't take complete credit for the idea... the General helped."

"What exactly did the General suggest?" Milo asked.

"To appeal to Rue at an emotional level... he's a Crow, and one of the good ones. So I thought that maybe reminding him that I'm one of the Elorians he wanted to protect would help him open up." And hopefully she would actually get what she wanted as well... for him to share his secrets to his personal strength with her... and anything that would help stay his execution.

"Sometimes it scares me how easily Niall can figure people out," Luana said before gulping down some beer. "He acts like he hates everyone but somehow manages to know them all better than even themselves."

Thea's brows rose at the comment.

"It scares me too..." Milo added, "but I suppose that's what happens when you've spent so much time alone."

"Alone?" Thea asked. "It seems like there's always someone with him." Julian in particular was always with him, and sometimes Colonal Jaylen, who Thea hadn't familiarized herself with that much yet. Oh, and there was Mrs. Railer. Mrs. Railer was always nearby. And from what Thea saw, the General was almost always having a meeting of sorts with someone. If anything, it seemed like he was never alone.

"Oh, no, I mean when he was younger."

"Oh," Thea nodded, beginning to think of her old friend Aaryan. "I guess that makes sense. I've always heard stories of lonely wealthy children whose parents don't have time for them... I knew one, actually. But how would that make him better at figuring people out?" She asked, genuinely curious. She wanted to know more about this General of hers.

"Wealthy?" Luana chuckled. "Oh, you really don't know much about him do you?"

"His father was the Secretary of Defense before Rivier, right? And his mother was Elorain?"

"Damn," Luana started. "You really know nothing about him."

"Is that what they say in Abureth?" Milo asked.

Thea looked confused. "Yes, that he's the son of the Secretary of Defense and an Elorian. And that he's one of the main reasons the Crows lost the Civil War."

"No, that's not entirely true," Milo started. "General Killian is not the true son of the previous Secretary of Defense. He was adopted."

Thea's eyes widened. "No."

"Yep," Luana continued. "The man spent most of his childhood on the streets. Oh, and some people say that Secretary Killian only adopted him because of his mixed blood... they say he thought he could groom and use Niall to push forward his own goals."

"Those are only rumors," Milo clarified. "We don't know what the General's relationship with his father was really like."

"Yeah but it makes sense," Luana pushed. "I can see him thinking that having a mixed blood in a high position could potentially win over both races... though it didn't really work out like that. It seems like instead of everyone trusting him because of his mixed blood, both sides just think he's a traitor."

That was definitely right. Elorians definitely did not trust the General.

"Yes, but still, they're rumors," Milo insisted, turning to Thea. "Whatever the reasons behind late Secretary Killians decisions, he did adopt Niall and raise him... so the General wasn't raised rich his whole life or anything like that."

This was certainly news to Thea, and interesting news at that. "So his real mother and father... do you know anything about them?"

Milo and Luana looked at each other before looking back at Thea. "I love gossiping," Luana started. "But I think that's for Niall to share if he wants too. And I know he likes to keep this stuff to himself."

Milo nodded, looking a little pleased with Luana. "Yes, that's right," he said. "But really, all we mean to say by bringing this up is to not judge him as some spoiled rich boy... there's a lot to him... as I'm sure you are slowly beginning to understand."

"Yeah," Luana smirked. "That's right. He's a man of mystery."

Thea nodded slowly. "He certainly is... I guess I'm starting to see that," she said. "I was really surprised when he dropped by to check on me... it didn't seem like something a boss would normally do, let alone the Deputy Secretary of Defense and the General of the Aiverian Army."

Luana laughed at that. "Yeah, get used to things like that. He cares about his people."

"Julian mentioned something like that... is it really that true?" She asked. "I mean yes, he does seem attentive but is he really that doting?"

Milo smiled at Thea. "To make it easy to understand, when working for the State Military, having General Killian as your superior is an absolute blessing."

"But why?"

"Because he gives us a reason to trust him and never betrays our trust," Luana said. "And he shows us that he trusts us as well... unconditionally. Which is odd when you see who his team is composed of," she looked at Thea with a silly smile, "have you noticed anything about his team?"

Yes, she had.

She never had a chance to think too much about it, but it had crossed her mind.

They were all... a little strange.

So what did that make her?

Luana didn't wait for her to answer, but probably saw the understanding in Thea's eyes. "I'm a State Officer who is Elorian, Milo is an Aiverian with brown eyes, Kaya is a female in a high position and now there's you, an Elorian girl with naive ideas."

Thea didn't have a chance to argue with her because Milo spoke first. "And you have yet to talk to Aari," he added. "He's another Elorian."

Thea knew the name. "The one in charge of the Screeching Crow?"

"Yup, that's him," Luana smiled. "Another odd ball."

Thea chuckled, but deep down she felt her stomach turn. She was not looking forward to meeting the man who was in charge of the Screeching Crow.

"Anyways, the point is that he gives chances to people who normally wouldn't get chances and puts all his trust in us," Milo continued. "He shows us that he believes in us and allows us to prosper."

"And now we've all become a family of sorts," Luana said. "A family of mismatched weirdos."

Thea chuckled. "What about Julian? What's strange about him?"

"Oh, Julian is perfect," Milo said with a silly smile. "Nothing wrong with him."

"No way," Luana grinned. "That's exactly what's wrong with him... his perfection. Such a nutter, actually he's probably the weirdest of us all... but we love him nonetheless."

Thea laughed some more. She felt a little bit of warmth growing in her as she pondered the idea that these people considered each other family. That they loved each other. She wondered if she could, or would ever be a part of that. She certainly wanted that... even if this Aari character was one of them as well... and even if she was still not entirely sure about this General of hers. "I suppose I'll try to allow myself to trust him too, then."

"No, don't do that," Milo said, surprising Thea. "Don't just allow yourself to trust him. That's not what Niall wants either. Get to know him and his intentions and make a thoughtful decision yourself. It's the only way that you will truly trust him."

"The General said the same thing, and it seems like some sort of psychological test," Thea chuckled, sipping at her beer. "Alright, I'll do things the right way. I'll be honest, he's given me a lot of reasons to trust him... though I'm still a little cautious."

"And that's totally fair," Milo said. "It's only been a little over a month."

Thea nodded before thinking again about what Milo had said just moments before. "Maybe he's so accepting of the odd balls because he's kind of one himself?"

"Of course, that's probably exactly the reason," Milo said. "It must have been hard growing up as a mixed blood. He probably gets what some of us go through."

She hadn't really thought much about what it would have been like for him growing up as a mixed child. And frankly, now that she knew he wasn't a spoiled rich boy that was sheltered by his money, she was starting to wonder if he had it really bad. She didn't know very many mixed children herself but she had heard that it was rough for them... it must have been worse if you were poor too. She sipped at her beer, staring at the table as she thought. "At least he had the luck of being quite handsome."

Luana suddenly laughed, choking on her drink in the process. She coughed, startling Milo, but continued to laugh as she tried to clear her throat.

Thea stared at the girl in shock. "What–"

"Handsome?" Luana laughed, her voice raspy from not having cleared her throat out properly yet. "You think he's handsome?"

Milo, who was rubbing her back, began to smile awkwardly though looking amused at the same time.

Their reaction surprised Thea. "Yes... the General is handsome... he's very handsome."

Luana laughed even more loudly, attracting the attention of other patrons of the bar. "You must be joking."

"What are you talking about?" Thea asked, shocked. The General was incredibly handsome. The spring green eyes, the coal black hair, the chiseled features that held it all together nearly perfectly. He had dark, pretty eyelashes that made his eyes look intense and even his pointed Elorian nose was the perfect level of pointiness... she would know, she hated her own. So yes, the General had a very attractive look to him and he was impeccably clean and he was both polite and put together and he was powerful. It was rare to see men with all of those going for them.

And Luana disagreed?

"You like rich guys don't you?" Luana asked, still laughing. "Doesn't matter how they really look, so long as they are rich and powerful, that's all that matters. Or maybe you like older men? He's what, five years older than you? Six?"

"Five," Thea corrected.

"Hm, so it's the fact that he's older then."

"You disagree with me?" Thea asked, insulted by Luana's words but knowing she was probably joking. And frankly, yes, she did like older men. The more mature, the better. But that was not what she was thinking about the General. "You really don't think he's handsome?"

"I adore Niall, I really do... but handsome... he is not."

Thea's jaw dropped. "You are blind, woman," she then turned to Milo. "Milo, what about you? You think he's handsome, right?"

Milo blushed. "I'm not really in any place to judge..."

"You're allowed to tell me if you think another man is handsome."

His blush grew stronger. "I..."

"C'mon," Luana said, looking at Milo. "You can be honest."

"Well... he's got a... unique look."

"As in?" Thea pushed.

He began rubbing the back of his neck. "I wouldn't say he's particularly handsome... like traditionally–"

"What!" Thea shouted, now attracting the attention of others herself. "You two have no taste!"

That made Milo laugh though Luana scoffed. "We don't? You're the one who's calling the constantly brooding General who keeps his face scowled so much that it's practically stuck that way handsome!"

"The brooding is part of what makes him handsome," Thea argued. "It's mysterious."

"Yeah, but what about those creepy ghostly eyes?"

"They're not ghostly, they're intense! Have you seen his eyelashes?"

"Eyelashes? Who examines people's eyelashes?" Luana snorted. "That's very weird!"

"That is a little strange," Milo agreed with a silly smile.

"What odd taste in men you have," Luana chuckled.

Thea frowned, crossing her arms. "Well my taste is not weird. I think Milo is very handsome, don't you?"

Milo almost instantly blushed, and though she still knew they had ways to go before they really knew each other, part of the reason she said it was to embarrass him. But to Thea's surprise, Luana suddenly looked embarrassed too. "Well– I–" she began to stutter, which was completely unlike her. "He– Of course he is!"

One look at Luana was enough for Thea to put two and two together... that Luana had feelings for Milo... and Thea began to smile. Though Thea would have never imagined the two together, seeing as they almost seemed like polar opposites, the thought of teasing Luana about it became her number one priority. "I've never seen such pretty brown eyes on a boy," Thea said. "If you think there's something strange with my taste then you probably disagree with me about that."

Luana let out an embarrassed huff as she looked away, bringing her beer to her lips. "Of course Milo's eyes are nice," she said before sipping her beer. "But Milo knows that already."

Thea looked at Milo, who was looking thoroughly embarrassed. "Leave me out of this," he muttered, adjusting his glasses and staring down at his beer.

Thea started laughing, feeling a giddy joy inside her and no longer upset that she was made fun of. "You guys are cute, you know that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Luana asked, looking at Thea with an embarrassed frown.

Thea grinned back at her. "It's fine, we've got different taste in men, let's just accept that."

"Clearly," Luana said, before letting out a breath and smiling awkwardly at Thea. "Though yours is weird."

Thea lifted her jug. "To weird taste in men."

Though Luana followed suit, Milo let out a breath, still blushing. "You two are both strange."







They called it a night pretty early on, around nine actually, seeing as the next day was a work day, and though Thea initially planned on going straight home, she suddenly decided to head to Achlis first. She knew it was late but sometimes the General stayed in as late as midnight, or so she heard, and so she wanted to give spotting him a chance.

She hadn't had a chance to thank him yet for showing her a little kindness the evening before, especially since his advice and her desire to come back had almost completely pushed the thought of Adrien out of her mind.

And she wasn't going to see him for any scheduled meetings before the weekend, so she wouldn't have a chance to thank him properly until later.

Oh, and she was a little drunk.

Some liquid courage was certainly a benefit to her now that the man was on her mind, especially after the teasing she endured from Luana and Milo for thinking the man was handsome. Part of her was hoping to see him again to reevaluate her view. Could she have been wrong?

When she arrived at his office, she was only a little surprised to see that the lights were still on. So he was in... and she was right to assume he would be.

However, when she pushed the door open, she saw Mrs. Railer standing near her desk, packing her things up. "Oh, Mrs. Rhaanan," the older woman said after she turned around, a surprised smile on her face. "You're here quite late."

"Hi," she smiled. "Is the General still in?"

"No, he actually left about an hour ago. I was just finishing up a few things and was about to head out myself."

"Oh," Thea said, a little disappointed.

"Is it urgent?" Mrs. Railer asked. "You know the General always welcomes you all to go see him at his home if it's urgent, right?"

"Oh no, not at all," Thea said, though surprised that the General would offer such a thing. Did he ever get a chance to just relax? "I just wanted to... well, I wanted to thank him for his help, so no, it's not urgent... I'm not going to see him for a couple days so I was hoping I could see him before he leaves."

"You aren't scheduled to see him until Monday, is that right?" Mrs. Railer asked. But before Thea could answer, she continued. "If you'd like, you can leave him a note?" She suggested. She then turned and opened one of her drawers, pulling out a note card and pen before turning back to Thea and holding it out for her. "You can leave it right on his desk and he'll see it first thing in the morning."

"Sure," Thea smiled. That seemed like a good idea. "I'll do that."

"You can go right in," Mrs. Railer said.

Thea hesitated. "But... I can go into his room?"

Mrs. Railer chuckled. "Yes, love. I'm sure the General trusts you enough to leave a note on his desk."

To that, Thea smiled. "Sounds good," she said before she turned and walked into the General's office with the note card and pen.

Unsurprisingly, the room was rather spotless with even his desk clear of any mess, and after walking up to it, she was about to bend over to write her note when she noticed a green ribbon sitting rolled up loosely next to his pen holder.

Pretty. Thea thought, despite it being an odd sight.

But with that, she wrote her note.







When Niall walked into his office the next morning he was certainly not in a good mood, not looking forward to the busy day he was in for, filled with meeting with people he didn't like. It certainly didn't help that, though not her fault, Mrs. Railer handed him a huge stack of letters that he would have to review before said meetings.

After tossing the letters onto his desk and taking off his coat, he almost missed the little note card on his desk, propped up against his pen holder, right next to his mother's green ribbon. When he did spot it though, he hesitated, recognizing it as Mrs. Railer's but noticing immediately that it wasn't her handwriting.

He picked it up and read the extremely neat handwriting.



Hello General Killian,

Just wanted to say thank you for the advice you gave me yesterday. It was really helpful. I'm taking it to heart and I think I'll be getting somewhere with my discussions with Rue soon enough.

In case I don't see you - have a wonderful weekend.

Oh, and thank you for the lemons and honey as well.

-Thea



At the bottom of the card was a little smiley face, and to his surprise, the General found himself smiling. He then put the little card back where she left it and went on with his day as usual.