there, their, and they’re
Homework is already done. Now, they sit at their desk, memorizing the terrain of the new three countries they’ve been introduced to. They’ve had the pleasure of already being to some parts of the continent, but they have yet to become as familiar with it as they are with the other worlds the Order has been too.
Sitting comfortably on the windowsill, Feh hoots. They don’t even glance in his direction as they chew slowly on a piece of beef jerky. “Lotta mountains ‘round this place,” they comment quietly to themselves. “No wonder the pope or whatever chose this place to establish the monastery.”
Feh hoots again. Kiran looks up, hand gesturing vaguely. “Natural defenses,” they say matter-of-factly.
Feh hoots again, this time head jerking in the direction of the door, just as there’s a knock at their door simultaneously. Kiran looks at the door than to Feh. Feh cocks his head to the side and ruffles his feathers.
“Shoulda listened to you the first time. I get it. Sorry,” they mutter as they move to open the door.
Lo and behold, it’s Niles… something. For a split second, they’re worried they forget his surname until they remember he doesn’t have one (as far as they know). “Hi, Niles. Jerky?” Another bite of their jerky, and they hold out the small cup of jerky to the thief.
He gives them a look, and they give him a look back. “Okaaaaay, message received. No jerky, then”
Kiran steps away from the door to let him enter, and once he’s inside, they shut the door with an easy elbow nudge. “So, whaddya want?” They get straight to the point when they sit down at their desk again, one leg tucked under them and the other pulled onto the chair as they wrap one arm around it.
“Kinda late. What if I was asleep, huh?” Bold words. They wouldn’t be, even with the special tea blend gifted to them by Niles. Which reminds them that they also had to finish their tea, so, while watching Niles with piercing gold eyes, they take a long sip of their tea.
Niles almost rolls his eye. “You were talking—to yourself or to your bird. I could hear it from outside... something about mountains and defenses.” He’s always had good hearing, though nowadays, it’s a convenient trait instead of a necessary one. For Leo’s sake, Niles doesn’t let himself grow complacent.
(...which, at least now, is kind a of a lie. It serves him well, too. For instance: mountains. Defenses. It’s the kind of thing a strategist would worry about. Is that all Kiran is? For whom? And how did they figure out a secret that Niles hasn’t told a soul, guarded so well that not even Leo or Odin surely know of his little disability?)
Niles looks around with a quiet hum as he steps inside. And though he’d rejected at first—though he always will, when it’s offered to him so casually—he helps himself to a jerky. He hopes it’ll make Kiran huffy; innuendo certainly hasn’t been doing the trick.
“Kinda bold,” he says, borrowing their phrasing. “To just let me in like that without even knowing what I came here for.”
Too trusting? Or is he simply not seen as a threat?
(Looking at them, it’s almost impossible to tell.)
“Unless, of course, you regularly enjoy letting unsavory characters into your bedroom at a late hour. Not that I’m here to judge, of course.” He grins. The jerky, as much as he doesn’t want to admit it, is pretty tasty. “I actually came to ask for a favor... or an exchange, I should say. A favor for a favor, your expertise for mine.”
