Chapter 57 - Return

It took hours for the watch to inspect the premises, check over the victims, and take our statements. When it was all done, I was exhausted. I wasn’t the only one, Adriena and Bree fell asleep leaning against each other shortly after giving their statements, and even Kass was swaying in place. Thankfully Calliope was holding up better than the rest of us.

“Alright you lot, time to go. It looks like the boss sent the carriage to get us,” she declared as she gently shook the girls awake.

When Bree startled awake she thrashed about for a moment, nearly smashing Calliope in the face. Crackers, who had settled in her arms, squawked in distress until the girl finally realized where she was. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“It’s fine,” Calliope replied with a smile. “You’ve been through alot today. Can you get up?” The girl nodded, then slowly calmed down the noisy bird while rousing her friend.

Once the girls were up, we all stumbled back towards the carriage. There were still a fair number of people, and watch members, in the area, but no one approached us before we left. I could imagine that it had to do with Lanivia, and the impression she left earlier.

The ride home was quiet, and due to the gentle rocking, I quickly succumbed to my exhaustion. I didn’t know how long I’d slept, but I was awoken by Kass. “Did you know you drool in your sleep?” she asked with a smile. I stared at her for a moment, only to realize that I must have been sleeping against her.

“Sorry!” I blurted out as I sat up straight. I took a quick look around the carriage, and realized that everyone else had already left. “How long have we been here?”

“Just a couple minutes,” Kass replied. “Sulivan and Charlotte were waiting for us to arrive, and took the girls to the infirmary, to be inspected by the doctors. You were sleeping so soundly that I didn’t want to wake you.”

“You should have,” I said indignantly. “I could have contributed… or at least prevented myself from drooling in front of all our friends.”

“It’s fine… they were too occupied with Bree and Adriena,” Kass said, as she pulled me into a quick side hug. “Besides, it was cute.”

I chuckled, despite myself. “Thanks for providing your shoulder… we should probably go check on everyone,” I said as I pushed myself to my feet, or at least I tried. As soon as I stood up I felt light headed, and sat right back down again.

Kass’s laughter rang in my ears, and I blushed slightly in embarrassment. “Come on sleeping beauty, I’ll help you back to your room,” she said, rising from her seat and pulling on my arm.

“I can make it!” I insisted, but still let her pull me to my feet. I was still a little wobbly, but I managed to stay standing.

Kass still put her arms around me, first helping me down from the carriage, then into the complex. “Even if you can make it on your own, I want to help,” she said with a smile.

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I relented, but threw my arm around her as well, leaning in close. I heard a small scoffing sound from the spider behind me, but I decided to ignore it. The two of us slowly wandered down the hallway, and back into the atrium. The area was fairly empty, due to how late it was, but Charlotte and Sullivan were there, discussing something.

“Are the girls settled?” I asked as we approached the pair.

“Yeah, Doctor Steve gave them a clean bill of health,” Charlotte said, turning to face us. “But wanted to keep them in the medical wing to keep an eye on their mental health. How are you two doing?”

“Tired, but otherwise fine… I’ll admit when I got up this morning, I didn’t expect to discover a city wide crime ring, or to watch Lanivia go on a rampage. It was quite a day,” I said.

“I’ll bet. I have to say, it was quite a surprise when Lanivia teleported into my room and told me to send a carriage to the scene, be prepared to escort the girls, and escort the watch commander to her once they arrive,” Sulivan explained. “No one even knew that she was gone, we all thought she was just down in her lair like usual.”

“Did she say anything about us?” Kass asked.

“That you two, and Calliope, should take tomorrow off,” Charlotte replied with a small smirk. “It almost seemed like an afterthought though, she was already grumbling about her disrupted research when she said it.”

“Maybe she went back to the research to help cope?” I said hopefully. “She was a little emotional out there.”

Sullivan snorted, “Or maybe she just wanted to get back to her research. She rarely leaves, unless she has an appointment, or is interrupted. That’s why everyone was so surprised that she left.” He paused, then lifted his head up to look Kass and I in the face. “You really do look tired. Calliope already headed back into the residential area, you should follow her. Get some sleep.”

“I think we’ll do that, considering this one can barely stay on her feet,” Kass said playfully. I pouted slightly, but didn’t correct her.

“Let’s talk tomorrow,” Charlotte called, as Kass and I turned away. “I want more details!”

I sighed at the woman’s enthusiasm, but thankfully she did let us go. George whined as we walked past the cafeteria, so I stopped for just a second, and glanced inside, but I was really more tired than hungry. Thankfully I did see Chelsea and Bea in the back, so I simply pointed them out and the spider took off.

That just left Kass and I, and we slowly made our way to my room. Once there, I propped myself against the door. “It’s been one hell of a day. Thanks for helping me back,” I said.

“It’s no problem. We’ve both had a hectic couple days, so how about we go on a picnic tomorrow? Just the two of us. We could use some time to cool off?”

“That sounds good… can I bring a book to relax?” I asked.

“No,” came the immediate reply, “but I’ll make some plans, you won’t be bored.”

I felt like there was some hidden meaning there, but I was too tired to figure it out, so I just smiled. “Okay.”

I did catch the slight smirk that crossed Kass’s face before she backed off. “Have a good night, see you tomorrow.”

“Bye,” I said hesitantly, and just before Kass turned I darted in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, before retreating into my room. The kiss was just a momentary impulse, but I didn’t regret it for a moment. At least at first. Turns out, the memory kept me awake, and I didn’t get as much sleep as I wanted.