"I mean, yeah, it was shitty, but I feel like keeping an eye on Altair is a good idea," she added, plopping down beside him. A sudden wave of loneliness washed over her, surprising in its potence. She'd missed his warmth, and it made her pause before explaining further. "Roo's boyfriend implied that the rest of the world has, or is about to experience demon problems. Altair's like ground zero. We can probably glean useful information from them. And besides, if Sparrow made it all those years, Feo and I should be fine."

Kyros bit his lip. She had a point about Sparrow, though he didn't like it. "You're right, I guess. At the very least we should get Sparrow's advice on the situation. I just... I don't like it. We need to make sure you two are safe-- actually safe."
If he lost either of them, or god forbid both of them...

"Yeah..." she trailed off, then cleared her throat. "Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for me to move back for a while. I, uh..."

He looked to her, surprised by her sudden change of tune.

She looked at him, then turned her gaze straight ahead and bit the words out before she could swallow them back down, hands curled together in her lap. "I fucked Feofil."

There was a beat of silence between them.
"What."

Pari pinched her lips together, scowling, but despite her efforts, the words came pouring out of her mouth. "I don't know! We've been dancing around each other for ages and tensions were high and it just-- it just happened!"

At that moment, the door to Kyros's office burst open. Both royals swiveled around as Sparrow came careening into the room in a whirlwind of tiny, dangerously fluttering silk, her expression frozen somewhere between shock and delight. She had been holding papers when she’d opened the door but they scattered upon the ground, slipping from her hands as she charged towards them with a shriek, white hair bouncing against her skin. “Oh my god, Pari!"

Kyros barely hid his jump at the sudden entrance, turning to give their visitor a bewildered scowl. "Sparrow!"

"Sorry K," she tossed his way before throwing her arms around Pari, who grunted as Sparrow's full weight fell upon her. "Oh my god, Sparrow--"
"I would have recommended a kiss first but oh my god!" she squealed, squeezing Pari tight and then pulling back to give her friend a brilliant smile. "I'm so happy for you!"
"What the--" Pari grappled with her arms, pulling them away so she could breathe. "What were you doing, pressing your ear against the door?"
"I came to ask for help with these papers," Sparrow began, then froze and looked back at her scattered documents with a gasp. "Oh no, that took me hours to put together!"

"Wait, wait, wait," Kyros put his hands up, looking to Sparrow and trying to understand. "Did you... know about this?"