Thomas walked in calmly, sharply contrasting how forceful the stomps outside had sounded. He had a smile on his face, though it quite clearly didn't reach his eyes. Rowan noticed out of the corner of his eye that the receptionist's smile had almost completely faded, lingering only slightly through years of practise.
"I'll be handling these new Knight's registration, Susan."
The glare that had been fixed on Rowan outside the walls was now levelled at Susan, whose smile was now completely gone.
'What the hell is happening? Does it have something to do with the conflict between the branches?'
Obviously, there was some friction between Thomas and the receptionist, though it subsided without any further escalation. She went to hand over the papers she had already partially filled out, but Thomas completely ignored her, heading down one of the hallways back past the main entrance.
The trio of Knights followed him as they navigated the Bureau, until they arrived at a small office that was less well-furnished than any of the others they had passed on the way there. Thomas led them inside, and sat behind the old desk as the three waited in front.
"Alright, so I know ya two want to join the expedition branch, but Rowan, was it? I hope ya will be willing to join as well."
'So it likely was something to do with the branches. I suppose the receptionist is part of the main branch? She seemed really upset that he managed to stop us from registering there, I wonder why it's such a divisive subject.'
Rowan didn't really have to think about the choice, as he had already come to his decision thanks to Gid's prior warning.
"Yes, I'm keen on joining your branch."
An appreciative smile appeared on Thomas' face, as he pulled out three sets of paper from a filing cabinet to his side. He laid them out in front of each of the three, and Rowan skimmed his.
'Name, address, date of birth, abilities... I guess this is how they keep track of everyone in the Bureau.'
Across the top, it read 'Registration for Expedition Branch'. It was highly likely that the receptionist's version was for the Bureau's main branch. Taking the pen offered by Thomas, Rowan began filling in all of his details.
'Rowan, The Complex, May, Regeneration.'
There was also a section below, related to what they had experienced in both their Hells and their time in the wilds.
"How detailed do we have to be in the induction notes section?"
Gid and Bea also looked to Thomas at this point, though Bea looked more worried. She hadn't experienced much of her time in the wilds, after all.
"Hm, enough for someone to get an accurate depiction of what happened. Make sure you mention the specifics, like the name of the Hell, monster types, fatalities noted, etc."
'So it's a report, basically.'
Rowan took the time to be as detailed as he could, and was relieved to find the section continued to the back of the page. He had experienced far too much for it to be confined to a single paragraph, after all.
He wrote about the Caves of Ossory, the wolves that could slip through any crack, the hybrids. Avery. The vine monster with Ben and Leah, the flock of ravens, the Barren Fields. The stone drake, Killarney, the spider, mastery, Gid and Bea's companions.
He was the last to finish by a wide margin, having gone through everything Gid and Bea had plus some. Thomas had read the other two reports by the time Rowan handed him his, and Rowan watched as his eyes flicked over the page.
"You're from the complex, are ya? Ya seem like a damn fine diamond in the rough if that's so. Killing a tier 3, mastering your ability, and gaining a skill. You're damn lucky to be here, but at the same time one of the most promising awakened I've seen."
He placed the files into a folder on the side of his desk, which was rather sparse. After doing so, he stood up and extended another handshake.
"I don't have the authority to accept ya registrations immediately, but there's no chance of ya failing if I'm being honest. Welcome to the expedition branch, Rowan."
Rowan shook his hand, feeling a swell of pride at Thomas' praise. He had assumed his ability was relatively strong, and his achievements were nothing to scoff at either, but it still felt nice to be acknowledged as strong, and have his effort rewarded.
Thomas continued to speak to the others, and Rowan wondered what it was he should do from here. Should he go back to his home, to Lenny? Stay here with Bea and Gid for a while? Or even go looking for Aoife and Nadia, to see if they had made it back safely.
"Well, I've got some more work to do, including getting back to patrolling, so you three go and get some rest, you've more than earned it."
Rowan, Gid and Bea nodded vigorously, they were, in truth, exhausted. Rowan and Gid especially had skipped their chance to take a rest in order to make it to Cork as soon as they could.
'I suppose I'm heading home first, then. Oh right, the guard said there would be food, didn't he? I hope it won't be too rude to ask, I'm not looking forward to those rations again...'
"Um, Thomas, I heard we could get some food here? Is there anywhere I could go for that?"
Thomas smacked himself in the head with his palm, a slightly regretful expression on his face.
"Of course! ya must be starving after all that time out there. Follow me, I'll show ya to the canteen before I head off."
The prospect of being able to eat soon roused his appetite, and apparently Gid and Bea's too, judging from how quickly they got ready to follow Thomas. Stepping outside, however, they were met with none other than Freida Burke, the Governor of Cork.