Siana regarded Monaco's statement with a curious look before she went about getting the water heated. She often let her birthday go without mention or ceremony, and she wondered about why he might care. They cooperated on the job, but that was the best Siana could say about their relationship. They were hardly friendly otherwise. Perhaps this was simply another case of basic cooperation?
She returned to her desk and accepted the slice of cake. "Thank you, Peony." After taking a chunk of it into her mouth with her fork, she again smiled and said, "This is delicious."
After a few minutes, the kettle rattled. Siana stood to prepare the tea, hoping that black would suffice. She passed the poured cups to Peony and Monaco and settled back into her seat.
"It is good that you've come," she said, already rearing to get back to business. "Monaco saw a glyph that he recognized in one of the sketches from last week's crime scene. We were wondering if you perhaps knew anything about it?"