He absolutely was the type to skip out on a slow day. Mallory was pretty diligent about getting work done when assigned to him, but he also got restless in a hurry when there was nothing to do but sit on his ass and wait for things. The only reason he was sticking around this late now was because he was already on the Witch's shit list for his little murder spree during the storm, and now that both Icarus and Luna wanted something that Mal's HR position could help make a reality, he wasn't going to risk losing it now.

So he actually welcomed it when he heard the knock, no matter how close he was to finally being free from his monotony. It probably wasn't even a complaint - those usually came as reports delivered by soot sprites who crept in from the shadowy corners of the too-large room. Maybe Maera was dropping by to shoot the shit again. Maybe someone was bringing him supper.

"Door's unlocked," he called from his desk, gruff but not as unwelcoming as he could be when he meant to.