truth or dare?

Miriam nodded. “I grew up here – with my grandparents. And it’s nice and all, but… not exactly as much opportunity, right?” She shrugged. “It’s… it is what it is. I can’t really think too much about it, because we don’t know how long we’ll be here, right? It’s just…yeah.” Miriam frowned, raising an eyebrow as Arisu showed off her badge. “Right… so you’re in charge of keeping the peace, then?”

Ari pressed her lips in a thin line upon hearing the other mentioning opportunities, “yup, it sure is much quieter here, small town and all.” she nodded, “i’m from New York.” she exchanged an information. “was in charge,” the girl shook her head, “I mean... I don’t even know anymore,” she lowered her voice, “there isn’t much rostering. and between me and you, the department is getting chaotic.” 

brows furrowed , a smile appeared on petite features , already moving towards her house , but not before making sure the other was following . as they made their way down the street , she realized inviting strangers , for the lack of a better word , to her house was never the best idea . but somehow , these strangers weren’t strangers . not really . they were all in the same boat , after all — so they already had that much in common . “ you’re arisu , right ? ” she was normally good with names , but considering she had only met her once before , it couldn’t hurt to ask . besides , they had to make some type of small talk — she hated walking in silence . “ i don’t know if you remember me , but we were on — that same bus . ”

Ari smiled at the unexpected hospitality offered to her, the cliché, every cloud has a silver lining, even though the world is shit and weird, people are treating each other nicer. She scoffed to herself, cringing internally at her thoughts before snapping back into reality. “Yeah, call me Ari,” she offered. “you are?” she felt bad asking for the other’s name, but she didn’t recall getting hers previously. Ari nodded in silence before breaking it, “yeah i remember, you sat beside me didn’t you? What were you, uh, planning to do in New York?”

Archer chuckled at her reaction. He’d never really thought highly of his tenure in EMS. It was just something he’d started doing and never stopped. “Ha. Thanks, I guess. The time just really flew by. Doesn’t even feel like it’s been that long.” He shook his head at her offer. “No, thanks. Trying to quit. Old habits die hard though, I guess. How do you like it? You’re a detective, right?”

“You enjoy it, i assume? One doesn’t usually say time flew by on a job,” she reasoned. “Oh,” Ari shrugged and put her box of cigarettes back into her pockets. She lifted the bud and smoked before turning away so that the smoke doesn’t affect her companion. “Still trying to quit?” she asked, “sorry, though,” Ari immediately felt guilty for smoking in front of him. “I love it,” she nodded, “i mean, if you have a conviction with what you do, it’s hard not to love it.”

Nicky shook his head in embarassment after seeing her clearly, and thanked it was just the two of them. If she was in actual danger, she wouldn’t have the first clue of what to do.  “Oh, I didn’t mean to come like that. I’m not used to this. I don’t go out at dark. I don’t know what went through my head…” She started trying to justify herself to the stranger after seeing the badge, before actually picking on her first comment. “Hey, no, what do you mean by that? Am I not intimidating enough for you?” She raised one eyebrow, and stared her down, before seeing she was clearly not being taken seriously again. Fair considering that pathetic previous attempt. “Well, then good luck for me than you would have to protect me from the bad guys anyways, I guess.” She took the obvious defeat, quickly looked down to avoid showing a faint smile that was appearing by the sillyness of it all, and cleared her throat. “So thank you, for still doing your job and all that. I was just taking some fresh air, nothing to worry about here. All is fine.”

The blonde’s sudden rambles amused her. Even till now, Ari gets many reactions from people who realised she’s a cop (her petite stature usually throws people off). She looked over at the other quickly when she suddenly changed her tone. It was pretty amusing for Ari, it was almost endearing to her, really. “I-Intimidating...? I mean, sure, if you say so,” she shrugged, placing both hands back into her pocket. She raised her brow, “yeah, you should feel lucky, I’m one of the best.” the dark-haired girl chuckled, hands now folded across her chest. “No worries, there actually isn’t any shifts or job now. Especially after what happened. I did it out of habit, least i go mad.” a small sigh escaped her lips, “you seemed pretty jumpy tho, i can walk with you if it makes you feel better... I’m Arisu by the way.”

“Oh for about ten years now. Was just a basic before I became a medic last year. How long have you been with PD?”

Her mouth opened when she heard ten years. “Wow, that’s pretty remarkable, congratulations.” Ari felt the need to give credit when it is due. “Me? Oh, not too long actually. I graduated two years ago and joined the force say...” she scrunched her nose trying to remember, “probably a year back, I just got transferred here a couple of months ago.” a slight smile crept on her face. She brought a cigarette to her mouth, cupping her hands to light it. She handed out her box, offering the other one out of courtesy.

Maybe the woman had. Miriam hadn’t been in West Ham long before everything happened – and she hadn’t lived in town for years. But some people had better memories than others. She’d give the woman that much. “I actually live in Boston. I was visiting my grandparents – and then heading back to med school. I’m going to be a psychiatrist. – You?”

“oh cool,” Ari nodded as she heard the other out. “bigger cities huh?” she laughed, “I used to live in New York,” Ari face fell upon hearing miriam’s plans, “oh shit, i’m so sorry... how are you... uh feeling? Must’ve been weird knowing that school will go on still without you.” She frowned. Upon hearing the question, Ari lifted up her badge slightly, “detective, i graduated NYU before deciding to becoming a detective and got transferred here.”

“Yeah, I used to go down occasionally. I, uh, worked with EMS, so some times I would have to get some info from an officer, and sometimes my partner and I would just swing by to annoy everyone. But I do remember you. Don’t recall your name, though…?”

“I’m Archer. “

“Oh that’s pretty cool,” Arisu, “you folks do frequent the police station pretty often.” she agreed, “I’m Arisu, or just Ari, really depends on your mood, you can call me whatever,” She smiled at the male, “well, it’s very nice to meet you Archer, how long have you been working with EMS?”

She closed the book she’d been reading, knowing that the polite thing to do was to try and engage in conversation with the woman. “Right? Everyone’s got their own opinion, and I’ll follow whatever people deem best – but… I don’t know what that is right now. – I’m Miriam, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

“Whatever,” Ari tried shaking the negative thoughts away as she shook her head, “Miriam, I probably see you around before, but it might just be my memory acting up” she repeated her name making a mental note to remember her name. “So," Ari leaned back against her chair and stifled a yawn, "What do you usually do here?” 

Miriam glanced down at her bag, only to see that Arisu was right. She quickly packed everything back up and zipped it closed. “Thanks – sorry. I’m sort of… everything’s got my mind in a million different places, y’know? I can hardly think straight.”

“It’s nothing really,” she shook her head. A low hum escaped her lips as she listened to the other, “you and me both, I don’t know what else to do anymore,” she rested herself against the chair. “I’m Arisu by the way,” she introduced, figuring it will be better making friends or acquaintance especially during such an uncertain period. 

The paramedic had been wandering around the town for awhile. Aimlessly, really. He had nowhere to go except the station and his apartment, which was littered with tokens of the nightmare that was these past few years. Outside, the warm air cleared his head a bit. And looking up at the clouds reminded him just how minuscule all his problems truly were. He was pulled from his pondering when he heard someone yelling. At first, not realizing they were trying to attract his attention, he ignored the woman.

“Oh– Uh. What? A lighter?” he asked, actually thankful for some social interaction. He really needed to stop isolating himself so damn much. He glanced down the road out of habit before jogging across. As if any cars would be coming down. “Uh, yeah. Here. You can keep it. Hey, wait I know you. You come around the police station a lot don’t you?

“Yeah, a lighter,” Ari repeated, nodding her head a few times. “Thanks,” she reached out and receive the lighter from the man. She opened her box of cigarettes, took one out and lighted it. “Ah, yup, that’s me. One of the finest.” She furrowed her brows and looked at the other, “you go there often too? Used to... I mean, before all this.” 

as much as she hated to admit it , all of this still felt like a bad dream . after a month of being here , it still felt unreal . but that was mostly because she still couldn’t make any damn sense of what was happening . there was still no clues that had been found . they were still technically where they were a month ago — at square one . that was really all she wanted at this point — some answers ; anything that could make any of this make any sense . but no , they were all still very much in the dark . or at least , she was .

wide doe eyes landed on arisu , a smile appearing on petite features as she saw the other approaching . evie couldn’t say she’d seen the other a lot since those damn buses turned around , but she’d seen ari around town , at most . “ oh , i don’t , i’m sorry . ” a pause . “ i might have one back at my house , though . ” one that her parents tucked away in case they needed to light the stove or candles for blackouts . “ if you don’t mind the short walk , consider it yours . ”

She recognised her, the younger girl. Ari vaguely remembered sitting beside the other on the fateful day when the bus turned around. “Shame,” she responded preparing to turn her back. “Oh, would you be so kind really.” she responded, approaching her once again. “That’ll be so nice of you, I wouldn’t mind the walk. I mean, where else would I go?” she stated honestly, realising that sounded a bit too depressing and laughed it off, “lead the way.”.