just.

Alice turned around at the sound of someone speaking to her, the hand holding her binoculars at her side now. As soon as she saw it was just some woman though her irritation was apparent. “If you’re not the police officer I asked the sheriff’s office to send over an hour ago you can just keep walking. I don’t have time for you.” Some people were so nosey, butting into other people’s business. That was the trouble with Riverdale. No one could mind their own business.

Once she’d dispatched this nosy woman she could go back to looking through her binoculars at the trees around Fred’s house. That suit wearing peeping tom had been back at it again. Alice had seen him up in the tree likely watching Archie and that Veronica going at it like rabbits again. Pervert! She was getting Archie some damn curtains for Christmas. It took her a moment to realize the woman being nosy wasn’t someone she recognized. Suspicious her eyes narrowed at the other. Maybe this woman was friends with the suit wearing pervert.

Leyla couldn’t quite hide the surprise spelled out on her face at the woman’s words. An actual emergency she just happened to walk into? Not too bad. But then again, the fact that the Sherriff hadn’t even bothered with actually sending someone over just made it sound like this woman was another of the many paranoid loons inhabting Riverdale which immediately made her question how much of an emergency this really was.

Only one way to find out. “Officer Munroe,” she introduced herself with a short nod, following her routine by holding up her badge for a brief moment. “What seems to be the problem?”

Fuck. Standing in front of a building, can of spray paint in hand, half-finished graffiti behind him as he whips around to examine the source of the voice, there was no way Sweet Pea could pretend that this wasn’t what it looked like.

Still, there was a small comfort in seeing Leyla, in knowing she was in one way or another an alley, usually only concerned with keeping her sister safe, but maybe he’d be able to talk her into not dragging him into this whole police thing. “Uh, nothing?”, he tried after contemplating his words for a moment, simply dropping the paint can to the floor, the metallic clatter echoing off the cement floor. “What are you doing here?”, he added, raising a brow at the woman, hoping that this wouldn’t end up with him being shoved into a wall and handcuffed. He had gotten enough of that lately.

Damn those Serpent kids and their inability to stay out of trouble for longer than ten minutes without supervision. And damn her sister for making her care about them in the first place. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for Delilah, she wouldn’t even have hesitated to arrest the little punk, especially now that he seemed to put in a conscious effort to take her for an idiot.

“Right now? Doing my job.” At least that was what she was telling herself. Technically, she was off the clock and had no obligation to step in. And now that she had, doing her job would have meant making sure he’d get the proper punishment. But instead, something told her to give that kid at least some sort of chance to redeem himself and get away with a warning. “You are aware that malicious damage of property is a criminal offence, right?”

Spinning around, Moose looked at the young woman with wide eyes, caught red-handed. He knew exactly what this looked like, coathanger wedged into the door of his car, him dressed in a hoodie and slacks in his upper-class neighborhood after dark. “This is not what it looks like,” he exclaimed quickly, noticing that saying that probably only made him seem even more shady than he already did.

“That’s my car.” Finally, a valid point and one step closer to explaining why exactly he was trying to break the door open. “I locked my keys inside.” That was probably exactly what someone trying to steal a car would say, but as absurde as it sounded, it actually was the truth. All he could do know was hope that this convincing enough for her not to call the police on him.

Leyla had heard that line a million times before. At least half the time things were exactly what they looked like, sometimes worth. This looked like some punk trying to steal a fancy car and honestly? The scenario in front of her left little wriggle-room for another explanation.

“Is it now?”, she asked, visibly skeptical by the way she raised her brows at him. A kid like him in a place like that? With a car like that? All of him seemed out of place here, which naturally didn’t help his case. “In that case, I’m sure you have the documents to prove that, right?” It was only now that she reached down to her belt and flashed her police badge.

As the years piled on, so did FP’s run-ins with the police. It started when he was sixteen, when he just earned his snakeskin and had never quite stopped after that. He was well known around town, his reputation preceding him when new people came to town. Only that Leyla wasn’t so much new than she returned, grown tired of the big city life as her sister had informed him. Still, considering their connection, he would have expected a little more civility, even if he was currently showing up at her front door uninvited.

“Good evening to you too, Leyla,” he said half mockingly, a small smirk on his lips that he knew would make her roll her eyes at him the way she always did. “I’m just paying a visit.” Craning his neck to look past her, he tried to find any trace of her younger sister in the dark hallway of the house. “Your sister home?”

“Huh,” Priyanka said, obviously unimpressed with his answer. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she made it farely obvious that she refused to budge. There was something about that greasy git that had always rubber her the wrong way, things only getting worse when rumors of his misdeeds had quickly turned into actual involvement with a murdercase.

Still, that didn’t mean she was intimidated by him. “She’s not home,” she said simply and despite speaking the truth, she couldn’t help but assume that FP wouldn’t believe her. “How about you leave and come back later?” Or never. She’d definitely prefer never. But of course, she had long lost hope that that was ever going to happen.

Despite the fact that it was her night off, Skylar was still pushing her way through a crowded bar. Albeit, on the other side this time. And with a clientele that she wasn’t completely familiar with, feeling like she knew too much personal information about the ones that frequented the Whyte Wyrm to ever interact with them outside the work setting. But here, at one of the only other bars that a small town like Riverdale offered, she could blend in. Or stand out in a way that she wanted to, which was more her style as her heels clicked against the floor. 

Her walk was determined, like she was on a mission. And in a way, Skylar was doing just that. The corner behind the bar was one she was all too quick to make a beeline for, a wide grin crossing her face at the sight of a few friends there. And after just a greeting something was pushed into her hand, the familiar package clasped tightly in her palm as she turned to head towards the bathroom. The night wasn’t really going to get started until she had her boost, letting out a groan as she saw the line.

“What the hell is this?” she complained, mostly to herself and the few others leaning against the wall near her. “If any of you know where I can do this in peace,” she gestured toward the few sticks of jingle jangle in her hand, “I might even be willing to share.”

Why did Leyla even keep allowing people to talk her into nights out? She didn't even like nights out. She liked bars in the afternoon when it was empty and she could drink in peace, not after nightfall when they were crowded with people. Still, after some vehement protest from her colleagues and more than a few jabs at her less than stellar social life, she had decided to agree.

Which was a mistake, as it turned out. Shocker. She was just on her way to the bathroom, passing by a strange woman holding something in her hand that Leyla was all too familiar with. Because this would not be Riverdale if she actually got one night off from all the drug drama and gang wars.

“No, thank you. But I’m afraid I’ll still have to ask you to come with me.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her badge and flashed it for the other woman to see, as usual, acting strictly to protocol. “Officer Munro, Riverdale P.D. You are under arrest for illegal possession of drugs. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence." Shoving the badge back into her pocket, her hand now rested on the zip-tie handcuffs in the other one, hoping she wouldn’t need them. “Do you understand?” God, she hoped she understood. Making her arrest someone on her one night off was bad enough, the least she could do was play along.

In New York, she could look away when some guy snatched a candy bar from a store when she did her grocery shopping after a night shift at four am. In Riverdale, even people looking vaguely suspicious were enough to catch her attention and push her to intervene. This? Definitely past her definition of vaguely suspicious. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”, she asked, trying a lot harder to sound tough now that she didn’t have her uniform to convey authority for her.