Det. Oliver

"Or I could be a DJ detective. DJ in all kinds of clubs and solve crimes while I'm at it. And you can't even deny that it doesn't sound like a cheesy 90s TV show that you'd leave on in the background." Leon laughed at the mere thought of that. After everything that had gone down in the city it was nice to escape, even if just for a moment or two, and pretend that things weren't as bleak as they genuinely seemed to be. Besides, he was sure that Francis must have been feeling the same way.

The last thing that Leon planned to do was go out that night, but when he got a call, he really had no reason to say no to the offer. He was free that evening, his house chores were completed - as much as it was acceptable - and, if Leon really thought about it, a change of scenery was really good for it. Besides, there was also a promise to some good company, and that was always a plus.

"There's a replacement for about everything. Flavors, flowers, meat and apparently coffee. It's meant to be healthier I think, but if I can't trick myself to be more awake, then what's the point?" Hande had become an early bird with the opening of the café, was brewing coffee for others and baking just as early. If not for her employees, perhaps she'd be doing that even more than she already was. Coffee was a savior to all of them.

"See, I get meat, flavors, flowers, or milk. But coffee? Call me old, but I don't see it. There's either tea or coffee, why ruin something that's been there for centuries?" Perhaps he was a little too passionate about it, but Leon couldn't help it. There weren't many things that he could enjoy nowadays, and coffee was one of those wonderful rarities.

Satisfied with her friend's decision, Chanel nodded her head before taking another drag from her cigarette. Unfortunately for him, she wasn't always the most creative when it came to nicknames, though she did like his suggestion. Intentional or not. As a smirk settled onto the woman's lips, she gazed up at him with anticipation. "Hmm... How about Robert?"

"Really? You're going to go with the name I just suggested? I'm insulted." Leon faked the horror, despite a smile that quickly returned back to his face. He could never be angry at her, especially for something this silly in the middle of the night. "The least you could've done was gone with Bobby. That at least sounds less like I'm in constant trouble."

character: Leon Oliver @leonxoliver

Leon was getting restless. He didn't mind desk duty too much, mainly because it was then often complimented by plenty of action. However, the past few days were filled with nothing but desk duty, with his boss telling him he wasn't cleared to be active, despite how little and simple his injury was. And yet, all he could do now was wait around his desk, all of his paperwork completed in the first day, and hope that something interesting came along his way.

       "yeah  you  might've  gotten  home  and  found  yourself  all  moved  out  and  new  tenants  enjoying  your  space."  nothing  more  than  a  joke  because  how  could  someone  know  the  location  of  his  dwelling  just  by  the  keys  alone,  but  it  was  funny  to  her.  a  little  grin  displayed  on  her  lips  and  just  slightly  dimpled  her  cheeks.  "at  least  you  have  a  super  that  could  let  you  in,  right?"  brow  slightly  raised,  it  was  a  question  because  maybe  he  was  like  her  and  had  a  townhome  and  that  meant  especially  shit  out  of  luck  if  keys  went  missing.  "but  i  lost  a  credit  card  once,"  head  shook  at  the  memory,  an  almost  haunted  look  in  her  eyes,  "now  that  was  some  devastation."  the  person  who'd  found  it  had  gotten  a  few  major  purchases  in  before  she'd  noticed  and  froze  the  card.

"That wouldn't even be the worst thing that has happened to me in that place." Leon joked. It was the least he could do, because if he didn't, then all of it would just be miserable. "Oh no, I don't think the supe would be thrilled about that. I'd be better off trying to break into my own room." Besides, the other seemed to enjoy taking a dig at him, and he was quick to absolutely accept that; taking himself seriously after doing something like that just made no sense. "Ooh, ouch. That had to hurt." And it was absolutely so much worse than just losing one's keys. "Did you at least report it and get whatever debt they got you into wiped?"

"Alright, there's a good point there." They had parted ways in their own way. Still, Hande cared enough to wish him well, to hope for the best for him. She had her reasons why she could never have committed enough to be fair, kind and loving; he had his own reasons. Somehow things still worked out. Somehow. It was good to see him again, regardless of the ending. "Perhaps they're some kind of coffee replacement? Those are supposed to be a thing."

"Is there really such a thing as a coffee replacement?" Leon questioned the other, thrown off by her statement. It was almost too easy to slip into the old ways, into the old conversations, as if nothing had happened, and in a way, it was comforting. For once, just because a chapter had closed, it did not mean that all ties had to be severed, even if they did end up avoiding one another for a while. "That sounds horrifying. Is it worth living if even coffee's being replaced?" He asked, jokingly.

At the man's question, Chanel gave her eyes a playful roll, never one to give away her secrets. Maybe she had missed him. Or at least been looking forward to when she'd see him next. It wasn't every day she felt comfortable talking to another human being like this. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been so open.

"See, that's where you're wrong." Leon was quick to correct her, a smile never once leaving his face. Perhaps these small moments, where the burden of the world wasn't weighting his shoulders, were the best, and she certainly was contributing to those moments. "If I was to find a stray cat on the street, I'd give them an old fashioned name. There's nothing better than a silly swanky cat named Robert or Eleanor."

Leon shrugged his shoulders, almost as if genuinely considering an answer to her question for a moment or two. "Honestly? Wouldn't be able to tell. It all depends on the day." He joked with a smile on his face. The other was proving to be quite the company already, and maybe, given the whole picture, it was all that bad that he had gotten stood up. "Maybe I'm just fantastic at pretending, you never know. Before you know it, I'll be talking utter nonsense." He warned her, relaxing a bit more now, his smile getting more warm, more genuine, too. Taking a sip of his own drink, he allowed himself a moment before speaking up again. "There's nothing interesting there. Just your regular overworked person with obviously pathetic attempts to have some for of a love or at least dating life." He couldn't help but take a dig at himself. "Tell me you're in a better situation than I am, please."

       "how  so?"  head  canted  slightly  to  the  side  he  regarded  the  lawman,  tried  to  place  him  in  his  head  and  note  if  he'd  seen  him  before.  even  if  not,  they  were  always  easy  to  spot.  considering  how  much  they'd  made  his  life  hell  growing  up,  in  a  multitude  of  ways,  he  was  never  the  friendliest  when  they  came  around.  "probably  a  good  call.  you'd  likely  not  have  made  it  down  the  aisle  had  you."  gone  inside,  that  was.  cash  stopped  moving  toward  him  when  he  was  a  couple  of  feet  away,  knowing  how  cops  could  react  if  they  felt  threatened.  "ahh  don't  play  with  me,"  a  grin,  a  show  that  he  wasn't  necessarily  the  bad  guy  he  could  tell  by  the  posturing  that  the  cop  had  assumed  him  to  be,  "you  know  exactly  who  i  mean."

"Forget it." Leon brushed it off with a shrug. The other already seemed fairly tense around him - for reasons he was curious finding out - and he wasn't going to push him. This wasn't the time, nor the place for it. So instead, Leon focused on the jab at himself instead, laughing it off. "And to be fair, I didn't in the first place, so there's that." Not that he didn't try. But then again, years down the line, he was starting to understand that it was a good thing. As the other stopped in his tracks, a safe yet intimidating distance away, Leon smiled a little, wanting to prove that he wasn't out there to do harm either. If he was working at this place, then he definitely did not need to make him into an enemy. "Not really, no. Who do you have in mind?" He was playing coy, yet it would have been silly of him to give out the answers left and right like that.

leon  oliver outside  of  the  precinct

Leon had been so focused on his phone, going over the latest unread messages, that it was pure luck that he even heard the stranger call out.  There goes his instincts that he had been developing for so long – clearly all down the drain. “What?” It took him another moment or two before he registered what the other was saying, and, looking around, he spotted the keys that had fallen out of his pocket when he rummaged through it. “Shit-“ Leon cursed under his breath, quickly retrieving the keys and straightening back up. All he could do now was swallow his shame and offer the stranger a smile. “Thank you. Pretty sure you just saved me from making an even bigger fool out of myself when I get back home tonight.”

𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰 latch, letting the smoky cloud escape into the night air. “i’m shocked and somewhat concerned that the fire alarm didn’t go off,” she told him, fanning the air with a dish towel. the thought of sharing what was eating at her made her hesitate. once they started talking shop, the whole night would spiral into case files and theories. still, she was honest. “yeah,” she admitted, rolling her shoulders like she could physically shake the tension off. “been going over the bomb scare stuff. trying to find something useful before it turns into more ‘classified, don’t touch it’ bullshit.” her eyes moved to him, brow raising slightly. “figured if i had something solid, i could bring it to you, or conall, or isaac…someone who won’t just sit on it.” she huffed a small laugh, nodding toward the pan. “clearly went great.”

"Yeah, you might want to have those checked. I could do that after dinner, if you'd like." Leon suggested, picking up a spare towel and helping her to fan the air, get the smoke out as soon as possible. With two children in the house, it was important to make sure that all the safety factors were in place, and Leon was more than willing to help Kennedy out. Not that he didn't believe that she couldn't manage to do it by herself - he was just more than aware that a spare hand was always welcome. Besides, he trusted in her to know that his intentions were always genuine. "You know that anything helps. WHat have you got on it? Even the smallest details coud lead to something." Leon insisted. One of the many great things about Kennedy was that she was so observant and so smart; yet, two heads were always better than one.

Chanel had always been a bit of a night owl. Long before she'd worried about the Pantheon or The Mob, she'd spent her her school years studying late into the night or hanging out at the bar long past close. It was the time of day she felt most herself, but it was also the time she felt most productive, with all of her best ideas born between the hours of midnight and 4 AM. While she had spent many nights roaming the city in solitude, the woman had to admit that she had often looked forward to her nightly meetings with the stranger.

As always, Leon's eyes lingered on the cigarette between Chanel's fingers, yet he looked away, with more ease than the day before. His promise to quit, made to his late grandmother, was something he still believed in and stuck to, even if there were more days that he craved a cigarette than the days where he was fine. Nevertheless, he never said a word against it to Chanel, instead enjoying her company.

       "oh,  if  you  ever  see  this  face,"  cash  neared  the  lawman  and  made  a  circling  motion  around  his  face,  "always  assume  i'm  busy."  it  wasn't  a  hate  for  authority,  he'd  just  had  too  many  run-ins  with  law  enforcement  throughout  his  life.  from  unhelpful  in  his  youth  and  aiding  him  out  of  his  troubled  home  to  then  wanting  to  jail  him  for  trying  to  survive.  plus,  the  older  he  got  the  more  he  understood  just  how  corrupt  the  system  and  institution  was.  "you've  never  been  in  a  strip  club  before  have  you?"  thinking  back  to  the  24/7  comment.  "or  you  think  movies  tell  the  truth."  a  smirk  cropped  up  as  he  edged  closer,  a  clear  size  difference  made  apparent.  "why  were  you  following  that  guy?"

"Kind of an oxymoron, don't you think?" Leon queried the other before he could help himself. Just by the show of hostility or the subtle changes it was obvious that his presence was not welcome here, but it was still a free country, and he wasn't crossing any boundaries. Instead, all he was getting was someone who was acting shady without a good reason for it. "No, never went far enough to have my bacheror party there." Nevertheless, it was a poor attempt to diffuse a situation with a lame joke. The other was clearly not backing down, and whilst it should have intimidated him, Leon stood his ground, not moving, not showing a sign of worry. "Who do you think I was following?"