fight for this world

“Hey -- Elspeth,” Secretly, he’s relieved that he could recall her name. There are so many people he converses day in and day out, from so many varying apartments, Everett fears slipping up when greeting any of them, “Do you have any results on the blood splatter found in the Schwartz case?” As soon as it comes out of his mouth, Everett realizes it’s slightly rushed, a little rude. Yeah, it’s work related, but she’s a person with her own day going on. So he quickly follows up with, “-- and uh, how’s your day been going?” 

“That’s nice that she was willing to tag along,” smiles Caleb with a small chuckle. “I’m with the media so I’m actually working. If I were to bring along a guest and were allowed to, I probably would have brought my dog.” Of course, there was always the option of going with Basil, but he figured that if that was the case, then their connection might have been all too obvious. “Is your wife a superhero fan too?” He actually has a bunch of questions, but he’s taking it slow instead of jumping headfirst.

“She’d probably be able to enjoy it for at least five more minutes until everyone’s drunken behaviors start taking over.” Kali’s head subtly tilted to the left, where a couple was pressed against the wall and whispering to one another. 

Seeing his fellow officer waxing poetic about being out of his depth with the movie, Johnny chuckled as he put a hand on his shoulder for reassurance. “You’ve earned a little adult time though. Who knows when you’ll get the chance again, right?” Life as a cop was hectic enough, in this town it was the height of danger. He didn’t know that much about Gaskins, but figured everyone deserved to let off a little steam. “How old’s your daughter?”

    “You’re telling me. My son is blowing up my phone because he’s mad that I didn’t take him.” Basil says, his attention mostly on his phone as his son spam texts him, asking him his thoughts on the movie and if any of the cast is present at the party. Something about trying to get autographs as well? Basil is too buzzed to really understand what Giovanni wants currently. Closing his phone, he looks over to Everett and chuckles. “Adult time as in drinking or just getting out and being yourself?”

Taking a sip of champagne, he swallows before swirling the liquid in the glass for a moment with an amused chuckle. “I guess you could always buy the movie for her as a gift.” Caleb ponders the idea. “I don’t know. Maybe for a birthday or something and you can throw her a party, if she’s into that sort of thing.” Children, what he know about them? Nothing, he’s never really had the curiosity to experience the life of a parent. However, he does consider his dog as his own kid so maybe that counts? “Just a thought.” He says thoughtfully before taking another sip. “Who dragged you here? Or did you come by yourself?”

“Y’know, I feel kind of bad; my daughter would have loved to be here tonight,” In fairness, Emily knows way, way more about The Avengers that him, so she would fit right in with the movie crowd, “But it’s nice to have some adult time,” He and Danica haven’t had that in ... oh, forever? Not that Everett is complaining; he signed up to be a father, to be a cop. Wild nights out aren’t exactly his thing anyway, at least on a regular basis. Tonight however, is a welcome break from the status quo.

“Are you – do you know what it’s like to be a social worker in this city?” Odette snapped, trying to reel it in because, if they learned one thing on the streets of Atlanta, it was that most cops had no one’s back. Gripping tighter onto the files, Odette could barely remember what they were looking at. “Yes – no, not all of them. These are about three of my kids, or – my clients’ kids.”

Perhaps he’d recognize the face, and while Odette would hate to milk that celebrity to get out of a ticket. Another long sigh, Odette tried to soften their face, play up the femme aspects and try and garner some sympathy. “Listen – I have, a very busy life. And two of my clients just blew off our meeting today, they’re drug addicts and they just didn’t show up. We both know why. So, between me trying to call them, on top of scheduling interviews for myself with CNN and Buzzfeed, I forgot to give this thing thirty cents. I apologize.”

Everett holds his hand up, a gesture meant to show that he meant no harm -- and that they need to calm down. He remains patient, however, and listens with a considerate ear; a brow admittedly raises at the namedrop of both CNN and Buzzfeed. Not that he’ll give anyone a free pace for being ‘famous’, but ... well, wouldn’t anyone be curious? it’s an interesting story for later at least -- hey Danica, I met a celebrity, when I was writing them up a ticket. He’s never had someone well-known yell at him before -- he’ll have to tell the guys back at the station.

Breaking into a car in broad daylight had been at the top of a very long list that Pietro did well. Living in Atlanta, it wasn’t difficult getting away with these sorts of things. Usually, the police were dumb enough to convince and no one really did anything in fear of being shanked. It was a good dynamic that worked in his favour. He paused short of hearing a voice, eyes flitting up to meet the cop across from him. Shit. His hands pulled away from the door handle, resisting the smile that would only give him away.

“C’mon, dude. I just got out of a hellish nine-hour shift. I’ve been out here every hour topping this thing up,” he explained, a defeated look on his face. “Please? I promise it won’t happen again.”

Anna wasn’t one to accept sympathy but when it came to her surname, she would have anything that was offered. She was beginning to think that using her Russian name would have been easier, despite the implications of it. “Wow… that list is on par with my own. Do you find you have to spell it out too? Because if I do it without them even having to ask anymore. Saves us all time,” she chuckled, feeling her mood lift a little.

Well, that went off better than he thought it would. Dom not at all expecting for his blunt response to be taken seriously but he wasn’t going to question the officer’s judgement…yet. “Had a feeling you would understand, appreciate it.” He nodded his head, some form of a smile managing to appear on his face to show his appreciation. “Offer still stands, can’t imagine what being on meter duty is like but something tells me a few drinks can make the day a little better.” Dom stated. “I own Giuseppe’s, which is a few blocks down that way…” He paused to point to his right. “If you wanna stop by.”

Evelyn half ran back to the car, stalled out because what sociopath runs in bloody heels, as she almost doubled over—“Right—“ Was all that Evelyn managed to expel, one hand on the hood of her car as she caught her breath. A finger raised to motion a need for a moment, and she finally took that second, expelling the loud sigh and standing up straight. “Right—excuse, well—I ran three blocks, one of them without these stupid shoes on, and then I realized I shouldn’t be running through this town without anything on my feet, my Mum would have an absolute cow—which hilariously is a big deal for us—“ She tilted her head. “Come on, I’ll pay it now, look—“ As she spoke, pulling out change and wiggling it as she moved to the meter.

The officer holds out his hand to stop her before she can put change in the meter, “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way,” Everett hates having to explain this; no one ever reacts well when he says they can’t feed the meter. He looks down at her feet and pictures what she’s told him; he can’t help but to chuckle under his breath, though he imagines it must have been painful.

“Gotten any good ones yet?” Saskia chuckled as she leaned against the car. “I’d try and claim some kind of work privilege, but I doubt the chief would be impressed.”  Rolling her eyes at the meter, she offered an apologetic smile.  “Désolé, c’est ma faute, j’aurais dû y penser.  Honest to goodness, I got busy and forgot.”

The cherry on top of a shit fucking day. Two of their clients had just not shown up and after three million frantic calls, there was no evidence to show things were turning around. Now the police had to be involved, Odette’s supervisor. And naturally, because of all this, Odette had been late getting to their car. A groan escaped their lips, head tilting back to shoot a cursed look at the sky. 

“Come on – “ they whined to the poor cop assigned traffic; who would want to work the streets in this shit heap city? A sigh, and they finally looked at the other, file upon file piled up in their perfectly manicured hands. “I’ve got plenty of excuses – firstly, I’m a social worker. And two of my clients are fucking missing persons right now. So – “ A sigh, they closed their eyes. “Look you’re being really understanding and I swear, it’s not bullshit, I’m just having a fucking day.”

A social worker -- that’s not enough to raise a brow, but three missing persons? That easily does it. He’s skeptical, although not dismissive. A claim of three missing people takes precedent over an expired meter, If -- if, this isn’t all bullshit; “Yeah? Are those files there related to those cases?” Everett asks with the cock of his head.