j u s t i c e

Marc drummed his long fingers delicately on the counter in front of his as he waited for the return of his folder. The number of discrepancies in the old case file that had only just been reopened sent off several different red flags in his head earlier that morning and he wasn’t going to risk getting his head bit off for someone else’s mistakes. Which left him no choice but to visit City Hall and have it signed off by someone above his paygrade. On some days, he felt as though the building deserved to be compared to the DMV in New Orleans, thankfully, today had not been one of those days. 

He perked up slightly at the sound of Serena’s voice and smiled softly, “Ah, excellent.” he half-hummed, fingers closing around the slim folder and tucking it under his arm. The deputy found himself unable to resist the urge to laugh. “You know, I was going to say almost the same thing. How lovely it is dropping in when i get to visit with the likes of you.”

It was quite normal for the mayor’s office to work closely with the police department, given the interconnected nature of their work. However, as a former lawyer, having scanned through the documents closely, Serena couldn’t help but have her interest piqued by the case Marc was working on. In Marias, it wasn’t often cases were reopened. “Please, the pleasure is all mine, Sheriff. You know I’m always happy to help out your department whenever I can,” she grinned broadly, “I hope I’m not overstepping, but that’s a pretty interesting case you have on your hands. How did you realize it needed to be reopened, especially when it’s so easy for closed cases to get buried.” 

“Thank you so much,” Charlie smiled, taking the folder and slipping it into her satchel. The office had needed some sort of forms signed by the Mayor and the doctor, with time to spare between appointments, offered to take them to City Hall. “I think that’s all for now, of course I’ll probably get back and they’ll probably have forgotten something.” Charlie laughed with a playful roll of her eyes. “But that’s usually how it goes right?”

“You’re very welcome,” Serena grinned-- it was especially nice to see folks from the hospital drop by. The work they did was so important for the community and Serena always valued their input when making healthcare-related decisions. Serena laughed knowingly, “I can only imagine-- but if you do have to drop by again, don’t be a stranger. I’ll always have some fresh coffee and bagels waiting for the doctors who do so much for us. Speaking of which, if you have a few minutes, I would be happy to get you something before you go back into your next appointment. It’s the least I can do to show my appreciation for all your hard work,” Serena offered warmly.

Ava smiled, taking the folder back and tucking it under her arm. “Thanks so much! I still can’t believe I lost my license.” She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “I’m a mess sometimes, I swear.” Ava looked around the room, nodding. “Not too busy today, that’s good! I ran here early before the rush started.”

“Ah, no worries, at all. Believe me when I say it happens to the best of us,” Serena chuckled, knowingly. If she didn’t have such a detailed calendar, she’s sure she would misplace her head, or better yet, her sanity. “Yeah, it’s actually been relatively slow here the past few weeks-- probably due to the winter holidays and all that, so you actually picked a pretty perfect time to drop by!”

“Thanks.” Rachel flipped the folders up to square them with the desk and she lifted them up and down a couple of times. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” Rachel turned on her heel before turning right back to make a 360 degree turn to be exact. “Actually, I do have a question. So I know that you take marriage licenses to city hall right? ..That’s a thing?” Wasn’t as if Rachel had ever been anywhere close to being married but that sounded right to her. “Well, do you have any information on divorces?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Serena confirms, “Mayors do have had the authority to solemnize marriages, but it’s the County Clerk who holds and processes all licenses, though,” she clarifies, before frowning ever so slightly. “Uh, divorce? I’m afraid that’s a pretty broad category-- if you don’t mind me asking, is this related to anything specific?” Serena asks, “It might help me point you in the right direction...”

“Thank you so much!” Eleonora said cheerfully, taking the funding papers back gingerly. She slid them back into their manila folder and into her handbag before they got ruined somehow. it was certainly likely, on account of her being accident-prone. “Oh, well, I don’t really need anything else right now…. I just think it’s so great to have a mayor that supports the arts. These musicals can get pretty expensive sometimes, but they’re so important for the kids and the greater community and whatnot.”

“Well, the pleasure is fully mine,” Serena grinned. Education had been one of the platforms she had originally ran on and she took pride in supporting Marias’s schools in whichever ways she could. “I know I'll definitely be there opening night,” Serena promised, with a broad smile and an affirmative nod, “And I couldn’t agree more with you-- these musicals provide such a positive outlet for the kids and are the perfect platform for us to show off all of Marias’s bright, young talent. I have no idea how you pull it all off.”

Fuck. 

She loved Serena dearly, but the last person who ever needed to hear her openly state that she wished to commit arson on public property was her. The mayor, and also her dearest friend; that she knew that the subject of the fire in question was her mother was evidence of her friendship enough. Honey was a loose-lipped and liberal person, but she was not the sort to go around advertising her aversion to her parents. After all, they were fixtures in the history of Marais, and Honey was not the sort of person to disparage anyone openly anyway. 

Behind closed doors, however – different story entirely. 

“Mother, as per usual,” Honey clipped, peering down disparagingly into the garbage can. If only someone other than her favorite authority figure had been the one to absently stroll by at the time. Perhaps the thing would have been ablaze by now. She sighed audibly, her hands on her hips; now that Serena was here, it felt as if a voice of reason had entered the space, and as if a pair of eyes worthy of judging her actions watched as she willed the letter aflame. 

“The wine…” she huffed, “wine will always do.” She turned to Serena at once, scowl upon her face. “I’m a disappointment, apparently. Is that news? She acts like it’s news. It’s not news.” She paused, her face reddening. “So that wine. How much free time do you have?”

As her suspicions are confirmed, Serena suddenly wishes she had something more comforting to say or do. Honey had always been the more rebellious one between the two of them. While not entirely unfun, Serena had always been one for rules and the law, after all, she had made her entire career on it. Serena liked to think they brought a good balance to one another. 

Now, however, Serena can’t help but smile to herself as Honey agreed to the wine as opposed to arson, as though she had talked her friend off of some sort of metaphorical edge. Perhaps giving her friend alcohol in response to her problems was also not the greatest idea, but Serena figured they both could use something to take the edge off the day. 

“Honey, please, you are anything but a disappointment,” Serena declared firmly, “You are a smart, savvy, talented businesswoman who I admire, wholly. No offense, but your mother literally has no idea what she’s talking about.”

“As for the wine, the rest of my night is yours,” Serena offers, “...so long as you’re down to order some pizza, too.”

location : downtown availability : open to all!

She made quite a show without really caring for pretense, or appearance, or politeness, which was a rather southern thing to even have to think about when throwing a temper tantrum. Honey stomped along the sidewalk, each step punctuated with another rip of the letter that she held crumpled in her hands. There was no longer any discerning what the careful cursive note had once said, and Honey had no intention of stopping to read it a second time. Her mother was impossible, and persistent, and just about the most condescending woman she had ever met. Honey was an adult, and had long since moved out of their austere, oppressive house, and yet her mother still thought it appropriate to send her letters – not calls, but letters – detailing the latest disappointment that she had chosen to focus on. 

And so, as per habit, Honey marched from her usual reading spot to the nearest garbage can and tossed ( read: dunked ) the torn pieces of the letter into the garbage. 

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists, staring down at the pieces of the letter in the garbage can. A petulant roar escaped her from between grit teeth, and at once she turned to the nearest passerby and held out a hand. “You!” she called, “Yeah, you. Do you have a lighter? I wanna commit arson.”

It had been a stressful day-- back-to-back meetings with no real results coming out of any of them. Local government and red tape had become increasingly frustrating for the woman who had been so excited to start making changes after being elected mayor. Serena had only just left the office heading towards her parked car when she picked up on a rather familiar roar. Despite the distance and darkness, Serena had been in action with that fiery spirit enough times to recognize it from anywhere. 

Walking towards the figure, Serena offered the woman a small smile, “Sorry, Hon, no lighter on me,” Serena called back, “...but I do have a half-bottle of wine in my fridge if that’s an attractive enough alternate to arson, because I would really, really hate to have to deal with the paperwork and political fallout which would come with being an accessory to a felony.”

“Is it your mother?” Serena guesses cautiously, as she attempts to piece together the situation, though she’s not sure who else could elicit such a specific reaction from her friend. 

“There you go-- all signed,” Serena smiled, handing the folder back. Recently Serena had found herself signing off on all sorts of things-- everything from permits to licences to city checks, even honor roll certificates for the community’s youth, which she particularly enjoyed doing. “Please let me know if you need anything else. It’s always so lovely to have visitors drop by City Hall!”

location : outside mudpuddle books and cafe status : open

    “well, shoot,” she muttered, looking down at the shattered remains of her phone before gingerly picking it up in an attempt to not cut herself on the shards of glass. she tried to power it back on, but it seemed that it was not going to happen. it was toast, that much was clear. “so,” she mused, “think i could get away with saying this was normal wear and tear?” the question was more of a joke at her misfortune than anything else, but she was really  regretting not getting that extra insurance now. and not backing it up anytime since. and all because she was trying to balance her phone and coffee in one hand. “what a great way to end the week.”

“Ooof, that’s terribly unfortunate,” Serena winced in sympathy, as her eyes scanned over the shattered screen, “I’m not sure that you could get away with ‘normal wear and tear’, but I do know a small place right by city hall that’ll fix it up for about $75 dollars...they might even give you a discount if you tell them that I sent you,” Serena offered with a small smile before sipping from her own coffee, “I used to drop my phone constantly-- that is until I bought Fort Knox for my phone,” she explained holding up her phone that was encased in a rather unwieldy case. “It’s certainly not too attractive, but it definitely gets the job done.”

{ JANINA GAVANKAR. THIRTY NINE. CISFEMALE. SHE/HER } i was out wrestlin’ gators when i saw SERENA AIRHEART. you know they have been in town for TWENTY-THREE YEARS now? they currently work as a MAYOR. i love having them around, they're CHARMING & VISIONARY, but sometimes they can be OUTSPOKEN & SHREWD. well, hope to see them ‘round more!