Justice for all

There was little else worth discussing. The intoxication charge would proceed as it would, Barry would answer for his own poor decisions, and Lupe would continue believing she was doing the lord's work every time she hauled a teenager into a holding cell. It wasn't anything inspiring. Ken was here to do his job and he had. The paperwork mattered. Disagreements were routine. The rest was just nuisance.

Once everything was in order, he gave her a nod, "I'll speak with his father and we'll address the summons when the time comes." Ken then extended a hand towards the cell, "Whenever you're ready, Sheriff."

Lupe didn't stop herself from rolling her eyes again. Kenji always acted like he knew better than everyone else, but it was easy to see through his guise. She'd never say anything about it, because that wasn't the type of relationship they had. She was the enforcement, he was the argument. There wasn't really a situation in which they would ever really get along, even if he was on her side for something. Life just didn't work that way, she supposed.

Getting up from her desk, she rifled through her keys and unlocked the cell, swinging the door open. "Alright, Barry," she ushered, giving a sweeping gesture from door to vampire lawyer, "you're free to go. Try and stay out of trouble for, like, at least month this time, yeah?"

The teenager just gave a pearly white, innocent grin, before slinking out and over to Ken. Lupe rolled her eyes yet again. "Have a good day, Matsui. I'm sure I'll see you again sooner than either of us would like."

josie stepped out of boba cha with her drink in one hand and her phone in the other, already distracted by a string of texts she probably should've ignored. she was so focused on typing out a reply that she didn't notice someone approaching until it was far too late. her shoulder collided with theirs, and suddenly her freshly purchased brown sugar milk tea was no longer in her hand. "oh shit!" she yelped, watching in horror as the cup went airborne. the lid popped off mid-flight, sending tea and boba pearls scattering dramatically across the sidewalk before the empty cup clattered to the ground.

"oh darn it!" for a long moment, josie simply stared at the mess, looking like she'd just witnessed a personal tragedy. then her gaze slowly lifted to the stranger she'd run into. "i'm so sorry. i didn't mean to bump into you. i just-- i got really distracted with summer break."

"¡Jueputa! Qué mala suerte," Lupe cursed, backing up a few steps as milk tea and boba sprayed her shirt and jeans. She didn't mean to sound so frustrated, and it certainly wasn't at the person she'd run into, but she was already having a bad day and this was really just the last straw. "No, no, I'm sorry," she eventually said, tugging her sleeve up to wipe down at least the front of her shirt. "I didn't mean to curse at you. That was probably my fault." Her eyes went down to the sad looking cup, rolling around on the ground, now empty. "Can I buy you a new one? As an apology?"

OPTION A location: Yellow Submarine

On breaks from work, Zuri loved to walk around the aquarium, visiting her favorite exhibits and sea creatures. A cuttlefish, nearly fully blended with the sand and rocks around it, lived in the massive tank before her, and was one of her favorites to visit. To the other person standing beside her, she offered, “Did you know cuttlefish are actually colorblind? It's kinda crazy, because they can exactly color match their surroundings to blend in. Kinda like what people think chameleons do, but cooler.”

OPTION B location: Happy Harvest Farmer's Market

Stevie enjoyed farmer's markets, and needed to stock up on produce and other essentials before heading picking up Rhiannon up from school. The school year was winding down and with summer about to start, Stevie was anxious to find a more permanent living situation for her and her daughter that didn't end in Motel. With those thoughts momentarily on the backburner, she passed a stand specifically for different flavored honeys. “Huh. Eucalyptus honey... Interesting, but not sure how my eleven year old will feel about that one.”

Option A

It's not often that Lupe got a weekday off, but when she did, one of her favorite places to go was the Aquarium. It was calming there, and it helped her get away from all the buzz of the world. It forced her to stop thinking about her job, too. Who could worry about murder and drug trafficking while you were staring at some fishes floating around without a care in the world? Well, Lupe could, but it certainly helped her try. She wander aimlessly until she reached the cephalopods, pausing to watch some squids squirm around each other. When the person next to her spoke up, she followed their gaze down. "¡Caray! I didn't even see that there," Lupe whistled, grinning. "How the hell they do it, then?"

The morning light had just begun peeking through the curtains. Talia had been awake for a while now. She was a light sleeper, something that developed after Leyla had left. Her child's heart had believed that her sister would come back to them, so she wanted to be awake in case she did, but the moment never came. She was propped up on her elbows as she watched Lupe get ready. This was the routine they found themselves in. Their night together was always fun, but once morning arrived, that was the end of them until the cycle continued. "Are you sure you can't take the day off?" Brown locks cascaded over her shoulder like a waterfall. Talia's voice was soft, vulnerable even. She was too open. A fact she knew all too well, but she couldn't help looking at Lupe, doe-eyed, hope aching in her chest. "We could go to Pier Pressure. Ride a few rides, eat endless sugar, and maybe win a ridiculously oversized stuffed animal?"

Lupe was pulling on her pants when she heard Talia finally say something. This wasn't the first time the other woman attempted to bribe her to stay, and it wouldn't be the last. It was, for a moment, tempting. But only a small moment, because Lupe wouldn't allow herself anything more. Her job was too important and she was too invested in it. It was better this way, easier to keep a distance. She finished zipping her jeans up before she moved back over to the bed, sitting down and leaning over Talia. She reached out to brush some hair behind her ear. "You know I can't, pajarito." The name slipped from her mouth without her even thinking about it. Talia's suggestion sounded oddly like a date. Lupe pulled back. "Maybe another time."

"Lupe," Vik acknowledged with a smirk of his lips as he watched the Self-Defense class he had just finished up teaching clear out. "How's the Coalition treating you? Living up to everything you hoped and dreamed, Ms. Advisor?" He cocked a brow teasingly up at her in question.

Lupe reached back to tighten her ponytail, despite the class being over. It'd been falling out already and this was the first time she'd been able to adjust it, grinning over at Vivek. "Please, Ms. Advisor was my mom," she said with a teasing lilt. "Well, considering I haven't had to attend any of the infamous meetings yet, it's been great. Ben's easy enough to work with, anyway. If a bit of a pushover."

Scanning the results, and seeing the signature, he turned to Barry's cell, noting the pleading and apologetic look the boy gave him, which of course, was met with an expression that hardly disclosed what Ken was thinking. But, he was sure Barry felt the disappointment in his stare. "Well. That certainly limits the range on choices. No matter. I'm sure we can reach an arrangement." And by that he meant, he'd already decided on the desired conclusion.

"I don't imagine the trespassing charge will survive very long under scrutiny considering there was voluntary cooperation, no property damage, and no attempt to resist detention. Which, I hoped you knew already already." The smugness Lupe wore earned nothing more than a cool glance in return. "No. A teenager with a blood alcohol level that high does not require creative legal manoeuvring, we'll pay the fine. I'll contact his father and have the arrangements handled." He began to gather the paperwork neatly back together. "Though if you feel compelled to deliver a speech about accountability before his impending release, I won't deprive you of the opportunity. I suspect you've been rehearsing one since he arrived."

Lupe watched Ken's expression closely as he read over the document that Barry had so willingly signed. He was lucky he hadn't been driving, otherwise the punishment would've been much more severe, even with Ken as his lawyer. Really, (and not that Lupe would ever admit this out loud) the teenager was lucky to have Ken on his side. He was too good at his job to be bailing bratty kids out of the drunk tank. It was why he was such a pain in her ass. "Like I said, it's a misdemeanor. It's not even going on his record."

She folded her arms tighter over her chest. "We're not pursuing trespassing charges, no." Mostly because they were too easily dismissed. It was the underage drinking that they'd been more concerned with, and this wasn't Mister Bartholomew's first offense on that, either. So. "Oh, don't tell me about it. He's got a court summons. You can both tell the judge what you want." She leaned forward, miming dusting her hands off. "My job here is done. No lecture needed. Unless you're really itching for one. I've got a few different ones I can cycle through?"

Lupe almost scoffed. "I give you too much, actually." She folded her arms over her chest and stared him down. This was their usual banter, though, and her statement held no real ill will for the witch. Even if he was a troublemaker and had done a few not so legal things that she knew of, he wasn't a bad person. Lupe knew that, too, even if he pretended otherwise. "You're ridiculous." At that, she did scoff, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, well," Lupe started up again, this time pulling her own bravado back, "whoever it was will make a mistake. And when they do, I'll be there." She wasn't planning on giving up at all, really, even if it killed her. Not that she'd go down easily. The question did startle her a bit, though. Did she somehow seem like she wasn't getting on well? She was doing just fine. Lupe hadn't been hurt or even affected all that much by the masquerade attacks. Not personally. She was more worried about everyone else, and about the five people-- four, she supposed-- who were killed during the attack. She was more upset that she'd been so distracted outside that she hadn't been able to chase after whoever had done this. "Why would I lie to you, Zuva?" she challenged, eyes narrowing in suspicion, as if she were trying to figure out an ulterior motive for the ask. "I'm fine."

There was a beat where the teasing softened slightly, his eyes searching hers with more awareness than the grin suggested. "How bad is it gettin'?" he asked then, genuine beneath the charm, but, predictably, it slipped out of being too serious not too long after. "Actually, wait," he added quickly, holding up a hand. "Before you answer, am I go be questioned officially right now, or is this one of those friendly check-ins where you glare at me professionally and I pretend not to enjoy it?"

"You give yourself too much credit," Lupe said back, arms still folded tight across her chest. She took note of the fact that the crow familiar that seemed to always be perched on his shoulder was not present. Her brow went up, and she shook her head, fighting the smile that was threatening to pull onto her lips. "On a good day, you're not even top ten."

Lupe didn't miss the minute change in demeanor, or the way the air shifted around them as the more serious question was brought up. She furrowed her brows. It almost felt like a real moment-- but then Zuva eased right back into his normal ways and Lupe breathed out, huffing. "You're not on record, Zuva," she told him, rolling eyes once again, "this is just one of our "friendly" chats." She gave the air quotes as needed. Still, her own face pulled back in thought. "Between us, we've got nothing." Not that that wasn't wildly apparent to most people in town, even if the Sheriff refused to admit it out loud. "Just a trail that keeps leading nowhere."

Aaliyah's office was, for the most part, completely clean of illicit activities or paper trails. Everything in there was for the nightclub itself. Payroll, insurance information, paperwork for making sure they were meeting health and safety guidelines. Aaliyah knew how to cross her t's and dot her i's. It was hard to be a good criminal if you didn't.

So she was familiar with run ins with the deputy sheriff, and she was familiar with this song and dance. It was even fun, the element of knowing, the element of being unable to do anything with that knowing that she was sure Lupe felt. Aaliyah gave just enough to make the game interesting, but not enough to give away her hand.

Looking decidedly bored as she glanced up at the other woman, Aaliyah offered a lazy grin. "You should come during our busy hours. It's still a little early, you know," she said, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest. "How can I help you today, officer? Are you interested in making sure my liquor license is up to date?"

Lupe's eyes swept around the office-- she'd been in here more than a few times, some official, some not so official, but each time, she'd come away dissatisfied, never able to find what she was looking for. No, Aaliyah kept her office clean and organized and free of anything incriminating. It was as frustrating as it was commendable. It'd be too easy if she just left evidence laying around. That would be no fun on Lupe's part. She understood well enough that in this game they played, she was the mouse. But much like Jerry, she wasn't about to let Tom win any of their encounters, not without a struggle.

"Hmm, not my kinda scene," Lupe hummed, shrugging. She pushed away from the doorway and sauntered over towards Aaliyah's desk. She passed it, though, stopping in front of the wall where all the licenses for the bar were hung and displayed. She wasn't actually examining them and they both knew it. "Think I might end up scaring away most of your clientele, too." They both knew what she meant. It always went like this. Saying things without saying them.

Her gaze flicked back towards Aaliyah. "I know you're good for that," she dismissed. She had the due date marked in her phone calendar, after all. "No, actually, I'm here to tell you some good news, actually." Lupe twirled back around and actually stopped in front of the desk this time. "I'm sure you're aware Vivek stepped down from his position as Coalition advisor. Well," she gave a sweeping motion to herself, "you're looking at his new replacement. Which means we'll be seeing each other much more now. Just thought I'd deliver the good news myself."

"Mr. Matsui, I can expl—"

"No," Ken held up a finger for silence as he approached. "You cannot."

Ken stared at him for a long moment through the bars, disappointment settling heavier than annoyance ever could. Keeping his voice on the quieter side, he spoke on the situation. "You were caught drunk on top of the water tower." A pause. "By local law enforcement." Another pause. "While underage."

"Everyone else ran, and—"

"And you stayed," Ken said dryly. "A fascinating strategic choice. Your father will be immensely proud of you, I'm sure." Ken had dealt with their family for years now, and the tone he took with Bartholomew was not anything new to the boy. If anything it seemed to have sobered him up. Telling him to sit for a few more minutes till he sorted things out, Ken turned to face more nuisance. The slight insult from Lupe hadn't gone by unnoticed, still, he kept his composure.

"Sheriff. Yes, I'm not surprised you smell that. Look at where you stand." The title was polite. The rest of what he said less so as he glanced around the place. "Pray tell why you continue sounding surprised every time someone exercises their right to legal representation?" Expression switched then to that distinct way that always made conversations with him feel faintly adversarial.

"I was contacted by Mr. Hearst to process his son's release. I imagine the lesson about poor decision making has already been delivered with all the theatrical satisfaction your department could hope for. Christ knows you've been starved for something to do." He withdrew paperwork and placed it neatly onto the desk. "Unless you intend to argue that sitting on a water tower constitutes as an ongoing threat to public safety, I assume we can expedite this process." A brief silence followed before he added, almost as an afterthought. "Perhaps if there are future cases with others, you can skip treating the situation like a federal crime, yes? There really are far more pressing concerns for your department to focus on."

Lupe rolled her eyes. "Ay, dios mio," she muttered, rubbing her temples. "It's a misdemeanor, Matsui. Are you so strapped for work that you need to show up to help bail a teenager out of the drunk tank?" She tapped the folder on her desk before pushing it closed. She chose to ignore his jab at her job, mostly because she often made jabs at his. The two had never really gotten along. It wasn't as if Lupe hated Ken, but god damn if he wasn't a thorn in her side. Especially when they clashed with every interaction, considering their opposing jobs.

Lupe bristled, watching him place the paperwork on her desk. But, then she smirked. She waved it away. "I'm sure you can talk him out of the trespassing charges with whatever you've cooked up in here," she started, "but I think a seventeen year old blowing a .18 on the breath test might be a little harder to finagle him out of." In turn, she opened her own folder back up and held out the paper results, signed by Bartholomew himself. "Since you like paperwork so much."

Leaning back in her chair, perhaps a bit too smug, she crossed her arms over her chest. "It's a fine or community service, your choice. If you'd like to discuss this with your client--" she gave a sweeping motion towards the detention cell-- "be my guest."

"Well, I mean, up until the other week, this town also didn't have Hellhounds, so." Lupe gave a nonchalant shrug. "That's a new development we're currently looking into. I promise the town isn't always this bad. It can actually be a pretty nice place." She patted the wall of the building she'd been leaning against fondly. "Ghosts and all."

Lupe's smile pulled into a grimace. "Lorelai Cavanagh was selfish and a traitor." She doesn't say the rest of the sentence-- she got what she deserved-- but she didn't hide her open disdain for the late Sheriff. "We're working to right her wrongs, trust me. But what's happening now has nothing to do with her." At least, that was the working theory as of right now. God, Lupe really hoped it had nothing to do with Lorelai Cavanagh. She hated that woman with all her being.

It was one of those easy spring afternoons where the air still carried a lingering coolness beneath the sun, crisp enough to keep the day from feeling heavy. Zuva had decided it was the perfect weather for window shopping, if only because he enjoyed pretending restraint was a personality trait he possessed.

His gaze drifted down to a mannequin posed in the display window of some overpriced boutique, dressed in a dark button-down that honestly wasn't half bad. He tilted his head thoughtfully, already considering it for himself when the raven perched on his shoulder let out a sharp, judgemental croak. Ugly. Zuva scoffed softly. "Come on now, it's —" He paused, squinting at it again before relenting with a sigh. "Yeah, alright." Althea puffed proudly at her victory.

The debate continued up and down the street, witch and familiar dismissing half of town's fashion choices with increasing severity until, finally, they found something they both approved of in the last shop near the corner. "Well, look at us," Zuva murmured, but he barely began the incantation under his breath before movement down the pavement caught his eye. An all too familiar shape of the Sheriff.

Althea took off from his shoulder with an indignant flap of wings that sounded suspiciously like laughter, leaving Zuva to roll his eyes skyward before looking back toward the approaching figure. "We've gotta stop meeting like this, officer," he called easily, charm settling into place as naturally as breathing. "Folks are gonna start thinkin' you follow me around. 'Course I don't mind, seeing you is a treat."

With the town on high alert still after the disaster of the masquerade, the Sheriff had wanted more of a "presence" on the streets where people could see. Lupe agreed, for the most part. People needed to know that they were still out there trying to help protect people, but she didn't see why she needed to be out there, too. Lupe figured she'd be more help actually going over evidence and the scene and figuring out what had happened and who had instigated it all. Bobby Spencer hadn't acted on his own, or of his own free will, and find the source of all this-- as well as the source of Ichor-- was much more important to her.

But here she was, walking down one of the sidewalks along the shops, hands tucked in her pockets as she glanced through window after window. It was only when she spotted a familiar form did she pause, observing him from afar. She was no expert on magic and witches, but she liked to think she could spot something nefarious from afar, magic or otherwise.

She crossed the street quickly, shaking her head. "Maybe we'd stop meeting like this if you stopped causing trouble, gallito." She rolled her eyes. Zuva was prone to charm but Lupe was good at pretending not to notice. "As much fun as following you around all day would be, I've got more important things to deal with."

Option 1: Self Harm, Minor Injury Tw

"Allah Allah!" Kiraz practically flinched as the person greeted her. "Why is everyone in this town so fucking loud," She grumbled under her breath. Her spare hand had all the while been scratching away at her skin from where she had sat at a table at the Daily Drip. Only, she hadn't realized her claws had come out at the sudden shock until her nail had nicked her own skin. "Ah shit," She cussed, reaching to grab some spare napkins to press against the small cut she had just given herself. "Sorry. Just jumpy. There's a full moon tonight and all."

Option 2:

If there was one town she had wanted to stay as far away from as physically possible, it was the seaside town of Lunar Cove. Yet, here she was, the day of a full moon, shielding her eyes with the back of her hand as she followed after some bumbling tour guide as they rattled off all sorts of inaccuracies, like how before Shadow Lake dried up, it was rumored to be home to the Loch Ness Monster of all things. Wrong. 'Nessie being here' was just some silly prank the sirens started. Or how the 80s film, The Creature of Shadow Lake, which was filmed partially in town, was supposedly cursed, with all of the cast and crew suffering ailments of some kind after filming. The ailments did happen, but that had nothing to do with a witch's curse and everything to do with the director being a nepotist-loving asshole who trespassed on other residents' properties with her cast of family members to shoot particular scenes. But the part of the tour that did catch her attention was everything she hadn't known about, like the part about all of the previous Council leaders and their rather gruesome deaths. The tour walked them along many of the different murder locations before ending the historical walk in front of the steps of Town Hall, where one of the previous Fae Queens, Marjorie, had bit the dust. "Y'all have really accumulated quite the death count in this town, now haven't ya?" She let out a low whistle as she turned toward the nearest person walking along the Town Green. She wasn't all that surprised, given the chaos that had just gone down at the Masquerade Ball. But things certainly seemed different from what she had expected.

Option 3:

"Pst, did you get anything yet?" Len whispered to the rustling sound coming out of the alleyway trash bins. "They're total assholes, so there has to be some dirt on them," She kept her voice down as she spoke to Yoko, her raccoon familiar, that was currently rummaging through one of her least favorite client's trash bins in an attempt to find some dirt on them that she could spill on her latest podcast episode. But, at the sound of footsteps approaching, Lennon sidestepped in front of the trash in an attempt to hide what Yoko was up to from view. "Hey," She flashed the passerby an unassuming smile. "So, what brings you to the, uh, alleyway in the dead of night?" She asked, attempting to make casual conversation, just as a bang came from inside the trash can behind her.

Option 2

Lupe was not here entirely of her own free will, but instead from a half bribe to come on her off time and keep an eye on a local group of teens that had been causing a ruckus on the tours lately. This was not her first time on the tour, either-- she'd taken it only a month after first arriving in town, and had been at least a dozen more times after. Which, at first, seemed like a lot for one person, but considering she'd been there just as many years, taking it again once a year didn't really seem like all that much. Plus, it was informative. There were always little things new guides pointed out or things being added that Lupe noted down like she might be quizzed on it later.

At the current moment, she'd been leaning back against a wall, eyes narrow but focused on the small gaggle of kids gathered near one of the fountains, whispering and giggling among themselves.

The voice cut through her focus, though, and Lupe blinked, turning towards the person. "Statistically," Lupe started, "small towns tend to have more per capita deaths than bigger cities. Though, most aren't from murder, so I do suppose we've got other places beat in that sense." That was hardly a reassuring fact, she was sure, and the thought cracked a smile across her face. "But no need to worry, really. What happened with the old leaders was an outlier."