#detective-stone

The fact that Patty had been able to find Max here probably wasn’t a good sign. She was a good detective, but still. If she could find him then eventually someone else could, and so she’d been worried. Worried enough to see him and make sure he was okay, especially after everything. She briefly hoped he wouldn’t be observant enough to spot her, but she also knew he was a better cop than that. And smart enough to keep his wits about him.

She gave a hesitant wave from her table, waiting for him to approach before pressing her lips together sheepishly. “Okay, I know this is weird but I’ve been keeping an eye out for any sign of you since... well since you came to my apartment.” She admitted with a soft laugh. “And I didn’t want to be like overbearing by showing right up on your door but I also really didn’t know what to do just sitting on the fact I knew where you were and... I’m really coming off like a stalker right now aren’t I? Oh God.”

“So, I know I made rules. But since we’ve already broken them once. I was hoping you’d break them again for Chinese food for Christmas Eve Dinner. I’ll even let you have the last egg roll.”

“Damn it, Christian.” Patty muttered under her breath as the call went to voicemail, cursing him out in her head for the fifth time that night. “This is just a preemptive call to remind you if I embarrass myself tonight, it’s all your fault and you owe me so much Ben and Jerry’s.” She sighed, fussing at her hair, and the cut of her jacket in the semi-reflection of a shop window. Considering it was not a date, per her insistence, she had spent an inordinate amount of time making sure she looked okay. She wasn’t sure if she looked too formal, too casual, too much like she was expecting this to be a date when she most definitely wasn’t and honestly getting back on Christian’s good side might have been one of the worst decisions she had ever made.

“Okay, I’ll decide later if you’re a terrible friend or not, bye.” She cut off the voice message and turned back - blushing as she did so to find Max seemingly turned up out of thin air. “Oh, hi! Wow, you’re... on time.”

“I think you’re confused,” Dawn looked at her morning guest, “I wasn’t joking when I said I’m not the girl you stay the night with.”

It didn’t matter, nothing had come of it. Her friendship with Christian had deteriorated more and more as their ideals became too blatantly misaligned, and with it a fizzling of whatever might have existed between her and the man she knew a lifetime ago. She had met someone else, and her husband’s death had been the final straw to sever whatever ties she had with Christian and Max. Until the funeral for the latter - despite everything, she knew Christian had needed people there, and she had needed to be there for herself too.

“For a professional killer, you breathe heavily.” She muttered, maintaining an air of calm even as she felt her heart rate spike in her chest. She had her gun strapped to her side under her jacket, she just hoped she would be faster than him 

[ caress ]  for  your  muse  to  gently  run  their  hand  down  my  muse’s  face

Patty’s breath hitched unconsciously as she felt Max’s hand brush lightly down her face before cupping her cheek gently. She felt her face heat up under his touch, looking up shyly to meet his eyes as he looked down at her. “Hi.” She murmured with a small laugh. He didn’t say anything, just smiled at her with the softest look in his eyes, and she couldn’t help but gravitate towards it, pushing herself up slightly on her toes to press a chaste kiss to his lips.

[ slow dance ]  for  your  muse  to  ask  my  muse  to  slow  dance

“I didn’t know you danced.” Patty commented, her tone a little amused as she let Max take her hand and lead her out towards the dance floor. She was thankful that she used to dance in school - usually she found herself a stumbling mess when she was around Max, but at least she knew where to put her feet in a waltz, even if being in his arms still made her heart pound like crazy. “You’re, uh, really good at this.” She muttered, letting herself settle a little closer to him, smiling as she laid her head on his chest and let herself sway gently to the music along with him.

[ love letter ]  for  your  muse  to  give  my  muse  a  love  letter  they  wrote  for  them

Clearing out her desk in the CCPD had to be one of the lowest moments of Patty’s life. Ever since she had joined the force, she hadn’t pictured herself leaving it before retirement. Whether as a detective or a CSI, she had always seen herself serving - but things had changed. People had left, died… the place she dedicated to her life to wasn’t the same anymore and she couldn’t stand to be there anymore.

Sorting through the old papers she had never gotten round to clearing through on her desk was a chore, but she would prefer to do it now than heft everything back to her home to do it. Mostly old memos she forgot to throw out, a few random letters and sticky notes - mostly from Christian. She made sure to throw them in the trash as soon as she recognised his scrawl without bothering to read them over again.

But there was one thing that gave her pause - a sealed envelope that she didn’t remember seeing land on her desk, her name written on it in a neat hand that she remembered being familiar. She frowned, flipping it over to rip open the seal and take out the folded up letter inside.

Her legs nearly gave out from under her at the name written at the bottom of the page, a shaky hand seeking out her old desk chair and guiding herself into it as she kept the letter held out in front of her. Her eyes flitted over the page, over and over. An apology and a declaration all at once, three words burning into her eyes. She couldn’t really picture him saying it - he never got the chance. Everything fell apart and then… then he died. She moved on, she married, but… it struck her dumb all the same as her thumb traced reverently over his name at the bottom of the letter. “Max…”