Hello!?

The drink was whipped up quickly and they were on their way.  Reiner had every intention to wolf his sandwich down as they walked.

“How’s your hand?” He asked, mid-chew. “I know you can do some sort of heal-y thing but I dunno how it works.”

“I’m sorry?” Susette looked at Reiner in confusion. Her hand? What would be wrong with her hand? Oh.

The relief when Susette agreed was immense.  They made their way to the bakery and the woman behind the counter started on Reiner’s go to order without a word from him.  Fresh bread, a specific assortment of meats and cheeses inside.  A very large sandwich.  It was clear he got this easy route for patrolling often.  Intentional on his superior’s behalf.

Before he paid, he turned his head to Susette, smiling wide. “My treat!  What do you want?” 

She wanted to get back to patrol.

The Kresnik has been identified as Harold Smith, real name unknown. 

- 5'10" ; approximately 40 years old in appearance 

- Grey hair 

- Brown eyes 

“Oh, um.” He scrambled to take out the file he needed to amend from his bag to hold alongside his notes.  After a small pause, he gained his footing and gave Kutkha a serious look.

“If it’s okay, could you let me know what Vō was like?”

“Uhh, it was… dark. Uhm. It had… trees,” Kutkha stuttered, fumbling already. This was going much worse than last time. Clearly panicked, Kutkha couldn’t hear much else but his own rapid heartbeat through his ears. He thought of solitude, someplace where this wasn’t, and tried to calm himself down. “Like, um, flat land mostly. Uh. Buildings. With, uh…”

This was getting nowhere. Kutkha had to do something, had to act. He couldn’t keep doing this. He blinked around the room, hopeless and uncertain, but his mind couldn’t get off the visage of a lonely, desert planet. In a flash, Kutkha stood up, scurried past the table, and pushed Reiner into the couch then into – nothingness. 

“Hey, it’s okay buddy you don’t have t-” His gaze shifted up and was cut off by the sight of the other man rushing him.  The regulator’s hands shot up, grasping Kutkha’s forearms instinctively as he was shoved into the couch slamming into-

Into what?  Nothing, at first.  But then it was sand.  A different kind of cushion than he was expecting, for sure.  Instantly he was hit with different smells and sounds, his superior senses on overdrive to decipher what the heck happened.  

Reiner’s glamour dropped and he was furrier now, his real ears popping up under his ginger hair. 

Reiner looked up from his notepad and frowned, guilt from making Kutkha so tense permeating his being. 

“I’m sorry if this is difficult for you.” He mumbled. “Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable while I go down my list of questions?  There are a lot of holes in our last report that we should get straightened out before I go.” 

Reiner definitely wanted to argue but decided against it when Susette joined him.  He huffed and skulked away from the officer, following next to Su.

“I can’t believe he didn’t listen to me.” He muttered under his breath. “There should be consequences for the assailant’s actions.”

Reiner was used to a more straight-forward approach to justice and the nuances of Earth continued to bewilder him.  

After a bit of walking, they were in smell range of the bakery again.  

Reiner nodded and wrote some things down before getting started.

“First, I wanted to know how you have been acclimating since the last time we have visited.”

Reiner didn’t like the sound of that one bit but he didn’t have much time to think about it before a cop car skidded to a stop on the road next to them.  He handed the man back off the Susette and went over to explain the situation.  If Susette and the perpetrator were paying attention they could see it wasn’t going well.  At all.

“If the victim isn’t even here to press charges, there is nothing we can do.” The officer sighed, annoyed. “But I can take you both in for false imprisonment if you don’t let the guy go.” 

Susette could have argued, but she had already healed her hand, swaddled beneath the bandages. If the officer did not wish to do their job, then it relieved her moral quandary for her. She released her hold on the mugger, and moved to join Reiner.

“I can’t believe he didn’t listen to me.” He muttered under his breath. “There should be consequences for the assailant’s actions.”

Reiner walked in and immediately got distracted admiring the décor for a few moments.  Then, he set down the baked goods at the nearest table and sat, taking out a small colorful notepad decorated in holographic stickers. 

“You have a very beautiful place, Kutkha.” Blink. “Oh, please let me know if you’d like to be called something else.  I don’t quite know how current your file is.” Easier to say that than ‘your file leaves me with no confidence that everything is correct and corroborated by you’. 

Dubious, Kutkha moved over to the couches after closing the door behind him. He sat in an armchair, stiff and uncomfortable, as Reiner settled. Reiner, unlike the last regulator Kutkha had encountered, looked rather soft and harmless.

Reiner held on as tight as necessary to keep him from running off again.  He regarded Susette’s words with a small frown.  In truth, he hadn’t given the way Earth does policing much thought, being so new.  It was his job to make sure his side of things was fair, after all.  Still, he was interested in being educated on her point of view.

“Yes, I think it’d be best to stay.  He may target someone else if given the chance.” He tilted his head to the side. “…Do you have concerns about the way he will be handled?” 

The man had fallen sullen and silent, but Susette felt uncomfortable discussing his fate in front of him further. Yet Reiner had asked a question, and she must answer.

Reiner was thinking similar thoughts as Susette in this moment and immediately took out his phone with his free hand to call the Earth police to collect this criminal.  He knew there were intricate processes here that dealt with petty crimes like these.  It wasn’t enough to stop it and let him go.

After some explaining, and re-explaining, Reiner stuck his phone in his pocket and turned to the pair.

“The police are on their way.  For now, we must babysit this scoundrel.” He gave the man a look of great disapproval.  Then, he turned to Susette.  His hard exterior dissipated and was replaced by one of overactive worry at her wound. “Are you okay??  What can I do?”    

It required concentration to keep her hand from healing immediately. The man would notice, and then it would be another mess to resolve. She detested memory wipes. Carefully, she released the man she had by the neck, with a stern look. He tried to run; she grabbed him again.