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"Uhh... hey B, can you help me out with this?"
Emmet beckoned Bad cop over, waving the insurance forms in his hand. The gruff police officer gave a heavy sigh as he lifted himself from his seat in a lobby chair and walked over, brows knit in a look of mild annoyance, as usual. "What is it?"
"I think I get the gist of what this stuff's saying-" Emmet gestured broadly, whipping the forms around - "but I dunno, it's kinda confusing, I'm still not sure on some par-"
"Lemme see." Bad Cop cut him off, snatching the forms from Emmet's hands before he dropped them out of carelessness. Emmet knew by now to take B's interruptions as a sign to keep quiet rather than finish whatever he was trying to say. It'd been kind of a long day for both of them. And to think, all because he'd decided to sing along to the car radio a little too loudly...
Bad Cop glanced over the forms, sniffing a bit. He held them closer to his face, then further, the wrinkles between his eyebrows deepening. Emmet briefly wondered if he was having just as much trouble understanding them as he did. Kind of a funny thought.
Suddenly BC's hand reached up, pulled off his aviators, folded and pocketed them next to Good Cop's glasses in one swift motion. Obviously well practiced. His eyes now free of any obstructions, he looked over the documents again more closely, reading carefully.
It was a rare thing seeing B's eyes - Emmet was always struck by how they looked, the steel grey irises encapsulated by long, dark eyelashes and heavy eyelids, coarse and wrinkled from age and his constant scowling. He could see mostly the same thing when looking through Good Cop's clear glasses, but it was different seeing them completely bare. He couldn't help staring.
The eyes focused intently on their current task until suddenly, for a split second, they darted in his direction. For a very brief moment, Emmet and Bad Cop locked eyes, and the act sent an icy chill through Emmet's entire body. He stood there, frozen, as the chill melted away in the heat of shame and embarrassment that followed right after.
He'd seen him. He'd seen him staring. Shoot. Shoot shoot shoot.
Bad Cop had started explaining the meaning of the insurance forms to him by now, but Emmet was struggling to understand a word of it in his current state. His face felt warm, his pulse quickening. He struggled to calm himself - Okay Emmet, stop getting flustered. It was just a look, happens by accident all the time. It doesn't mean anything, so you can stop now. Just calm down. Calm... down... gosh, his eyes...
"Emmet?" He flinched at the sound of his name, giving a sheepish glance upward. Bad Cop was staring right at him. "Are you listening?" He still hadn't put his aviators back on. Shoot.
Emmet quickly lowered his gaze again, giving a simple "Mm-hm" and a tight nod. He didn't dare speak out loud, his voice might crack or something. He did his best to focus intently on the papers in BC's hand to resist the temptation to look up again. The weight of those eyes scowling at him felt like the heaviest steel beams in the world on his shoulders.
There was a beat of silence.
"...You weren't listening, were you?" He could practically hear the frown in B's voice. Emmet swallowed hard and gave a quiet "Mm-mm," shaking his head. The shame burned hotter than ever. He wished he could make his heart stop beating so loudly.
He heard an exasperated sigh and the sound of glasses being unfolded and put back in place. "All right, I'll start again. It's kind of like this..."