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"Okay, so, here's the thing," Officer Talis begins, his voice lowering as he leans in, making sure no one else overhears him. His eyes dart around the room, looking for any signs of unwanted attention.
At the same table in the common room, officers Stark, Cantilo, Jones, Cameron, and Dodino all sit with trays of lunch in front of them, listening to Talis, who is about to drop the weekly gossip. Viktor, who couldn’t care less about the drama, picks at his meatloaf.
Talis looks around again, his voice dropping even lower.
"While we were waiting for the firefighters to arrive, the signal in the basement was terrible, so Jensen and I couldn't fully make out everything that was said. But..." He pauses dramatically, raising a finger into the air, as if making a grand revelation.
The group at the table leans in closer, hanging on his every word.
Talis’s voice lowers to a near whisper, "We heard something about a kiss."
There’s a collective gasp from Cameron and Stark, their eyes wide with shock. Dodino, on the other hand, just rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair, skeptical.
"Are you sure about what you heard?" Jones asks, his tone suspicious. He raises one eyebrow, clearly unconvinced.
Talis nods eagerly, his face close to the table now, "Yes! I’m positive about this. And then Lanes... she said something about... apologizing for it."
The officers around the table mimic his posture, hunching over with equal parts curiosity and disbelief. The entire group huddles in close, turning into a semi-circle as they try to catch every word Talis says.
"Apologizing for what?" Cameron asks, his voice barely above a whisper, clearly clueless about what’s going on.
Cantilo smacks the back of Cameron's head, "For kissing her, idiot!" she snaps.
Stark leans forward, his eyes narrowing as he processes the information.
"Wait, wait, wait. Who kissed who?"
The room falls into a brief moment of thoughtful silence. Jones breaks the silence with his own theory.
"I'm betting it was Kiramman." He says with a grin, proud of his deduction.
The rest of the table groans or mutters in disagreement, with a few of them telling him to shut up.
Cantilo shakes her head firmly, "She wouldn't do that." She argues, "It was obviously Lanes."
Several nods around the table indicate the collective approval of the theory.
"And Lanes was apologizing, right?" Cameron asks again, his eyes still wide.
Talis nods again, "Yeah, she said she was sorry for kissing her."
"So it was an unrequited kiss?" Dodino chimes in, his voice full of surprise, "Wow."
Stark frowns, the furrow in his brow deepening, "What did Kiramman say to that? How did she react?"
Talis shrugs slightly.
"We couldn’t hear anything after that. The signal got really bad."
"So, we don’t know if Kiramman forgave Lanes for kissing her?" Jones asks.
Cantilo scoffs dismissively, "Please, they’re still working together. I’m sure they talked it out by now."
Cameron, a bit more skeptical, rolls his eyes, "How do you know that for sure? Maybe they hate each other! Imagine having to work side by side with someone who turned you down. I could never."
Before anyone can respond, Viktor, still focused on his plate, finally speaks up.
"Instead of making assumptions, you could simply ask them."
Jayce’s shoulders slump in frustration, and he lets out an exaggerated sigh, "We can’t, Viktor, that’s the problem. Caitlyn would have us sanctioned for snooping on her business."
Stark’s eyes light up at the suggestion.
"I bet Lanes would spill the beans, though. We could ask her directly."
The rest of the group hums in agreement, considering the possibility.
"Yeah."
"Yes, maybe."
"No!" Talis interjects, his voice sharp, "You’re not getting it. They can’t know we overheard them. We need to be discreet, guys. If they figure out we’ve been eavesdropping, it’s game over."
Cantilo nods, "Okay, then. What do you propose we do?"
Talis leans back in his chair, tapping his fingers together as he thinks it over. After a brief pause, he finally speaks, "I think... we should spy on them."
A heavy silence falls over the table. For a few moments, no one speaks, processing Talis’s suggestion. Slowly, a few of the officers roll their eyes or shake their heads in disbelief. Dodino snorts loudly.
"Guys, listen to me!" Talis insists, his tone more serious now, "I’m not kidding. Lanes is too proud to admit anything about her private life. We don’t even know where she lives! And Caitlyn would definitely kick our asses if we asked her directly. But if we just keep an eye on them... discreetly..." He emphasizes on the word, leaning in a little closer, "We’ll get the facts. I’m sure eventually we’ll catch them doing something compromising."
Cantilo laughs under her breath, "More compromising than that picture that got leaked?" she quips, "Good luck with that, Talis."
Stark raises a valid point, "Shouldn’t that picture be enough proof? As far as I know, I thought they were already dating."
Talis waves his hand dismissively, "Well, they weren’t, and if we don’t start investigating now, we may never know. We need to figure out a plan for how to spy on them during—"
"What on earth are you all talking about?" The deep voice of Sheriff Grayson cuts through the conversation, and the entire table freezes. She’s standing over them, her arms crossed, one eyebrow raised.
Quickly, the officers straighten up, Talis wipes his mouth and nods respectfully to Grayson as the others fall silent, avoiding eye contact.
"Since you’re all so very energetic this morning," she continues in her usual icy tone, "you might as well put that energy to good use."
Grayson’s eyes narrow slightly as she focuses directly on Talis.
"Kiramman and Lanes could use your help with the paperwork for the bank robbery. Especially you, Talis." She adds, her voice carrying a hint of command that leaves little room for argument.
She gives them all a last hard look before exiting the room, barely acknowledging the long faces.
Talis falls back into his chair, letting out a quiet groan, "Well, that’s that." He mutters, rubbing a hand over his face.
"Great work, Talis." Cantilo remarks sarcastically.
Viktor, who has been quietly observing the entire exchange, finally puts down his fork to comment on the situation.
"Maybe next time, you should ask Grayson if she wants to join the investigation. I’m sure she’s got plenty of stories to tell." He smirks.
That's how Officer Talis ends up sitting in Chief Deputy Kiramman and Deputy Lanes' office, reading a file from the assigned stack. Next to him, the blue-haired woman writes a series of notes in her notebook, focused on her work. Across from him, Officer Lanes has her feet propped up on the desk, sitting comfortably in the position.
Jayce is reading through the second page when a pencil falls into his lap. He looks up to see Lanes eyeing him boredly while chewing her apple.
"Dude, I was thinking." She starts.
"Don't strain yourself." He replies accordingly.
Lanes barely manages to snort in response when her partner raises her head up too, frowning Talis' way.
"That's not a nice thing to say." The woman scolds.
Jayce looks at Kiramman incredulously.
"What? She's always making fun of my hair, and you never say anything."
"Your hair is ridiculous." Vi intervenes, talking with her mouth full. He grimaces at the sight.
"Whatever Vi does doesn't have anything to do with what you just said. Apologize to her. Now"
He gawks, staring at the pink-haired, who only smiles triumphantly as she is defended. She even sticks out her tongue mockingly.
"I—seriously?"
"Yes."
Talis looks around the room in incredulity. After a moment, he sighs in defeat. Kiramman is looking at him expectantly.
"Fine, okay; I'm sorry."
"Thank you, Jayce." Kiramman responds politely before resuming her work. Lanes takes another bite of her apple.
"So, as I said, I was thinking."
"Yes?"
"If your leg were cut off, would it hurt?" Vi asks.
This time, both Talis and Kiramman raise their heads in disbelief, looking at Lanes with clear disappointment.
“Uh, duh.”
Vi hums in response.
“How, though?”
“Cause your leg got cut off, dumbass!” Jayce replies after a beat, the blue-haired eyeing the interaction with concern.
“Where would you feel the pain?”
“In your leg—” he trails off, “Oh…”
Lanes snaps her fingers.
“Exactly, dude; how are you going to feel the pain in your leg if your leg—”
“Is gone!” they say in unison.
The sound of a stack of papers being dropped on the table interrupts their back and forth, the Chief getting up from her seat and heading towards the door of the office.
“I’m done. I need a break from you two.” It’s the last thing she says before leaving.
“So…” Talis starts, sending a quick look Lanes’ way, “Kiramman.”
The pink-haired takes another bite of her apple, chewing loudly.
“Hm. What about her?”
“Nothing. You two are always together.” He comments, deliberately oblivious.
Officer Lanes snort, “Yeah, dude. We work together, what did you expect?”
He stumbles over his words, trying to find the correct answer to that, “No—well, obviously, I mean. But you’re close.”
The pink-haired woman stops chewing in order to properly look at him, frowning with a mix of confusion and anger. After a moment she hums.
“How’s Viktor?” she asks with an innocent smile, painfully unaware of Talis’ internal conflict.
“How’s—” he coughs, clearing his throat, “Fine, he’s—yeah, fine. He’s fine. Why do you ask?”
Lanes smirks, “No reason. What was it that you were asking me, man? I’ve already forgot.”
Jayce scratches the back of his neck awkwardly before getting up.
“Nothing, nothing. I have to go.”
The Venetian blinds in Kiramman and Lanes' office are ajar, revealing the image inside the room; the blue-haired woman is sitting at her desk with her back to the window, apparently talking to her partner, who talks back to her with an easy and open smile. At least, that's what officer Talis manages to catch with the binoculars, squinting his eyes to improve vision.
"Does any of you guys know how to read lips?" he asks after a moment.
"Pfft, give me that." Stark abruptly grabs the binoculars, urging Talis to move over so he can sit at the desk and observe the situation.
A few seconds pass while the officer assimilates the foreign conversation.
"They're talking about...breakfast places?" it comes out more like a question rather than a statement.
Cantilo rolls her eyes, sighing with exasperation, "Hand those over, idiot."
Cantilo picks up the binoculars, her brow furrowed in a gesture of concentration. After a minute, she looks down and looks at the rest of her team with a tired expression.
"They're talking about browsing data in the system for a case."
Talis huffs out in disbelief, "What? No, give me that. Who talks about work during work hours? Ridiculous."
"Well, it is Kiramman, Jayce; she's married to her job."
Talis ignores his co-worker's comment, instead focusing back on the view provided by the binoculars. This time, the scene in front of him changes drastically in essence, seeing the pink-haired woman smile more confident and playful, almost flirtatious. Her head rests in the palm of her hand, winking at the blue-haired mischievously. Kiramman merely shakes her head.
Jayce is about to point out the gesture to his group when Lanes looks out of the office, her face denoting the realization that she is being watched and falling accordingly in reaction to it. She gestures for her partner to close the curtain.
"Did you guys see that?" he asks quickly, catching the attention of the rest of the team.
Unfortunately for him, the curtains have been pulled down, covering Kiramman and Lanes' office. The rest of the group looks at Jayce with confusion and exasperation.
"Damn it!" he hisses, frustrated.
There are several reasons why Jones hates night shifts at the station. For starters, his sleep schedule is always in disarray due to the unpredictability of his job. Night shifts also mean more solitude and Jones hates not having the company of his usual coworkers. In addition to the previous complains, he also despises to leave his kids alone; his wife only recently gave birth to his third child, a boy, and having to leave his home is proving to be a hard task.
Tonight, the station is quiet as he struggles with his computer to load the data from his latest case, a standard burglary of a four-person house, nothing out of the ordinary. He's about to curse into the air when Chief Deputy Kiramman comes out of her office, carrying with her her purse and a box of God knows what. Seeing Jones struggling, she approaches his desk with a frown on her face.
“Jones, is something the matter?” she asks, polite and patient.
He simply sighs, “It’s this damn computer, Chief. I can’t make it work and I need to fill these formularies.” He explains, frustration tinting his voice.
The woman leaves her bag aside, placing the box on a nearby chair before grabbing the mouse and doing a few clicks on the screen. As if a miracle just happened in front of his eyes, the page is working again.
“Thank you, Kiramman, you saved my life. It was proving to be impossible.” He thanks her.
The blue-haired bats a hand dismissively, nodding politely before grabbing her bag again. Jones frowns, remembering something from earlier this afternoon.
“I haven’t seen Lanes since I got here, is she okay? I thought you two had the same shifts.” He comments, accordingly worried. The Chief smiles.
“Oh, she’s fine, just a cold. I’m actually on my way to give her these before heading home.” She gestures to the box, “She forgot some stuff at our office before leaving yesterday, I’ll see if there’s any pharmacies still open; maybe I can buy her some ibuprofen too.”
Jones frowns in utter disbelief, “You know Lanes’ address?”
Even having started to work at this unit just under two years ago, Jones is aware of the collective unfamiliarity of where officer Lanes lives. It's nothing out of the ordinary, but after so many years in the force, most of his coworkers know where Talis lives, for example. The mystery of where the pink-haired woman is residing seems to have been unraveled by none other than her partner.
Kiramman’s face contorts into a scowl. She’s…offended? He can’t tell.
“Of course I know her address, she’s my g—colleague. She’s my colleague.” She coughs awkwardly before grabbing the box, “Anyway, I must go. Goodnight, officer.”
“Talis, I’m sorry to break it to you, but this isn’t working.” Cantilo declares.
The group meets again at the same table, this time with a different context; the whole station has been on duty for almost eighteen hours after a failed mission to catch a group of drug traffickers who tried to escape across the frontier.
Between multiple cups of coffee and the need for a good night's rest, Talis and his colleagues have returned to discuss the weekly gossip topic: the possible secret relationship between Kiramman and Lanes, who are now locked in their office, tracking down every lead. Especially Kiramman, who has a reputation for being obsessed with solving a case and not resting until she catches the perpetrators.
“It is! We just have to be more attentive; we’ll catch them doing something that will prove my theory.” He fights back.
“Are you sure of what you heard down there, man? I mean, Jensen transferred departments right after the bank robbery, it’s starting to sound like you’re just making it up.” Cameron adds without much hope.
“Guys, I’m not lying, I swear I heard them talk about a kiss.” Talis insists, “And Stark! You told me the other day you went to their office and the door was locked, right?”
The office nods, “Yes, when Lanes came out, she looked like she had been caught stealing Dodino’s lunch again.”
Dodino frowns, “Wait, what? Is she doing that again?”
“And I had never seen the Chief so perplexed at seeing me come in. She almost looked mad I knocked down their door.”
“That’s it, you see it?” Talis claps his hands, “They weren’t expecting to be caught.”
“Doing what?” Cameron asks, “Did you even hear any noise?”
“Uh, no.”
Everyone sighs.
Cantilo rolls her eyes.
“I think we should leave them alone, guys. This is nonsense, and we should be working.”
Viktor looks up from his computer, “I actually agree with her, for once.” He mutters absently.
“Thank you!”
Officer Talis shakes his head, “No, no and no, we have proof, we just need to collect more of it.”
“Just admit you’re obsessed with proving you can win against Lanes when solving a case. It’s time to face it, man, she’s better than you on the field.” Jones intervenes.
Talis raises a finger, pointing at him, “Don’t you dare bring that up. That stays between me and God. And Lanes.” He argues with his brow furrowed, “You know that? Fine! We’ll do this Viktor’s way; I’ll ask them directly and we’re going to get that answer once and for all.”
Viktor sighs, “Oh, heavens.”
With the conviction of a man who will not allow himself to be proven wrong, Talis rises from his chair, walking straight to the office of the infamous Chief and her companion. Instead of knocking on the door as he would in any other situation, Talis simply bursts into the office with a scowl on his face and his hands clasped. The rest of the group follows close behind, wanting to observe the scene as well.
Instead of finding the two officers sitting in their respective places working on the case, Talis and his colleagues find a dark room, the curtains drawn and the image of Chief Deputy Kiramman sleeping peacefully with her head resting on her arms on the desk. Next to her, her partner holds up her well-known red jacket with the intention of covering the blue-haired woman, but the sound of the door being abruptly opened awakens the officer, who jumps up in her chair in surprise, her gaze startled. A hand passes over her face, confused.
The Deputy looks up too, her eyes hardening at seeing almost the entire unit at the door.
“Dude, I just got her to sleep, what the fuck is wrong with you guys?” she grunts with all the venom of someone who’s about to punch some faces.
Instantly, all the group starts to mutter apologizes before exiting the office, looking down in shame and avoiding all eye contact. Talis is left there on his own, facing the consequences of his actions.
Lanes is about to give him some interesting choice of words when the Sheriff appears behind him.
“Talis! To my office, now.”
Lanes simply raises her middle finger, mouthing fuck you.
The last thing he sees before leaving the room is the blue-haired woman putting on her partner’s jacket with all the coordination of a person who has just been awakened from a deep sleep.