Upstairs Offices - Narcotics Division

[Chris]

Tossing his jacket over the back of his desk chair, Chris went about getting his mug from the office sink and rinsing it out, before getting his morning cup of coffee. In his opinion, early morning starts were the worst kind; mornings, he could handle… hell, he’d pulled all-nighters on a job before, but getting into the station at six? It was just cruel. And on top of that, he was insane enough to be early. He hadn’t slept very well the night before, and was actually hoping for a dull day… maybe a little paperwork wouldn’t kill him for a change.

Dropping onto his chair, he woke up his computer, and watched it sign itself on, and go through the usual start-up routine, before logging on to the network and checking out the new details. Nothing juicy. Scratching a hand through his hair, he glanced to his pile of paperwork from the previous day, still in his rather messy ‘In’ tray, and sighed.

Might as well try to make a dent…

[Sarah]

"You look like hell," said the sleepily cheerful voice that crept up behind him a short time later. Sarah put a brown paper bag on his desk before moving around to her own seat at the desk opposite. "Have an egg sandwich. You look like you need the protein." She reached into her own, somewhat neater inbox and pulled out a sheaf of paperwork to start processing.

"Did you sleep at all?" she asked her partner.

[Chris]

“You’re a saint,” he mumbled, opening the brown bag and snooping inside before reaching in as his stomach growled at the smell. Setting it on top of the bag ready to be eaten, he looked across at his partner as she went about gathering her — noticeably tidier — supplies to start work. “And… I slept. A little. Maybe.” With a sheepish clearing of his throat, he tucked into his breakfast, checking the computer again before looking around for his pen.

It was here somewhere. It was just a matter of finding it.

[Sarah]

"You know it," she replied, in answer to the gratitude. She glanced up, and chuckled. They knew each other well enough that she was pretty sure she knew exactly what he was seeking in the chaos of his desktop.

"It's behind your ear, Sheppy."

[Chris]

With a mouthful of sandwich, Chris paused, and looked across at Sarah, clearly not at all fazed by the nickname. She’d given it to him some time ago, after their original partnership, for reasons that he honestly found rather amusing. Reaching up, he took the pen from behind his ear, swallowing. “I knew that,” he mumbled, a little embarrassed. Setting down the sandwich for a moment, he signed something and set it aside, tucking it into his rather empty ‘Out’ tray.

“I was just testing you,” he continued, waving the pen for a moment before setting it beside his keyboard, reaching for his coffee afterwards.

[Sarah]

"Of course you were," she replied blithely, turning her attention to the documents in front of her. In spite of the early hour, she was annoyingly cheerful, and as she worked she hummed under her breath.

[Chris]

Picking at his sandwich after sipping his coffee, he browsed over the next document on his pile. He heard her humming, and looked up, one brow raised warily. Watching her for a moment, his eyes then narrowed, and he sat up a little straighter in his chair. “You seem awfully ‘chipper’ today…” he began cautiously, studying her discreetly. Not that she wouldn’t be able to tell, of course.

To be honest, Chris was only on guard now because quite simply, Sarah didn’t hum. Not ever. At least, not unless something had gone very, very right for a change…

But what?

[Sarah]

"Hmm, yeah, a little." She smiled. "Had a good evening."

She'd been out with the cousin of one of the other officers in their division. It hadn't really been that great of a date, but it was better than most of the dates she'd been on in recent months, so by comparison, it was hum-worthy.

[Chris]

“Oh…” Chris was slightly relieved, now that there was a reason for her attitude, but the thought that one of them was having luck in ‘love’ for a change? It was actually a little daunting now that he thought about it. “Wait.”

He leaned forward on his desk a little, careful not to squash the remains of his sandwich or knock over his mug. “You’re telling me you had a good time with… uh… what’s-his-name’s cousin?” Dammit, why couldn’t he remember the name? It wasn’t particularly any of his business, but he just wanted to know the facts… to a certain point, anyway. There was a line he just wouldn’t cross.

[Sarah]

"Henderson," she reminded him. "Henderson's cousin. Yes, as a matter of fact." She arched an eyebrow. "You're awfully keen."

A mischievous glint entered her green eyes. "Who do you think made the egg sandwich?" she added. It wasn't true, but she never passed up an opportunity to 'razz' Chris. Part of the reason she adored him was because he was such a good-natured foil for her sense of humor.

[Chris]

On cue, Chris looked down at the sandwich, and quickly back up at her. “He stayed the—” Catching himself, he leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing. “Funny. Nearly had me there.” He reached for his coffee mug, pulling it off the desk, past his paperwork.

“And I was just curious. Can’t blame me. We usually have such awful luck on dates… I was just wondering what happened to change that pattern.” Most of the time, it was the badge that scared dates away, and cut off any potential for a second date; too many people were intimidated by the title of ‘sergeant’ for some bizarre reason. Every movie and TV show he’d ever seen had shown the cops as magnets… he needed to write Hollywood bosses some letters to clear up the confusion, apparently.

[Sarah]

Sarah laughed. "Atta boy, Shep. You're not as sleepy as you look." She looked thoughtful. "No, I can't blame you for wondering. I won't say it was a stellar date, mind; it was pretty run-of-the-mill, but at least he was a decent conversationalist. I'll probably see him again."

[Chris]

“That’s good.” Chris returned his attention to the rest of his breakfast, skimming over the document with a slightly groggy sigh.

Speaking of ‘run-of-the-mill’, he thought to himself, finishing off the sandwich. “So what did you two talk about on your date?” he inquired, mostly for something to do while he checked this, and crossed out that; altering certain things and making the odd note, trying not to forget about his coffee before it went cold. “Anything interesting?”

[Sarah]

"Well, he did make one tactical error," Sarah replied with a touch of annoyance. "He said I look like the chick from the boat movie. You know how I hate that." She waited for his chuckle to die away before continuing. "Actually, we talked about work, quite a bit. Turns out that a lot of Henderson's relatives are cops -- not this guy in particular, but quite a few. So he knows better than to be turned off by the badge, which is a nice change. He was interested to find out how I got into narcotics, do I like it, that kind of thing. He's an accountant, himself, so I guess it was sort of exotic to him." She shrugged. "Also, he admitted to having a strong weakness for redheads."

[Chris]

“An accountant?” Chris smiled. “And he was a decent conversationalist? Sounds like a rare breed…” He chuckled, shaking his head. He leaned back in his chair again, tilting the paperwork off the edge of the desk slightly, to study what he’d just noted down. His brow furrowed, before he leaned forward again and dropped the document near to her. “Did I spell that right?” he asked idly, pointing something out with his pen.

As she looked down at what he’d indicated, he continued with their conversation, “And you know how it is with redheads. Either people want to be with one, or they want to be one… and those who are redheads? Well, the men all want to shave it off, or dye it.” He smiled lightly, hoping that had made the intended amount of sense…