[closed] i'm terrible at titles don't look at me

[fledges]

Who: Kate and various
Where: Old Town, probably!
When: End of week 4 through chapter 3-ish
Summary: This is just a catch all log for February. Feel free to hit me up if you want to do something!
Restrictions/Warnings: We'll... see lmfao

Comments

week 4 - shiro

[fledges]

[The city is starting to fall back into its usual rhythm, which means Kate is getting jobs again. It's easy to throw herself into her work like she always does, especially after how horribly the plague hit the city. Kate doesn't much want to think about it, so she focuses on helping people any way she can.

Today's case is pretty tame, by Old Town standards. Some poor girl thinks her ex-boyfriend broke into her apartment and stole a bunch of very important, very sentimental belongings, which is a jerk move on any planet. Moon. Whatever. So, Kate has spent a very unsuccessful few days talking to her usual contacts to see if anyone has tried to fence anything suspiciously personal. It's a no go, and Kate is running out of options. She's started to suspect the guy just held onto all of it, but she has no proof and no way of getting it back, and it's driving her nuts.

Of course she runs into Shiro while she loitering outside of her suspect's apartment. Kate is glaring at the front door as though it's offended her personally, hands on her hips, at least until she spots a very familiar head of white and black hair.]

Hey, Shiro!

[She's waving him over with a very determined look on her face, which means he should probably turn around and run.]

late, late, just jack me up fam

[stressors]

[ the usual rhythm's come quickly in the wake of an epidemic. which sounds like a dangerous sort of recovery at best when everyone looks harried and exhausted in the aftermath, after days of delirious fever, of unpaid overtime and burning the midnight oil. shiro tries not to let the fatigue get to him. they'd assigned him the menial task of transporting hordes of soldiers, shipping drugs and vaccines, but at least it's busy work. easy to allow the distraction; easy to acknowledge the losses on both sides without letting it affect his focus; easy to keep his patience while doing everything he can, regardless of how little the difference.

but the sickness comes and goes. the company touts their anti-resistance rhetoric with a renewed vigor, but nothing detonates. not yet. they throw shiro back into old town, and they seem to forget about him. he'd be grateful for it if he didn't honestly admit that these patrols were beginning to get, well, pretty old.

. . .

but then again. ]

I'm not sure I want to know.

[ it's -- humoring. almost. kate is, after all, a familiar figure. the resistance is not the most subtle movement, but they have their spies, and they've slipped successfully under the radar of most of the company's enforcers for the most part.

it's always been a little funny, a little like spitting into the faces of both parties. kate, with her bright pinks and her purples set against the drab brown of old town. and she's still nosing about in other people's business for a living, and she hasn't gotten caught. she's good at her job.

or, at least, shiro can hope ]

I'm not sure you want me to know.

[ he is, after all, technically on the clock. ]

WOW I'M ALSO LATE i'm sorry katsu made me so disorganized

[fledges]

[She grins at him, reaching out for his sleeve in an attempt to tug him over.]

Of course I do. You can be my look out while I pick this lock.

[It's flippant, as though of course she's going to pick the lock. That's a totally normal, reasonable direction to take this investigation, right?]

i got sick and still worked a 12x5, i would never have Survived to tag you back... sorry

[stressors]

[ that -- doesn't sound legal.

and unfortunately it takes a good, long look at kate's face to come to any sort of realization that she's serious, or not serious, or maybe a bit of column a and column b to be discussed in the interim. he hasn't known her for long. it's remarkably hard to read her smile.

and well, he's following -- or being dragged along, in any case. if she decides to do something Unfortunate, he's relatively confident that he can... stop... her...

. . . ]

Thanks. I'll pretend I didn't hear that.

Do you mind telling me what's going on first, before doing something drastic?

OH MAN i'm so sorry

[fledges]

I'm working a case.

[Duh!]

The guy who lives here stole a bunch of stuff from my client. I'm trying to get it back.

the point is, don't apologize, it's honestly all good b

[stressors]

[ well, it's a rational explanation.

except for the fact that it's not what he'd call a rational approach. he likes kate, he probably trusts her to do right by her job. but the thing is, he doesn't quite know her enough not to question - ]

You're sure?

One hundred percent certain? If it turns out he's got nothing, you're going to be risking a pretty steep penalty.

[fledges]

Ninety percent certain. The guy's a total creep.

[She raises her eyebrows.]

I'm going to do it anyway, so you might as well keep an eye out.

[stressors]

[ . . . why god ]

Yeah, but here's hoping the chances of me getting fired's less than the remaining ten percent.

[ it's not a busy street, but raising his voice would cause a scene, and a scene's not something he's interested in at the moment. kate doesn't need the attention, and he doesn't either. he knows that.

the problem is, kate probably also knows that, and would probably cause a scene regardless. ]

All right. But the moment something comes up, you're getting in my car and we're driving. No questions asked.

[fledges]

Okay, okay. Try not to look worried or we really will get arrested.

[She turns back to the door, slipping a set of lock picks out of her pocket and getting to work. It doesn't take long for the lock to click open.]

Tada.

[stressors]

[ tada, she says, with a small amount of fanfare.

it's a good thing that he's not the type to shift from heel to heel, conspicuous... although he's got the feeling that, even if he were, she'd have gotten the lock open before anyone really noticed. ]

. . . not your first rodeo, I take it.