Awkward Office Party

She had been told to dress casually. Pulling her hair up into a messy bun, she looked herself over in the mirror one last time. She had been going back and forth between a dress and just shorts and a light shirt. With the dress, it would be lighter. A simple summer dress where she could breath in. But what if the wind blew just the right way? Everyone would see her panties. That was a no good situation for her. But the shorts? If they were to short and someone commented on them, what would happen? She had taken lots of SAPPER training. She really didn't want to deal with that. So she decided to just go with jeans and a comfortable t-shirt and called it a day and headed to the party at work.

It had been one of those parties that Harper was forced to go to. It was both a cookout and party that seemed to be taking up the entire day. It wasn't exactly mandatory for everyone to go...it was just that if you didn't go it was low key mandatory to at the very least stay for the food that the Chief was making for everyone. That and Harper wasn't one to turn down free food or anything like that. It was a good way to mingle with everyone here at the department....it was just that. She didn't know anyone other than her own family. And there was no way she was going to sit here at a party, especially a cook out party, and talk to them. Someone might even figure out that JT and Chandler were her Aunt and Uncle respectively.

And so, Harper had taken a beer and awkwardly stood off to the side out of the sun. Her amber eyes glanced around as people begun speaking to others around her. Every so often, someone would approach her and try to start up some kind of conversation. And as hard as she tried to make it work, Harper simply wasn't working it. She didn't want to look at everyone's kid's pictures. She didn't want to hear that she was just a baby and was pretty lucky to get into the department at such a young age. There were talks of her maybe attending college or exploring the world. Some girls saying how her hair looks so pretty and then snickering as they left. Sure, not all conversations were like this, but many were and were dragging her down.

Honestly, she could have been anywhere else at the moment. Maybe even on duty like the luck ones. Patrolling downtown, fighting crime, helping cats out of trees....anything other than this awkward situation. Why was it that she always got stuck in awkward situations? Never failed. With a sigh, the young werewolf finished her beer and headed back to the refreshment table. Picking up a Hard Mike's, Harper found a bottle opener and took a swig of the watermelon flavored drink. It was shocking no one had commented that she looked to young to drink. Well, at least not yet. The day was still you. Hell, it wasn't even noon yet.

Attend a cookout at one of the chiefs' places, what a waste of time. Dragging a bunch of detectives, beat cops, and possibly S.W.A.T. off the street for a bunch of grilled food and those disgusting plastic containered macaroni and potato salads you'd get from a Super market deli. The Lieu had been adamant that James attend, since it lined up with him being off duty, and since James was well known around the precinct for having very few friends and a very anti social attitude. ' go out, eat some food, have a drink, meet a pretty girl. Or guy, make a mistake or something. Cut loose and relax, thats an order, Riordan!' they'd said. Not exactly something he could back out of now anyway. It was casual wear, so the lanky detective had opted for a pair of plain jeans, nice shoes, and a black t-shirt. A bit different from his usual suits that he wore on the job and in the office.

The hell was the point of a cookout anyway, there were definitely members of the police department in attendance who couldnt eat ordinary food, and hell, some of them were only sustained by getting laid. He had seen the invite list and the list of those attending, and as far as he could tell he'd be the only human there, not exactly a comfortable situation. Yes, he trusted his fellow officers, to a point, but there were definitely some of them that in ages past would've looked at him like a side of meat. Paranoia won out, he'd kept his badge hung from his belt and his service revolver in an ankle holster, should anything get out of hand.

So there he stood, leaning against a fence in the back corner, a lit cigarette hanging from his lip, the thin blue smoke curling about his head into the air. He had one hand shoved in a pocket and the other held an open beer, that he would occasionally sip from. He stayed out of the way for the most part, not socializing, and merely nodding a greeting to the officers that recognized him. No one really tried to engage him in conversation, though he felt eyes on him, some admiring the aloof detective, others wondering why he'd bothered coming, others not sure of the lone human in the ranks, save for the gold badge hanging on his hip. His reputation as an irritable antisocialite had spread far among the ranks of the TCPD.

The morning was wearing her out already. It seemed as if the clock was ticking away slowly. As if every second lasted five instead of one. It was enough to drive her insane. But. This was company party and she needed to stay. For a bit longer. After all, the food wasn't done yet. Almost by the smell of it, but not done yet. With another swig of her drink, Harper walked around before she caught eyes of an older male smoking off to the side. Though she had not been here long, she knew of this man. Well actually, this Human.

Talks had gone on time and time again about this detective. Simply because he was human. A true human. Not like her who was part werewolf. Strange, you know? Humans doing their part to try and stay in this city and even attempting to help things that would be considered evil in the 'real world'. And yet, he was doing his best in order to make sure everyone got a fair trial. Or rather, justice was brought forward. He dealt with homicide. A group she didn't exactly want to be a part of though, to be honest, she felt as if she would do well in. After all, dog noses were rather good at picking things up. But that was for a different time. For now, she was going to socialize with him. Or at the very least attempt to.

Walking up, Harper stood next to him on his right side. With her back to the fence, she looked out at all the super friendly people and not so friendly people. "So. Looks like you got stuck at this company cook out too, huh. A lot of people didn't think you were going to make it. Or at the very least a lot look like they were shocked to see you.  Hard not to notice. Are you staying long? Personally I'm going to try and ditch after the food get's brought out and I eat my fill. What about you?" A bit of an ice beaker, but still very awkward. Taking another sip of her drink, Harper stood there and waited to see if he was even going to reply to her. Maybe he was the silent yet deadly type?

"So. Looks like you got stuck at this company cook out too, huh. A lot of people didn't think you were going to make it. Or at the very least a lot look like they were shocked to see you. Hard not to notice. Are you staying long? Personally I'm going to try and ditch after the food get's brought out and I eat my fill. What about you?"

James glanced over at the young woman, indeed the young officer who had actually taken the time to speak with him. He recognized her as a beat cop from around the precinct, Harper Fairfax. Werewolf, or Lycanthrope as the more politically correct were inclined to point out. He lifted the beer to his lips and took a few swallows before he responded. " Officer Fairfax. I dont know how long Im staying, Ill probably have a bite to eat, and then go home for a few hours sleep before I hit my caseload again. If the Chief of D's is expecting me to stick around for tea and cakes, he's gonna be disappointed. I've got six open homicides sitting on my desk, and i'll be fucked if I let them go cold." He grunted, exhaling another plume of cigarette smoke.

" you've been on the force what, four, five years? About time you start looking to move up to that gold shield, isnt it, officer Fairfax? I know you've made a fair number of good collars walking a beat." He told her, asking if she was potentially looking to move up from beat cop to detective. It was rare that anyone was content to walk a beat through their whole career in the police department, but then again, these supernatural beings tended to have a much longer life span than humans like himself, making their mandatory retirement age dependent on the life span of their given species.

Six cases and he got stuck staying here. The life of a man who was really dedicated to his job. Then again, that was to be expected in his line of work. Or just him in general. From what Harper had heard of the guy, he was doing his best to do everything he could without really taking too much break time for himself. After all, these streets were hardly safe. But, maybe one day it wuld be. One day somehow. Just not today.

Taking her drink, she sipped it and looked out. Her mind wandered a bit before her attention was brought back to him. While he was right, she had been doing this for a hot second. And while she liked what she did, she was thinking about moving up in the world of TCPD. However, she was just not sure where she wanted to be. There were always a few options under each detective department. "I've thought about it. But...I'm just not sure what I want to do. Helping people I enjoy doing. But...I know I could be useful in other locations. Which,shouldn't really be my deciding factor. I know if I want to do something I should go and do it. I mean.... I guess I have time but I should start looking into it."

Laughing, to break the mood, she'd look back to James and smile. "Though, it must be nice to know what you wanted and went for it, right? You have any good cop stories. I'd love to hear something. Experience, even if just told and I listen, is still experience." It wasn't a lie either. She did love stories and anything that might help her in future cop life would be useful. Even if it's something as stupid as not going outside on a Thursday night when there is lightning around and you are chasing a witch who controlled the weather.

James blinked a bit owlishly. His generally gruff demeanor had often deterred people from asking him for stories on his arrests, not that he was much of a story teller anyway, tending to not embellish the facts of the matter, sticking to what really happened. " You wanna hear MY Cop stories?" he asked, just to be sure. " Alright, but hey, I dont tell stories much, so dont expect this to be the next great work of Shakespeare." He grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. What was a good story he could tell to an up and coming cop...

" Ah, Ok, How about the Riselli case. Poor old pensioner, lives alone, low rent kinda apartment, kids have all turned their backs on her at this point. Kinda little old lady you smile at on the bus, but one no one really misses when she isnt there. She was late for a meeting with a friend, feeding birds in the park I guess.Anyway, Friend called it in, and a couple of uniforms go check the place out, find the vic face down in the kitchen, some creep had bashed her head in with a cast iron pan. Apparently she'd been making breakfast, when the perp busted in, looking to steal some valuables. She musta surprised him and he hit her with the pan to keep her quiet, hit her too hard, poor old lady. Anyway, we get a break in the case when a guy is caught trying to pawn off the stolen property. We book him and take him to interrogation, and during the interview, I cant help but smell Bacon, like someone had dumped a buncha grease on themselves. I ask to see his hands, and sure enough, theyve got some minor burns, and are shiny and a bit greasy. I offer him a napkin to wipe his hands off, and then fish it outta the trash when he isnt looking. The grease on his hands matched the grease in the skillet he hit old lady Riselli with. we arrested him and the D.A got the book thrown at him."

"That good enough for you?"

Harper took a sip of her drink as James said his story. It amused her. Enough to put a smile on her face. Then again, most stuff amuse her so this was nothing new. Regardless, she listened and commented after he was done. "That seemed too easy to me. The guy must have been pretty slow to have the grease still on his hands and then wipe them off on a napkin you gave him. Though I'm sure you could have easily gotten prints from the table." She shrugged it off like it was no big thing. After all, it really wasn't they had caught the guy and that was that.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what made you want to join homicide over other offices? Doesn't it get a bit...not boring. That isn't the word....having to see dead bodies day in and day out, that kind of commitment seems like only certain kinds of people can do. Me personally, I don't know if I could stand seeing all the dead bodies. You know? Going in, you get this idea that you are going to make a difference. That you are going to find the bad guy before he strikes and makes his kill. I know it's not like that. Only on rare occasions does it actually play out like that. But still. Waking up every day knowing you have to find the killer to the person you found dead is a bit...well...it is a hard pill to swallow.

Harper glanced out to the group of other officers, getting ready for the feast they were about to have. Her Aunt and Uncle were very good at playing host. They both loved it. But, like always, she kept her distance. It was better for her in the long run that was for sure. "Growing up, did you always want to be a cop? Or something happen to make you want to be one?"

Daamodar roamed aimlessly through the crowd of supernaturals currently gathered at the station. He was surprised the chief even managed to convince this many people to join the event, but then again he figured most of them were won over as soon as the subject of free food came up. Half the herd would probably disappear as soon as the first round of meals were served. And of course Dom couldn't blame them. Any food at the station suddenly became half decent if it wasn't served at the crack of dawn. 
Better than stale pastries and cold coffee for sure.

But for himself, the affair was more of an exercise in courtesy. He doubted there'd be many vegetarian options, so he certainly didn't come with the intention of eating horse food all evening...or unicorn food as it were. 
No, this was a chance for the different units to mix and mingle outside of the usual formalities they encountered during work hours. And as one of the newer recruits, this meant he could meet half the department in one go if pranced around long enough. Though, he soon realized it was a lot harder to look some of his new colleagues in the eye more than others. Some of them...like the orcs...were pretty unnerving; even knowing how completely subdued they were in this setting.

Right on cue, he tentatively nodded to an orcen woman as she trotted by. She stood at about six and a quarter feet on even ground, but she managed to acknowledge the 'puny human' (as he imagined her thoughts) with a curious nod of her own. Then she joined a small circle of her own kind congregating at the far wall. Barks of laughter erupted from the group soon after.

Dom tucked his hands uselessly into his trouser pockets and swiveled to one of the refreshment tables. His nerve was slowly slipping. When would the food be ready?! 
A conversation next to him caught his attention, and he turned to listen to Harper Fairfax and James Riordan. Even though he didn't recognize them, he couldn't help but add his own two-cents during a lull in the conversation.
"I'm sure it wasn't a tough decision to choose homicide. I mean, they pretty much have the monopoly on every major crime show on TV," he said plainly. "...Just like forensics. They get all the glory while the rest of us only seem to file paperwork."