Ridgefield Cold noodles
#1

@Mana Madison!



Why couldn't he moved to, like... Hawaii?

It was Red's first day at work and he prepared himself as well as he could. He unzipped the heat-generating inside from his motorcycle jacket, got heating insoles for his shoes and stuffed those reusable heatpads into his gloves. Wore his best and warmest woolen coat and a hat. And a half-balaclava. But he still was damn cold.

He must have looked really damn stupid to his new colleague, but he didn't care. As long as he was warm and comfy, and could still do his job. The shifter also had some warm tea in a thermal bottle.

"You want some?" he asked his new friend.
#2
In comparison to the new guy, Mana's attire was practically summery, beach-ready. The coat provided by the company he worked for was tight around the arms, only accentuated by the straining at the seams when they were folded lazily across his chest, hands tucked under each elbow. They'd promised him a new one some time ago and it hadn't shown up yet, and the psychic wondered if chasing them up on it was delaying its arrival in that petty way people behaved when you called them out on their laziness. His jeans were thick and heavy, and his boots slightly scuffed, his hands gloveless, but that was mainly because he'd left them in his normal coat. Which sucked.

New guy, on the other hand, kind of looked like a bouncer version of Santa Claus, big and round with extra layers of fluff. If he fell, Mana could only imagine he'd go rolling down the street, probably take out a few club-goers like bowling pins.

Some people were just more sensitive to the cold, he guessed.

Shaking his head at the offer of tea, Mana smiled. "Nah; looks like you need it more than I do."
#3
Well, that guy looked like he could snap Red in half, didn't he? The shifter took a note of that, especially about how the tad too small jacket accentuated his muscles.

He pulled the neck gaiter down for a moment to take a sip of the warm tea. Ah. Delicious and citrusy.

"I'm fine, just dressed like this to appear bigger." Red joked.
#4
It wasn't the kind of joke you gave a deep, hearty guffaw in response to, but it did earn a defeated smile and a soft chuckle from the psychic, who gave him another look over from head to toe. Newbie was already pretty tall. Height could be intimidating enough for some folk. And then others couldn't tell where their limit was at all. Some guards he knew waited eagerly for that kind of person to arrive and make their night, itching to act. Mana probably would have been like that when he was young and much more stupid than he currently was. Tonight, though, he could do without drama.

So it was good that his colleague seemed to be an alright kind of newbie.

"Yeah? For a while I thought you were expecting to get into a fight with all that padding," he said, eyebrow raised, giving him the third look up and down of the night.
#5
Red was lucky to swallow another sip of his tea before he heard Mana speak to him again. Instead of choking on it, he just let out a quiet, amused snort.

"Well, it is softer than Kevlar." he just went along with it. "But hopefully I won't need to use the second function tonight. Not in the mood."

Too cold. He was indeed slightly cranky, but his new partner made it all a bit better. Gasp, maybe he could make another friend tonight!
#6
He was gulping that tea down like his life depended on it. At first he wondered if the guy had come from a warmer climate, but that accent sounded... British-y. Kind of? It had that kind of twang to it that seemed like it could be from that general area. And they were known for cooler weather. So maybe he was just sensitive. "You telling me there ain't a Kevlar vest under all that?" Tutting, he waved a couple of club-goers into the building behind them. "Coulda fooled me. Though I guess you won't need one... doubt any knife is getting through that mess." After a pause, he thought to introduce himself, which would have been better to do earlier. "Don't think I got your name. I'm Mana."
#7
Satisfied enough, Red hid the bottle in the pocket of his coat and let out a content sigh. Yeah, much better...

"Eh, I save my Kevlar for bikes..." he hummed, still amused by their conversation, stepping aside for the club goers. "I can save myself from a stab wound, but road rash might happen even if you're the most careful rider."

Then he offered Mana a fistbump.
"Name's Red. A pleasure."
#8
What a weird brag. Save himself from a stab wound, but road rash was the thing to worry about? He guessed it kind of was something to worry about, sure. Didn't really seem equivalent, though. Maybe he was some kind of thrill chaser.

And the fist bump was unusual, but Mana accepted the unusual greeting with a hiss of bemusement through his teeth and a lopsided smile. "Mana. Good to meet you, Red." He could guess why people called him that and decided not to question it. "Been in town long?" He definitely hadn't been with the company long.
#9
Red just returned the smile and shrugged. Well, his name was just that. Red. It wasn't a nickname and his mother simply didn't had a name for him aside from 'that red one' and just wrote that in when she had to get him documented.

"Long... uh... a week maybe?" he hummed. "Came here searching for a job and got one."
#10
A week was definitely not long. Maybe it was rude to point it out and ask his questions based on the accent, but Mana had little patience for social caution and didn't feel like dancing around trying to come up with softer ways to ask the same questions. If it was rude one way it was rude another way, just prettier.

"Where you from?" was the immediate follow up question, and punctuated just as quickly with "Why'd you choose to come to this dump?"
#11
Ho boy, straight to the point, wasn't he? Red let out a tiny snicker, he started to really like his coworker already.

"Actually I'm from across the pond, but you've probably figured it out." he said, with his head tilted to the side a bit. "And it ain't a dump, really. As good place as any to start over..."
#12
Well obviously he was from across the pond. He'd really kinda been asking specifically where across the pond, but he guessed they'd come to that eventually. "Eh, you say that 'cause you don't know it," he groused, folding his arms again, nearly popping a stitch in the left arm. "Grew up around here. Well. Over in Rice Bluff."
#13
Red could be also as blunt as one could get. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket again.

"Aye, I've heard Rice Bluff is a shithole, so my condolences..." he hummed. "Been a cop in Dublin for a while, so I've seen dumps... but you know how it is. The grass is greener and all that..."
#14
Heh. Mana never really laughed anymore, but that comment gave him a decent breath-through-the-nose kind of chuckle and a smile in appreciation of the reputation of his hometown. Shithole was pretty apt and Mana wasn't sore about some outsider saying it. The grass is greener mentality he could understand, too, and he just shrugged, nodded in agreement. "So is the grass greener?"
#15
Ah, Mana wasn't insulted by this. Good. Otherwise, this shift would become very awkward all of the sudden. But was the grass greener? So far, yes... He've made some friends and his baggage didn't seem to follow him.

The shifter just nodded at first, then added.

"Yeah. Good fucking riddance."

His grief wasn't exactly the fault of the place he used to live in, but he very much had to leave. And he was glad he did.
#16
Seemed like Red was a man of very few words. Much like himself, honestly, which made him feel as though this shift wouldn't be so bad. He'd known a lot of guards who were exhausting chatterboxes, always wanting to rant and rave about something. This was kind of a change from the usual. Someone focused. And someone who had apparently had a similar experience to him, however distantly.

Good riddance.

Yeah. Mana felt that.

"Yeah. I get it."

It was all he was willing to say and he hoped it was all he had to as he let another few club-goers through.
#17
Red appreciated Mana not pressing onto him too much. He seemed like a good company indeed...

He let in a couple of club-goers as well, after making sure they're of age and not blacklisted, then looked at his partner again.

"Say, you're going straight to bed after work or do you want to grab something to drink? Maybe non-alcoholic..." Red asked.
#18
Grab something to drink at like... three in the morning? Maybe Red was a poor sleeper. Who knew?

"Taking a nap," he said, waving another couple through after scrutinising their IDs. "Got another shift from 10 til 8 at the mall." Nothing else in life really than sleep, gym and work these days.
#19
Red just let out a slightly bummed out sigh. Oh well... He's gonna be alone for the night, but that wasn't anything new.

"Good luck on your shift tomorrow, then." he then said with a soft smile.
#20
Huh. Maybe he was a little more like the chatterboxes than Mana had initially suspected. Was it really such a terrible thing that a dude he barely knew couldn't hang out with him at three A.M. after a long shift in the cold? "Should be fine. Crazy shit happens a lot less than you'd think." The mall wasn't free of insanity, but he hadn't yet come up against anyone he'd have to consider actually calling the police over or anything.
#21
Red wasn't a chatterbox but just enjoyed company of people. Especially people who didn't seemed to be bothered by his stoicism.

"Lucky you..." he hummed. "Sometimes I feel like I'm a magnet for weird shit. I'm glad this night seems to be rather chill... But, ah, such is life."
#22
Sounded like a hint to ask for more details on the crazy shit that usually happened around Red, and alright, he'd take it. Could be good to talk about weird stuff that happened at malls, superstores and clubs. "Used to wilder shifts, huh?"
#23
"I was a cop." Red hummed, reminiscing old times. What story could he tell? He was also a first responder, thanks to his quick reflexes and a vehicle that could get everywhere. "One time I've arrested a dude for... mm..."

How should he put it in nice words.

"Alright. So I had to arrest this dude for public indecency. The public indecency also involved a fetish magazine about cops."

And it was also his first arrest. His partner almost pissed himself with laughter when the arrested dude was also making comments about Red. Apparently he also liked gingers.
#24
A cop? Guy didn't look old enough to have had to retire from police work and go into security instead. Maybe he'd been injured. Tended to be one of the major reasons to leave that early. And as soon as he'd thought about it, he pushed it aside, disinterested in speculation and gossip.

Besides, it was rude to be making up stories about your colleague while they were telling you a story.

A salacious story.

Mana raised an eyebrow, barely moving otherwise, side eyeing Red as he spoke. "So the guy was just.... jacking it in the street or...?"
#25
"Yeah. On a bench, in the park." Red continued the story, shrugging a little as if it was everyday occurrence. Ironically, it did happen more often than he'd like to admit... "'Hunks in blue' in his left hand, schlong in his right. Then eyes fixed on me as me and my partner approached."

A deep sigh followed and he paused to ID more club goers.

"Fun times."
#26
What a picture his colleague painted. Some random on a park bench, a dirty magazine open in one hand, dick in the other, provocative, clearly looking for someone to report him for indecent exposure to further immerse himself in his nasty little fantasy. Ecstatic when Red turned up all angles and sharp eyes.

It earned an incredulous chuckle and a shake of the psychic's head as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Happen often?"
#27
Red let out an amused huff at his colleague's question.
"More often than I'd like to admit." he said with a tiny sigh. "Usually just drunks who lost a bet, though."

Fun times indeed. Those were just kids, though. And Red would rather deal with kids with bad ideas than actual dead bodies. And those also happened more often than he'd like to admit. Said nothing about that not to ruin the mood.
#28
Drunks who lost a bet? Mana really hoped Red meant streakers and flashers rather than a string of public masturbation dares. Even he couldn't imagine being drunk enough to agree to something like that. Especially not more than once.

"Never seen anything like that around here," he mused. "Well. I mean..." Never caught anyone just casually tugging it in the back of a clothing store or anything, but a few creeps here and there.
#29
"Well, you know. I most likely got all that because I've been called to investigate." Red shrugged and took a couple of sips of his tea. Ah. Still warm. He hoped it would stay warm his entire shift.

The trickle of new clubgoers seemed to slowly dissipate. Red allowed himself to lean against the wall and relax a little bit.
#30
"So you were the public indecency expert, huh?" It was said in a gruff, flat deadpan, but with the slightest hint of a smirk. Then Mana rolled his shoulders, subtly stretching his back, tilting his upper body a little, side to side.
#31
In many other ways than this one. But Red wasn't willing to expose himself like that yet.

"Yeah, they thought it was funny to keep giving me these cases. But honestly, I preferred those to... more serious ones." Red sighed, warming hands on his tea bottle.
#32
More serious ones. Yeah, he could imagine a lot worse than someone standing around in the park with their junk out. Calls involving an attack, or worse still, a body. He was glad e'd never had to tell a parent that their child had passed.

...well that just wasn't true.

Think about something else now.

"Yeah," was all he managed in the briefest sympathy, with the tiniest nod of his head, falling silent after that, just watching the club-goers.
#33
Red relaxed, comfortably silent now as well. Just sipped his tea from time to time. What a relaxing shift and his coworker was indeed very nice. They could be friends...

Things were looking up.
Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)