The Terrace Dark corners

Dax' Outift Park

---

For weeks Dax and his new partner had been following leads about a ring of drug dealers. Once the officer had even gotten close to getting to the bigger guys behind the whole operation when he tracked down one of the dealers and confronted him. Needless to say getting shivved by the man had thrown the whole investigation back by far and sparked a personal vendetta.
If he ever saw that guy again, he wasn't sure whether he'd actually arrest him or just get rid of him because that man had tried to take his life.

For now he was sitting in a car parked at the edge of the waters near a park which was close by a place called The Terrace. These kind of places attracted dealers like neon lights flies.
From a distance the two cops were watching two men in dark clothing approaching someone in a dark corner of the park.
"We have a possible sale going down." Dax put his binoculars on the dash board of the undercover car and motioned for his partner to call it in.
Then he got out of the car and carefully approached the scene but hid behind a bush.

It was a rare Sunday that Cat wasn't at Sk8 City, so she spent the majority of the evening in the park reading a book. She had even gotten takeout from The Terrace and had her dinner there because why the hell not. Treat yourself and all that.

Cat was in the middle of a good book by Shirley Jackson — so engrossed that it took her a solid five minutes to recognize she couldn't see the words on the page anymore because the sun had completely gone down. With a soft, satisfied sigh, Cat set the book down on the grass next to her bike and leaned against a tree trunk.

Catriona stared up at the branches of the tree, head cocked to one side while she studied its leaves before her attention shifted to the vines hanging down on either side of her. Slowly she got to her feet, brushed off the dirt and grass that stuck to her pant legs and raised her hands. She drew a steadying breath in, like she'd taught herself, taking up her plant power stance and stared at the vines once more. Cat had played with vines before on her favourite tree back in the park near her house, and it had gone well, but she hoped to try something new.

She focused on her senses, on the feeling of being able to manipulate the nature around her, as Rory taught her. The vines began to grow in size, stretching down and snaking into the grass beside her feet.

Cat was completely unaware of the audience behind her.

A man in a hoodie walked through the park on light soles. He had his merchandize in a back pack, ready to offer it to anyone who was willing to pay the right prize. Usually the park was the place to go to if you wanted to party it up at the close by club.
There was someone near a tree, so the dealer approached the girl.
"Hey." He said from a good distance and got closer.
"How you doin'?"
Of course the girl would be spooked and she didn't exactly look like a user but it was worth a try.
As he was close enough to see her face, he asked. "Wanna have a good time? I've got the right stuff for you? Whatever you want. I'm selling. You got money?"

Dax shot a look back towards the car wondering what on earth took his partner so long. He had been told not to go into any situations alone anymore. Not after what had happened, so he sat tight for a moment.
Then he saw the Italian officer and nodded at him. Silently he inched closer to get a glimpse of what was going on at the tree.

Asha didn't care much for people causing trouble around her bar. Rarely did they dare to do so right in view of it.

With Lora and crew running things inside, she had been taking a short break and caught sight of the scene from the eponymous rooftop terrace at the top, and she was watching.

Drug dealers didn't really bother her so much as whoever was sneaking towards them. She leaned, were eyes producing a clear picture. Just give her a reason to head downstairs.

---

Skippable for now

The vines moved through the grass, though not as far as she would have liked. Stupid power. Cat was suddenly alerted to a sound behind her, and she peered over her shoulder to look at a man in a hoodie. Maybe a few months ago she would have been frightened he may have seen her using her power in public, but Cat had come a long way. It also wasn't the first time she had been approached in a park before by someone trying to sell her something. She had no issues with people who dealt drugs. The man seemed like he was just trying to make a living, like anyone else. She shook her head no and smiled politely. "I'm alright, mate. Thanks. Don't have any money on me." It was the truth. The man in the hoodie seemed to accept that answer with a nod of his own.

The dealer was a bit dissapointed that the girl didn't want to buy anything. He got even closer but then motioned for the tree.
"What were you doing there? That looked crazy!"
The man seemed a little stoned himself when he motioned for the tree and mimicked it's movements.

That was Dax cue to act. He stepped out onto the walk path through the park putting on his best act of a drunk idiot. Humming and singing as he zig zagged along the path he approached the two and even called out. "Hey, mate."
Just to make his show more real, he stopped and turned to light a cigarette, then approached the two.

The dealer simply reached for Cats hand and pulled her close.
"Wait a moment, okay?"

Nothing crazy happening so far, though she didn't love it when it seemed like the lady was not interested and it seemed like these dudes were working a scene around her.

Hmm. Asha decided she was better off heading downstairs after all, and decided to do that, but it would take her a moment.

---

skip one round

Cat raised an eyebrow at the guy's reaction and laughed slightly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Just practicing, is all," Replied the psychic. While she didn't care if people saw her in her little corner of the park, she wasn't entirely sure how to explain to someone about her powers and stuff. Maybe she hadn't thought this through.

It seemed they wouldn't have time to get into it.

Another man appeared, who looked to be a little intoxicated, and Catriona was suddenly very aware that she was alone in a park with two strange men. At night. The man next to her suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, and Cat's eyes flashed silver in the darkness. Instinctively, Cat jerked her hand away from the stranger and made to move away from him. "Please, don't touch me," She said as sternly as she could despite her heart hammering in her chest.

Of course the detective had seen how the guy had grabbed her hand. Not enough for an arrest, though.

The shadows of the larger trees swaying in a slight breeze made it hard to see everything clearly but Dax knew that there was trouble ahead.

Whatever his motivations may be the dealer didn't want Cat to leave, probably too fascinated by what she had done. "C'mon. Just stay here. I want to see that again. You did something to the tree."
Again he reached for her arm in an attempt to make her stay. He could always sell more drugs but he had never seen anyone controll plants. He tried to twist her arms so he could see her hands and whether she was holding anything.

Over his shoulder he told Dax to "Get lost. You're disturbing me and my girl friend."

But Dax was already behind him and pulled him away from the girl.
"Let go of her."

By now Dax partner was approaching from the far end of the park near the street as well. He was still hidden under the shadows of some large trees though but had his gun drawn already.

Next, the man beside her was grabbing her arm, twisting it around so that it caused Cat some pain. He wanted to see what she did, how she did it. But Cat didn't owe him shit. She didn't owe anyone shit. Fear and pain turned to anger. Anger that this wasn't the first time someone was attacking her. Anger that she hadn't taken up any self-defence classes since the last time. Anger that she even felt a bit of frustration at herself for not being able to defend against an attack. Anger that she even felt she needed to. Like any of this shit was her fault. It wasn't.

Then he called her his girlfriend, and she couldn't help the look of disgust on her face. As the drunken man pulled him away, Cat felt another flash of rage that she was once again in a situation where someone felt the need to save her. Cat moved forward and made to push the man who grabbed her before. "I SAID DON'T TOUCH ME!" Before she could make any physical contact, however, energy rushed forth from her center, through her fingertips and a translucent silver force field knocked the man back three metres onto a patch of grass across the park.

In shock, Cat stared between her hands and the man who was now on the ground. Before she could say or do anything else, one of her legs gave out from under her. She felt woozy and unable to stand.

---

Miss on hitting Dax in the crossfire.

Dax was just about to twist the guys arm onto his back when the girl decided to defend herself with a mighty push. A push no girl should be capable of. Dax lost his grip on the dealer and fell onto the ground as well while the dealer hit a bush three meters away that poked all its thorns and branches into his skin and made him howl.

Unaware of how this had just happened Dax sat on the grass and stared at the red head who seemed to be quite confused herself.
He struggled back to his feet and stammered.
"Are you okay?"
Maybe he should be asking the man in the bush that.

The guy had struggled his way back out, now completely scratched up, and screamed. "You stupid bi&#h."
Then he pulled a rather large knife from his backpack and waved it at them.

Asha was just breaking past the entrance when she heard what had gone from a skeevy interaction to a fucked up one. Anything that happened close enough to be considered on Terrace property had no business being a mess.

But it was at the tail end of the force field that she was able to run towards them, and her first concern was the chick.

Actually, no — her first concern was the fuck with the knife, and she nearly wrecked her foot in the process as she turned at a sharp angle to grab his head from behind and keep him down.

Unfortunately for all involved (except perhaps the knife guy), she missed as he launched up after them and just out of her reach. Way to GO.

Was she okay? Short answer: no. Was she able to really communicate that verbally? Not really.

Cat could feel the world spinning beneath her feet, and she reached out to grab onto something and grasped at air. She was vaguely aware of being called a stupid bitch, which would have made her furious if she wasn't so focused on getting the fuck out of there. Whatever had happened had tapped her energy, draining her, and she could feel herself stumble towards her bike as the man flashed a knife. She was also vaguely aware that another person had joined the fray. What the hell was going on?!

That's when the man with the knife turned on her and Cat used what was left of her strength to dodge his attack. She fell onto the grass with a thud and rolled onto her book.

As soon as the knife came out Dax knew he had two choices: Pull out his own gun, which could take a moment too long or take him down like that which he was confident he could do. If only he hadn't been shivved a few weeks ago. Dax hesitated a moment too long but suddenly, like a flash, another girl showed up and tried to attack the man. It only pushed him closer to Dax and the girl.
While the cop lauched himself forward with two hands firmly gripping the knife arm, the read head landed on the grass next to them.

The dealer was stronger than anticipated and managed to kick at Dax while trying to free his hand.
"Drop the knife!" Dax yelled on top of his lungs and again.
"Drop it. Richmond pol..." He didn't get further because the dealer somehow managed to wind out of his grasp and pull the knife through the detectives grasp, who howled in pain but still managed to deliver a straight punch to the criminals face in return, who spun around and now waved theweapon at the girl who had tried to tackle him. He didn't manage to slice her though

Roll: Dealer missed Asha

A whole lot of shit happened in between Asha missing and the next moment she could orient herself usefully. That was life in were speed. In the end though, the dude still had his knife. Aaaand now she realized the other fuck that she thought was a creep was actually a cop, which she didn't have much time to think about (but also like, it wasn't like she inherently trusted cops anyway).

Anyway — she caught up and grabbed his knife-carrying arm successfully, yanking it back with enough force that she was pretty sure she heard a crack of bone coming somewhere near his elbow. Almost thought it was her own until she realized the cat was actually not crackling out of her.

Which was probably for the best if she was in the presence of a cop and some chick.

Anyway, getting your weapon arm broken was pretty incapacitating, and the Bad Guy ™ dropped his knife and collapsed onto the ground to make some agonizing noises and can you please just arrest this dude already, cop guy.

For a brief moment, all Catriona wanted to do was just close her eyes and go to sleep, despite the discomfort of a book digging into her spine.

It was the sound of a struggle beside her that jostled her awake. Survive, Cat. You have to survive. She had been attacked before and perhaps she wasn't as over it as she thought she was.

Slowly, using the tree trunk nearby, Cat began the quest of pulling herself up to standing. The only thing that ran through her mind was the need to get out of there as quickly as possible. She wasn't thinking clearly. She was terrified. The image of the man coming after her with a knife was burned into her mind. Cat had seen enough horror movies to know that when shit went sideways, it was best to run. She wasn't resourceful enough to be a final girl.

The psychic was also terrified by what she had done to the man moments before but she couldn't think about that now. It was a problem for Future Cat to deal with.

Catriona reached for her bicycle still leaning against the tree but stumbled. She fell into it, sending both her and the bike crashing to the fucking ground, completely unaware that the threat to their safety had been disarmed.

Girls these days weren't damsels in distress anymore. That much was clear when Dax watched the girl with the dark hair simply grab the arm with the weapon until a sickening snap gave away that that bone was no longer in one piece. Holy fucking self defense classes!

It was on Dax to kick the knife far away and help the girl who was seemingly waiting for him to do his duty.
Dax wiped his bleeding hand on his jeans but then reached for his hand cuffs and read the criminal his rights. "You're under arrest. You have the right to remain....." One million times he had said those words it seemed and finally his colleague arrived and offered the other girl, who had collapsed with her bike, a hand.

Dax looked at the strong chick and nodded at her.
"That was incredible. You must have taken some serious self defense classes or a black belt in jiu jitsu? Thank you!"

He then got up and pulled the man to his feet. With a side glance at his partner he rolled his eyes. "What took you so long? Did you have a cup of coffee somewhere?"
His partner frowned at Dax, then took over the detainee. "I had to secure the area."
Both men knew that that was bullshit.

With a side glance at his partner he took a few steps towards the girl with her bike who seemed awefully shaken up.
"Are you okay? Did he harm you in any way?"

Ahaha. Asha knew some modern stuff, but she'd take the compliment with a grin and a light flex. "Do what I can, sir."

Yeah, yeah, yeah, girl scout. Better hope this didn't wind its way across departments back to Tiffer, or she'd have some more to answer for.

Anyway, she let the cops do what they needed, and also looked to the chick, who admittedly Asha had kind of forgotten about in the flurry. Poor thing, but she didn't want to crowd her, so she hung back and just surveyed the scene instead.

The smell of blood in the air, all things aside, was a bit of a lure. How did vampires put up with that shit? She held her breath, but she actually needed to breathe.

Getting tangled in her bike had been more annoying than terrifying, and some of her previous anger resurfaced, providing her enough concentration to scope out what happened and how close she was to danger. She could hear people talking off to one side before she was approached by another stranger. He asked if she wanted help, and Cat blinked at him. She looked over at the scene unfolding a few metres away and recognized the sounds of someone being read their rights. That's when she realized the intoxicated man from before was a cop. He was thanking the woman who intervened.

Cat was beyond exhausted, and still a little frightened and shook her head in response to the man she could only assume was the cop's partner. The last time she tried to make physical contact with someone she sent them flying across the park, and she didn't want to risk doing that again. Especially to a cop. Instead, Cat pulled herself up, knees still weak and head woozy.

The man from before was asking her again if she was okay and if the man with the knife had harmed her. It was a complicated question, but she figured he meant in the physical sense. She glanced down at herself then shook her head. "No. He, um," Catriona replied, finding her voice again. "...he didn't." The psychic sought comfort in holding her bike, so she reached for the handlebars and hoisted it back up next to her to lean on. The thought of running away was still present in her mind, even as she told herself it was over. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that if she moved, Cat was fairly certain she might fall over again.

The situation was now under control, definitely not thanks to Guilano, his partner.
"Take him.to the car." Dax told him. He could at least do that.
"I'm going to look through your bag since you pulled the knife out of it." The detective informed the dealer.
These days he had to follow the rules.
"Fuck you." Was the kind reply.

His voice became much calmer and gentler when he talked to the women.
"I'm detective Bailey of the RPD. I have to ask you to stay and answer some questions "
He then grabbed the backpack but was careful not to reach into it. Instead he dumped it out.
"Are you two friends or how did you know she was in trouble? " He adressed the kick ass chick first.

Oh what a relief she was okay.

Now it was time for questions, and she took a calming breath. Right. Protocol.

"Nope," she answered first with a shake of her head. "Saw it up from my bar. Kinda thought you were both gonna creep on her or something."

She looked to the chick with a slight smile. She'd done something, right?

Cat swayed slightly to one side, then gathered herself, determined to act like she was fine. She could collapse when she got home. However, she planned on doing that. Probably just walk her bike home. Wasn't that far. About a fifteen-minute trip. At night. When she was already freaked out.

Cat, focus.

The detective introduced himself and began asking questions, starting with the other woman. Cat listened to what she was saying as an attempt to remain alert and not give too much thought to her fears from the night's events.

So, the woman had risked her own life in order to help Cat. Catriona couldn't help but feel both grateful and a bit guilty. She threw the woman a half-hearted smile in response. Thanks, kind stranger.

"Do you ran down here to help her?"
That was incredible. It really seemed like there was more to this woman than could be seen at first sight.
"You snapped his arm pretty easily. Special skills?"
Lately he had come across a few supes. She could be one, too.

Dax then dug through the items on the ground and picked up a bag and the another.
"He was dealing..."

Looking over at the red head he was starting to get worried because she looked so out of it. "Did he offer you any? If he did I've got more than the assault charge on him."

He looked at the small bag but there was a cut right across part of his palm and two fingers and it was bleeding.
"You said your place is nearby? Do you have a first aid kitt there?" The detective showed the kick ass girl his hand.

"Think he just wasn't expecting to be grabbed from behind," she shrugged it off, not making any attempt to play herself up. She did nod to the first aid kit thing — standard for any restaurant to have, and motioned them to follow her in if they would.

"We could go up on the terrace itself, it'll be a bit quieter."

Assuming they would follow!

Cat was, for lack of a better term, still in a lot of shock. She zoned in on a patch of grass on the ground and studied its every movement, watching as it swayed back and forth with the gentle breeze while the other two spoke. She felt vulnerable, confused, and all she wanted was to go home.

The detective was asking her a question.

Cat looked up. Met his gaze. What did he ask? If she'd been offered something. Right.

"Aye," The sound left her mouth as she remembered how the night began. "Around the same time you arrived." How was this going to play out? Would she be expected to show up at court? Give a testimony? Cat had never really paid much attention to cop procedural dramas.

Catriona looked down at her bike as it was suggested they move to the terrace, then reached for her things. She supposed she could lock the bicycle up somewhere. Cat glanced at the cop then began to follow, feet dragging slightly as she walked, eyes half-open.

Dax agreed to the offer to come and talk at a more convenient location than a dark park without sufficient lighting.
"That sounds like a good idea."
That would also give the red head a moment to calm down or Dax time to figure out whether she was actually high.
His cop sense told him that something was off.

Together with the women he walked back to the street where the car was parked.
So he briefly stopped at his colleagues window. " I'll question the girls here and get my hand wrapped up."
He gave the cuffed guy in the back seat a pointed look, then followed the women to the roof top.

Nice and easy. Asha stopped behind the bar to grab that first aid kit, and then led them up the flight of stairs to the roof top. Up there were less people, most of them downstairs for karaoke and indoor partying.

Leading them to a quiet corner, she motioned them to sit if they wanted to, opening up the kit for the cop to go into at his leisure.

"Okay, so what can I tell you?"

It took all of Catriona's concentration to follow the others back to the bar. Even more to lock up her bike outside the place. She floated in behind them, the sounds of amateur singing seeming inappropriate for her brain space. It didn't feel like the right time for karaoke.

The psychic gripped the handrail tightly as she climbed the stairs behind the other two, careful not to stumble. She was aware the cop may start asking her questions about what happened out there, and she needed her wits about her.

Cat quietly thanked the other woman, then took a seat in their quiet corner wondering how the hell she was going to get through all this. Old fears of outing herself to strangers returned. Blame it on the negative reaction she'd received from the man in the park or the fact that she really, really didn't want to out herself to a police officer. Though, how else could she explain what happened out there?

What had happened out there?

"Thank you."
Dax looked at the cut on his hand now that there was enough light to see. It didn't look good but probably no reason to go to the doctor.
He took the desinfectant first and sprayed some on it. Needless to say it made him wince.

"I'd actually like to start with the victim."
He turned around and looked at the red head.
"Hi. I'm detective Bailey. What's your name? "

She still looked dazed which was odd.
"You don't look good. Are you okay?"

He then reached for a roll of bandage and wrapped it around his hand.

She sat back in that case — no need to jump in when she wasn't being questioned, after all.

---

skippable while they converse unless she is addressed~

There was that question again. Was she okay? "I'm fine." It was a lie but spoken with enough conviction that she hoped the cop wouldn't ask her again. "Just a little... shook up." Not a lie. Didn't like being called a victim but she didn’t comment on the matter as the detective bandaged up his hand. "And my name is Catriona Wood. C-A-T-R-I-O-N-A, then Wood, like a piece of wood." Figured she'd spell out her first name for him since most people got it wrong on the first try. Pesky silent 'o'.

Dax made notes on his phone while he listened to her and kept looking up at her. He knew eye contact was important.
"Catriona, can you tell me exactly what happened. Step by step." He hoped that she'd reveal why she was so loopy.
Briefly he looked at the other woman with a very brief smile to thank her for her support and patience.
A lot of people had no respect for the police but these two were cooperating and nice.

Okay, keep it together Cat. She took a breath in through her nose, then began, forcing herself to keep her eyes open and her thoughts focused. "I was hanging out in the park near where you discovered us when, um," She hesitated slightly as she recalled what happened, nervous to retell the events. She just needed to get through it. Didn't need to give any unnecessary details about her being a psychic unless he asked for them. "That, um, man, came up to me. He asked me if I wanted, uh, anything. When I said no, he, um, lingered, wanted to know what I was up to, I guess. That's when you showed up and he... grabbed me." She frowned, eyebrows furrowed together. Catriona wasn't sure how much more to tell, considering the detective had arrived at the scene and had been there to witness the rest. She glanced from the woman to the cop and waited to see if he would ask her anything else, hoping he wouldn't.

What she told him made sense but she left out some details so Dax had to ask again. It was hard not to scare her too much but still get thevrelevant info.
"I'm sorry...did he offer you drugs? "
Another thing came to mind. Her story stopped just when she pushed him.
"And what exactly happened when he grabbed you? Please be specific."
Again he glanced at the other girl.
"I honestly don't care whether any of you have 'special skills'. That's neither illegal nor will it go on file. It'd be still good if you told me."

Yeah, well — she already was in a lie story thing with Tiffer. And maybe someday they'd smash her into some silver and figure it out, but for now she was happy to give, uh, truth-adjacent answers to that.

"Uh- I have an unnatural ability to heal myself. Other than that, no."

"He wasn't explicit about whether it was drugs," Catriona replied honestly, though it wasn't hard to assume that's what he meant. "But I guessed that's what he meant." Cat shifted uncomfortably in her seat at his next question. She really didn't want to out herself, even if the cop alluded he had no issue. But what other choice did she have?

She glanced at the woman who had brought them to The Terrace when she stated she had an unnatural ability to heal. Was she a psychic? Cat wondered if she was supernatural as the cop suggested but didn't bother to check. Not here, not in front of a cop. Besides, the woman had helped save her life. The least Cat could do was save her from being outed if she was something. It was the decent thing to do. Cat intended to expand on what happened, the best she could, in the hopes that it may draw attention away from the other woman.

Catriona sighed, curled a loose strand of hair behind her ear and looked down at the table. "I went to push him... but before I could, this..." thing happened? Had it been her magic? It felt like it came from her and yet something like that had never happened before. Cat could manipulate plants, not... not whatever that was. She breathed in. On the resigned exhale, she replied, "I'm a psychic. But I've never done that before. I don't really understand what happened." Better to be honest than get caught in a lie by the cops. Welp. He said it wouldn't go on file, and Catriona hoped that was true. Didn't mean she enjoyed outing herself.

Dax heard the part about healing but what she had done looked like the exact opposite, so he mentioned.
"I think you might have damaged his arm. If he tries to press charges, I'll back you." That was the least he could do in return for her help. She had the right intentions. The dealer was the bad guy. It was exactly what Dax would gave done.

His focus was back on Cat who admitted her abilities. For a long moment he just looked at her trying to figure it out but he also had no idea.
"I'll write you gave him a powerful push. That's what I saw. As far as I'm concerned you've done nothing wrong...other than hanging out in a dark spot that late. "

That was kind. In the end, she still also had the angle of attack on her side, and surprise, sort of... Anyway, the cop was being cool. She offered him a grateful smile.

She was reminded of Rhett. Sigh. Hopefully this one didn't go off and die.

Asha looked at the other woman, the actual psychic. She seemed nice; shame they were meeting under these circumstances, but. You know.

Cat looked up and blinked as the man stared at her for a seemingly long time, wondering what he was thinking. When he finally spoke, she felt herself exhale slightly, not realizing she had been holding her breath. She nodded at his response and tried to believe it herself. That she'd done nothing wrong. She had just been existing in her corner of the park when things suddenly turned upside down.

Catriona couldn't shake the nagging thought in her brain that if she hadn't been practicing her magic so openly in the first place, none of this may have happened. Maybe she'd been foolish to believe she could practice anywhere she liked.

"Thank you," She said quietly. "Both of you." Cat stole a look at each of them before looking down at her hands folded in her lap. Maybe she'd get to go home soon and finally be done with this awful night.

"Of course. I'm glad I spotted you when I did."
She was still shaken up but visibly relieved.
"And that you came to help as well. That takes courage." He twisted his whole body to face the other woman now.
"That courage and the way you handled the guy makes me think you have some sort of training....military? And how did you know what was going down?"
He tapped on his phone again.
"I need your name for the record by the way."

She nodded to the woman's thanks. Though, uh. Okay. Name for the record, cool!

"Uh. Asha? Rao. And no, I was trained in self-defence by someone who used to be military though." That was true! Ingrid was formerly military.

"Like I said, I saw it from up here. I thought you were both going to attack her or something. I didn't know it was some kind of sting."

Catriona made a mental note of the woman's name and where she worked. Or was it her place? Maybe she'd get her flowers or something for intervening when she did. Or was that weird? Probably weird. She was grateful they both intervened, even if the cop had originally weirded her out when he first arrived on the scene. That was before she knew it was some kind of... what did Asha say? Sting? Yes. That.

Thoughts were not coming easily to the redhead.

---

Feel free to skip Cat for now until she's spoken to again!

Dax looked at her for a moment because he was sure there was more to it. He had been a cop long enough to be able to read people dairly easily.
As stupid as it may sound, he found it very attractive that both girls were able to kick some ass and didn't hold back. Taking matters in their own hands. He couldn't officially say so but they had impressed him.
"Thank you. In case I need anything else, I'll be in touch. Please write down your contact information."
He handed them his phone for the entry.

"If you need anything, make sure to call me."
He handed both of them a card, too.
For a moment he watched both of them, then asked Asha. "Do you work here or how cone you can just do your thing up here?"

She didn't get the point of the quiet stare he gave her for a moment there. Everything she'd said was true, and being stared at by a (white, male) cop was always going to be unnerving because, like. Hello, she lived in this godforsaken country, where people her color and darker got shot up by law enforcement for fun. She also didn't love having to enter in her contact information, but. Sure. Okay. Done.

Running her hand through her hair, she found the subsequent question a little confusing. Why wouldn't anyone be able to go up on the Terrace's terrace and mill around? There were tables and chairs and lighting and heating up here exactly for that reason.

Still, she could answer politely. "It's my bar. Dunno what you mean by 'my thing,' but as you can see," she waved to the people milling about drinking with each other further away from their corner table, "Customers come up here as well."

"I saw how the staff behind the bar looked at you and the girl who came around cleaning the tables avoided eye contact. You owning this...makes sense. Beautiful place."
His face expressed his admiration. It didn't only take money but dedication to run a place like this.
There definetly was something special about this girl.
"You don't have to answer any more questions. I was just curious. My work here is done and my partner waiting in the car."
He shook his hand a little. "And this is starting to throb."
Dax got up and asked for his phone back.

Oh- well, she hoped her own employees didn't avoid eye contact with her! She'd always ever treated them like family. Appropriate living wages and birthday parties and all that. Maybe the busser just thought she was busy or something and didn't want to interrupt. Asha would have to find her later and talk it out.

It was a relief when it was over, though, and she allowed some tension to subside as she gave the phone back.

"Thank you- yeah. Hope the station has some painkillers or something. Have a good night."

Probably!?

Cat also thought the long stare the detective gave Asha was strange. She reluctantly reached for the cop's phone and entered her contact information before handing it back. She hoped she wouldn't be contacted again for any additional questions. All she wanted to do was put what happened behind her as soon as possible.

And sleep. Definitely sleep. Catriona could fall asleep right here.

No, she couldn't.

When the questioning finally came to an end, Cat rubbed her eyes and slowly got to her feet, careful to hold onto the table. She nodded at the detective and waited for him to leave first. She threw a grateful smile at Asha, muttered another thank you, before making her way out of the bar. Cat figured she could think about how to get home once she stepped outside. Maybe some fresh air would do her good. Maybe it wouldn't.