She had called him to say she needed to speak to him urgently about Amaro. Given that it was 7pm on a Friday evening, he'd already left the office and was presently nesting in his favourite booth, nurturing his second glass of bourbon.

While he could have ignored the call or told her to see him at the office on Monday, he'd actually found himself quite eager to see her, even if it was just to talk about yet another adventure of angry angsty Amaro.

Yes! It would seem that Olivia Benson was once again rushing to the aid of her partner/detective and in doing so had become a woman whom he could admire and be irritated by in equal measure, usually at the same time. He admired her for her loyalty but was irritated by her earnestness in trying to defend her partners, whom, while he thought were good cops, were always subscribing to the fist-first school of policing! Not at all dissuaded by having to meet Ed Tucker outside of work, Benson was politely adamant and Tucker surmised that a brief chat would do no harm. Brevity. That was the plan.

But in walked Benson, lugging her panache and beauty with her. After their little tête-à-tête about Amaro which included a jibe about him softening in his old age, her somewhat obvious hesitance to immediately leave prodded Ed to prolong the evening and so they now found themselves in his favourite booth, both drinking bourbon.

"How's work?" Ed opted for a safe opening.

"Well, you know, the usual, sex predators, rapists", she said rather nonchalantly

"And you?" a safe follow-up

"Well, you know, the usual dirty cops", he said rather cheekily. She rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile.

"How about we don't talk about work" Olivia suggested

"Sounds good to me. So what would you like to talk about then Seargent?"

"You invited me for the drink so I believe it's your responsibility to determine the topic of conversation" Olivia said with a sly smile

"Fine, then lets talk about the weather!" Ed offered even though he was meteorologically illiterate.

"The weather? What are we, British?" Olivia huffed. "Try again Lieutenant!"

Ed laughed. Olivia Benson was funny outside an interrogation room.

"OK, lets talk about fashion" Ed said.

Intrigued, Olivia asked him to proceed, fascinated by his gumption. Her simple detective guesswork had already deduced that Ed Tucker wouldn't even have a semblance of knowledge on the topic. What on earth could the hot-headed cop know about haute couture? Of course, she was proven right the minute he opened his IAB trap. What Ed Tucker meant by "talking about fashion" was basically Ed Tucker going on an old man rant.

"Why wear shoes with shoelaces, then don't bother to tie the shoelaces?" "What if the shoelace gets mangled in a manhole?"

"Why wear a cap backwards when it's meant to protect you from the elements!"

"Whats with the loose jeans falling over the underpants?! How would they even tuck their shirts in?"

"I myself am an impeccable "tucker"! he said with a gleeful smirk, trying to make sure she took note of his joke. His very very lame joke! Notice she did and could not help but raise her eyebrow whilst inwardly laughing! She also noticed that Ed Tucker was funny outside an interrogation room.

"Ruby is not a colour, it's someone's grandmother!" And why can't red just be red? Why does it have to be chilli red? Why not diseased tomato red"?

Olivia interjected several times, mostly with little quips that were meant to challenge his arguments, though she actually agreed with them for the most part! But instead of annoying him as was intended, she'd just made "Lieutenant Ralph Lauren" laugh more. Yes, "Lieutenant Ralph Lauren"- the name she had bestowed upon him after he'd taken umbrage with umbrella hats and was busy lampooning lycra!

"You know Tucker, if this thing with IAB doesn't work out, you should join the fashion police!"

"You're just saying that because you know full well that with the fashion police, you'd never get into trouble!" he said, inadvertently revealing his attraction to her.

"Are you complimenting my dress sense Lieutenant?" she asked, seeking an expansion on his comment and unconsciously, maybe more.

"I'm just saying that you dress appropriately." Although he wouldn't have minded her inappropriately dressed as well, maybe as Xena, The Warrior Princess, wielding a giant sword of justice of course!

"Good God Tucker! You make me sound like a nun!"

Ed, a little too quickly countered "No! What I mean is, your dressing features your assets. I mean, your best features, which are quite a few. I mean in a professional way, you know, also practical, to run and catch perps and stuff"!

He was rambling. Not in a silly Woody Allen sort of way but in a very manly, raspy Ed sort of way.

"Belts! You wear belts! They're good for keeping the pants in place!" And with that stellar performance, Ed Tucker was certain he wasn't getting into Olivia Bensons' pants anytime soon.

Olivia though wasn't certain if it was the bourbon or his nerves that had him rambling. She also wasn't certain if it was the bourbon or her ovaries that had her think his rambling was cute. But whatever it was, she was having a blast watching the mighty Ed Tucker waffle on about the bountiful benefits of belts!

Amidst his critiquing on cloth and colours, she chose to "compliment' him as well on his dress sense, which was to say, at best, basic!

"You're not too bad yourself; match your coat and pants well'.

He knew she was taking the mickey out of him. "It's called a suit; the pants and the coat come together, usually made from the same textile, by the same seamstress", he said deadpanned.

"Seamstress? You get your suits tailored in 18th century England, Lieutenant?" And he laughed. Again. He'd been doing that a lot tonight. So had she actually.

They'd also already had three rounds of bourbon and the conversation seemed to be flowing as smoothly as the liquor. From fashion to a host of other random topics, he'd finally asked her about the one thing she truly loved talking about – her son!

"So how is the young man doing?" Ed asked, instantly noticing that Luminous LIV made an appearance.

"He's wonderful; already trying to take his first few steps and he's not even a year old!"

"Ah, trying to get ahead of himself. Wonder where he gets that from?" Ed said with an obvious smirk.

"Well aren't you a regular Charlie Chaplin", she said again attempting to hide her smile and failing miserably.

"I try, although most people see me as that other guy with the funny moustache".

She laughed at the Hitler reference, remembering a time when that was what she thought of him. But that was before. Before she discovered that Ed Tucker had working internal organs and a beating heart. Before William Lewis. Before Noah. NOAH! She really should get back home. She'd been out way longer than she'd expected.

"I've got to go, get back at least before Noah gets to bed", she said, gathering her bag and coat.

"That mother of the year award isn't going to just land in my lap!"

"Ah, of course". Ed said smirking and quickly paid the bill.

"Where's your motor vehicle?" he asked as they walked out, still trying to be his version of funny. It worked and Olivia laughed a little and said she was just parked up ahead. They walked towards her car and just as she was about to thank him and leave, he made a show of clearing his throat.

"You know, maybe another day, if you'd like, I'm open to further expanding my thoughts on the ongoing fashion crises plaguing our youth. Give you a heads up before young Benson starts wearing big boy Benson pants!"

"Yeah, god forbid he wear brown pants with a green shirt!" she quipped

"Only if you want him looking like a tree!" said Ed, trying to keep her in his presence with more silly repartee.

She laughed and then smiled a genuine smile and while she thought she should decline his offer to get together again, she realised that she actually wanted to see him again. And so, without committing to when or where this next meeting would be, she said "OK".

"Look forward to your dissertation on the spring/summer trends; you could call it Tucker Trends".

"I think I will". Now it was his turn to smile. A genuine smile.

"Goodnight Olivia".

"Goodnight Ed".