The Date
Holly Short strode into the Operations Booth of Police Plaza, taking care to kick the legs of the chair she walked past.
"Hey! Don't take your frustrations out on the furniture." Foaly huffed, adjusting himself in his custom-made chair. He creased his eyebrows and peered at the elf, who fell dramatically into a free chair, releasing an obnoxious sigh. The centaur looked at the plasma screen nearest to him for a moment and then sent a short string of commands, closing the open program. "What's got your onesie in a twist?"
"Oh, nothing. Paperwork, goblins setting fires to museums, my date." Holly propped both feet up on the white table that extended along the entirety of the north wall and closed her eyes.
"Ah, yes. That is tonight, isn't it?" Foaly chuckled, but did so quietly, as to not provoke the fiery elf any more. Holly put a hand to her forehead.
"Don't act as if you haven't been counting down the days," Holly opened her eyes and was surprised to see the centaur packing up his things into a device similar to what humans would call a briefcase, though briefcase would not do the contraption justice. Though it looked simple on the outside, the "briefcase" had more tech and flourish design integrated into its walls than a prison security system combined with the Sistine Chapel. "Where are you going?" The elf had hoped to vent to her friend for a while before leaving to change out of her uniform into a 'date-appropriate' outfit. The centaur huffed.
"I'm going home before I get stuck here listening to you moan and groan." Foaly said, pressing the briefcase together, satisfied when he heard the small click that emanated from the pressure lock. "You could've just said no."
"I mean... I couldn't find a reason to say no." Holly looked down awkwardly at the cuffs of her suit. This action, no matter how small, was a dead giveaway to the other member in the room. Foaly took in a breath and grinned knowingly.
"Miss Short, are you by chance... nervous?" Foaly leaned an arm on the table and Holly could see that his eyes were wide with realization.
Holly straightened her back and pushed out her chin defiantly.
"The only thing I'm nervous about is this date ruining my career." She stared hard into Foaly's face before softening her resolve. "Surely there's a rule about Commanding officers dating their subordinates, right?"
"Maybe you could search for that in that manual you've never read and possibly don't own." Foaly laughed at his joke, though he was careful to put distance between him and the elf. At least, an arm's length distance. Holly only glared at him as he walked out of the room.
ooo
Holly could count the number of times she had been on a date on one hand. It had never really been a priority for her, what with the LEP and tribunals and IA investigations. Who even has the time, she thought, or the patience. She had been perfectly content with her dry social life. That was, until her commanding officer, Trouble Kelp, had asked her to dinner.
Now here she was, pacing in front of a restaurant in downtown Haven. It wasn't that she didn't like Trouble - hell, she had actually had a bit of a crush on him back in the academy – but something about all of this made her anxious. They'd been friends for so long, not to mention he practically held the future of her career in his hands. It took her a few more minutes before she was able to force herself to go inside.
The restaurant was nice enough, though dimly lit in an attempt to produce a certain mood. What mood they were going for, Holly couldn't say. She made her way to the host stand, her hand pulling at the collar of the dress shirt she had found in her closet, and almost certainly had never been worn. No more than ten seconds after telling the hostess her name, she was led back into a quiet area, which Holly glumly noted was across the restaurant from the bar.
"Holly!" Trouble smiled at the elf as he pulled out a chair from the table.
"Commander- er, Trouble. Thank you." She struggled to keep her voice even, but managed – just barely. Taking a seat on the offered chair, she glanced around the room as Trouble sat down across from her. It seemed that he had already ordered them a bottle of sim-wine, which Holly noticed quickly, thanking the Gods and all the stars.
ooo
About an hour later, Holly found that she was genuinely enjoying herself. Maybe it was the company or maybe it was the wine, but she found herself smiling as she enjoyed their conversation.
"-and so I tried to contain the situation, but I was surrounded by swear toads and my left foot was still stuck in the grate. It was all I could do to get out of there before the janitor came searching." Trouble finished his story as he took a drink from his glass, subtly admiring the entertained smile on Holly's face. Just then, a three-beep tone sounded from beneath the table and Holly looked down at her communicator. Her smile faltered, though it did not go away.
"Uh, I'm sorry," Holly said, turning off the video call but accepting it as audio only, "I need to take this." She looked at Trouble, who nodded, before sliding off of her chair and putting a little distance between them. She put the communicator to her ear and sighed. "Is this important?"
The voice on the other end seemed slightly startled by the straightforward answer, but hid it well.
"Good evening to you too, Captain."
"Artemis, I'm… busy at the moment." Holly looked at the wall nearest to her. It was covered in signatures and pictures, seemingly by famous fairies, though many of them were too old for her to recognize. She continued, "Is something wrong?"
"Well, not wrong, per se. I could use your assistance on something, though." Artemis answered from the other end. Holly could just imagine him talking into his ring communicator, his fingers fixed in a way that made it look like he was talking on a pretend phone. She smirked at the thought.
"When do you not?" She said, a small laugh detectable in the sentence.
"The twins want me to tell them a story, but they say all of the stories I've already told are boring." Artemis said, and it was not lost on him how ridiculous he sounded. Holly stifled a laugh, putting a hand over her mouth.
"Okay," she said through her grin, "What am I supposed to do about that?"
"Actually, I was hoping you could tell them a story." The human waited for the elf to respond, which she did… eventually.
"Artemis, did you tell the secrets of my people to your three-year-old brothers?" she asked, placing a hand on her waist.
"Of course not, they'd think I'm crazy and call me a 'simpletoon'." Artemis replied, "They do know, however, about my friend Holly who is much more exciting than me and I know for a fact has plenty of stories to tell."
Holly chuckled at the thought, but suddenly remembered where she was and looked back at Trouble.
"I'm sorry, Artemis, but I really don't have the time right now." She could hear the regret in her own voice and cursed at herself internally for it. Artemis had heard it too, though she wouldn't give him time to comment on it. "Maybe another time." And with that she hung up and stuffed the communicator back into her pocket.
Holly turned around and made her way back to her table, though by then Trouble was already standing up and throwing his jacket on around his shoulders. He looked slightly distraught.
"Is everything okay?" Holly asked as she watched him adjust the collar of the jacket. He scoffed and shook his head.
"I knew you were reluctant to go on this date, but I convinced myself it was because of our friendship or because I'm your commanding officer, but" he sighed as put his hands on the back of his chair, leaning forward on it slightly, "but that's not it, is it?" He looked at Holly, who only looked confused.
"What do you mean?" She asked, looking around at the few others sitting at the tables around them who had become curious about the two officers. Holly glared daggers at one sprite who had leaned over slightly to get a better view.
"It's the mud boy, it's always the mud boy." Trouble muttered as he looked around, anywhere but at the Captain. "It's always Artemis d'arvitting Fowl."
"I don't-" Holly blinked fast and her mouth gaped open slightly, "I don't know what you mean."
Trouble raised a hand and then paused for a moment before closing it into a fist. He could have said more, but it was probably best that his thoughts remained deep inside his own mind. Holly watched as her date walked away from her without another word. Her shoulders fell and she looked around at the crowd around her, all of whom were staring intently at her.
"What are you looking at?" She growled at a particularly unlucky couple. The elf threw down some gold pieces on the table and grabbed her bag before making her way back to the street outside the restaurant. She had made it about a block before she pulled out her communicator and dialed a recent number. The recipient answered after the first ring.
"Hello?" Artemis answered. Holly drew in a breath as she expertly stepped around a puddle in the street and jumped onto the conveyor belt transportation known as The Stick. She held onto the pole in the middle of the belt and crossed one leg in front of the other.
"Am I too late to tell a story?"
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