Hilda Pertinax was the most annoying person Alfendi Layton had ever met in his entire life. Every time he made a call she rebutted it with her own completely absurd ideas about how she thought the crime had happened. Of all the incompetent people he could get stuck with.
So maybe his first impression of her wasn't the best. He could see now that she's perfectly capable and knows what she's doing. 82% of the time Alfendi was still correct, but she gave good input. They bickered and teased each other constantly for it.
Then, one day, something peculiar happened. Justin had gone to get a coffee when Hilda, seemingly out of nowhere, bent down to retrieve a pencil she had dropped, calling Alfendi's attention to her ample posterior. Alfendi's mind kicked into overdrive. "That's not how you pick up a pencil. Is she doing that on purpose?"
She stood up and the moment passed. Alfendi got back to work, convinced that it must have been his imagination.
Later in the week Alfendi was struck again by the peculiarity of the situation when Hilda offered to get him some coffee from the break room, which was odd because he was sure she knew he drank tea not coffee.
"I don't drink coffee you idiot. Can't you see I bring tea in every morning, or do you know someone who steeps Earl Grey in their lattés? Maybe I should cut your eyes out since you don't seem to be using them."
"Tea it is then," she said simply and left.
"That's it?" Alfendi thought. "No witty comebacks or sarcastic remarks from the Queen of Sass herself?" Alfendi was 98.6% certain something was up; his best guess was menstruation, so he just shrugged it off. "It's probably nothing."
This next thing was definitely something. Alfendi and Justin were working in the office when Hilda returned from the break room with tea one day. She set her own cup on her desk before walking over to Alfendi's and leaning down ever so slightly as she placed the mug in front of him, showing the slightest bit of cleavage.
Alfendi's eyes widened and he looked up as she was beginning to walk away, catching a glimpse of mischief in her eyes. His gaze drifted to Justin, who looked just as surprised by what had happened. So he saw it too. Alfendi was definitely not imagining it. That was a pass.
"If she wants to play that game, I'll play that game." Alfendi thought to himself later that evening. He had never pursued a romantic relationship with a coworker before and wasn't sure what the Yard's policies were about it. Quite frankly, he didn't really care either. But was she looking for a romantic relationship, or was what she wanted purely physical? Alfendi hated not knowing.
"Focus on what you want first Al, then figure out the rest." If he was being honest with himself he really enjoyed their back and forth banter. She's clever and passionate, even if she did grate on his nerves. And she's quite the bombshell. He was going to go for it. It was a win-win no matter what it might be. Of course, he did consider how this would affect their professional relationship. They could talk about that together if things got that far.
During the following weeks Alfendi noticed other little things Hilda did to get his attention, including arguing on points he knew she agreed with just to get him mad at her.
"Clearly it was murder. There's no way he could have thrown himself off a balcony feet first."
"He jumped."
"Then how do you explain the rope tied around his ankles?"
"It was a slipknot! He faked the murder just to get people panicking."
"What about the signs of struggle? Your sequence of events doesn't make any sense."
"If your attention span is as short as your skirt it's no wonder we haven't solved the case yet."
"Well if your wit is as short as your-"
"Hilda, you have five seconds to stop talking before I cut out your tongue."
"Really? You can't differentiate a murder from a suicide, nonetheless get my tongue out of my mouth to cut it off."
"I could pull it out."
"What if I kept my mouth closed?"
Alfendi's voice dropped. "Then I would pin you down and make you scream."
The initial look of surprise on her face was quickly replaced by an unreadable one that sent a shiver down Alfendi's spine.
"I guess you could but I wouldn't make it easy."
"Should've known you'd prefer it the hard way."
"A challenge is always more rewarding in the end." Alfendi was inclined to agree with her. He could learn to like this.
When asked whether or not he saw it coming Justin Lawson would say that the sexual tension in the room was so thick you could hear the crackling in the air. The two of them got together within the next few weeks. Alfendi invited Hilda out for a coffee, despite the fact that he knew she drank tea, which got a laugh out of her. They both argued just as much with each other as ever, but Alfendi supposed some things never did change.
AN: Sorry about the dialogue. I have no experience with how a very angry person might flirt with a coworker, so again, if it sounds like sexual harassment in the workplace I apologize.