Mike was decidedly satisfied when he entered the bullpen the next morning, his partner already sitting at his desk working away on a report.
"What got into you lately? You're not turning into an early bird on me, are you?"
Looking up from his typewriter to face the Lieutenant, Steve smiled and shook his head, before reaching for his coffee cup.
"No. Still a night owl. I just never went to sleep."
"Never went to sleep?", raising his eyebrows as he stopped near the doorframe to his office to hang up his black overcoat and fedora, Mike frowned and reached for a coffee cup, "What are you doing? You need to get some sleep. Otherwise you're going to start making mistakes."
"Always worried about the investigation, always worried…", Steve teased in return, a warm and unusually relieved smile on his face that instantly raised Mike's suspicion.
As he enjoyed the first precious sips of fresh coffee, the Lieutenant made a beeline for his partner's desk, before grinning broadly.
"So, who is she?"
"Aww, Mike, come on now.", Steve whined in return and gestured toward his office, "I thought we have a murder to solve?"
"It's the girl from the DMV, isn't it?"
Upon her mentioning, Steve's smile turned into a grimace and he shook his head.
"Not even close. I could tell you that she tried to come after me again yesterday but you wouldn't believe me anyways."
"No, no I probably wouldn't. So, who is this new lady? You know better than to fool me with innocence. After three years of this monkey business, I know well enough how much you treasure your sleep. Who is she that she's keeping you awake all night? Must be a pretty special one."
Realizing that he was pinned in place by the man who could pry the truth out of practically anybody he'd set his sights on, Steve groaned in defeat, before leaning back in his office chair.
"She's not my lady friend. She's just my neighbor, Mike. Been living there for over quite a while now…at least compared to the other tenants. Her and I hang out at times. We talk. It seems to…I don't know…help both of us out in a strange sort of way."
"She's the lady you said is a nurse at…which one was it again? At Franklin?"
"Yes, that's the one."
Steve fell quiet for a moment when his mind drifted back to the many topics Lydia and he discussed last night, countless of them he rarely spoke to anybody about. Noting his quietness, Mike kept his curious eyes trained on his partner for a few more seconds, before cocking his head in understanding.
"Well, that must be some conversation you guys were having to last all night."
"Mhm hm. Something like that.", Steve countered cryptically and pointed his chin toward the pile of files waiting on his partner's desk, "Hey listen, we got some stuff back from R&I on both of our requests. Once you're settled in, let's go over it for a minute, see what you think."
"Well, sounds like I better get to work then, Inspector…"
Mike patted his partner's cheek teasingly and straightened back out to head toward his office. Halfway there, he turned around again, a facetious smile on his face.
"Say, you sure this isn't turning into something romantic, Buddyboy?"
Returning his question with an annoyed scowl, Steve shook his head.
"Michael, she's got thirty years on me. Can we get going now? Please?"
