A/N: Happy Tuesday, wonderful SVU fans!
Outside on the street once more, the rain had lessened to a fine drizzle. Frannie didn't mind and was already eagerly sniffing the ground, looking for the optimal place to pee.
"So, which way?" Olivia asked, flicking up the hood of her coat to prevent her hair from turning into a fluffy mess.
But before Amanda could answer, Frannie pulled on her leash, indicating to both women which direction their walk was to take. As they fell into step, Amanda tugged her dog back to heal which Frannie obeyed at once now that she knew her outdoor adventure was underway.
"I just take her down to the park at the end of the block. It's fenced in so I can let her off and she won't be able to run into traffic. I mean, she's really good at coming back when I call but I still worry that if she sees a squirrel or a cat that she'll just run off and I'll never be able to catch her."
"Cats and squirrels, huh?" Olivia grinned, peering past Amanda to look at the dog walking obediently by her owner's side. "Sometimes I guess we forget that they're wild animals. They've got such base instincts, haven't they?"
"And great instincts about people too. I'm convinced that Frannie would know if someone was guilty better than a jury most of the time."
"Are you suggesting we replace the criminal justice system with dogs?" Olivia asked, teasingly.
"I mean, it'd be cheaper, right? And more accurate. Although, I have to admit, Frannie and her canine jury members may not be able to tell exactly which crime the person had committed, unless the K9 unit was involved to offer supporting evidence. I think dogs work more on a good or bad vibe. So if someone had done something bad, Frannie would send them down. Only problem is, it might not have been the crime they were accused of. They'd be guilty of something, just maybe not … well, that specific crime."
Olivia chuckled. "It sounds like a great theoretical alternative to a system which clearly doesn't work but I can see a few holes. While I think most people would like the idea of a furry jury, the general public would be less enthused by the idea of people being sent to jail on the hunch of a pooch that the person had done something bad at some point in their life."
"I see your point. It may be flawed. But we can work on it, right?"
Amanda grinned at her walking buddy as she reached the entrance to the park. Bending down, she unclipped Frannie's leash and draped the thin strip of material around her neck as the dog bounded off across the grass.
"You know, I've never been in this park," Olivia remarked as they set off round the perimeter. "I've lived in the city all my life and I've walked past it so many times but never thought to come in."
"One of the perks of having a dog," Amanda said, watching as Frannie greeted a Labrador. "You are forced to explore all of the green spaces in the city. It's an excuse or a reason to be outside too. I know we live in one of the most densely populated cities in the world but there are some great parks and Frannie gives me an excuse to spend time in them."
While she could see the appeal and the reasoning, Olivia decided she'd just make a promise to herself to spend more time taking in the local parks rather than getting a dog herself. This was a decision she quickly came to as she watched Amanda make her way across the grass to pick up the dog poop Frannie had left for her owner to deal with. Olivia wasn't squeamish when it came to crime scenes but the idea of scooping up dog shit made her stomach roil.
"Sorry 'bout that," Amanda said when she re-joined Olivia after depositing the bag in a nearby trash can.
"No problem. It's important to be a responsible dog owner, especially in such a crowded city, as you say."
"Dog mess is gross," Amanda confirmed. "And on that note, let's change the subject."
The two women completed three circuits of the park, Frannie regularly appearing at their sides to check in and remind them that she was present. Conversation flowed between them, covering the cases which they had dealt with that week at work. But by the time they returned to Amanda's apartment building, Olivia was tired of talking shop.
"What do you want for dinner?" she asked as she followed the blonde inside.
"Well, I would offer to cook us something but there are two problems with that."
"And those problems are?"
"My fridge is completely empty," Amanda said as she checked her mailbox, having forgotten to do so on their way up, "and I hate cooking."
Olivia laughed. "Let's order in. Any particular cuisine tickle your fancy?"
"Chinese?" Amanda suggested. "There's a place a few blocks over which I've been meaning to try. But they deliver, so we won't have to go out in that rain again."
The weather had worsened towards the end of their walk and both women were a little damp, despite their coats.
"Well, I'll have to brave it at some point to get home," Olivia pointed out.
"You can always crash at mine," Amanda offered over her shoulder as she climbed up the stairs to her apartment. "I mean, no pressure or anything but it's pretty grim out there and I think they said it was going to get worse. If you wanted to just stay, you're welcome."
The invitation was casual and unassuming, with no hint from the blonde that she was suggesting anything more than allowing Olivia to sleep on her couch to avoid a wet walk home late at night. And yet something inside the older woman coiled, hot and low, in her belly. It was only when she registered the blue eyes peering at her that she realised she hadn't replied.
"Oh, um, thanks. Maybe. Let's see what the weather does. It's not like it's blowing a gale or anything."
"Right," Amanda nodded. "Sure, it's only rain. You probably want to sleep in your own bed after the week we've had, too. Stupid offer, forget I mentioned it."
Busying herself with unlocking the door, Amanda said nothing more as she felt a wave of embarrassment about the off-the-cuff offer. It was foolish. Of course Olivia wouldn't want to sleep on her couch. But you weren't thinking of Olivia on your couch, were you? A voice in Amanda's head unhelpfully piped up. She pursed her lips as she twisted the key, opening the door to let Frannie run inside.
From behind her, Olivia noticed the creep of redness colour the skin of Amanda's neck as they walked back into the blonde's apartment.
"There's a menu on the coffee table," Amanda said, after she'd shucked off her dripping coat and taken Olivia's. "I'll just go and feed the beast so she doesn't bother us."
Olivia crossed over to where Amanda was pointing and found the menu for a Chinese restaurant. Briefly wondering who still leafletted in the days of UberEats and Deliveroo, she sat down on the couch and flicked through the options. The menu was standard and she soon knew she'd order her usual. She turned her attention instead to Amanda's apartment.
A quick look around and Olivia began wondering why Amanda had been so dismissive of her home. True, it was much smaller than her own apartment but it was light and bright. Or at least it would be were it not for the gathering thunderstorm outside. Olivia crossed to the window and looked up at the dark sky. Raindrops pelted against the glass, their relentless, unpredictable thuds warning her not to step back onto the street any time soon. She lowered the blind, blocking out the night which was descending into a miserable December evening and continued her appraisal of the space.
She could see Amanda's personality everywhere, she realised. The décor, the furnishings, the colours. And the photos. On one wall hung several framed photographs. Crossing to examine them in more detail, Olivia found herself face to face with Amanda through the ages. A girl who could only be the detective sat with another blonde girl, no more than six years old, in a little wading pool on scorched earth in, presumably, a Georgian back yard. There was another photo of Amanda with a puppy, a young teenager with her arms wrapped around the dog's middle. Amanda appeared again in her prom dress, standing alongside half a dozen couples. Amanda was the only teenager without a date. She could see, even through the photograph, the tinge of sadness in the young woman's eyes.
"Don't worry, I got laid that night," Amanda said as she returned from her kitchen with two beers.
Olivia took her drink and clinked it against the neck of Amanda's bottle. "Last minute date?"
"Hardly," Amanda scoffed. "Taking a chick to the prom in Atlanta twenty years ago wasn't really an option for me. I had a girlfriend but we weren't exactly public. In fact," Amanda added, turning to the picture and pointing to a dark haired girl at the far end of the line of friends, "Liz took Chuck as her beard." The blonde's fingernail tapped the tall, scrawny boy standing next to her then girlfriend. "I wasn't bothered about pretending to be dating someone else and making people think I was straight but I accepted that Liz wasn't comfortable coming to prom with me. All that mattered was that we got to spend the night together and we did. I think Chuck knew all along that he wasn't going to get any and he bailed early in the night. High school prom, eh, what memories."
"I can barely remember mine."
"Oh come on, you're not that old!" Amanda laughed.
"Hey!" Olivia protested. "I meant because I drank so much, not because I'm senile. Thanks for the vote of confidence, 'friend'."
Amanda took a swig of her beer and gestured to the couch. "So, did you take a date to your prom?"
"I did," Olivia nodded. "My boyfriend at the time. He was one of my mother's students. I thought I was in love with him. We were engaged, actually."
"What?" Amanda's eyes blew wide with surprise. She had assumed Olivia had never been married but she didn't know the woman had been close.
"It wasn't serious. Well, I guess I thought it was at the time but I was a kid. We got engaged when I was sixteen. I thought it was love but in reality I think I just knew the relationship would piss my mother off and that was the attraction of the relationship. And, boy, did it piss her off. She attacked me with a broken vodka bottle when she found out. But we stayed together, although we had to hide our relationship from then on. The engagement dissolved when I went to college and met Tina. I supposed I came to the realisation that I had a lot to learn about myself. I broke it off and I guess you could say I had a pretty typical 'finding myself' college experience. I certainly emerged more enlightened than when I entered."
The fact that that enlightenment pertained predominantly to her sexuality was unspoken but understood. Amanda could relate to that exact experience, although hers had been a few years earlier. She remembered the moment it clicked for her that she was attracted to women rather than men, or girls rather than boys, since she was only fourteen at the time. With so little information and exposure to the possibility and the viability of same sex relationships, the realisation for her had taken some time to become comfortable with. But by the time she was seventeen, she had accepted the fact that she was gay and even hoped that her father may be coming around to the idea. Her mother, on the other hand, was adamant that Amanda was just going through a phase. She wondered briefly what Olivia's mother thought of her daughter's bisexuality.
"So, shall we place that Chinese order?" Olivia asked, reminded that they were both hungry as Frannie emerged from the kitchen, licking her lips where remnants of her doggy dinner lingered.
"Sure," Amanda nodded, picking up the menu as the dog climbed up onto the couch. "Oh, damn it, Frannie, get off. Please behave yourself while we have a guest. At least pretend I don't let you climb all over the furniture."
The dog stayed put, sitting between the two women and cocking her head at her owner, clearly confused as to what was being asked of her but eager to please.
"Don't worry," Olivia chuckled. "As long as she doesn't eat my spring rolls."
"She won't but I might," Amanda replied, picking up her phone to place their order.
"Order your own. I won't share my spring rolls with people or dogs. No matter how cute they are," she added as Frannie turned her head to gaze at her, mournful brown eyes burning into her own.
"You won't share with cute dogs or cute people?" Amanda asked. "Either way, I'm offended."
"You're cute, Amanda, but you can still order your own spring rolls."
"I'm cute, huh?" Amanda asked, left eyebrow arched teasingly.
"Shut up and place the order," Olivia dismissed even as her cheeks felt hot.
A/N: We're getting there!