"Cadash, you can't just walk out with evidence like that!" Rainier grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
"Like Hell I can't, Captain!" She kept walking, dragging the poor police captain along.
"Anais, wait–"
"You just can't fucking believe Janeka was a crooked cop, can you?" Cadash rounded on him after wriggling out of his grip. "She kept her palms greased, you can write that shit down."
Thom scowled, pulling his arm back. "Then why was she so intent on stopping this guy?"
"He was getting people killed. Kids even." She fixed him with a cold look. "Dr. Corrin Fius, the chemist with the multimillion dollar cancer drug deal. That's his name by the way. Couldn't tell you that with the fuckers in the other room listening in. He's got both hands in the cookie jar if you know what I mean. Especially now that Janeka's not around to stop him."
"How do you even know all this?"
"Gotta keep up with the competition, Thom. The little guys help out sometimes, and the cops take down the big guys hogging up the market." Anais shoved her ungloved hands ungraciously into the pockets of her brown overcoat.
The wind picked up, sending flurries of snow past them both.
"Do you want to go somewhere else and talk about this?" Thom shivered, stiffly looking down at her. He was wearing layers but still the chill went right through him. Anais must have been made of stone to not feel it. "Maybe get a cup of coffee?"
Anais put a chilly red hand to her heart, scandalized. "Is this a date, Rainier?"
"No. It's just that it's cold, and you're not wearing any gloves or a scarf or anything, and I'm freezing. You can't possibly be warm in just your coat."
"Maker's balls, Thom.." The epithet was hissed under her breath, and she began to laugh, a low noise he didn't recognize the sound of, never having heard her genuine laughter before, "You're babbling. If you're really that worried for me, we can go to a cafe or something."
Thom's ears burned red despite the cold, and he hoped she only took it as being windblown. "Of course I'm worried. You seem to be the only one giving out the info we need. Anais, you want the guy who killed Janeka found, I get it, and the only way we can do that is with everything you can tell us."
"Alright, alright. I can get you all the information you want. C'mon, I know a place that serves great coffee."
She took his hand, and the flush spread down his neck, along with the warmth. "You should wear gloves. Your hands are like ice."
"I could say the same for you, Rainier. Your meaty palms are freezing too."
"Well, I didn't get the chance to get anything on my hands since I was trying to catch up to you. How do you even manage to move so fast in those shoes?"
Anais laughed again, swinging her – and his – hand. "Loads of practice."
Thom glanced down the street, to make sure no one was watching. "Why does that sound like something you shouldn't be telling me because it's illegal?"
"Since when is running in heels illegal, Captain?" The dwarf glanced over her shoulder at him, a mischievous grin evident across her lips.
"It's not illegal unless you're running from the police." Thom met her gaze, trying hard to maintain a stoic expression but failing. "And I know you like to send the boys on wild goose chases."
"Because it's funny." She added, her smirk widening to a full fledged grin.
He shook his head. "I really shouldn't be hanging around with you. I could lose my job."
"Don't be such a baby. This is out of work." Anais jabbed him with a pointed finger, square in the chest. "You're off the clock, and so am I."
"And what is with this?" He raised his hand, still clutched in hers.
"Keeping my poor widdle fingers warm, Rainier. Your giant hands work perfectly to block the wind. You can let go if you want."
There was a beat of silence where she was waiting for him to either let go or say he didn't mind. That specific moment never came; instead, Thom's grip tightened only a fraction. Anais pretended not to notice.
The 'cafe' Anais dragged him to was a dump; even worse than a dump, actually. He was sure the place should have been shut down ages ago, the way it looked now. At least it was nearly deserted. Even the waitstaff knew not to be around too often, and for that he was grateful, despite the fact this was probably a front for some shifty business or another. Anais was slurping down some frothy drink with extra whipped cream, where Thom stuck with the simple black coffee, two sugars. The redhead had made a face.
"Live a little, you big lug. Coffee is only good if it's got half a bottle of whiskey in."
"I need to stay sharp, Cadash. Not everything has to be fancy."
She mimicked him into her latte, somehow managing to get whipped cream all over her face. Thom leaned across the table to wipe her face clean for her without thinking about it, and the color of the dwarf's face went from pink to full on red.
"Are you okay?"
Anais' response was a little choked, and she shoved his hand away before he could reach her cold face. "Yeah, shit, Thom, I'm fine." A small hand with nails bitten to the quick wiped at the mess on her lips, and the dwarf forced her gaze elsewhere. "I'm fine."
"Cadash?" Rainier spoke quietly, leaning across the table, the coffee at his elbow.
Anais looked up at him, her fingertips still curled by her mouth, half expecting –almost wishing, even – him to say something romantic. "What?"
"Are you going to give me back the photo or not?" He held out his hand, expectantly.
"Shit, okay, fine, whatever." The redhead fumbled in one of her oversized pockets before pulling out the picture, folded neatly into fourths. She placed it in his palm, and he closed his fingers around it.
"Thank you, Anais. It's nice to know you're good for some things."
"Thanks, Thom. You know just what to say to a woman to get her going." Cadash rolled her eyes, and slid a little in the booth. "It's almost like you do care."
Thom clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth as he absently stirred his cooling coffee. "This place really is dead at night, huh?"
"Yeah." Anais was watching his hand move, still distracted. "It doesn't help the waitress probably smelled a pig as soon as you stepped into the place."
Rainier wasn't listening, too busy trying to focus on looking out the window behind Anais, a hand absently scratching at his five o clock shadow growing in, instead of on the redhead chewing her nails in front of him. "Snow's stopped."
"Good. You gonna walk me home, Captain?" She finished her drink, a bit of foam still on her lips.
This time it was Thom's turn to stare, his coffee all but forgotten beside him. "Do you want me to?"
"Yeah. It's almost two am. I could use the company." Anais stood, rubbing her arms with her hands. "Still fucking freezing too."
"Think any taxis run this late?"
"Around here? Not a fucking chance, Rainier." She had leaned against the booth's edge, as he stood up close to her.
"Shit. How many blocks is it to your place?" Thom wedged his hands into his own pockets.
"A good few. We can talk on the way." Anais gave him a teasing smile, and he leaned in closer. "You weren't hoping to get lucky, were you?"
"With you?" Rainier laughed, a forced one that left his chest aching in more ways than one.
When the Captain laughed, so did Anais. Her smile didn't even reach her eyes; first giveaway she was faking. "Yeah, right."
When they were walking out after Thom had left a crumpled twenty dollar bill on the table, they didn't notice the camera flash somewhere behind them. Rainier was too busy trying to pretend Anais was simply also pretending to care about him to get into his good graces in case this whole shebang fell down around her ears. Her hand, however, was warm in his despite the slush on the ground that stuck to their shoes.