Resolutions

Chapter 3: Just Another Day at the Office

The following evening, walking into the precinct with his light up sweater blinking out "Kiss me under the mistletoe" in alternating green and red LEDs across the chest and a spring of actual, prickly mistletoe stitched to the knitted hem so it fell just above his waist, Connor felt better than he had in awhile. Especially with Mace at his side in his own matching shirt, black thread with the simple word "DON'T" cross stitched into it in bold, abrasive, capital letters right across his accentuated biceps were the unfortunate threads stretched tight against the broad muscles and clung to each other for dear life.

The detective hadn't been to a station Christmas party in years; but stepping into the DPD that Christmas Eve, the forgotten memories swept back to him in a warm flood, seeping into his veins to ward off the chill of the season and bring the beginnings of a smile to his face. Multicolored Christmas lights hung from the ceiling in heavy drapes and trimmed the edges of the office space to blink to a bright, joyous rhythm no one could hear, casting the whole room in their welcoming glow. A large, shimmering glass bowl filled to the brim sat atop one of the cleared desks in the middle of the room, the liquid inside snow white and too thick to see through, heavy and flat so it looked more like an ice rink had been poured into the bowl than an actual drink. Red, flowing ribbon hung from the desk but whoever had been charge of shouldn't have been as every drape was a different length than the rest and they'd rationed it wrong so the cloth only stretched to cover half of the table.

The rest of the station's employment wandered around the area slowly, just having come off the clock and not really settled into the swing of the festivities yet most likely. Captain Thorn was still there even, visible through the clear glass walls of her office where she could be seen gathering up her bag in preparation to head home for the evening.

Part of Connor wished he were preparing to head home for the evening too, wanting nothing more than to just curl on his couch against his android's side and flick on some crappy Christmas drama; but a stronger, more determined, part of him insisted that Mace deserved a better Christmas Eve than that. So, here he was.

"Yo, Connor, you actually came!" Jerome Booker's familiar voice met the detective's ears and he turned to see his friend coming toward them, broad smile set against surprised eyes. The man was wearing a simple red sweater with white cross stitch deers prancing around the hem, an inadequate choice beside Connor and Mace's own amazing attire if you asked the human in question.

"I thought you said you had something to do?" Jerome asked chipperly when he drew to a halt just in front of the pair, completely oblivious to the fact that he'd just blown Connor's cover as the detective felt the undeniable sensation of Mace's familiar is that so? eyes settle onto him, knowing they were gouging into his head without having to turn and see. Thank you, Booker.

"Yeah, well, it..." Connor began haltingly, carefully keeping his eyes on Jerome and not Mace's demanding orbs boring into the back of his skull like a drill from the advanced medical techniques of olden times. "Got cancelled." The human settled on stiffly, trying not to inwardly groan at how stupidly unbelieve it sounded to even in his own ears.

"Well, I'm glad you changed your mind." Booker blew right past the pathetic excuse with a warm smile, not even bothering to pretended he believed it for a moment. The detective would be lying if he said he didn't appreciate the realness the man kept with him, never once dancing around his flimsy excuses or paper thin lies in all the years he'd known the officer.

"Me too." Connor lied flatly, letting his eyes flit around the room to try and convince himself of his own words as Jerome chuckled warmly and slammed his hand companionably into the detective's back, nearly sending the lithe male stumbling. It wasn't awful, just not exactly the first place he'd choose to be.