Newly Assigned (Tag: Riku)

Aqua's expression softened. She managed a small smile for her new partner. Another dreamer. Just like she had been. It seemed that the ironies of her day weren't just going to end with a new partner. She was now fitting her ex-partner's role in her becoming a cop, just as Riku had fallen into the same role she had been in. She looked away and cleared her throat. They had to get to the shooting range eventually. He had to test his new gun and she still had to show him around all before her shift ended and her other work began. She would have to shake the new guy so she could go and do her own work on her partner's missing person case.

"I think I know," she said softly.

"We'll try out your gun," Aqua said. "And you can go home. No offense or anything but I don't think your first day is the best day to make you hit the streets."

He would be way too happy to try and prove himself as an officer on his first day, especially after getting his gun and badge. She wasn't about to let that happen. She would ease him into things. Go for collars that were easy to manage. Hopefully Omar and Vantias would keep their noses clean because poor Riku probably didn't have the experience to deal with musicians with bad attitudes and demons who had money to throw around on big lawyers. She tried her best to keep a straight face, not show that she really felt bad that he had to fight so hard to follow his dream. She had done the same.

"This way!" she said, gesturing for him to follow her.

"You could always take it home with you," Aqua said with a sly smile. "If you're that set on doing things by the book."

Aqua picked up a set of goggles for herself. She glanced up at him from behind the tinted yellow glasses. She then fitted a pair of sound proof headphones over here ears so the newbie didn't blow her eardrums. Nothing worse than the sound of bullets reverberating on metal as he tried to hit a target. She offered a second set of headphones for Riku.

"Targets are already lined up in the back. Magazines are in the rack behind us," she explained.

"That's what I thought." she said.

She folded her arms across her chest when he fired, watching his stance. Shoulders squared, eyes open, deep breaths, he had that down. At least she had a partner who knew how to use the weapon. She had been afraid she was going to have to teach him how to use it. Two of three shots. Not bad but not great either. It would definitely be something they would have to work on. But there was plenty of time for that. They had the duration of his ride along to show him the ins and outs of being a BPD officer.

"Then it's yours." she told him. "Glad you're not too picky."

Aqua winced and looked away, feeling another wave of shame crash over her head. Just another thing to chalk up to her list of wonderful failures. She had been that visible, huh? She had tried to make he didn't notice. She tried to be polite. What had she done that made him feel like she was giving him the cold shoulder? She was going to have to work on it, especially if they were going to be together for a while.

"Riku, if it's all the same to you," she said slowly. "I don't want to talk about it."

She offered him the best smile she could as if trying to write off his (accurate) description of how she was acting. She didn't want to get close to this guy. She was afraid of what happened last time, happening again and she did not want to open herself up to that level of hurt again. It nearly destroyed her - what her partner had done. It had destroyed her reputation after all, as a good cop, who fought for the little guy as the defender of justice and keeper of peace. She did not want to drag Riku into that mess either. It was something she had to take care of on her own.

"I've got somewhere to be." she said. "Will you be okay if I drop you off at your desk and see you tomorrow?"

"It's – I just... I have a lot on my mind," Aqua said. "A lot of out of office stuff."

Excuses. But it was a half truth in some aspect. She could at least be partially honest with the guy, even if she didn’t trust him. She was just scared he would turn out like her former partner. Something that seemed too good to be true was too good to be true to the fey. She wasn’t lying about over thinking things. She did have a lot on her mind. The La Llorona killer, the fact they had been booted from the case before spell workers could determine whether the death had been supernatural, her ex-partner, his disappearance, the things he did that she was trying to atone for, this new guy. She was a little overwhelmed. It seems she was just going to have to mask her concerns better, keep it to herself.

She offered Riku a smile, weary and rather thin, but a smile never the less. She led him back through the department, occasionally pointing out things Riku would need to know, like never going to the coffee maker in the office because it tasted like burnt rubber and the grinds remained in the cup no matter how many filters were put in, or that receptionist would help him out with paperwork if he bribed her with some sweets, or to avoid another officer’s desk because it was like a tornado happened and they’d never find him if he got lost near it.

"And these two are ours." She said, gesturing to her neat and orderly desk and the empty one next to it.

The part about being real partners made Aqua's hands clench. This guy knew nothing about what real partners did for each other. He hadn't even been out in the field yet. He didn't know everything that went on out there. That alone was enough to stay her tongue from some quick tempered remark. She went to her desk, fishing a key out of her pocket to unlock the top drawer, which most desks didn't have. But she pulled out a notebook before locking the drawer again.

"Maybe," she said without committing to the answer and quickly moving on. "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow, Riku. And remember, we can't go on patrol until you do your paperwork. It's in your inbox."