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“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Miles asked as he climbed into the passenger seat of their cruiser, settling in with a paper bag of donuts and passing over the coffee for Waylon. Cream and sugar already in the mix. Miles enjoyed his brew nice, black and bitter. Making Waylon shudder at the very thought of drinking it like that but after so many years together, he had gotten used to it. It fit who Miles was. Besides, the last thing his spaztastic partner needed was more sugar. Which was one of the reasons Waylon banned him from eating powdered sugar donuts in the cruiser. Not daring to remark on the fact it made him look like he snorted coke and it got all over their uniforms.
“Well, we gotta visit your favorite person in the whole world.” Waylon said as he tipped the coffee cup to draw a nice long sip from it, releasing an even longer satisfied sigh afterwards causing Miles to roll his eyes. His adjusted the windows which had been cracked to let some of the warmer air pass through the cruiser before pulling out of the parking lot at Lisa’s Cafe.
Miles glanced over while he munched on a jelly filled glazed donut this time, inspecting his partner’s bandaged cheek and the multiple smaller cuts on his hands that were littered in band-aids. He took note of the careful way Waylon gripped the steering wheel with one hand while the other set his coffee aside in the center console cup holder. “You sure you don’t want that leave of absence the Chief offered?”
“No Miles. I’m fine.” Waylon say sharply. It was a topic that Miles had been bothering him with for the last day or so since the incident with the blade wielding junky. Waylon declined it rather quickly despite being a bit shook up. The Chief ordered them both off patrol for a day as they filed reports in house and did stack after stack of paperwork after telling the Chief and lieutenants everything that had happened from the point of taking the dispatch call to when the second squad arrived on scene. It was a very long and dull day but it gave both officers some time to regroup before heading back out on patrol the very next day. That was all Waylon really needed. He wasn’t going to let a couple scratches deter him from doing his duties.
“Hm, atta boy Way Way.” Miles chimed proudly. “Way to tough it out.” He ruffled up the lithe male’s blonde locks in praise. This time it was Waylon’s turn to roll his eyes. He returned full attention back on the road as they cruised down main street, stopping to chat with a couple folks who waved at them from the side walks. Some had little kids too young to be in preschool but old enough to know who they were. Miles grinned and had Waylon pull up to the sidewalk close enough for him to dig a stuffed animal police dog out of a plastic baggy he kept in the glove compartment. Handing it over to the kids. A lot of emergency vehicles kept stuffed animals for children who were involved in emergency scenes to help comfort them. Miles just enjoyed handing them out to the little ones.
He even paid out of his own check each month to restock the cruiser with different ones from a police memorabilia website. They were only a couple bucks so it wasn’t a big deal in Miles’ eyes. This was one of the reasons Waylon idolized his partner. Not only was he such a strong and determined person but he took his job seriously and actually cared about the little people in their jurisdiction. He adored the public and his energetic demeanor made him a hit with kids most of all.
It was nearing noon when they made their rounds out to a construction site where a handful of guys worked hard in the warm afternoon autumn sun to get all four walls and a roof put on a new building just outside of town. They were rushing to beat the first snowfall to get this project done for the buyers. Some big wig from the city had purchased a large plot of land and planned to build god knows what on it. So far the only thing it was looking like was a giant warehouse in the middle of the woods. Supposedly it was a special clinic that used the therapeutic surroundings of the mountains and woodlands to heal their patients. It was enough to make Waylon and Miles roll their eyes when someone back at the precinct talked about it. So far everything was just conjecture without substance to it. Rumors and bets being made by the other staff members there.
The reason they were all the way out here at a construction site was simple. They were following up on the report Mr. Gluskin made a couple days ago. Mr. Walker was supposed to be working this site today meaning Officer Park and Officer Upshur could catch him on a lunch break to have a nice little chat about the allegations against him.
It wasn’t very hard to spot their subject as they climbed out of the cruiser. Waylon gesturing for Miles to take the lead since he had the most history dealing with Mr. Walker. Even though it wasn’t always positive, Miles was the only one to get Chris to talk. Waylon suspected it was cause Chris had a little crush on him which drove Miles up a wall whenever Waylon teased him about it. Chris had been carrying six massive wooden boards on his shoulders by himself. These same boards that took two average sized men to carry two at a time. He easily deposited them in a stack that was inside the building, making sure they’re out of the weather. The forecast said it was supposed to rain the next morning and it just wouldn’t do if their wood got soaked in it.
As the hulking mass of a man straightened up and turned to face the pair of approaching officers, his lips pulled into a wide grin when he recognized Miles among them. The man was a solid wall of muscle that even dwarfed Eddie Gluskin. Waylon couldn’t really imagine Eddie having a relationship with a man like this. They were polar opposites in personality. Sheer body size would be the only reason those two would be compatible. He felt like if an average sized person paired up with Chris, he’d probably end up badly harming them. Waylon shook off those thoughts and forced himself to get back into his professional mindset. He stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his police coat and stood beside Miles, glancing over the construction site and seeing all the men hard at work taking a lunch break, sitting on the backs of their trucks and on stacks of brick loads.
“Lookie here.” Chris barked in delight as Miles stood before him, one hand resting on his belt casually as he looked the considerably larger male up and down. “Hey there Little Pig. What brought you all the way out here?” Chris teased, both of his hands on his hips as his lips pulled back into a large smile. He had a towel wrapped around his shoulders and his tan shirt soaked in sweat as well as the short brown crop of hair atop his head, all from a hard day’s work. Even though it was autumn, the sun was out shining through the greying cloud coverage and the breeze was relatively meek for the season. Waylon was thankful for the warmer temperatures. He despised the cold and right now this was bordering on the lower line of tolerable.
“I hear you’ve been causing trouble in town again Chris.” Miles spoke in a hard, to the point professional tone. Putting on his hardass bad cop facade. Waylon didn’t know why he even bothered. It just screamed for Chris to mess with him even more. Right on cue, Chris’ brown eyes lit up with a sudden spark of mischief as he folded his arms in front of his chest, flexing his large biceps. Pushing the sleeves of his t-shirt to their stretching limits. It was a wonder he could find a shirt that didn’t burst around his body at the slightest flex or motion.
Waylon noted the military tattoo on his left bicep peeking out from beneath the thin material of the male’s sleeve. Some days the smaller blonde officer forgot that Chris had once served his country. That he wasn’t always a construction worker. Heck, even before his construction job, he worked security for a nearby factory before they made cut backs due to budgeting problems. He was drawn out of his thoughts once more as Chris spoke. “Trouble? Hm, the only trouble I see is the Little Pig standing in front of me.” The male laughed, making Miles’ roll his eyes. His shoulders tensed each time that little nickname was tossed around. Miles never really seemed angry about it but it got to him in some way. Waylon just couldn’t figure out why.
“Come now Chrissy,” That made Chris drop his smile and narrow his eyes at Miles. The brunette officer’s own expression changed, turning up into a smirk. The satisfaction pulling at the corners of his lips. It was in no way professional conduct but certainly all Miles. It was the sort of 'relationship’ these two had. Always squawking back and forth at each other. Pecking and prodding for a reaction. It looked like insults but in truth it was all a game to these two. Despite appearances to the contrary. “I’m talking about when you graffitied Mr. Gluskin’s shop. That jogging your memory a bit? Or do i need to work a little harder to get it through that thick skull of yours?”
“Watch it Little Piggy.” Chris spoke sharply, his features hard and stoic. The look of a marine but his eyes had a playful spite in them as he leaned in closer to Miles so only the three of them could hear what came next. A promise with a witness. “One of these days I’m going to enjoy making you squeal.” A light flush of pink spread across Miles’ features taking him completely off guard with that comment. Chris straightened up and barked with laughter at the brunette’s reaction. It pulled the attention of nearby workers to stare at the trio and wonder what they were talking about. “As far as Eddie’s concerned, that wasn’t me. I’d heard about it but I was out of town working another site that whole weekend. My boys can vouch for me and if you don’t believe them, my boss has my schedule and clocking notices.”
Miles frowned at the male’s words and sighed. “Fine. I’ll be getting ahold of your supervisor.” He ran his fingers through his disheveled brown locks to draw them out of his face as a gust of wind kicked up suddenly. “That’s all for now. You’re free to go.” He waved Chris off as he turned away and started heading back to the cruiser. Leaving Waylon to sheepishly bid the larger male farewell with a courteous nod.
As they were about to get into the cruiser, Chris’ voice piped up in a carefree manner, drawing both Waylon and Miles to look as the ex-marine waved at them. ”Bye Little Pig! Stop by anytime. I’m always up for a chat.” He gave a toothy smile that made Miles shudder as he climbed into the cruiser. Urging Waylon to do the same so they could leave already.
Unlike the prior meeting with Eddie, Miles remained quiet as he backed the cruiser out of the parking space and headed back to the main road to continue on their way back to town. Miles gave a quick glance at the clock and updated dispatch on their activity, letting them know they had finished speaking with a suspect. When dispatch cleared and tagged it with a time, Waylon looked over at his partner and questioned. “Lunch?”
Miles considered this for but a second before giving a jerky nod of affirmation. “Yeah. Lunch sounds good.”