Officer Addams was really rather grateful for all his masochistic cardio sessions. If he wasn’t so determined to keep his body as fit as possible and still eat the occasional mountain of chocolate chip pancakes, he might be embarrassed right now. Instead, he actually seemed to be keeping his dignity intact as he raced along the street after a thief. It would’ve been a very different story if the man hadn’t already crashed the bike he’d stolen, of course, but Ez wasn’t exactly looking a gift horse in the mouth. The guy was panting now, so it was only a matter of time.
“Give it up already. I have more stamina than you!” Ez shouted, dodging a woman and her dog. Freeze had fallen on deaf ears four blocks ago. They were coming up on a more crowded stretch of businesses, though. Coffee shops and a mishmash of stores meant the sidewalk ahead of them was littered with people. The thief shoved between two people and aimed for a short metal barrier surrounding a bunch of tables. Ez had his taser out and aimed for the suspect’s back.
“I was hoping we could avoid this, but c’est la vie.” The taser fired two cartridges, electricity sparking.
Isabela was a terrible employee, that much was a fact. Fortunately, that was what made her an ideal secretary for her boss. The fact that she’d gotten bored at work and so decided to close up early wasn’t unusual for her, which was another testament to how awful she actually was. She’d not bothered to set an away message on the office phone line, but she’d at least thought to flip the lights and lock the door before she abandoned her post. She’d ended up at a cafe down the block, entertaining herself by watching a street performer on the sidewalk nearby as she idly passed the time.
The musician had actually packed up half an hour or so before she heard the commotion barreling down the sidewalk. She looked up just in time to hear a familiar voice, popping a leg out to catch the escaping suspect just as the electric cartridges made impact with his back. As he landed, twitching, on the sidewalk, she took a sip of her drink, lifting her eyebrows. “You wanna shoot me with one of those things, Ez? He almost looks like he’s enjoying it.”
Even though Ez was an excellent shot, he was still on the move and the suspect pitching forward just before the taser rounds landed made him think he might’ve missed. The twitching cleared things up. Finally able to take a breath, Ez flashed a toothy grin at Isabela and hoped over the metal railing with ease.
“Of course, signora. I am your humble public servant!” he teased, bowing a little as he holstered his taser. Their more risqué interactions may have been more than a decade ago, but flirting was harmless as far as he was concerned. “But I highly doubt you will commit such a stupid act of petty theft as this miscreant.” He waited until the twitching subsided and then nudged him with a boot before crouching to handcuff his wrists behind his back.
Isabela grinned at that, leaning against the patio railing behind her to observe him. “My favorite humble public servant, too,” she said, grinning. In fairness, she said the same to all of her public servant friends, but that was neither here nor there. It came with the territory of managing to lure men into her net on a pretty frequent occasion, and then being fortunate enough that some of them were fine with the fact that she was only in it for the casual side of things.
“That’s true. My crimes are usually on a much larger scale. Your standard full-scale robberies and villainies.” She gave him an amused, curious, impressed look. “You’re barely having to catch your breath, love. I know firsthand that you’ve got stamina for days, but are you part robot?”
“You have your skills, Isabela. I have mine. Thanks for the assist, by the way.” Reaching over his shoulder with a smirk, Ez clicked the button on the walkie talkie attached to his shoulder and reported his success. Then he requested a squad car come by to pick him up. He and his partner hadn’t taken a divide and conquer approach for the day or anything; he’d simply been on his way in when he’d passed by the crime in progress. “Tell Harrington I’ve already got one more arrest than him today. Addams out,” he finished, letting go of the walkie. He’d need to read the suspect his rights soon, especially with passerby starting to pay attention, but a few more seconds wouldn’t hurt anyone.
“It’s been awhile. You look good.” Ez tipped his head to the side and then forced a knee into the suspect’s back as the man started to wriggle beneath him. That earned him a groan and a muffled complaint. “Did you get a new haircut?”
“I do, thank you!” Isabela responded, a grin still on her face. She was half joking, of course -- she liked to play up her vanity when she could. She found she liked watching him work as he casually chatted with her, and she offered a pleasant smile to the few civilians who paused in their walk. “I did, actually. It was a good length, but it was getting a bit taxing to wash and keep up with. Plus, I needed a change.” She tossed a bit of it over her shoulder, preening.
“Thank you for noticing.” The groan of the suspect under Ez’s knee made for a perfect punctuation for their absurdly mundane topic.
Ez laughed at the absurdity in question and then sobered. Well, “sobered” in the sense that his smile wasn’t a shameless grin.
“It’s my job to notice details, and my pleasure in this case.” He climbed to his feet, dragging the suspect with him. The man cursed and jerked on his arm, but with his hands tied behind his back, it didn’t really do much. Ez smiled a bit more apologetically down at Isabela. “Unfortunately, I need to read this gentleman his rights. I use the term gentleman loosely, of course. He crashed through an old woman’s fence as he fled. Allegedly.”
“Coincidentally, I usually just presume it’s my job to give people things to notice,” she responded, laughing. She offered the cursing criminal an amused look, nodding. “Sure, sure. We don’t want the alleged gentleman to get off on any technicalities. Continue your work, officer. Bring Lee and come get a drink with me soon, okay?”
“I will do my very best.” Ez gave her a little bow. His and Lee’s free time together was about to be back to too little with school starting, but damn if he wasn’t going to make an effort anyway. They could use a drink and a night out. Assuming his husband didn’t balk at it being with a beautiful woman Ez had history with. “Enjoy your...day off?” Ez snorted and nudged the perp towards the curb where a black and white was pulling up.
[OOC: Challenge words were divide + bike + net + entertain + able + theft + abandon + tax + haircut + dignity]