jayceelawrence (jayceelawrence) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-04-13 19:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | #october 2017, jared, jared x jc |
Who: JC & Jared
What: Lunch
Where: Police station cafeteria
When: Tuesday, 10/17, noon
Status: Complete
Jared’s Tuesday shift started at one and he came in a little early to get ready and get a headstart on his paperwork. So much paperwork. He had driven past the Rogan house on his way in and it left him feeling a little unsettled. It hadn’t been his case but it was a memorable one and he was itching to talk to Ty about how the Rogans had just disappeared after that very strange domestic incidence. Of course Ty wasn’t at the station so he’d have to wait to talk about it but that just made it weigh more heavily on his mind.
He changed into his uniform and then headed to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee, spotting JC in there, probably on her lunch break. “Hey JC,” he said jovially. They were already on friendly terms thanks to her wonderful dinner invitation and he quite liked her so far. He made a beeline for the coffee maker, then brought his cup over to join her at her table. “Getting chilly out,” he sighed, resting his elbows on the table and sipping his coffee.
JC had really settled into her job and the town over the past two weeks, she did some more research on the history of the town and region to get an idea of what to expect and some of what she had read caused even her eyebrows to quirk in surprise, like the fact that the town seemed to ‘celebrate’ and commercialize the murders of people believed to be witches each year. She was still in two minds about the upcoming festival, it would be interesting to look at but at the same time, while Hoodoo wasn’t ‘real’ magic, growing up when she did, she loathed discrimination and persecution of any kind and inviting so called witches back to a town that had put them to death just didn’t seem right to her.
She had taken her allotted lunch break and was sitting in the small staff cafeteria over a Tupperware container of beef stew when Jared walked into the room. “Good day Jared.” She replied as he walked to the coffee maker and smiled as he sat down at the table with her. “Anything below seventy could be considered ‘chilly’ to us southerners.” JC added with a wink, it was refreshing to have someone to talk to who understood the vast differences in life between the north and south of the country, even with something as mundane as the weather. “I’m told that not even my time in Chicago or Rhode Island is going to prepare me for a Maine winter. How many years did it take you to acclimatize? Or still getting there?”
"Ain't that the truth," Jared chuckled. "It took a while," he admitted then. "I gotta say I was surprised by how much I liked the snow, it doesn't feel as cold when it snows and it's real pretty." He did good in the Maine winters all things considered but he knew it was in large thanks to the high quality winter clothing he'd gotten himself. "Don't try and save money when you get yourself a winter coat, that's all the advice I can offer. Oh well, that and thermal underwear."
“Snow can be pretty, just not in large amounts or with wind. First place I worked that had a decent snowfall was Chicago, it was really pretty when it was snowing but when the winds blew across Lake Michigan I swear the temperature dropped like twenty degrees in a matter of minutes. You quickly learned to keep a spare jacket in your locker, just in case.” JC ate another spoonful of her stew. “There are a few things you don’t want to be cheap on - seasonal clothing and work shoes are at the top of that list. And don’t worry Jared, I have got plenty of warm woolen sweaters in my closet.” She chuckled and then added in a softer tone. “I should knit you and Ty matching caps for Christmas, or sooner if it starts getting too cold. Why you men have your hair so short is beyond me!”
Matching caps was so dorky Jared instantly loved it. He laughed and nodded. "That'd be sweet of you," he said, even if he had plenty of hats already. She was right about the short hair and he loved his hats on the coldest days. Leaving the gym was the worst, it got so hot in there, coming outside to the frost was a shock to the system. "You're gonna have a blast when we get the wind in from the ocean. Hope you got a car you can warm up before you leave the house!"
A lot of male officers that she had worked with over the years had their heads shaved or were bald, so maybe it was a male cop thing but who was she to judge someone by their looks. JC would find a nice patterned design for a hat and it wouldn’t take her long to knit one up, she already had a project that she kept under her desk to work on when things got quiet. “I’ll have a look through my yarn stash, I’m sure there’s something in there that’d make a fine pair of hats.” Something that was not black, navy or drab, winter needed color. “I know all about those ocean blasts, Rhode Island gets them as well. As for my car, I’ve had the heating checked and a full service to make sure that I won’t break down in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a blizzard. I learned that mistake the hard way.” Except it wasn’t really a blizzard, just a darn cold winter’s evening after work.
"If you do get stuck just make sure you always have your phone with you," Jared told her. "We'll come pick you up and get your car running." Of course that was what everyone should do if they were stranded and possibly in danger - call the police, get rescued. "And maybe don't go driving in the middle of nowhere during a blizzard again," he added with a bit of a grin. "Where the hell were you going last time?" He got up to refill his cup but it wasn't exactly far away so they could continue the conversation as he moved around.
“It’s a big change from water rescues just because some moron didn’t learn not to drive through flood waters, doesn’t it?” JC said, having done way too many during her time in the force, all because people didn’t listen to the warnings and thought they were superior and that the rules didn’t apply to them. “I was trying to get home, they sent us all home early because of the bad weather but didn’t realize that it had already hit the eastern parts, which happened to be where I lived. The engine cut out in an abandoned industrial area that was along my usual route, I called but it still took them a bit to get to me but I was prepared, I always carry at least one blanket in my trunk and in the past few years I’ve started carrying those instant hand warmers as well, just in case it happens again.” Or to keep tranquilized were-snakes warm until the morning. “I just wrapped myself up and waited.”
"People will always think the laws of nature somehow don't apply to them," Jared sighed. "It's one thing to get caught out in the unexpected but some days you tell'em to not go out in that weather, the fog is too thick for driving, there's ice under the snow so stay at home if you don't have good tires... And people still go out just for a pack of smokes or something trivial like that." He'd seen plenty of that as a cop, both in Maine and Texas. It was a pretty universal thing, sadly. People being stupid.
“And puttin’ innocent people in danger trying to rescue their stupid asses.” JC waved her fork in Jared’s direction, having almost finished her lunch. “But enough about the idiots of the world, how are you going? No one givin’ you any problems? ‘Cause you know I ain’t gonna let anyone bad-mouth my boys!” She had grown protective of most of the officers at the station already and if anyone was giving any of them problems she’d deal with them, in her own special way. It also amused her just how much more her Southern accent slipped out when she was around Jared.
Jared had to laugh at that though he truly appreciated it. "You know," he said as he leaned in a little closer. "I think they're all being on their best behavior since you started here so you don't gotta worry none." It had been hard to imagine anyone replacing Rose as their dispatcher, she had been like a mother to them - grandma to some - always bringing them food and checking up on them. So far JC was doing a good job of it. She wasn't like Rose at all but she did bring that protective warm feeling the other woman done and it felt like it was restoring some balance to the station. "I'm doing good though, a little uh baffled. I don't know how much you heard about the Rogan case, it all happened before you got to town."
“Good to hear. But if anyone does start causin’ trouble you let me know, I’ve got a knack for dealin’ with busybodies. And don’t you worry, it’s all legal.” JC winked, there was no laws saying she couldn’t use her Hoodoo skills. Finishing her last few mouthfuls of stew, she got up to wash her bowl and fork. “Rogan... that’s the case of spousal assault where both parties seem to have mysteriously vanished into thin air, am I correct?” She did have a look through some of the recent open cases, thinking that maybe a fresh set of eyes might help, though this one was strange, even by her standards -- for both the husband and wife to just disappear and no records of them to be found other than what was at this station had JC wondering what kind of forces were at play here. “I must confess I did have a peek at the file, as it’s still classed as open and all. What seems to be baffling you, other than the whole strange affair?”
"Nothing new as such," Jared said with a little shrug. "The whole thing is just strange. Their house has been sold so I guess it just feels weirdly final. Ty worked that case and I know he and Barrett were scratching their heads over it." He didn't know how to explain it, nobody did. Mr. and Mrs. Rogan had simply vanished and Jared felt like - as law enforcement - they should be privvy to know what had happened. "The only logical thing I can think of is some kind of a witness protection program but who knows, the whole thing just rubs me the wrong way.”
The house selling could be the end of it all, or the beginning if there was some other force behind it, normally JC put domestic assaults down to human nature but sometimes they were not human in nature at all, though she'd only encountered a few cases of other worldly causes. “Not a house I'd want to buy but I'm sure the agent didn't share the history with the buyer.” Then again they rarely did. “Could be witness protection, but what were they witness to that required a woman to be pulled from hospital and a man from police custody?” Or something more sinister happened to them. “But try not to stress about it too much Jared, you don't need wrinkles or grey hair.”
"Oh they'll come no matter what I do," Jared replied with a grin. "But you're right, no use rushing them." He ran his hand over his hair as if it could magically make it stay dark. "I did find a gray hair in my beard recently. I blame the divorce." Here was to hoping Ty was rejuvenating him, it certainly felt like he was. "It'll be interesting to see who's moving in, but yeah they probably don't know what went down. In this town they'll hear about it soon enough."
“Oh, don't I know it! My hair isn't naturally this color y’know.” JC ran a hand over her hair which was a series of tight plaits in a dark reddish color, clearly not natural but she didn't care if someone knew that she dyed her hair, it'd be hard to find a woman her age who didn't dye at least every once in a while. “Pluck ‘em out, teach it a lesson cause the old wives tale that two will grow back is a big fat lie.” JC had noticed a bit of a spring in Jared's step but she didn't know him before, so maybe it was always there. “Wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the place, if only to keep the Looky Lou's away.”
"That list of places we need to be on extra lookout for is just getting longer and longer," Jared sighed. "It'd be nice to solve one of our cases for a change, catch the vandals and put down that animal that's stalking the place. Shorten that list a little." It was beginning to feel like every week brought a new place for them to circle, look out for the cemetery because of the vandals, look out for Ludlow because of upcoming Halloween, look out for the Zinneman house. "Oh well, at least it keeps us busy."
“At least it’s not as long as the lists I’ve seen in some of the cities, you’d spend your whole shift just driving around checkin’ them all out.” The big cities were crazy places and JC was glad that she had moved away from them after her time in Chicago, too much crime and too many people doing stupid things. Despite the reputation Point Pleasant seemed to have she was liking it so far, her colleagues were nice and most of the town folk seemed to be too, other than a few glances from a few people when she had first arrived. “That it does, better busy than sitting around day in and day out twiddlin’ our thumbs.” She looked down at her watch. “And I should really be lettin’ you start your shift. Just think, when it’s all over you’ve got a hunky man you can go home to, don’t I wish I had that.” JC smirked and chuckled softly. Jared and Ty really were lucky to have each other.
Jared laughed at her choice of words though she was damn right, Ty was a hunky man. "Still wish I could patrol with him," he sighed then. "We've always worked well together." He got up to put his cup away then adjusted his radio. "Nice chattin' with ya, JC. You let me know if you need anything. Ty and I are just a phone call away."
Maybe one day the ‘powers to be’ would let them patrol together time would tell. JC had worked with many couples over the years but it seemed to be a common regulation, though she hadn't worked with such a small station in many years. “Take care Jared, and same goes for you, even if it's just to chat after a tough day. “