Who: Leon and Judy What: Catching up at work Where: The precinct When: Early March Ratings/Warnings: Low/none Status: Complete
Leon sighed, leaning back in his chair as he stared at his computer. This case was a pain in the ass, and it wasn’t made any easier by the fact that he wasn’t allowed to bring Liv with him on cases anymore. He ran his hand down his face, and then glanced over at his phone as it vibrated.
The corner of his lips tugged upward when he saw that he’d gotten a text from Alex, then turned into an full-blown smile when he read the message that was there. He turned away from the computer, deciding he could afford a thirty-second break, and started to respond.
Judy’s arms were fairly full of files as she tried to balance them back to her desk. Everyone seemed to think she was a master at paperwork because that was her main priority lately, filling out forms, making sure everything was in order for everyone else. Nick certainly didn’t seem to mind her time being used in that way, but she was starting to get antsy to go out more.
She was mentally preparing a speech to give to Nick when she spotted a familiar face that had a unfamiliar smile on it. She couldn’t help but grin as she saw it, making a detour with her stack of papers.
“What has you all smiles and sunshine today?” she asked, setting down the stack and shaking her arms out. “Had the perfect cup of coffee?”
Leon was so engrossed in his text that he nearly dropped his phone when Judy spoke to him. He hadn't even noticed her approach. He flushed, a little embarrassed at being caught. It wasn't that he was embarrassed by Alex, or even trying that hard to keep their relationship under wraps, but he knew that there were a lot of people on the force who would start giving him weird looks in the locker room if they found out he was dating another man. It was just easier to not talk about it at work. And here he was, being caught grinning like a loon at his phone, and starting to turn red.
“Something like that,” Leon muttered, slipping his phone into his desk drawer. “What’s all this?” he asked, grabbing the file on top and glancing at it. “You know we have carts, right?”
Judy raised an eyebrow at his reaction and couldn’t help but smirk; there was (usually) only one thing that caused someone to react in such a rash way, but it seemed he wanted to keep it under wraps.
They’d see how long that would happen.
She shrugged at his attempt to change the subject. “Yeah, but then I wouldn’t be able to work on my guns!” She flexed her arms, a bit sad at how lanky they looked. “Besides, where’s the fun in a cart if they won’t let you ride it down the hallways?” She grinned, leaning against his desk and folding her arms.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt your text conversation. I promise to avert my eyes while you finish up.”
“What are you, twelve?” Leon asked, though without much heat. After all, it wasn’t like Judy was actually riding around in a push cart. “All you’re going to get from carrying around an armload of paper is a bad back. You know we have a gym here, right?” Leon tried to show up an hour early for work every day to make use of it.
Leon gave Judy another embarrassed look and then put his phone in his pocket. “It’s fine. I can finish it later. It’s just… you know, new relationship.”
Judy shrugged again, giving him a grin. “If you can’t have fun as a grown up, what’s the point?” Leon seemed funny enough, but she couldn’t quite see him running down the hallways, riding the push carts. Still, it would definitely be something Judy would pay money to see.
“I’m still young and agile, no bad back for me! Gotta keep it up while I still can, right?” She nodded her head to his question. “Yeah, I do. But I’d rather work out outside.” There were a few good places Judy enjoyed, but she usually found herself at the beach each day to run up and down, playing tag with the waves.
If Leon had thought Judy wanted to act like a 12 year old, her next statement would probably make him cringe a bit. “Ooooh, new relationship? That’s exciting! Sending love letters back and forth to each other?”
“Yeah? You and me both,” Leon said. He’d always been more into working out while doing sports, like basketball, football, baseball or surfing. When he crashed at Alex’s, Leon made sure to get up extra early to go for a long swim in his pool before work. “But you’re not going to find free-weights just lying around in the wild. What kinda workout do you do?”
He turned red at her mention of love letters and gave his nose an embarrassed swipe. “No, of course we’re not sending love letters back and forth,” Leon snapped. “This isn’t fucking 1608. We’re just… you know, texting.” And maybe some of it was a little sappyish.
Judy couldn’t help grin, shaking her head. “That would be an interesting discovery! But no, no free weights out there.” She thought about it and shrugged, pushing a pile of papers around on his desk. “I like to run on the beach.” She liked to think there was a better work out with the sand, but really, she just wanted to be as close to the water as much as possible.
“I’ll head to the gym every now and then to do weights and work on arms. I don’t really have a routine though. You?”
She knew she hit a nerve and couldn’t help but laugh, giving him a light punch in the shoulder. “I’m just jokin’ with ya! Love letters or texts, it’s your own business. It’s my job as your friend to give ya a hard time about it.” She grinned, her eyes nodding to his phone. “A new relationship is always fun. How long have you guys been dating?”
“You surf at all?” Leon asked. “Me and Logan - Detective Echolls - go sometimes. You should come with sometime.” He nearly asked her if rabbits could even swim, but quickly realized what a stupid question that was. It wasn’t like she was actually a rabbit. She just dreamed of it. “When I’m not too busy, I try to show up an hour before work every day to use the gym, and I’ll run during lunch or after work. Gotta keep in shape, you know.” It was one of the reasons Leon had one of the highest arrest records in the department. That, and his keen intuition had nabbed him more collars than his deductive reasoning.
“Just a couple weeks,” Leon said, a little embarrassed. “It was probably a long time coming.” Especially with how long Veronica had been teasing him about it.
“I’ve never tried actually. Could you teach me?” Judy was already bouncing up and down with the idea of surfing. It always looked so cool, but she didn’t know anyone who knew how! Her smile only grew as she thought about Leon trying to teach her something new. “Seems like a pretty decent work out too.”
She nodded as he talked about his own work out methods. “Good to know. Maybe I’ll swing by early and see if I can catch ya. It’s nice to have someone else to work out against...someone to set a demanding pace to try and keep up with!” She was sure she could keep up with Leon, she just needed an excuse to try.
“Aw, a love destined by the stars!” Judy waved a hand out and grinned. “When do we get to meet the lovely lady?”
Leon shrugged. “I guess so,” Leon said. “I’ve been teaching Chris; I guess you could tag along if you wanted sometime. But yeah, stop by the gym.” Leon generally prefered to work-out alone, just him and his headphones, but he did like Judy. Even if she could be a little too cheerful sometimes.
He somehow managed to turn even more red. “I don’t know if I’d go that far,” he said. All that destiny stuff sounds hokey to me.” Leon had to pause then. He wasn’t embarrassed by Alex, and his dating a guy wasn’t exactly a secret - he had no problems telling his friends or people in his personal life. But this was his work, and he tried not to mix his personal life with work. And he was sure that at least some of the guys would have something to say if they found out he had a boyfriend. It was a headache he didn’t really need, and it would be really easy to just go along with her. But he couldn’t do it. “Who knows,” Leon said. “I might bring him to a couple of the summer cookouts. If not probably Christmas.”
Judy only grinned in response to teaching her how to surf; she would definitely remember but she wondered if he would too. Not that she would let him forget.
She picked up on the difference of pronouns he used and immediately felt guilty for assuming. It wasn’t that she was against it or anything like that, but...well, back in Kansas, things like that weren’t very common. Her parents had always taught her acceptance and tried to explain that there were many different ways to be in a relationship, but she never had time for one, so why look at everyone else’s? Still, she was happy that he didn’t seem too upset at the mistake.
“Christmas?” she asked, going along with his cool demeanor. “I dunno, that seems a long ways away! I hope to see him during the cookouts then. Is that something the department does every year?” Judy was eager to fit in in more aspects than just work; she was beginning to see how close the whole department was and wanted to try and bond with them a bit more. That, of course, was easier said than done.
Leon felt a sense of relief when Judy didn’t seem to make a big deal about the change in pronouns. It was the first time he’d ever dated another man, and he still wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from people when he told them. “It’s not really put on by the department. It’s just something something a bunch of us like to do from time to time. Next time there’s one I’ll make sure you know though. And if Alex isn’t busy, I’ll make sure he’s there too.”
Judy thought about it for a moment and figured it was the best she could do. She grinned, nodding her head as if they had just come to an arrangement. “Leon Orcot, the keeper of all,” she said with a teasing tone. She gave him a light punch in the shoulder as she rearranged the files in her arms. “Don’t forget about surfing too!” she said, turning to walk back towards her desk. She grinned, giving him a small wave from under the files.