Lie Ren (bringstheflour) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-08-01 20:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, judy hopps, lie ren |
Who: Ren and Judy
What: Ren goes for a ride-along with Judy
When: Recently
Where: Out and About
Ratings/Warnings: Low/none
Status: Complete
Ren hadn’t always thought of being involved in law enforcement. He had vague memories as a child of wishing to open up a bakery, or a cafe, or becoming a chef. But his priorities had changed the night his parents had been murdered, and ever since that night he had set his sights toward making sure that he could stop the same from happening to others.
The ride along program was a good one, he thought, both in terms of experience and the fact that it counted toward extra credit. The policewoman he’d been matched up with was enthusiastic and friendly, which he thought was nice. In a way, she nearly reminded him of Nora, with her enthusiasm and sunny disposition. Sitting in the passenger seat of the police cruiser, he was sure that tonight would be a good one.
Judy was absolutely beside herself that she was chosen for a ride along. She felt it was a reward of a job well done; only officers the department trusted would be chosen to have a ride along with, right? Well, that’s how she viewed it as she made her introductions and climbed into the car.
“What made you want to be a police officer Ren?”
Ren still hadn’t settled on the career path of police officer yet. He was trying to keep his options open; he would be looking into the FBI as well, and perhaps other law agencies. He had once or twice even thought of becoming a lawyer, although he was relatively certain that a lawyer wasn’t a career path he would ever follow seriously.
Judy’s question was an unexpected one, though it probably shouldn’t have been. Ren thought about it for a moment. “I’d like to be able to protect people,” he said after a moment.
It was like Judy had asked a test question and Ren had answered it perfectly. She smiled and glanced over at him, thinking he already had the moxy for the job. They definitely needed good men like Ren, ones that had the same thought process as he did.
“That’s a really good reason to get into it,” she said. “Have you always wanted to do something that allows you to do that?”
“No, not always,” Ren admitted, a small smile crossing his face as he thought about happier times. “When I was a child, I wanted to cook. Perhaps work in, or run, a bakery. But that was a long time ago. I’ve wanted to be in law enforcement since I was a child.” And before her questions could probe any deeper, like ‘what made you change your mind,’ he asked her “And you? Why did you become a police officer?”
A smart move by Ren, as that was the next question Judy had lined up. But she was more than happy to respond to any question she might have as well. She grinned, turning down a street and then looking back at him. “It’s something I always wanted to do as a kid. And it’s very much along the same logic as yourself, to help and protect people. I don’t think there’s a greater calling than that.” And that was true. To be able to be in a profession that helped other people, even if sacrifices had to be made to a policeman’s own personal living, was the greatest thing someone could do...in Judy’s opinion.
She hesitated as she listened to the radio crackle and call, but it wasn’t anything to do with her or something she wanted to take on. She was sort of hoping something safe would come up so Ren could have a good ridealong, so she kept her ears trained for any special circumstances that could be presented to the two of them.
“Have you thought of any other branch you might do too?” It was always good to have options.
“No,” Ren agreed. “I think it’s important that people can step up and make the necessary sacrifices so that others can have safe and happy lives,” Ren said sagely.
Ren also listened for the radio, though he wasn’t familiar enough with police codes to know what the call had been about. Judy didn’t respond, so he assumed it must have been to do with something else. “I’m keeping my options open,” Ren answered. “I have also been thinking of the FBI, or maybe InterPol.”
Judy nodded her head in agreement, thinking this kid was a lot wiser than what he appeared to be. She was impressed with his options. “Really aiming high on those! Not that you can’t do it, but I’m impressed! Not a lot of people think to go into that kind of training.” Judy had toyed with the idea, but moving was already such a huge step that she didn’t want to overdo it. She wasn’t even sure if she would be able to handle regular police academy!
“There’s always the option of starting at a more local level and moving up into federal!” She tried to stifle a yawn, but couldn’t shake it. “Sorry. Probably need to stop off for a pick me up! Do you have a preference of coffee?”
“It would involve more education than just working on a local level, but I think it would be worth it,” Ren said. Of course, working on a federal level was a lot more exclusive too, and Ren knew that he couldn’t be guaranteed a position, even if he was doing well in school. “I hadn’t thought of starting locally and moving up though,” he admitted. That could be another possibility, especially if he was rejected when he applied.
“I prefer tea,” Ren said. He had never acquired the taste for coffee, and he didn’t intend to. He much prefer the more calming effects of tea.
Judy swung around at the mention of preferring tea, thinking it would be better to go to a local place rather than Starbucks. Their bagged teas were alright, but she figured a more authentic place would be better. “Have you been to Baxter’s before?” They had better food than anything, but she had tried their tea before and found it enjoyable. Hopefully Ren would find the same.
Ren shook his head, and then realized that Judy was most likely watching the road than him. “No, I haven’t,” he said. He and Nora had grown up on the streets, and had never really had the funds to go things like go out to actual cafes to order tea when they could buy an entire box of tea for the same price as a cafe would charge for a single cup. Their finances were better these days, especially with Nora working for Kanan, but Nora also had something of a bad habit for spending and Ren usually had to find extra corners to cut.
“Oh, you’ll love it!” She turned to look at Ren and grinned. “I don’t know how they do it, but their shop can’t be matched by anyone!” Judy would take the occasional trip to Starbucks because it was more on the way to work, but if she had the time, she’d go out of her way to go to Baxter’s. “I’ve only sampled their Earl Grey tea, but it was delicious! Almost made me switch from coffee to tea!” She gave him a wink as if it were an inside joke. There was no way tea could ever replace coffee for Judy; she figured it would probably be the same for most, if not all, of the department.
It was only a quick five minutes before they were pulling into the parking lot of Baxter’s and heading inside. “Tea’s on me my friend,” she said, an energetic bounce in her step as she held the door open for him to go inside.
Ren gave a slightly amused look at Judy at her joke. He didn’t entirely understand why people tended to prefer coffee; tea not only tasted better, it was also much healthier.
“Thank you,” he said when she offered to buy his tea. He looked up at the menu items, and then frowned a little. “What’s this sparkling milk?” he asked after a moment. They couldn’t mean that they added glitter to their milk, could they?
Judy held back, waiting for Ren to take in the menu. She had stopped in so many times before, she had a usual go to. She glanced up at the menu and grinned, giving a small shrug of her shoulders. “I think they’re magical cows or something like that.” She shrugged. “It tastes pretty delicious. You should give it a go!”
It was a testament to the Orange County that the mention of magical cows barely registered as strange to Ren anymore. Because of course there were magical cows in the Orange County, and of course they produced sparkling milk. “Would you mind if I ordered a sparkling London Fog?” he asked. He didn’t normally indulge in London Fogs; they were too expensive. But he had to admit that he was curious about this milk.
Judy had no idea what kind of drink he was ordering, but grinned and nodded. “Yeah, whatever you want!” she said, happy to oblige. She liked going for those big, fancy sweet drinks and wondered if this was one of them.
When it was their turn to order, Judy ordered herself an iced mocha and Ren’s sparkling London Fog. “Do you want anything to eat?” She glanced his way, considering a chocolate croissant for herself.
Ren hesitated. He was a little hungry and wouldn’t mind some food, but he also knew that police officers didn’t get paid very much and he wouldn’t want to take advantage of Officer Hopps’ kindness. “Oh no, that’s fine,” he said after a moment.
“You’re sure?” She shot him another look and turned back to the barista, adding a scone to the order as well. She glanced at Ren and shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t tell if I want something buttery or extra buttery.” She winked to joke around with him, walking over to the pick up counter.
“Do ya have any questions about this department?” Might as well see if she could answer anything he might have.
“Extra buttery,” Ren answered simply. He generally prefered to eat healthy, but butter always made things taste better.
Ren thought carefully about his question for a moment. “What would you say the department’s conviction rate is?” he asked after a moment.
Well that was a question. Judy’s eyebrows shot up, surprised at it. It was rare you saw that kind of thought to a position like this. “Well, I’ve only been here for about half a year but it seems its 2017 rate was well within 60-70%. Fairly average for a city of this size.” She shrugged her shoulders as if to say she wasn’t too impressed. But she was on the team now, she was determined to help raise that number with the years she intended to put in.
“That was a good question.” The kid was nothing but impressive. Judy felt like he would have been a great addition to the department and would have to put in a good word for him.
Ren felt pretty good about the compliment, though the expression on his face didn’t change much. His eyes, perhaps, grew a little softer. He always put a lot of thought into anything he did, sometimes to his detriment if he got too caught up in what-ifs and how-tos. That did sound like a fairly good catch rate, especially with everything that happened around here. “And does that include… stranger cases?” he asked tentatively, not sure if she’d quite understand what he meant. But then, he was sure the police probably dealt with the OCs strangeness even if they didn’t dream.
“Stranger cases?” Judy glanced at him, wondering if he was asking about what she thought he was asking about. It seemed the strangeness around this area was always affected by dreams and Judy wondered if people really believed what the news reported. “Uh, as far as I know there isn’t a division for some of the circumstances that have happened around here. We just try and assist and help the public as best we can.” She thought back to the orc invasion and shook her head.
“I’m guessing you’re a dreamer?”
Ren nodded, relieved that Judy also had the dreams. “Yes. I was wondering if the police is involved in any of the cover up that happens when dream events happen, or if there’s anything in place to help stop people with powers from committing crimes.” But it seemed as though there wasn’t, which was worrying.
Judy shook her head. “That’s actually a good question. It seems whenever something happens around here, whatever story the media uses is automatically accepted. I guess the ones that really know what’s going on are able to just able to sweep it under the rug as well.” She shrugged, but he brought up a good point. It jogged something from her interaction with that “FBI agent” and she wondered.
“But there’s gotta be someone who can clean everything up, right? Things like this just don’t disappear.” No, there was the business of rebuilding when things happened in the city, the reasons for why people were hurt. She looked at Ren, happy he had brought it up. Why had she never thought of it before? “Who do you think would handle things like that? Federal, right? Not state…”
“It would make sense,” Ren said. There was no way things such as orcs or Grimm could be covered up without some kind of highly influential organization doing the cleaning up. “It might be tight for just a state agency to have the resources to do so, but then, California is one of the most economically strong states.”
Judy nodded her head, although she may not have been paying that close of attention. She felt like she was onto something and had to talk to Leon about it. “Yeah, it’s gotta be federal…” but maybe not. Would the federal government understand the type of situations that were going on here? From what Judy could pick up, the Valarnet and dreams and weirdness we’re all connected and if you didn’t get that connection, then it would be hard to comprehend.
“It’s gotta be local,” she changed again, looking over at Ren. “It’s gotta be people who dream that clean that up!”
There had been something about the suggestion of it being a federal force keeping eyes on the OC that didn’t quite sit right with Ren. For one, it seemed strange to send people without abilities to combat creatures that did have supernatural powers. And when Judy continued, he had to nod.
“I think that seems like the most logical suggestion,” Ren said. “A network of dreamers,” though not the Network, since he personally had never seen anything like it on the net, “who … control the news and legal agencies?” They would have had to in order to be able to effectively cover things up, but he wondered how they’d managed to get that kind of power.
Judy had been so excited to help this potential new recruit see how great this job was, but he had actually helped her with the theories and questions that had been hopping around in her head. She couldn’t help but grin at him. “I hope you choose the PD,” she said honestly. “We could really use a mind like yours in the department!”
Ren flushed lightly with pleasure and a touch of pride, the corners of his lips turning upward. “I will definitely consider it,” he said.