Fantasy Magical Crimes Unit [Closed Group]

[folclor]

Magic hasn't faded, technology has met it. Magitech and technology exist together just as elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, and other fantasy races live alongside humans. There are still tensions between some of the communities, but none can be said to fit their stereotypes as much anymore. This is the story of the men and women of the city.

 

[folclor]

Ciel stared down at her shot glass. Soft music played in the background, colored lights flashing. No one sat near her, which suited her just fine. It was a Thursday night and she had a date with a bottle of whiskey. Not useful, not healthy, but her way of getting to sleep. Dressed in a gray t-shirt, brown leather jacket, and black jeans, she looked a far cry from the buttoned up policewoman she was during the day. Well, most days. Tomorrow she had off. Might end up buying a bottle to take home. If she was sober enough to remember by the time she left, of course.

There was magic in the air, which meant non-humans and mages about. It wasn't a worry. Most non-humans were good people and most mages weren't dangerous. Most humans were assholes, though, in Ciel's most humble opinion, her family included.

She downed her shot and poured herself another.

 

[Macabrecabra]

The smell of stale beer, cigarette smoke, and cheap air freshener was like inhaling a sweet ambrosia for Endellion as she entered the bar. The werewolf inhaled deeply with a sigh, closing her eyes as the smell brought back memories of the old pubs and taverns she and her kin used to lurk in back in the day. She was soon to open her eyes though, looking about the room before she perked up at a familiar figure slumped at the bar already with a bottle of whiskey. A wide grin split her face as she came over, taking a stool beside Ciel, fist banging lightly on the table as she leaned over a bit. "Ciel! Fancy seeing you here! I mean, not a surprise given it is the only bar within walking distance of the station, but still! Good to see you!"

Her eyes went to the whiskey with an amused grin before waving the tender down, "Give me a bottle of the same. Looks like she's picking her poison well tonight."

 

[folclor]

"McDulakant." Ciel raised her glass in greeting. "Why do you think I'd stick close to the station?" There was a rather obvious reason and Ciel knew that. "Whiskey's my poison every night. What's your usual?" She just had to be friendly, didn't she? What happened to a night of peace and quiet? It likely died with the first shot. She downed her second.

The barkeeper served Endellion a bottle of the same kind of whiskey and a shot glass.

 

[Macabrecabra]

"Oh you know....whatever is good and going to guarantee a good time." She paused to give a wink to Ciel, grinning wide enough to show off her sharper than average canine that gave away her inhumanity, "Visits to the porcelain throne aside and please, you can call me Endellion! We aren't in the office and have to polished brass."

Endellion chuckled a gain, pouring herself a generous shot. She paused to sniff the whiskey in the glass some, nose twitching before she took a first slow sip, savoring the taste before knocking it back just as quickly as Ciel had done, humming in approval, "Mmm. Not bad! Really has kick and burns pleasantly the whole way down! Would be good mixed with some honey perhaps mm..."

 

[folclor]

"Easier to keep it on a last name basis, isn't it? Big enough department we're not too close." Not like they were partners, either. And a third shot. She could hold her liquor but it never hurt to cast a little something to help her stay sober just a little longer. "Not greasy chicken wings and nachos?" she teased. "Doubt this place has honey in any form that isn't honey mustard."

 

[Macabrecabra]

"Eh, big or small, no reason to act like we are all strangers in the dark and you never know when a case comes along and you are going to be saddled together with someone!" Endellion smiled brightly, her mood as chipper as ever. She watched Ciel knock back another shot and was quick to follow suit, swishing the whiskey about her mouth before swallowing.

"And yeah, no greasy foods for me here! I am wise to the ways of booze. Before my family always went on a drinking binge, we piled up on the junkfood before knocking back. Juuust make sure to pace yourself with some water between the shots and you'll be right as rain tomorrow."


Endellion gave a wink and a raise of her glass again before knocking back her third, once more enjoying the rich taste of the whiskey as it burned down her throat.

 

[folclor]

Ciel shook her head. "Off tomorrow. Which means me alone at home with a bottle or three of whiskey." Family drinking binges? Sounded... interesting. She couldn't imagine her parents drinking anything stronger than lemonade. "You like the job?"

 

[Macabrecabra]

"Oh yes! I sometimes have a hard time getting off duty honestly. You get home and then your mind is already back to work, wondering how you are going to be laying out the next sting operation or how undercover you got..." She paused swirling around the liquid in her fourth shot, "Or you are like the stiff down in forensics who I swear lives at the station...but that can be said for half the force sometimes."

She gave another shake of her head as she leaned back, "How about yourself? You like the job?" She paused, grinning wryly, "Like it enough that the alternative is late nights with Jack Daniels and soap operas on TV?"

 

[folclor]

"Mmm." She downed her fourth shot, shaking her head a little. "It keeps me distracted, which is good enough." Nothing to go home to besides Jack Daniels, anyway. "Soaps aren't my jam, though. What about your home life? You said you have a big family..."

 

[Macabrecabra]

"Oh yes...comes with the territory. Mom's side are druids and fae-folk. Dad's side is werewolves. One is a clan and the other a pack. I live alone myself but not unusual for some cousin to come wandering in to flop on the doorstep. Usually though it is me, a bowl of junkfood, a large pizza, and as many cheesy horror movies as I can cram into a night." She smiled over at her co-worker, lifting her glass, "You are more than welcome to slum it one weekend we both have off. I can promise some form of booze even if it isn't ole Jack!"

 

[folclor]

Ciel shook her head. "I've been alone long enough that it'd feel strange to share a flat with someone, even for a weekend. And it's not always whiskey, you know. Sometimes it's rum. Had vodka a fair few times. And tequila. Margaritas are quite good. Not the best with beer, though." She thought a moment. Maybe she didn't have to buy anything on the way home. There should be a few bottles of vodka at home.

 

[Macabrecabra]

"Just for a night or a few hours." Endellion chuckled, shaking her head, "We don't have to move in together but a little company might save your liver from the sounds of it." She knew an alcoholic when she heard it. There were quiet a few on her mother's side of the family and of course, not a single one would admit to the problem. One of them was already six foot under, pushing up daisies after his liver all but burst under the effort of trying to keep his booze habits going.

It was....sort of sad to see one so young already slipping into that dangerous spiral. "At least you seem to have good taste in spirits!"

 

[folclor]

She shook her head. "Magic can save my liver. At least from a few hours." She downed another shot and started feeling that warmth spreading through her. Ah, that was nice. there was a shadow on the wall, then, of another customer and, for a moment, she thought it might be a certain someone. But, no, just someone sitting down and ordering a beer at the far end of the bar.

"Why take an interest, anyway? We don't really talk at work."

 

[Macabrecabra]

"To be fair, we really don't get the chance to see each other. I'm always running out on a sting operations. More often on the streets than off em, but doesn't mean we can't exchange hellos and leave sticky notes," She smiled brightly at that, ears perking up, "You know, leaving notes on the desk about what's going on! Used to do that with some sap up in PR. We used to exchange so many notes...kept in a jar. Called it the "I had a shit job and need some hilarious stories" jar."

Her laughter trailed off some as she glanced over the bar crowd, "He got a new job uptown in some big corporate seat across the country. Barely hear from em anymore."

 

[folclor]

"Yeah, I'm just a beat cop right now, anyway. Not like there's much to talk about." She pulled out a carton out of her jacket and held it out toward Endellion. "Cigarette?" She took one, herself, and lit up. "Shame. I had a detective I was friendly with, but he's gone. Partners keep changing on me, so I don't bother to get to know people."

 

[Yusuur Words]

The bell that hung over the front door of the Dancing Otter jangled as a couple walked inside. As if the bell wasn't enough to announce their presence, the young woman who lead the way into the bar giggled loudly and let out a flirtatious, "Stop it! You are so funny!" They sat together at a table near the center of the room and the woman continued to laugh. Whether or not what the tall young man said to her was worthy of the laughter was unclear, as he spoke softly, unlike his companion.

 

[Macabrecabra]

"Nah, but thanks for the offer." She answered politely to the young woman. Really she never could get behind smoking as a vice if only because it tended to dull the senses of a werewolf and not to mention it was embarrassing if you were running wild on a full moon and had to give out halfway, coughing and wheezing from smoker's lung.

"Sounds like an interesting fellow. I'm sure you'll get a new steady partner soon! Sometimes people just need to bounce about is all." Endellion took another sip of her drink, looking over to the two that had just walked in before her attention slid back to Ciel "But some of the old timers at the station are pretty good to know, in case you ever need anything."

 

[folclor]

She nodded and tucked the carton away. "Nah. Doubt it." She took a few puffs on the cigarette but mostly just held it between the index and middle fingers of her right hand. "You cushy with some of the old timers? Didn't figure you for a cop legacy."

The woman and her date didn't draw Ciel's attention. Maybe it was just that she'd seen it too often, but other patrons weren't interesting to her anymore. Endellion barely kept her interested in the conversation, not to the werewolf's failings, either. Ciel just seemed to get more cynical and grumpy by the day.

 

[Yusuur Words]

Food and drink were brought to the couple's table. The woman's laughter only become more and more grating the more she drank. The man remained peaceful, a gentle smile on his face as he spoke to the woman across from him. After not quite half an hour, the couple paid there check and left the restaurant; the woman thoroughly intoxicated and leaning against her date as he helped her out the door.

 

[Macabrecabra]

"Well....I don't know them perhaps for legacy reasons just...." The werewolf paused, swirling her glass as her brow furrowed in thought. She went silent for a long while, as if she was mulling something over carefully before she finally spoke again, glancing to Ciel sheepishly.

"Sometimes when you are out there you just get...hunches about thing. You bring it up with the brass and usually they just wave it off, say there isn't enough evidence, tell you that nothing is going on and to keep your nose on the business at hand. But you... just can't let it go, like, if you just shrug it off, something worse is going to happen."

Endellion sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, leaning back some, "So I make a few friends, get in good with a few favors and then when I get my hunches, I can at least get a begrudging go ahead to do it on the side. Or just...go under the table and ask one of the forensic blokes downstairs to look at something for me as a favor." The werewolf looked over to her companion, the smile a touch nervous, "Just sometimes you just got a bad hunch about someone you know? Something just doesn't smell right sometimes."

 

[folclor]

She knew too well that feeling. "I just work my beat. I don't have pull at all and I'm not trying to make friends with the old guard. 'Sides..." she knocked back another shot, "people like you are the ones with talent. I'll just end up another statistic at the end of the day." The next drink she took was from the bottle, not the shot glass. "Not that that's a bad thing. If we had more people like you on the force and movin' up in the ranks we'd had a lot better force!"

 

[Macabrecabra]

Her responses were worrisome. Just started on the force and it seemed she was already beaten into the ground. Idly Endellion wondered how rough her had been to get to this point so quick or what sort of beats she had been sent on that may have caused some scarring. "Eh, I'm no one special. Maybe it is just how my kind are, what with the pack mentality. We like to look out for each other...I mean, except the occasional lone wolves...but they usually became lone from something. No one is just born alone."

She looked over at Ciel, a touch of concern in her expression now, "Did something happen today?"

 

[folclor]

"Most people are born alone. I mean, in a philosophical sense. No one else in your head," she tapped her head, "no one's going to be there in the worst of times. You face a lot of your life alone. You die alone." She shrugged. "Today? Work and then here. Nothing too bad. What about for you?"

 

[Yusuur Words]

"That's a pretty dour way to look at it," Detective Christopher Beaudrie said as he approached the bar on the other side of Ciel. "Sorry to intrude. May I join you both?"