[Original: Drabble] "Midnight Rounds" [Zeke Jones, G]
Title: Midnight Rounds
Prompt: writerverse challenge #06 quick fic #2, prompt ‘the witching hour’ & ‘watermelon’
Bonus? 1st person
Word Count: 627
Rating: G
Original/Fandom: original ( Zeke Jones ‘verse)
Summary: Zeke and Howell make a stop into a local store during their patrol.
Note(s): originally posted to the writerverse wv_library
Midnight Rounds
As we walked out of the precinct building, I turned my collar up against the wind. It was almost spring, but it still wasn’t even a little bit warm. But, I wasn’t about to complain. Howell had skipped our regularly-scheduled walking patrols for circuits of our beat in the patrol car while the snow was piled up higher than me. He denied that it was because I hate the cold, but I knew.
At the end of the block, the large neon sign above the bank blinked the time.
“Ah, the witching hour,” I said, tucking my fingers into my coat pockets. “And it’s as cold as a witch’s-”
“Do not finish that sentence,” my partner said. Howell, of course, wasn’t even wearing a jacket at all, just his long-sleeved uniform shirt. “And walking will help warm you up.”
Actually, I kind of liked walking the city. It was nice to really see the people we protect. Being a cop could make you focus on the dark side, but this let us see the good side, too. There weren’t as many people this late at night, with most of the shops closed. But there were a few all-night places open, like the emergency veterinary clinic, the All Star diner, the accounting firm of Angst & Angst who worked with another firm in China, and the Donnellis’ corner market.
We went into the last one, doing a safety check. We’d duck into the diner, too, since they were conveniently spaced to get us a snack at equal distances. Andy Donnelli had the night-shift, at least while he was home from college, and he smiled.
“Hey, officers.”
“How’s it going, Andy?” I asked, while Howell ambled through the tightly-spaced store. I had my theories about why he did that- the best was to make us seem like an easy target, the young female cop leaning at the register, so any would-be robbers wouldn’t immediately look for my partner- but of course, my partner neither confirmed or denied it.
“Not bad, Zeke,” said Andy, smiling. “Sales are up.”
“Great,” I said.
The bell on the door jingled, admitting a tired-looking woman and a pre-school aged girl. The kid was dragging, since it was clearly past her bedtime, clutching a stuffed bear in one hand and a small plastic bag in the other. Her mom picked up a few essentials, presumably dinner for that night, and the girl, trailing behind her, dropped the bear.
I crouched to pick it up, tucking it into the zipper of her fuzzy blue hoodie. “Here you go. I think he’ll be much warmer in there.”
She smiled. “She. Annalynn.”
“Is that the bear or you?”
“Bear,” she said, still smiling. “I’m Emily.”
She offered her hand, and I shook it, then the bear’s. “It is my absolute pleasure to meet both of you.”
Emily giggled. “Jelly bean?”
She held out the little bag, full of multi-colored beans. “Thank you,” I said, and picked a green one. Red ones had the chance of being cherry- which I hated- but I’d never gone wrong with green. “Watermelon! My favorite.”
“You’re welcome,” said Emily.
“Emily?” said her mother, stepping away from the register with a plastic bag in her hand. “Officer, is she-?”
I smiled. “Emily was kind enough to introduce me to her friend. Have a good night, ma’am.”
Emily waved through the glass door as she followed her mom out, and I heard Howell come up behind me. “I’m sure she’d have offered you a jelly bean, if you’d asked nicely,” I said.
My partner rustled a plastic bag of his own as he waved acknowledgement to Andy and pushed me toward the door. “Or we could have doughnuts.”
I grinned. “Doughnuts are good.”
THE END
Current Mood:
clean
Prompt: writerverse challenge #06 quick fic #2, prompt ‘the witching hour’ & ‘watermelon’
Bonus? 1st person
Word Count: 627
Rating: G
Original/Fandom: original ( Zeke Jones ‘verse)
Summary: Zeke and Howell make a stop into a local store during their patrol.
Note(s): originally posted to the writerverse wv_library
Midnight Rounds
As we walked out of the precinct building, I turned my collar up against the wind. It was almost spring, but it still wasn’t even a little bit warm. But, I wasn’t about to complain. Howell had skipped our regularly-scheduled walking patrols for circuits of our beat in the patrol car while the snow was piled up higher than me. He denied that it was because I hate the cold, but I knew.
At the end of the block, the large neon sign above the bank blinked the time.
“Ah, the witching hour,” I said, tucking my fingers into my coat pockets. “And it’s as cold as a witch’s-”
“Do not finish that sentence,” my partner said. Howell, of course, wasn’t even wearing a jacket at all, just his long-sleeved uniform shirt. “And walking will help warm you up.”
Actually, I kind of liked walking the city. It was nice to really see the people we protect. Being a cop could make you focus on the dark side, but this let us see the good side, too. There weren’t as many people this late at night, with most of the shops closed. But there were a few all-night places open, like the emergency veterinary clinic, the All Star diner, the accounting firm of Angst & Angst who worked with another firm in China, and the Donnellis’ corner market.
We went into the last one, doing a safety check. We’d duck into the diner, too, since they were conveniently spaced to get us a snack at equal distances. Andy Donnelli had the night-shift, at least while he was home from college, and he smiled.
“Hey, officers.”
“How’s it going, Andy?” I asked, while Howell ambled through the tightly-spaced store. I had my theories about why he did that- the best was to make us seem like an easy target, the young female cop leaning at the register, so any would-be robbers wouldn’t immediately look for my partner- but of course, my partner neither confirmed or denied it.
“Not bad, Zeke,” said Andy, smiling. “Sales are up.”
“Great,” I said.
The bell on the door jingled, admitting a tired-looking woman and a pre-school aged girl. The kid was dragging, since it was clearly past her bedtime, clutching a stuffed bear in one hand and a small plastic bag in the other. Her mom picked up a few essentials, presumably dinner for that night, and the girl, trailing behind her, dropped the bear.
I crouched to pick it up, tucking it into the zipper of her fuzzy blue hoodie. “Here you go. I think he’ll be much warmer in there.”
She smiled. “She. Annalynn.”
“Is that the bear or you?”
“Bear,” she said, still smiling. “I’m Emily.”
She offered her hand, and I shook it, then the bear’s. “It is my absolute pleasure to meet both of you.”
Emily giggled. “Jelly bean?”
She held out the little bag, full of multi-colored beans. “Thank you,” I said, and picked a green one. Red ones had the chance of being cherry- which I hated- but I’d never gone wrong with green. “Watermelon! My favorite.”
“You’re welcome,” said Emily.
“Emily?” said her mother, stepping away from the register with a plastic bag in her hand. “Officer, is she-?”
I smiled. “Emily was kind enough to introduce me to her friend. Have a good night, ma’am.”
Emily waved through the glass door as she followed her mom out, and I heard Howell come up behind me. “I’m sure she’d have offered you a jelly bean, if you’d asked nicely,” I said.
My partner rustled a plastic bag of his own as he waved acknowledgement to Andy and pushed me toward the door. “Or we could have doughnuts.”
I grinned. “Doughnuts are good.”
THE END
Current Mood:
clean