“If you’re waiting for the snow to melt, you’re gonna be waiting for a long time,” Ryo said, unlocking the car, amused at the sight of Dee still standing in the doorway to their building, frowning.

“Haha.” If anything, Dee frowned harder. “I keep thinkin’ I’ve forgotten somethin’, but I don’t know what. You ever have one of those days?”

Ryo snickered. “I forget things all the time, you know that. It’s why I’m always losing things.” It wasn’t so much that he was forgetful, he just had a bad habit of putting things down somewhere without paying attention to exactly WHERE he’d put them, and because he hadn’t noticed in the first place, he could never remember where they were when he was trying to find them again.

With a sigh, Dee made another quick check of himself. Boots, coat, hat, scarf, gloves, keys, phone, wallet, badge, gun, handcuffs, taser… Everything seemed to be present and correct. Shrugging, he stepped outside, shutting the door behind him, and picked his way down the stoop, onto the icy sidewalk.

“I’ll be glad when this damned snow and ice DOES melt. It’s frickin’ dangerous. Better hope we don’t gotta chase anyone in this, or one of us is gonna wind up on crutches or somethin’.”

“Don’t tempt fate.” Ryo started the car as Dee got into the passenger seat, relieved that it started first time. In winter, that was never guaranteed. “With any luck, we’ll be spending most of the day at the precinct, doing paperwork and making phone calls.

“Oh joy.” If there was one thing Dee hated even worse than icy roads and sidewalks, it was paperwork.

“It’s a necessary evil in our job,” his partner pointed out.

“Evil is right. I swear paperwork is designed to sap our will to live.”

“Without documenting everything, we wouldn’t have a chance of convicting the criminals we arrest.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“But it does mean you have to do it.”

“I should’ve stayed home, called out sick, refused to go anywhere until the damn ice melts.”

“Just to avoid doing paperwork?”

“And to avoid riskin’ my neck in treacherous conditions.”

“Poor Dee.” Ryo patted his lover’s knee. “I think I know what your problem is.”

“Huh?”

“You put on the wrong attitude this morning and left your sense of humor at home.”

Dee snorted. “Guess I deserved that.”


The End