_ARSNIST.

〔    ⟡   *   @charmrepulsed  ◞     〕

_{❛         not  sure  if  you’re   aware,        but  you  keep    really  terrible  company.         ❜          he   might    still  be  a  little  bitter  about  lucifer  practically   FORCING    him  to  reveal  his  crimes,         even  in  such   little    detail.        but  he  digresses         —-          ❛         not  that  i  can  talk,       i  guess.        for  some  reason,         everyone  thinks  i’m  an  asshole.          ❜}

_{‘    terrible,  huh ?    ’      something she’s learned about lucifer morningstar :  his methods tend to have the most adverse effect on the ones hiding a  GUILTY CONSCIENCE.  head tilts,  blue eyes narrowing slightly in calculated appraisal.      ‘    i’m gonna go out on a limb  &  say you’ve met my  partner.    ’}

_BONECUT.

YOU ACTUALLY LAUGH WHEN she calls you gandhi, accepting the handcuffs with ease. there’s no reason to be worried or anxious, seeing as there’s only two options ahead. either she puts you in jail or she doesn’t. a predictable future. it’s comforting. there’s a carefree nature to your smile as you look at her. she’s pretty, if you pay attention. and this time you do, as she clamps the metal rings around thick wrists. you won’t act on it though. you never do.

                                              ‘if you wanted to handcuff me & take me with you, all you had to do was ask.’

@charmrepulsed & CONT.

_{typical.      ‘    –––––––  mm.  you,  uh,  remember that whole  right to remain silent  thing ?  why don’t you go ahead  &  give it a shot.    ’}

_{she’s maybe a two on the exasperation scale,  otherwise unfazed :  he isn’t the first to pull this routine  &  he probably  won’t  be the last.  once he’s secured in the back seat,  she climbs behind the wheel  —  cuts a glance at him in the rearview before keying the ignition  &  shifting into drive.  california state law allows for a 48 - hour hold,  then they either charge him or let him walk.}  

_{so,  NO PRESSURE.}

_{‘    &  you can wipe that look off your face,  too.  my partner’s got a real talent for making people  talk.    ’}

_{ENDURINGWILL.}

       _{HE NOTICES IT, the game: she’s stopped playing, or at least paused it for a moment.  sometimes people need a second to drink it in, the shocking truth, that some parents just don’t make for good ones.  murphy needed a second too, a few years back.   ❝ m’kidding, ❞  he shrugs it off.   ❝ she’ll show, detective.  little tipsy, maybe. ❞  his voice pitches, words stretch — he’s squinting his eyes as if he’s putting on a little show, telling her a joke.}

_{she read the files,  the reports,  the testimonies ;  she studied the evidence.  it’s damn near  impossible  to sell anything less when the department is itching for a scapegoat,  for someone to blame  —  she learned that too well on the palmetto case  —  but a couple of fist - fights  &  misdemeanors don’t make this kid a murderer.} 

_{‘    you know,  if she’s indisposed,    ’      the clinical term for  IRRESPONSIBLE,      ‘    we can do this another time.  or i can make a call,  see if your caseworker’ll sit in with us instead.  it’s up to you.    ’}

_REIGNEDHELL.

_{ANCHORING DOUBT,     flooding the veins of such a precious life.   he notices,   &   stands patient at the shoreline,  waiting for the day she might  rise.   it must get exhausting,  struggling  to keep yourself afloat in a riptide of  denial.   hands pocketed,  he resigns.}

_{‘     –––––     perhaps over a bottle of pinot grigio,  naked in front of the fireplace ?   you’d be  amazed  at the conversations i can hold in the throes of passion.     ’}

_{what she’d be  AMAZED  by is any conversation with him at all that didn’t include a dig about getting her  naked.      ❪   let’s pretend it’s never crossed her mind in a moment of weakness  or ten.   ❫}

_{‘    you’re on thin ice,  pal.  do this  one thing  for me  &  we can maybe  discuss  the remote  POSSIBILITY  of you staying for dinner.  just  dinner,  lucifer.    ’}

_{ENDURINGWILL.}

      _{A RISK INDEED ; his sleeves veil the goosebumps scattering across his forearms.   ❝ she’s got better things to do, ❞  and he shrugs, a noncommittal little thing.  ❝ never liked monopoly much, either. ❞  because calling your mother an alcoholic bitch wasn’t as easy as murphy would like it to be, even after years of practice.}

_{‘    better things to do.    ’      something sharp sits on the tip of her tongue,  &  she has to remind herself to maintain professionalism :  it isn’t her place to chastise a shitty parent,  no matter how tempted she might be on kind of a personal level.      ‘    right.  that’s  —  um,  good to know.  i’ll make sure to  bring that up  when she gets here.    ’      if.  if  she gets here.}

_{ACTOFERASURE.}

_{”DETECTIVE chloe decker?” head peeking into the unfamiliar but not unusual office, essentially inhabiting a police station all his life. “nice office.” latch of the door shutting ever so quietly, standing facing her as his eyes survey the room. a trick that had taken him SEVERAL years to master. “your charming partner who literally looks like he should be the suspect in the case you’re working, directed me to you. stiles stilinski, by the way.” pulling his bag open and producing a file of the murders and placing it upon her desk. opening it with ease for her to peruse. entirely aware of how insane he appears upon a first impression. “so i was watching the news and something seemed - off. i don’t know, missing. so i watched back the footage and -” he presents the images of the bodies with no explanation of how he attained such material. “i don’t think these murders were committed by anything - HUMAN. you can’t seriously tell me you’ve seen a human being tear through bodies LIKE THAT. so it’s either a feral something or a very, very angry robot that is trying to prove it’s superiority to the human race. think the new ‘kong’ movie but with robots.”  – @charmrepulsed}

_{not her office.  dan’s,  in fact,  which could easily be another bone of contention between them :  that despite sharing the same rank,  he’s in here while she’s still driving a desk in the bullpen with everyone else.  she’s sifting through paperwork  &  microfiche,  only half - listening until the boy plants a case file directly in front of her.  a response begins as she looks up,  halts abruptly the second she sees what he’s presenting.}

_{‘    yeah,  i can’t discuss an ongoing investiga —    ’}

_{HER  investigation.  in a manila stamped with the LAPD’s logo,  no less.  feral somethings  &  angry robots are the least of her concerns right now.}

_{‘    uh  —  how did you get these ?  these are  crime scene  photos of  murder victims.  you’d better have one hell of an explanation,  kid.    ’}

_REIGNEDHELL.

_{HIS HEART IS NOT COLD,     despite what others choose to believe     ❪     he is a kaleidoscope of emotions on a wide - range spectrum,   &   it troubles him.     ❫     tongue in cheek,  he volleys another quip.}

_{‘     don’t threaten me with a good time,  detective.     ’}

_{‘     –––––     it  did  get me killed.   the devil’s work is never  finished,  my dear.     ’     &   then he pauses,  as if taking a moment to consider his options.     ‘     no,  i said i could  pull strings  to his  benefit.   nothing about wiping the slate clean.   however,  i’m notoriously written as being sinfully persuasive when i want to be.      ’}

_{there it is :  that ludicrous claim,  the one apparently lacking horns  &  a tail.  the devil.  it flies in the face of everything she believes ;  more importantly,  everything she  DOESN’T.  but three times,  he’s been riddled with bullets  &  walked away unscathed.  it did get me killed.      ❪   you saw it.  i don’t know what i saw.   ❫}

_{‘   of course you are.   ’}

_{‘    –––––––  i still need you to pick up trixie.  we can talk about your  …  persuasive  string - pulling  later.    ’}

_{ENDURINGWILL.}

      _{HE SCOFFS, IF only to mask the origins of genuine mirth spreading over his expression.   ❝ does she, ❞  murphy muses, nodding his head before the motion ceases, and he’s left looking at the sturdy, metallic table.   ❝ wonder if she gets it from her mom — ❞  eyes flick up to detective decker, and with the slight cant of his head, a brow arches towards his temple with curiosity.}

_{a thoughtful hum.      ‘    could be.  you’d have to ask her what  she  thinks.    ’      no comment on that ephemeral lapse of bravado,  but it didn’t slip by unnoticed.  the next words are a calculated risk.      ‘    so what about your mom ?  she usually a  no - show  at times like this ?    ’}

_REIGNEDHELL.

_{SMILE FALTERS,     his light fades.   razor wire lies in the spaces between his ribs,   &   a revelation behind the grit of his teeth.   both will tear them apart.   he neglects to  mention  this during the exchange,  instead focusing his attention elsewhere,  hoping  she doesn’t pry.}

_{‘     –––––     au contraire !   a cocktail of mind games   &   manipulation might be  just  what the ex - maggot needs to bypass this tedious process   &   resume his position as chief of the  anti - lucifer  fan club.     ’}

_{‘    ex - maggot.  nice.  you know,  if he hadn’t turned himself in,  YOU’D  be the one in custody right now.    ’}

_{it’s not quite as cutting a remark as she intends,  partially because he’s doing it again :  clamming up  like he’s got something to hide.  &  that doesn’t sit right.  not after  ––––––  well.  everything,  really.}

_{‘    this isn’t a  GAME,  lucifer.  he stole evidence,  shot an officer  —  he’ll be  lucky  if all they do is take his shield.  not only that,  but he lied about his involvement with malcolm.  &  it almost got you killed.    ’      a measured breath ;  visible agitation.      ‘    you really think you can fix this ?  i’m all ears.    ’}

_{ENDURINGWILL.}

       _{SO SHE’S THE GOOD COP.  murphy theorizes they’re always the ones with shorter fuses ; they’re the ones who play pretend, after all.  he scoffs, shoulders rising and falling with the motion.   ❝ i’ll put it in the suggestion box on my way out.  cards, monopoly       no, actually, that’d get too violent.   ❞  and he pushes, simply because he can.}

_{a slight smile flickers comfortably across her face.  no doubt :  it’s a solid routine,  tried  &  true.  he’s probably done it countless times before,  probably  with other cops.  she doesn’t take the bait  —  unlike her ex,  he won’t get a rise out of her with a few well - delivered barbs.      ‘    i’ll bet.  my  daughter  has a real competitive streak,  but you wouldn’t know it to look at her.  monopoly’s kind of a blood sport.    ’}