The Perk: Tuesday Morning

[pieandcoffee.livejournal.com]

Dale had his newspaper a hot cup of black coffee and a chocolate frosted donut. If there was a specific heaven for Dale? This would probably be it.

He unfolded the newspaper and sipped his coffee as he waited for his new colleague to show up.

[For Renee but most definitely open and]

Comments

[not-an-answer.livejournal.com]

After getting a little bit lost on her way over... Really, who picked these street names? ...Renee slipped into the shop, quickly spotting Cooper.

"So, this is the place, huh?" She asked, stopping at his table and glancing around.

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"This is not just the place. This is the location where the humble coffee bean becomes the nectar of the gods," Dale rhapsodized and signaled a barista to come forth with the heavenly brew.

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Renee just smirked, taking a seat across from him and watching the barista with amusement. "I'd say it's just coffee, but I think that might get me shot."

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"Renee? I'm going to give you a little secret I to life. The trick is you need to give yourself a little surprise gift everyday," Dale said with a grin. "Could be a new suit. A slice of pie. Or two cups of hot black coffee with freshly roasted beans."

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Oh yes, Renee was really amused now. "Does it have to be a suit?" SHe asked dryly.

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"It can be anything you want," Dale said emphatically. "Try it for a week. You'll be surprised how uplifting it could be.

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"Do you give everyone this secret to life?" Renee asked, taking a sip of the coffee. Okay, it was pretty damn good. "Or am I special?"

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"Only my colleagues. They mostly just look at me as if I'm crazy and nod politely," Dale said as he sipped his coffee and let out an "Ahhhh..." of ecstasy.

[not-an-answer.livejournal.com]

That actually elicited a laugh out of her. She rolled her eyes and sipped hr own cup. "I'll give you that it's better than the crap usually brewed in the station." She closed her eyes, swearing at herself mentally. "Was brewed back home, I mean."

This... would really take time.

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"Most police station's coffee is best used for cleaning paint brushes and stripping furniture. Which is not the worst coffee I've ever had," Dale agreed before tilting his head slightly. "Sounds like you were tight with people back in Gotham."

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"Yeah." Renee looked down at her coffee, as if it held the secrets of life like he said and those secrets offended her personally. "You get that way in the circumstances."

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"Indeed," Dale said leaning back in his chair. "My last assignment I became very close to everyone at the Sheriff's department in Twin Peaks. If circumstances hadn't led me here I was planning on retiring there. How did your partner take it when you said you were transferring?"

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Renee flinched, face hardening and good humor disappearing suddenly.

"He didn't have much to say about it."

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"I say something wrong?" Dale asked seeing the reaction.

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She rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying not to sigh. "No. You didn't say anything wrong." Because she couldn't get pissed if he had no clue. If she found he read her file before asking, she'd kick his ass though.

"What about your partner?"

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"He wasn't my real partner but we worked well together," Dale said deciding to let the issue go for the moment. "Sheriff Harry S. Truman. A more decent fellow than you can ever meet. Back in the FBI I did a lot of field work with Albert Rosenfeld. He was... challenging."

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"Challenging?" Renee asked, more than relieved to be on a different topic.

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"He had a bit of an attitude problem," Dale said trying not to grin at the memory. "Most people tended to take a swing at him after being in the room for more than five minutes."

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That got a small smirk. "I'm sure interrogations with him were interesting at least."

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"He was our forensic specialist," Dale said taking a sip of his coffee. "He got along better with the dead bodies."

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Renee made a face, thinking of Corrigan for a moment. "Not my thing."

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"Nor mine. However it tends to be one of those things you can't avoid in our line of business," Dale replied. "Luckily we haven't had a need for any of that since I've been here."

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"This place is that quiet?" Renee asked. Even for a small town, that was unusual.

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"Other than the dinosaur and the alien invasion?" Dale said with a shrug. "My biggest case was figuring out who cut of the braid of one of the students."

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Renee stared. And then stared more.

And then cursed. Like a sailor. "So all we have is paperwork?"

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"Careful. Talk like that will get us either more paperwork or a serial killer," Dale replied. "Which we did have the other week but it resolved itself without police interference."

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"How?" Renee asked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back.

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"I still need to get a formal report on the matter," Dale said leaning back. "But apparently one of citizens took care of the issue. The illness that hit us last week put a lot of projects on the back burner."

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Renee nodded, looking down into her half empty coffee cup. "I understand that."

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"But you're going to find that we have a... shall we say interesting criminal element here. Even if they don't actually break any of the laws it still can make things interesting around here," Dale replied.

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"So there are criminals then?"

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"They probably wouldn't describe themselves as such," Dale replied. "One of them is a mercenary who teaches a class at the school."

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There was that staring thing again. "They let a mercenary teach children?"

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"The hiring process is a mystery to me," Dale replied as he sipped his coffee again. "But he hasn't appeared to have harmed any of the students that I know of."

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She'd have to keep an eye out for this mercenary.

"So far."

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Dale nodded in agreement. "The school has an excellent person in charge of security there, but you never know what could happen."

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"Not part of the station, I take it?" Renee asked, lifting her glass to signal to the barista for more.

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"No, strictly for the school. He's a former RCMP," he replied also waving for a refill. "He and the sheriff coordinate whenever there's some kind of threat to the school or island."

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With more coffee in her cup and a sense that she'd probably live off coffee from this place when things got weird, Renee nodded again. "I'll have to meet him soon."

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"I'm sure the sheriff can arrange a meeting if you want," Dale replied. "Any questions regarding the town you might have?"

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She shook her head, savouring the fresh coffee. "I think you answered most of them, Agent Cooper."