fandomtownies | Trooper Station; Monday [ 07/05 ].

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Trooper Station; Monday [ 07/05 ].

The whole thing was entirely fascinating, really.

Angua sat at her desk, leaning back in her chair with her arms folded in front of her. She was listening, with rather impressive patience, to the ministrations of two tiny rodents that stood on the paperwork. She couldn't understand a single thin they were trying to say to her, but she gathered the general idea of it. The squirrel was absolutely livid because the chipmunk had stolen her nut. The chipmunk insisted that the squirrel had threatened her based on her position with the radio station, and it wasn't her nut at all.

Frankly, Angua felt they were both off their nut entirely.

"Listen," she finally said, holding out a hand to stop the bickering before leaning forward on her folded arms on the desk. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the nut probably came from a tree in either the park or the preserve, which are public lands. Those nuts are anyone's nuts. Anyone can just go out there and grab them, and if you leave your nuts where someone else can grab them, then it's your own fault for not protecting them better. It's really a little bit ridiculous to get all caught up on a single nut, when there are thousands out there, most of them probably better than the nut in question here. Besdies, there are people out there in the world who get by just fine without any nuts at all."

They turned their beady rodent eyes toward Angua a bit dubiously, then looked at each other and sighed. They shrugged, conceded to her the point, and scurried off, leaving Angua to wonder if she seriously just said what she thought she did.

Considering the fact that Ralph looked like he was trying not to titter as he handed her the form to file the claim, yeah, she probably did.

[[ open station is open! ]]

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Reese massaged the bridge of her nose. She wished she could toss what she'd seen and heard as hallucinations but sadly, she was stone cold sober.

"We're mediating to rodents now?"

"And their nuts," Angua pointed out, shaking her head.

"Still better than mediating trolls and dwarves, though. They carry weapons, and large ones at that."

Reese tried to imagine that and shuddered. "You're right, it could have been worse."

She shook her head. "I've been here almost a year and it's still takes some getting used to."

"I'd take rodent disputes over some of the other things this place throws at us any day, thought," Angua muttered. "Much less paperwork, and it's someone else making a fool of themselves for a change..."

"My partner used to say the reason why the universe loves making fun of us because it's insecure."

Reese returned to her desk. "If that's true, the universe should stop throwing its issues at us and get therapy."

"I think your partner should stop personifying the universe and get therapy," offered Angua. "No offense to your partner, but doing that only encourages it."

"I always thought so too," Reese said. She shouldn't have been talking about Crews. That was still a wound too raw to even think about. "I hope this doesn't set a precedent though. I really wouldn't know what to say if a dog came to me with a complaint."

Something dropped, almost distinctly, almost audibly, in Angua's demeanor at that. She blinked at Reese, as if trying to determine whether or not she'd heard what she thought she did, and whether it was as intentional as Angua could build it to be.

"Easy," she said, figuring there wasn't any possible way Reese could have known what she said. "Just send him to me. I'm good with dogs."

"I'll do that," Reese said. She caught the change in demeanor and wondered if she said something wrong. "But I'll take dogs over cats any day." She grimaced, "I hate cats."

"We send the cats to Gibbs, then," Angua concluded. "Because I am so right with you there."

"At least dogs are loyal, they'd take a bullet for you. I bet cats would just eat you." Reese was slowly getting into the swing of things and probably revealing a little about the things Reese dreams about on a bad night. "Gibbs can handle the cats."

It wouldn't be the first time Angua would have made a cat and vampire comparrison in her mind.

"Absolutely loyal," she said with emphatic agreement. "Sometimes almost too loyal. You sort of feel sorry for the poor sods sometime..."

And she wondered how much she was revealing of herself in a comment like that...

Anyone ever loved you that much? Crews asked Reese on their first case, referring to the wounded dog next to its master. Two years later Crews gave Reese the answer to his own question by exchanging himself for Reese.

"I would if they weren't so stupidly reckless," Reese added angrily. "There's such a thing as too loyal."

See what happens if you bring dogs into the conversation? This happens. And fast. Angua didn't say anything at first, just sort of sort of looked off to the side somewhere. Somewhere very far off from here.

"Yeah," she muttered. "They can't help it, though."

Reese sighed, and said quietly, "Yeah, I know."

She'll find Crews, somehow then she'll smack him on the head for the boneheaded move then she'll hug him.

Reese cleared her throat and changed the subject. "You have any pet dogs?"

"One," said Angua, nodding and rolling with the lie easily. "Well, she's actually a wolf, but don't tell her that, it'll go right to her head. Her name is Elsie."

"You?" Of course, Angua would already know the answer; she could smell it.

"Wolf?" Reese frowned. "Isn't that dangerous? I used to have a dog."

"Wolves, like people, are only dangerous if they've been raised to be that way," Angua said with a sort of conviction that suggested that she'd take that debate with her to the grave, as well as anyone who tried to bring that debate into the picture. "They're intelligent and instinctive. She wouldn't hurt a fly...unless she had to."

Then there was a slight, awkward pause.

"What kind of dog?" she asked.

It was clear Angua was really passionate about this and Reese knew better than to argue. "Maybe I could see your wolf some time?"

There, that would get the conversation back to neutral territory, wouldn't it?

"It was a mutt," Reese said with a slight smile. "It followed me home on the way to school. You should've seen that thing. Mangiest dog you've ever seen."

"She's pretty shy, but maybe one day she'll come around and say hi."

Then Angua's mind instantly jumped to Gaspode.

"And I don't know," she said, "I've seen some pretty mangy dogs. The way home from school? Were you younger, then? And please tell me you didn't actually go home and say, 'Mummy, can we keep it?'"

Reese smirked. "Nope, I hid him in the shed in the backyard. My dad would have freaked if I even asked."

Gibbs walked in at the moment of Angua actually talking to the squirrels.

He stared at the situation for a moment or two and then just went to his desk.

He was not going to acknowledge that at all. No. Not a bit.

Angua could smell your staring, Gibbs.

"Those squirrels," she felt it necessary to comment, "are more literate than about eighty percent of the people I used to work with."

If Gibbs were the type of person to play along with a conversation about squirrels he might bring up Tony being part of that eighty percent.

Gibbs was not that type of person.

"If you say so, von Überwald," he replied briskly.

Well as briskly as anyone can say "Überwald."

Angua shook her head slightly. "You're not doing anyone any favours with that name," she said, "least of all yourself."

And, really, he could have done a bit more with that umlaut.

"Then it's a good thing it's not my name," Gibbs replied somehow already half-way through the paperwork in front of him. "I'd hate to be giving anyone favors."

~~You dirty umlaut modder.~~

"Let's just ignore it, then, shall we?" said Angua. "I always do."

~~Someone modded my umlaut the other day; I'm only paying it forward~~

"Consider it ignored," Gibbs readily agreed but not bothering to look up from his paperwork. "I usually try to do that."

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Trooper Station; Monday [ 07/05 ].

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