don't you / dare / corner me like that ever again. understood ? "

then she wasn't going to let this fly.

taking a hold of the front of his sweater, she switched their positions almost seamlessly, pressing alfendi against the wall with one hand. the other ? pointing at his face, accompanied with a deep frown.

" i'm not afraid of you being vulgar, alfendi. but

;

provided, and the next she was being crowded against the wall, being told to shut her trap — and that was putting it lightly.

still. if there's one thing ema learned about working here as a woman, it was to not let people waltz all over her. especially men. and if this were his true colours,

;

essentially told them politely, but firmly, to fuck off.

but this time, unlike the other times, it seemed like she'd gotten him in a truly bad mood.

honestly, ema wasn't quite sure how it had developed into this. at one point, she had been talking about some of the evidence that she had

;

people have warned her about alfendi layton. have told her that he's unstable, that he cannot be trusted, that he gives off serial killer vibes — and even though she'd only met the man a few times, giving him a forensic report, at the coffee machine or silently sharing a smoke break, she had

;

" — quiet shift so far, i take it ? or was that your first smoke break of the night ? "

if it was, then she did feel a little bit bad. having your smoke break interrupted after hours of hard work with even more work was one of the worst things that could happen.

still, she put on a more neutral expression in a blink of an eye.

" mr george fieldman. he passed away on halloween night that year. "

glancing around to see if she could maybe spot a security camera, she stuffed her hands in the pockets of her lab coat, deciding to make a bit of a chat.

;

to be the first human to have found one of his kind.

" say cheese — ! "

more, she turned the camera into selfie mode, showing the screen to kirby.

" see ? this way we can take a picture together. "

maybe later, when she got back home, she'd be able to do some research using these pictures. figure out just what kind of species kirby was — or if she just happened

;

in the moment, those friendships had been fun. and it was the same childlike wonder and enthusiasm in kirby that made her want to give in to his suggestion of exploring together.

" sure — ! that sounds like fun. "

she didn't have a whole lot better to do, anyway. holding up her phone once

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right ? "

yes, despite everything, despite how infrequently she saw him and all the rumours, ema still thought of phoenix as a friend. and hopefully, he did the same in return.

place, she also knew she'd better avoid it. you know. just in case.

when phoenix declined the offer of coffee ( understandable, it was only barely drinkable ), ema only just managed to get a small sip in when he asked her a question.

" mm ? of course ! i mean, that's what friends are for,

;

your bed should be a lot better than your desk... you know, scientifically speaking.

club. or are you playing the piano horrendously somewhere else now ? "

helping him out.

turns out it was wishful thinking, though.

" ...never mind. " she settles on instead, gesturing towards the coffee machine to indicate that he could have his go with it, briefly blowing on her coffee.

" still, you must be doing something right, to still be at the borscht bowl

;

that's just what she told herself, in order to sleep well at night.

still, that was why, whenever phoenix showed himself, she hoped that he was secretly working on a case. that, maybe, he was working on proving his innocence and getting his badge back— and that maybe this time, she'd be the one

;