Illuminating Conversation (3) : This time of year there are lights hanging everywhere. They come in different colors, different styles, different patterns of illumination. You might not remember when it started, but when you looked at a display, you noticed the lights seemed to be flashing in a specific pattern. When you look away, you might be able to see out of the corner of your eye that they return to normal--but any time you look at them, they repeat the same unique sequence. It’s not just one light, either; almost everywhere you go you can find some light repeating the pattern. Is something trying to send you a message? Could it be Morse Code, or something else? A coincidence? Either way, you can’t seem to decipher the message and it’s getting to you. Especially because no one else seems to notice it.
The break room’s fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, that annoying hum that is usually dismissible on a normal day, but given her current mood, it sounded more like there was an angry bee trapped in the room that kept flying by her head.
Erica shuffled inside with the slow steps of someone who’d already survived an entire shift even though her day had barely begun.
She scrunched her nose as the pungent scent of burnt coffee grounds assaulted her senses, it lingered in the air almost mockingly, a reminder that Destiny City’s finest could break up domestic disputes and solve murders, but not a single one of them could brew a decent pot of coffee.
“One of these days I’ll walk in here, and there will be one of those digital espresso machines with a bit ole bow on it,” Erica muttered to herself, half a complaint and half a prayer. “And I will never again have to waste money on Starbucks to get me through the day.” She wasn’t sure who she expected to hear her, but she sent the wish out anyway as if the universe owed her at least one small favor today.
Standing in front of the coffee maker, she glared at the carafe with the wary distrust of someone who’d been betrayed before by a bad brew. Whatever was in there looked more like motor oil... but caffeine was caffeine and she needed something to get her through the morning. With a defeated sigh, she poured herself a cup and watched as the steam curled upward.
Not taking anything to chance, she grabbed a handful of at least four coffee creamers and two packs of the pure cane sugar which she opened and dumped into the mug without hesitation knowing that this might not even be enough to cut through the level of bitterness she was about to drink. After tossing the packets into the garbage, Erica wrapped both hands around the too-hot cup and let the warmth seep into her fingers as she leaned her back against the counter to relax for just a moment.
Two hours in, and she was already done with all the noise, the paperwork, the calls, and the city that never seemed to sleep long enough for her to catch up. What she needed now was either some good news, or someone who was having a worse day than she was, just so she could feel as if her day was not that bad.
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:36 pm
The door opened with unnecessary force, like the man behind it was used to the way it stuck because the last person in the room entered too carelessly. The rubber strip on the bottom of the door was worn and peeling and squeaked as it dragged against the tile.
Jeremy might not have expected the ease at which the door opened but he didn’t seem surprised. Erica’s presence answered the question before he could ask.
She didn’t treat this place with the same lack of care as the other officers.
Jeremy almost let the door slam shut himself, but he caught the handle before it could swing shut and closed it softer.
He’d been here for ten hours and it was hard to tell if it showed, or if he just always looked so annoyed these days.
His eyes found her coffee immediately.
He’d had six cups so far today.
It smelled old and stale, and looked like oil that had been sitting out in the sun for weeks.
And yet.
“Tell me that’s for me. Is there enough for a second cup? I’m not going to be able to stay awake if I’ve gotta sit here and wait for it to brew.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:38 pm
Oof… Maybe I should have added a caveat to that wish…
Yeah, Erica had hoped that someone else was having a worse day than she was, but she really should have specified who she didn’t want to jinx. Even before he spoke, she could tell Jeremy was in a foul mood; his irritation radiated off him in waves that could be felt across the room.
Her gaze snapped down to the mug she was about to drink from, then to the carafe that had maybe a couple of tablespoons of coffee in it.
Honestly, she wasn’t exactly attached to her own drink, but Erica also didn’t want to be the reason his day got worse. Still, a reluctant offer was made, “If- you want it… You’re more than welcome to it.” With a wave of her hand, she motioned him to the break room table to take a seat. “But I can also make you a fresh pot if you want to just take a few moments to decompress.”
Carefully, she set the hot mug on the faux-wood table before returning to the coffeemaker to replace the filter and moist coffee grounds. This time she loaded it with a proper medium roast, something that wouldn’t taste like boiled dirt scraped from a damp sidewalk.
“Dare I ask what happened?”
Kyuseisha no Hikari
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:39 pm
Jeremy looked from her face to the cup.
Back to her face. To the cup.
He took it.
One sip was enough.
He side-eyed Erica and set the cup back down.
“Wow.”
It wasn’t the first time they’d split a drink or shared bites but it was the first time he tasted her attempt to correct the abominable bean water.
With no small effort, he dragged himself to the table she’d previously gestured to and sank into one of the chairs. The hard plastic surface was far from what he’d describe as ‘comfortable’ but it was a different shape than the chair at his desk so it brought a strange relief.
He still groaned as he leaned against it.
“Same s**t, different day. Everyone’s lost their ******** mind out there.”
He stretched his legs out as far as they’d go. A few bones popped.
“Every time I get close to catching a break, someone decides to spice things up. I don’t know if they’re trying to piss me off or if it’s just one of those days. And Myles locked himself out of the house again so who knows what he’s doing.”
Making Jeremy worry, obviously.
“He might be at one of the neighbors’ but it’s getting late. I’m going to have to sew a key into his shoes. But then he might lose those, too.”
At first, Jeremy thought the darkness in his vision was simply a byproduct of how powerfully his eye had been twitching. The twitching was far less controlled than the repetitive flickering of the ancient bulbs above them.
He squinted, as if that would lessen the strain they were putting on his eyes, and focused on Erica as she worked the coffee pot.
“What about you, how’s your day going so far?”
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:40 pm
Erica let out a quiet chuckle and shook her head, the sound carrying disbelief rather than amusement. Poor Miles, he’s a smart kid… but horrible when it comes to keeping track of his keys.
While the coffee maker worked to heat the water, she walked over to the fridge and grabbed her lunch box from the bottom shelf, and from it pulled out a string cheese. “Here,” she tossed it to Jeremy as a tide-me-over and to give his hands something to fuss with before stress got the better of him.
“I was supposed to be off today. But Grayson called, he has a family emergency, so I agreed to cover for him.” Erica sighed heavily, regretting her decision. “Unfortunately, he works the evening swing shift, which means my ‘day’ basically started a couple hours ago.”
“First call was to the Destiny City Memorial Hospital,” her tone became more somber as she spoke. “Two gunshot victims… brothers. The younger one is only thirteen. The older one’s eighteen, finished high school last spring. Good student, too…” She shook her head. “He wasn’t on anyone’s radar.”
“According to witnesses, they think it might have been a drive-by shooting. Likely a dispute that spilled over from somewhere else, or the two could have been targeted to send a message if it was drug-related. More than likely wrong place, wrong time. But it’s hard to say yet.” Erica closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to stymie the headache forming behind her eyes.
“I hate seeing kids dragged into this kind of thing.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:41 pm
Jeremy caught the string cheese and opened it without much thought. He didn’t peel it in strips but instead just took a large bite and chewed contemplatively while listening.
Thirteen was too young. Eighteen was too young, too. But thirteen made him think about Myles. There was a five year difference between them, too.
He chewed in silence. The cheese probably tasted good but right now it didn’t have much flavor.
Jeremy hated seeing kids dragged into this kind of thing.
Into all kinds of things.
He stared at an old stain on one of the cabinets, letting his thoughts settle into the comfortable sea adjacent to a good zoning out. Now that he stopped moving, his mind and both settled into stillness.
“Are they going to be okay?”
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:41 pm
“Assuming the surgery is a success, with physical therapy, they should see a near-full recovery. Emotionally, however…” Erica glanced over her shoulder at Jeremy her expression softening with sympathy.
“The older brother was still in surgery when I left. The younger one was transferred to the ICU. He was conscious, but not speaking.” No doubt still in shock, but also riddled with fear for his brother. “Hannah was in there when I last checked in on him, so I’m sure he’s in good hands.”
Erica didn’t want to pressure him for details. Procedurally, she knew how important it was to document every detail while the incident was still fresh, but the kid had already been through enough. Forcing him to relive it so soon would do more harm than good.
Once the coffee was done brewing, she reached up and pulled down two fresh mugs from the upper cabinet and poured them both a new cup. Though before joining him, she grabbed the same number and flavors of creamers, and sugar, as she had put in the last one.
“Here you go.” She sat down beside Jeremy and pushed the gross cup toward the far end of the table, if only to keep its burnt stench from invading their space.
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:42 pm
Jeremy assumed the surgery would be a success simply because he wanted it to be. Destiny City had a hell of a lot of magic. Surely some of those surgeons had to have some, too. If Hannah was there, she’d do everything possible for them, no doubt.
His face remained stoic and he pulled the mug close to him. His fingers tapped the ceramic thoughtfully, with a steady, thoughtless pace.
“Sounds like you did the best you could.”
He’d have sipped the coffee if the steam curling above it didn’t tell him it was way too hot. He’d had a bad enough day already; he didn’t need to go home with burns, too.
Jeremy slumped in his seat a bit more, stretching his legs out further.
“This town’s such s**t. I used to think about leaving, you know. Just taking Myles and going somewhere else. Starting over.”
The tapping slowed.
He shrugged.
“Not anymore, I guess. Destiny City needs all the help it can get. What about you.” He tilted his head to rest his chin on his shoulder while he watched her. “You ever think about getting out of here?”
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:43 pm
Erica remained silent for a long moment while she meticulously peeled back the film over the creamer cups and poured each of them in her drink.
It was such a weighted question that if she were to answer openly and honestly, it would have to be someplace not here. The precinct was no place to discuss being a Knight, the war with aliens and magic, or retreating Wonders. At best, she could give Jeremy an abbreviated reply, but finding the words felt difficult.
She forced a small, crooked smile.
“When I lost my fiancé, I fell into a dark place,” Erica admitted as she stared at the swirl of cream in her cup, unable to meet his gaze. “There was a long period of time when leaving sounded like the easiest thing in the world.” She paused long enough so that the weight of leaving was unmistakable.
“But eventually… I realized running wouldn’t fix anything. Grief travels, no matter how far you go.” Her shoulders raised in a small shrug. “But I knew I couldn’t stay in the city where we lived, so I found one worse off that I knew would keep me too busy to drown in it.”
“Moving to Destiny City and transferring to this precinct has helped me find reasons to keep fighting.” Erica, with a softened expression, hazarded a glance towards Jeremy, a wordless indication that he and his brother were among those reasons.
“I can’t imagine leaving, at least long term. Short term, that’s another story...” Erica lifted her cup to take a tentative sip of her coffee.
Kyuseisha no Hikari
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:46 pm
Jeremy listened, with an expression that might have seemed indifferent to anyone who didn’t know him. He was used to being surrounded by criminals, or officers who were sometimes just as bad–just in different ways.
He relaxed around people he cared about–around her, around Drew, around Myles. When it felt safe.
The precinct didn’t always feel safe.
They weren’t all good people here.
Erica knew, too.
He knew enough not to expect her to be an open book about her answer.
“Good answer.”
The coffee was too hot. He sipped it anyway.
“You talking about a vacation or something? Sometimes I think about getting out. Myles always wanted to go to Disney World. We’ve never been. I always figured one of us would have kids by now, but.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully and shrugged. “Well, maybe next year.”
He didn’t sound like he was going to bet on it.
“Where would you go? If you were getting out of the city short term.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:46 pm
“Next year…?” She echoed, her tone uncertain as her expression twisted into a mix of confused yet cautiously suspicious, as if she were trying to measure exactly how far apart the lines were that she was supposed to read between.
“Hold up…” She leaned forward, bracing her elbows on the edge of the table as her hands curled around the cup for warmth. “You mean you’re going to take Myles to Disney World next year. Or… have you been withholding gossip and one of you is currently seeing someone and has not mentioned anything to me?”
“Tell me, who do I need to run a background check on?”
Erica had definitely heard his last question, but it was that final comment of his that hooked her curiosity, leaving her needing answers first.
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:47 pm
Jeremy laughed suddenly. “No one. Yet.” He shook his head and blew on his coffee before taking another sip. “Call me an optimist.”
Her reaction had been amusing enough that his mood had shifted and he regarded her with both curiosity and humor. “You think I’d withhold gossip from you? If Myles started dating anyone, you’d be the first person to know after me. You’d probably have to drive me to the hospital to get my heart checked out. But let’s be real,” he gave her a look. “You think I could hide if there was a woman in my life?”
He scoffed. “I don’t have time to date. I’m always here.”
Gesturing vaguely around the break room, he hardly seemed impressed. Why should he be? Everything there was twenty years old. Nothing had changed since well before he started working here.
And those lightbulbs–how old were they? Jesus Christ, they were more than half burned out. Someone must have put in a work request by now. Right?
…No, probably not.
He glared at them briefly as they blipped again, in such perfect succession that it almost looked like a pattern. He watched.
It repeated.
…He was too old to be staring at lights.
Today had been too long, he was losing it.
Erica’s face was softer than the lights–easier to look at. Prettier, too.
“Would be nice,” he mused, dragging his thoughts back to the present. He shrugged again.
“Maybe.”
The coffee was too hot, and while he’d gotten lucky that he hadn’t burned himself yet, he set the mug down on the table to cool off a bit more. “There’s too much work to do, this city never sleeps. Things might fall apart here if I ever went on vacation. You, too. Guess they’re lucky we’re workaholics.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:50 pm
Between two people worn thin by the day, his laugh was a welcome sound.
However, the idea of calling him an optimist did earn Jeremy a quiet snort and a look that said ‘not in this lifetime’.
Teasing, of course.
But the mental image of him coming into the precinct, hand on his chest like he was having a heart attack, before breathlessly saying something to the effect of ‘Myles…. He’s dating someone,’ did bring her more amusement than it probably should have. Mostly because in the years she’d known him, Jeremy was not one for the over-theatrics.
His comment about being a workaholic, however, did sober her up to a degree.
“I hear that the side effect of work-life balance is reduced stress, better focus, higher productivity, and strengthened relationships.” She smiled and nodded with her eyes closed, playing the part of an expert when the words were really just lifted from a video she’d once watched online.
“I know it’s difficult to step away and not worry that everything might fall apart, like we’re the glue that holds it all together. Especially since, as police officers, we see the absolute worst this city has to offer.” From murder and drugs to noise complaints and even Karen’s losing it because a kid set up a lemonade stand on her street… and everything in between. The city often felt like it was in constant chaos. “But taking a step back and doing what’s best for you can help offer a different perspective and remind you that there is still goodness out there.”
“Destiny City has a way of surviving. We’re not quite as bad as Gotham, yet…” Erica teased, nudging his foot under the table with her own. A part of her wanted to suggest he look into getting himself a work wife, but kept that comment to herself.
“I’m planning to take a week off in January.” Her gaze flicked up toward his for the briefest of moments. “I know you have some time saved up, so… what are your thoughts about maybe coming with me to visit Mount Rainier?” The question was asked so casually that if anyone were to overhear their conversation they would likely assume she meant the one over on the West Coast, near Seattle. Not the one only she could travel to.
Kyuseisha no Hikari
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:52 pm
Again, Jeremy didn’t mind her teasing.
“Not as bad as Gotham yet,” he repeated, nudging her foot back.
His fingers tapped the mug thoughtfully, which was the strongest indication that he was actually thinking about it and not just buying himself time.
“You’re not going there for a whole week. Are you? This place really will fall apart without the both of us,” he warned, but he sat up a bit, pressing his elbows into the table. His brows furrowed, not in frustration, but focus.
“What do you even do out there? I mean, I’ve never…”
His voice trailed off. He shrugged. He knew what she was saying.
“Never done anything like that. Never gone anywhere like that, I mean.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2025 5:52 pm
“I was thinking maybe four to five days. That leaves enough time to come home and deal with the jet lag.” Not that space travel to Mercury caused it, but daylight hours were different between her Wonder and Earth.
“There are some really neat caves.” She paused long enough to establish the gap between the lines and hint that this was by no means a normal cavern.
Erica couldn’t remember if she had ever described her Wonder to him, how it was more like a galactic prison than a simple snow-covered mountain. Its holding cells were essentially cryo chambers for creatures and other dangerous beings. Sometimes it felt more like a setting pulled out of an ice age apocalyptic script, only wrapped in advanced technology.
“There is lodging, I’ve stayed there a few times. It’s nice, however, there’s no continental breakfast.” A minor inconvenience because nobody lived on her Wonder to tend to the living quarters. “So we’d be on our own when it comes to bringing and making food.” Perhaps she should consider looking into robots for upkeep or simple chores.
“But we wouldn’t be roughing it.” She did have a few basic camping supplies, but Erica had no intention of sleeping out in the snow.
