Curfew

'Come on,' said a police officer, half carrying Kyle Evans, drunk journalist extraordinare, thru the bull pit. He was dishelved, to say the least, and reeked of Southern Comfort.

In the haze of his alcoholic depression, he realized where he was being dragged thru. 'Why am I...' his thoughts ran away just then as he felt himself be propped into a chair.

The cop was muttering something about paperwork and his keys. He was angry, that much Kyle knew. He didnt know the cop, which is why he was being thrown in the drunk tank for the night. Usually they put him in a cab and send him home, being the regular that he is. Kyle leaned forward to grab his head which was starting to pound.

He could feel the stubble on his face. The smell of the alcohol permeated from his skin. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get his sense of balance back and vision when he noticed, sitting across from him, a little asian girl. She was swinging her small dangling legs, staring at him.

Kyle tried to straighten his shirt and hair, to no avail. He lifted his hand and in a drunken slur said, '...Hi.'

Mai tilted her head to the side and watched the uniformed men bring in one who was obviously very drunk. He was fairly poured into the seat across from her and seemed to be suffering from the effects of his chosen vice even now.

She hopped down from her chair and walked over to stand in front of him. Placing a small hand on the back of his neck, Mai pressed the acupressure point there for relieving a headache.

"You should stay away from the sake. Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing."

Mai brought her hands around to his temples ,smiling down at him, her white eyes regarding him serenely.

Thru bleary eyes Kyle watched the little girl hop off her chair, walk towards him and lay her hands on his head and neck. Immediately the throbbing headache started to subside. He made a very primal, but relieved noise.

The reducing headache made his vision a little clearer and he reached up to touch her hand on the back of his neck. He tapped it lightly and smiled. 'Can I pay you to teach me how to do this?' Kyle laughed, still drunk but in less pain.

It occured to him that it was probably past midnight, so what was a little girl doing in a police station? 'Are you lost or something, little girl?' He looked into her white eyes and his eyebrows furrowed. 'No, you dont look lost.' Kyle looked at her kimino and smiling bright eyes. Thru the thick smell of his alcohol stench, he thought he could smell flowers. Kyle thought curiously, she smells of...wisteria I think they're called.

Kyle blinked. 'Who are you?'

Mai frowned at the barrage of questions. Humans, so impatient, can they not ask one question and wait for the answer before pushing on with something else? The police officer had been the same way and part of his frustration seemed to be at the rate Mai was inclined to answer him in return.

She squeezed the man's neck. "Here" and his temples "Here" then pressed a thumb in the middle of his back "And here."

"I no teach."

Taking a step back, Mai regarded the room around them. "I know where I am." That answered the next question on his list. There was likely to be more questions from that one. It did not seem to satisfy the policeman, though she didn't understand why. It was a simple question. "Are you lost?" and the answer was even less complex. "No" but he had not been satisfied. This human would probably be the same.

Mai bowed slightly, more a nod of the head.

"Asahi Mai."

Rene hummed a bit as she shifted the papers in her grasp, looking them over as she made her way over to Edna. Hannigan, her new partner, had been showing her around the building earlier; she was starting to get the feel for the place quick enough. She was more than happy when she found out she'd be working the day shift, though when she met her new partner, some of that happiness faded away.

It wasn't that Det. Hannigan, or Corey as he tried to get her to call him, was anything other than attractive and businesslike. Put simply, he reminded her entirely too much of her ex, Billy. They really did not share the exact same "look", but the likeness was there. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts of the latest Irishman to enter her life. How did she keep managing to be so 'lucky'?

"Luck o' the Irish my ass," she muttered under her breath.

"What's that Det. O'Brian," Edna queried as she looked up from her computer.

"Oh nothing, Edna," Rene smiled over the counter. Another of Irish descent, the woman reminded her of what Billy's mother would have looked like had she ever gotten to meet the woman before she died. If she heard another Irish brogue today, she was going to scream bloody murder.

She handed the papers to Edna and turned, resting her elbows against the nearly chest high counter. Her gaze looked out over the pit, checking to see what kind of trouble had been brought in. Brows furrowed in thought, she wondered at the odd pair talking nearby.

Kyle, now thoroughly intrigued with the little woman child, automatically dipped his head in respect, although later he would ask himself why he was trying to impress a child.

'Asa..hi...Mai?' Not for the first time was Kyle wishing he wasn't drunk. He so desperately wanted to talk to this girl for some reason. She wasn't a girl, she was like a woman in a little girl's body. He wasn't sure, but he thought Maybe Mai was her name.

'Um, I'm Kyle,' he slurred. 'I'm a little drunk.' He gave her a sad smile. Kyle reached out and touched the girl's shoulder while the other hand covered his eyes. 'Ugh, this is embarassing.'

He saw another woman come into the bull pit. He tried, again in vain, to focus in on who that was looking at him and the little girl. 'Crap,' he mumbled, taking his hand off of Mai's shoulder. 'Great,' he gave a heavy sigh, 'now I'll be arrested for touching the girl's shoulder.'

Kyle was not having a happy evening.

Mai nodded gravely " Mai. " She no longer had a family to speak of so she was just Mai most of the time. It seemed the custom in this place to use personal names even with strangers and she'd eventually become used to everyone calling her Mai, whether she considered them a friend or not.

"Hai, Kyle-san" Humor played at the corner of her lips, at the statement of something so very obvious.

She looked at the hand on her shoulder and back at the man in front of her. It caused him obvious distress so why did he put it there? Arrested? The officers had mentioned that and she knew the word to mean when they imprisoned someone. Did he believe she was someone important enough not to be touched? How charming, but she had never been royalty.

To reassure him, she spoke quietly and rested her own hand on his shoulder in return.

"I take no offense."

Watching them, she could tell the man was probably drunk. She decided he meant the girl no harm; hell he almost looked like he was afraid of her or something. With a shrug, Rene continued to ponder the exchange. Somewhere in the back of her mind, some sort of red light started going off. Something about the man was familiar, but she couldn't lay a finger on it. Ah well, it did not seem likely that she would know him, having barely been here in Nachton a week or so. Hell she hadn't even been out on any calls yet, so it wasn't like she knew him from the street.

Rocking back on her heels, she turned to Edna and her paperwork. "Everything in order?" she asked.

"Yes, dear. I'll get it all sent up to personnel and you'll officially be on the payroll." Edna nodded to herself and returned to her computer.

Off for the night at long last, Rene turned toward the elevator. She glanced back over the man and young woman, eyes narrowing as she tried once again to place the stranger. Hoping to hear something, or at least get a closer look, she took her time as she passed, appearing to dig for her keys in the bottomless pit that is a woman's purse.

Kyle dropped his hand and smiled. There were more people being brought in from some recent bar fight, thankfully not from the bar that Kyle was in. He pulled Mai to the side to avoid some of the men and sat up straight.

He was about to ask her why she was there at this time of night when another officer approached them. He was looking at the paperwork the other officer had started.

'Kyle...Evans?' He shouted into the bull pit.

Kyle looked up, 'Yeah, that's me.'

'We got no room for you, releasing you,' the officer said. He thumbed towards the elevator and then walked away.

Kyle looked over in the direction of the thumb and saw the red head again, staring at him.

Mai let him tug her out of the way, curious as to why he did it. Did he know the men who came in? Perhaps they were important people but she wouldn't have believed so with the handling that the policemen were giving them. Perhaps they were important enemies, still it is best to treat even enemies with honor. She shook her head sadly at the lack of manners in this time and they turned back to Kyle.

An officer announced that he was being released. Mai smiled and stepped back to let him get up.

"You have your freedom, Kyle-san. That is most fortunate."

As Rene walked away, almost to the elevator, she heard a name that stopped her in her tracks. 'Kyle Evans?!' she exclaimed to herself. She didn't think it possible that this could be the same Kyle she had nearly grown up with back in Vegas. Okay so she was only twelve when he had left, but still.

One hand still in her purse, she turned back towards the pit, eyes narrowing once again on the drunken man. She tilted her head to one side and then the other, gaze moving down his body and back again to land on his face.

"You have your freedom, Kyle-san. That is most fortunate."

Kyle looked back at the little girl. 'Yeah, I guess I do.' He noticed the red head openly staring at him now and seemed a little shock. Something niggled at the back of his brain. His usual instinct to bed her was redirected to the 'I know face' part of his brain. He stood and took a step towards her but then stopped.

Again placing his hands on the little girl, he asked, 'Are you ok here? Is someone,' he looked around, searching for someone who resembled her parents but saw no one, '...is someone coming for you?' He looked at her curiously whitish eyes. Just a kid, he thought to himself and all alone.

Mai smiled at the man and nodded that she was ok. Did she look unhealthy? She had just fed before coming here. Perhaps it was the eternally preserved wraithlike nature of her, after all, she wasn't the most well fed of people when she was turned, peasants didn't eat like emperors.

She sensed the woman behind them that seemed to have caught Kyle's attention, bowing slightly she stepped back.

"I am waiting on someone."

Mai was waiting on the policeman who told her that he would be 'right back' though she was beginning to doubt that he had a very accurate understanding of those words. Perhaps English was not his first language. She went back and calmly took her seat staring blankly out at the officers going back and forth nearby.

Seeming to realize she was pretty much standing there with her mouth hanging open, Rene visibly shook herself and tossed her purse over her shoulder. Adjusting the strap to a bit more comfortable position, she stepped towards Kyle.

"It just couldn't be," she muttered under her breath. If it really was him, it had been at least fifteen years since he'd seen her, so it was highly unlikely he would even know it was her. "Can't hurt to ask," she told herself as she moved closer.

"Kyle Evans?" her voice rose in question. "This may sound crazy, but are you from Vegas?"

The little asian girl seem to have dimissed him. He wasn't her parent and she seemed capable enough to handle the dim witted officers. He gave her a side glance and then focused on the red head approaching him.

Now, given any other day, Kyle would rise to the occasion and be more than welcoming to a beautiful woman walking his way. He looked at the red head, from head to toe. 'Those lips,' he moaned to himself, but honestly could not place her face. He blinked, looking into her green eyes.

"This may sound crazy, but are you from Vegas?"

The glint of recognition hit him like a jack hammer to the forehead.

'Rene?' It had been at least 15 years but those eyes, those almost bottle green eyes, there was no forgetting those. He pictured her as the little kiddo he left back in Vegas. He mentally smacked his forehead for checking her out.

'Oh my god, Rene.'

"It is you!" she practically squealed, the girl he'd known showing in her eyes if not the body before him. "I can't believe after all these years!"

A rush of emotions played over her face: shock, disbelief, glee, then suddenly, a flash of playful anger. Clenching her hand into a fist, she socked him in the arm.

"I can't believe you left without saying good bye you jack ass! Do you have any idea how badly you hurt me? Poor little girl that I was, loosing my 'boyfriend' like that," she stifled a girlish giggle, instead sucking her full bottom lip against her teeth.

Kyle grabbed his arm, 'Jesus OUCH,' and laughed. 'Good lord, little Rene Taylor. The cutie patootie who followed me everywhere.' He held the dirty beast in him at bay. She was more like a sister than a potential conquest. Still, he murmured, 'God you've grown up.'

Turning away to keep her from seeing his embarassed flush, he thumbed towards the elevator. 'Let's get out of here? I need some coffee.' He ran his hand thru his unruly hair and gave her a goofy smile. 'I appear to be a bit inebriated,' he whispered.

He pressed the call button for the elevator and when the doors slid open, he stepped inside, hoping she'd follow.

((ooc - OUT but waiting on Rene))

Rene couldn't help smiling at the exaggerated ouch. She really hadn't hit him that hard, geesh. Looking around the room, she realized they had gathered a little bit of attention. Ah well, yes folks, the new detective seemed to know one of the local drunks. Deal with it! Turning on her heel, she strode after him and wrapped an arm through one of his.

Looking over to him wearing a shit eating grin, one brow lifted a bit higher than the other. "Going," short pause, "down, Mr. Evans?" As the elevator doors closed, a burst of laughter could be heard.


((Ooc- Rene OUT))