OH Also I Wanted To Note But Forgot Just Incase; Not Everyone Does The Skills Voices But If You Do Dont Worry About Cutting Them Out - - Tumblr Posts

@vendettavalor

initially, Kim paid no mind to the opening of the main entrance. People came and went in the repurposed mill, two chimneys like stalks from the perceived head of the oversized animal made of concrete and metal as, within, a few rubber mats desperately tried to keep the rainwater at bay, doors left relatively open in the rampant shuffling of morning and the influx-outflux of officers coming for work or leaving for home after nightshift, chatter filling like white noise. it's when Harry makes his approach that Kim notices.

I told you comes the part of his mind that proposed the idea of him waiting ever so patiently in the first place, midway through him re-establishing an old organizing system in the drawers and little places in his desk, as it hollers in its newfound victory ━ I told you he'd be here, he'd be waiting, hours for the best detective on the force? you're off your game, Kitsuragi!

the Lieutenant subtly shakes it off, twirling one of his pens in his hand as he looks towards Harry's approach properly. The grin upon worn skin slowly relearning itself as the onslaught of years of damage has at last called a ceasefire & beneath the bristles of facial hair it seems almost almost out of place, mismatched. It reminds Kim of a large dog, forgetting itself as an elder and remembering only its youth, in the way Kim finds himself thinking it apt for him, suitable; he liked it when he truly smiled. ━━ His own face refuses to betray him, but there in the margins of his cheeks, the skin around his eyes, a ghost of a smile lingers. ( he was wrong. a pleasant surprise, regardless of how major of a miscalculation. later, he'd blame it on the early morning instead, or perhaps his own out-of-touchness with Harrier's timing, given how fleeting their engagements... )

" Bonjour, Detective. " he answers, resuming his motions as he squirrels little things away ( stationary, paperwork, the ledger, his notebooks, sticky-notes, umbrella leaned and carefully hooked against his desk ; ever the practical man he'd like most to seem, aren't you, Kitsuragi? )

" Wet, but it's too early to say. " is the sentence he settles upon for the inquiry, it's hard to tell if he's joking. " I have been here about eight minutes, not counting the commute, so you haven't missed very much. Ask me again in an hour or two, if you really want to know. Though, are you always here this early? " ━ an eyebrow raises as he casts him a brief glance, a momentary pause before returning to the task; attention nonetheless focused upon the yefreitor.

Having lived in Jamrock for so long, the little sensations were lost on Harry. Until now, anyway. Whether by the result of his constantly alcohol intoxication, his assured peripheral neuropathy, or the natural haze that clouded his senses after years and years of being exposed to it all, he'd fallen into a routine at the Precinct. Not comfortable and not comforting all things considered - but a routine. And now, he was learning all but the most fundamental of things from scratch again. The feeling of his desk under his calloused fingertips. The smell of smog-tinted air and the rain on his head as he stepped out for work that morning. To many, it would've seemed a glum day in Jamrock.

But to him, looking at it all and drinking it in with fresher eyes than he's had in years, it was beautiful.

For once, he'd come in on time. He'd tried to be early to prepare for Kim, but in his haste of excitement, he'd forgotten the fact that he'd forgotten where the precinct was. In the end, he'd left so early that by the time he did arrive, he was right on time. (Trant seemed pleased by the fact. Judit seemed encouraging. Jean seemed only mildly grumpy, if a bit surprised. But he does get an earful about walking in sopping wet. So Harry goes to the locker room just to grab a towel and dry off.)

It doesn't take long for him to return. Still damp from the rainwater and a little more disheveled than when he initially walked in. But overall, it seems that the sobriety offered in Martinaise has already begun to work wonders on Du Bois. His skin isn't so flushed and red. He doesn't scratch at his palms with nervous anxiety, nor swing between sluggishness and hyperactivity. His hygiene's improved and his ability to concentrate seems to have followed suit, as he immediately looks over to Kim's newly-assigned desk to find his partner there.

The glee on his face is positively puppy-like. He nearly trips over himself in the rush to come up to Kim, the biggest grin on his face that he's ever had lighting up his worn and overgrown features. "Hey, Kim! You made it! Sorry, I wasn't able to greet you at the door... but welcome to the Precinct! How are you liking things so far?"

Harry, please, it's been five minutes...

⚔️ @quillheel