Arcane Sequence: 1987 (WLW)

November 25th, 1987: The Day Before Thanksgiving

This novella contains mature language.

Jaime was so pissed off she was ready to lash out at anyone who approached. Being confined in Kevin's squad car was definitely not helping. How had this happened?

She got the call first thing that morning and they were on their way to the crime scene. A woman around twenty-seven was found brutally stabbed with the trademark bite on her face. She was described as of Asian descent and Jaime felt a literal growl rumbling in her chest.

On top of it all, she and Kevin had a ride along. Some rookie cop they were meant to tote around like an overeager guard dog. Their captain wanted results and they needed a fresh pair of eyes, sure, but did it have to be a doe-eyed rookie? However, he could've given them anyone else and Jaime would most likely still be upset. No, that was a lie and Jaime didn't lie.

Then again, there were a lot of things she didn't do that she found herself doing as of late.

The first was that Kevin had decided to stay home instead of visiting family and for that, Jaime was very thankful. However, this meant she could simply tell the Watanabe family she would be staying with him for the time being, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. Something about what transpired last night just... Well, she just couldn't, despite what may have been best in the situation.

The second was sitting and grumbling to herself rather than just letting it out to Kevin. He'd asked several times what was eating at her, but there was no way she could say. Not only would she be booted off of the case, but she would also overcomplicate an already complicated situation.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Kevin to keep it to himself if she decided to tell him how much things had changed overnight, but she also would never ask him to keep it to himself. He was a by the book detective. Something she truly valued most of the time, but this time caused a small rift she couldn't even make known for fear he would catch onto her new feelings.

Which led to the third thing. Just what the fuck had happened last night with Yua? When she kind of kissed Jaime, and kind of was the only way she felt she could really describe that brush of her lips, Yua hadn't said much else the rest of the night. Jaime tried to take her place on her pallet once more as she realized they definitely needed some space, then was lambasted with Yua asking her to stay in the bed.

They'd spent the night sleeping next to each other. Never touching again. When Jaime woke from her alarm, Yua was already up and about in her office across the hall. The office she hadn't been back to in days. Either that was a good sign, or a sign of something particularly ominous.

Jaime had to expertly navigate their loft to get away from Yua's parents who weren't too ecstatic about their daughter's lack of interest in being with them. It hadn't been easy nor fun to get around. It must have been why Yua ran away so early in the morning, right? It wasn't because she was freaking out about the night before. That couldn't be it...

Jaime sighed and let her head fall back against her seat. What was she to say to Yua later on at the end of the day? More than that, how the hell was she going to sleep in the same bed with her again without holding her close? She really did need to just tell everyone she'd be staying at... But, I can't...

"Seriously, Schmidt. What crawled up your ass this morning? You look like shit, by the way. Didn't sleep well?" Kevin asked, breaking through her thoughts.

"Fuck off, bud. Not today." She turned toward him, fury distorting any clear, rational thought. "How the bloody hell did you manage to screw up last night? What? Too many coffees and not enough toilet paper? Too many hotdogs and not enough sleep? What combo should I fuckin' list next?"