That was better than anticipated, she really could be useful. He silently berated himself for thinking of her in terms of usefulness, that was the last thing he needed to do. Treat her the way she had been by those in his community. He wanted to show her that most of them were good, ordinary people, creatures, whatevers. Still honest and good ones.

"Ah that's a good story." He blew on the coffee before braving another sip. "I went to school, didn't do anything. I would start things and never finish them. Never had the drive to finish things. I dropped out and since my dad was on the force they figured I should try out too. I was good at it, but didn't care. Left things half started and couldn't be bothered to continue. But I was good at what I did finish, top of the class when I did. Detective squad picked me up and partnered me with a nymph who loved paperwork more than anything, which was a shame really. She got redistricted last period, for reasons I'm not at liberty to discuss, and I'm still without a partner, again reasons I can't discuss." He mumbled into his coffee. He took a deeper swig, and the second burn of alcohol hit him warmly. Something he had asked they leave out of Val's drink.