Falling Standards (open)

Too long, Kari finally put down her pen and dropped off all the paperwork at the main desk. Glancing at one of the wall clocks as she left the large police building, she gave an exhasperated sigh and shook her head. a few of the other officers still on duty waved to her and she waved to one of two coming on duty that she recognized. Today had been both exciting but not very fulfilling for Kari. She'd helped catch a couple of thieves who'd been breaking into apartments for the last few weeks but it hadn't involved a single car chase. She always felt that a car chase was a proper way to end a chase. The stakeout had culminated with the last suspect being tackled in a trash filled alley. It was lucky that the precinct had showers in the locker rooms which is all that can be said about that. But a foot chase was only enough to start the blood pumping and catching somebody at that just felt completely unfulfilling for Kari. There was a excitement to it, adrenaline, but it hadn't had the tense focus of an unexpected race through the streets in a metal hell-beast where a wrong move could spell disaster. Or more paperwork, at least. Still, it was all over now.

It had been a late night with all the extra paperwork but finally Kari had found her freedom. The sun was already down and the night was filled with people and noise as people enjoyed themselves and went out for whatever desire called out to them. Kari hadn't decided what vice she would indulge in tonight, though really it seemed like it might be a bit of sloth after a small bit of imbibing. After all, she'd had a long day and the next one was completely free.

She stretched out and not for the first time wished she'd brought her car. Not to get around faster, that would only end in another scolding from her superiors, but to show off a little. She'd traded her police uniform for slacks and a black leather jacket and felt quite confident that if she had her car, there would be no question about finding somebody nice and maybe starting a new friendship. Unfortunately, no car meant relying on her personality and the lawkeeper personality tended to drive the interesting people away very quickly. Still, no harm in trying, so she rolled her shoulders and put a smile on.

Without a real destination in mind, she just walked through the district, the nightlife certainly wasn't the most upbeat, hospitals weren't generally the happiest of places and prisons were even less so, but what it did have was cheap variety. People just out of prison wanted things they hadn't had in ages, and people just out of hospital tended to have the same desperate need. Unfortunately the felons were less than receptive to an officer in their midst, even one that was off duty. The hospital people were depressing and seemed less inclined to celebrate than the felons. Kari avoided the bar that the cops had appropriated for their drinking because she'd exhausted that pool of companions with no success and a few mementos. No, she wanted something special tonight and if the world wasn't going to give it up, she'd take it. First though, Kari had to figure out what it was.

So she walked around the district, keeping on the sidewalk and dodging passing crowds of ne'er-do-wells in case she saw something that would force her to come off duty. If she had been more musically inclined, she'd have been humming as her eyes watched the sky and her feet led her on an aimless path to something that would hopefully be better than work.

The air was perfect; not to warm and not to cold. Ryou had on a form fitting black T-shirt with a looser forest green jacket over top. Her hair was in it's usual braid and cargo's adorned her legs. The night sky shone with stars, although the city lights made them shine less bright. She walked, hands in her pockets, wondering which one of the stars was hers. She was so distracted with her gazing that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and walked right into someone else.

The sudden impact caught her by surprise and she looked down quickly, laying eyes on the poor girl she had collided with. She looked to be about her age, with short light brown hair.
"I'm really sorry!" Ryou's voice was soft, but the alto girl still managed to sound confident and sure of herself. She kept looking at the girl, taking bets on whether she would assume her to be a girl or a boy and whether she would notice her eyes are two different colors. Or maybe she would just move on with her life, not paying any more attention to Ryou as she would a speck of dust.


{OOC: So I'm thinking maybe a bad guy could be spotted and they could both fight him?}

Kari's reflexes kicked into high gear at the sudden physical contact and some parts of her training activated, fortunately it wasn't the really bad parts that involved bruises and arm bars. She grabbed the person she had bumped into and let go a moment later after they were both steady and neither seemed in danger of falling over. "Sorry, my mistake." she said. It might have been, she wasn't paying the most attention to her surroundings as she walked so it was just safer to apologize. Her eyes did a quick once over of the other person. "Are you ok? Drop anything valuable? Can't be too careful, might be pickpockets around." This was not entirely true, or, if it was, she hadn't been able to find any.

On first look, this other person was a bit of a conundrum. With both feminine and masculine aspects, it was hard to tell what to say, so she fell back on her training once again, and once again not the arm bar training. "Didn't mean to inconvenience you." she said, leaving off any pronouns like sir or madam that she'd normally use on the job. Besides, she wasn't on the job, this person wasn't involved with her work as of yet, and wasn't too bad to look at on second glance. "You're in the wrong part of town for good time, what brings you out to the red and blue light district?" It was a dumb joke, though she made a note to tell it to some of her friends on the next shift. They'd probably get a kick out of it. "If you don't mind saying, I don't mean to be nosy." she blatantly lied with a friendly smile. Being nosy was a natural state for her and the rest of the police force, it was how the inner clockwork was built. With any luck, maybe she'd found a drinking partner or amusement for the night, with extra luck, maybe for more than one.

Luckily, the girl had caught her before she had fallen to the ground. It was fortunate she was being nice about it, too. Some people would have gotten upset about the mistake, but it seemed like this girl didn't care too much. And she was even offering her safety advice.
"Thanks for the tip," she said. "I should be fine, though."
After all, she spent most of her time fighting the bad guys, she could fend off a pickpocket or two.
Actually, wasn't it a little odd that she was offering help like this?
"Are you a cop, or something? You seem a little more concerned with public safety than the average person." She smiled gently at the girl.

"You didn't inconvenience me at all," she continued. "It was my fault."
Had she just made a police car joke? Definitely involved in law enforcement, then. She chuckled at the joke. "Oh, well...the situation's a little complicated."

Ryou had a nagging suspicion that if she told the girl a stupid armadillo had told her to come down here to fight off demons, Miss Cop wouldn't believe her. So, she shrugged. "Just wanted a change of scenery." She paused. "My name's Ryou, by the way. And what are you doing out here, if I may ask?"

She wasn't normally one for socializing excessively, but hey, why not. She was bored, and that stupid armadillo had rolled off somewhere.

Kari let out a small, nervous laugh. "Ah, it's that obvious? Yeah, I'm a cop or something, off duty right now though." She smiled and shrugged. The person wasn't making excuses and trying to run off so it wasn't that suspicious and it didn't seem like being a cop would hurt her chances, at least not in the short run. Kari still hadn't decided what sort of person this was so she'd just wait until more clues were dropped. "Life tends to be complicated, it's why we try to simplify it so often. Not that it works."

When Ryou finally introduced himself, that was the clue Kari needed to make a decision. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you Ryou, I'm Kari. Truth is, I've just gotten off work and I'm looking to have some fun out in the real world. Unfortunately, I haven't found the right club yet. Everything around here is depressed bar people or angry bar people who tend to have a grudge against me and my kind. Aren't many who want to spend the night with a cop except other cops." She rolled her eyes and let out an overly dramatic scoff. "And I've been spending way too many nights with them for my liking. So I guess you could say that I'm looking for a change of scenery as well."

She smiled at him again. "Maybe we could spend some time looking together?" she offered. This guy might have potential, also he didn't seem to be a criminal which was a pleasant bonus. It meant less chance of extra paperwork and one night stand paperwork was really the second most shameful sort that she'd ever had to fill out. The first of course was anything to do with her speeding tickets and other car related troubles.