2020-07-21 - Intern, Meet Chief

Milo and Olivia met on a Monday afternoon. It's now Wednesday, late morning. Dressed in a navy, pin-striped skirt, belt, and matching, gauzy, short-sleeved blouse with her badge clipped to her belt, Olivia appears beside Milo's desk -- which happens to be in a dark corner of the second floor with a fluorescent overhead light that is tempermental at best; his telephone only works when he bangs the receiver against the desk, and the lower drawer is bent a bit which makes opening it and closing it something of a production. Still! The young intern has a place at the GHPD. He belongs. At least on paper, so far.

Olivia leans a hip into the side of Milo's desk and asks, perhaps startlingly out of nowhere, "Getting settled in, Hartwell?" She told him to call her 'Olivia', didn't she? The blonde smiles and tips her head just so in a sort of 'you game' query before the words follow. "Looks like the Chief is in his office. Door's open. And I got a glimpse of his schedule. He may even be around for a bit. Want an introduction?"

It was definitely the epitome of an intern location, but Milo had been prompt and effective each day on the job so far. Granted, this was really only his third day but still! As he sits at his desk the young man wears a button down gray shirt today with a powder pink tie, darker tan dress pants and brown dress shoes. His hair is styled back for a more professional appearance and his glasses rest on the bridge of his nose as he looks at the computer in front of him. A brow furrows in concentration as he seems to be muttering something to himself before reaching beside the computer for a...shoe horn?

As Olivia appears he is leaning over to the bent desk drawer, wedging the shoe horn in from the more open bent corner before pushing it away from him and popping open the drawer. He reaches into the drawer to pull out a binder, sitting back upright before noticing Olivia. Or perhaps he noticed her because she spoke. Either way, Milo gives a bit of a jump which results in the shoe horn clattering to the floor. "Olivia." A glance down to the betrayed shoe horn, dropped like Yoshi for a jump assistance, before looking back up to his new boss. "Yes. I even managed to time things right and got some coffee before it ran out!" He offers a kind smile to the woman, "How can I assist you?"

The Chief is indeed in his office. Or was, as of a moment ago. He's stepped out to fetch himself a cup of coffee, and is just ambling back on over, while Milo wrestles with desk drawer and shoe horn and suddenly materializing blondes.

Still leaning into Milo's desk with her hip, Dr. Kincaid folds her slim arms across her chest while watching him, from startled reaction to smiling statement of achievement. "No small feat in this department. Word of warning, don't leave your coffee cup unattended. There's quite a bit of pranksmanship that goes on around here." Is that the reason for the desk drawer or the phone? Who can say? And is 'pranksmanship' even a word?

Her burgandy lips curve into a small smile as he speaks her first name, despite her seeming double standard? How can he assist her? She repeats again, this time more slowly, "Chief de la Vega is in his office. It looks like a good time for an introduction. Would you like one --" Her voice trails off as she catches sight of Ruiz.

"Captain de la Vega," Olivia pushes away from the desk up to the height in her heels that will put her a good four inches taller than Milo if and when the young intern stands. (Didn't she call him 'Chief' to Milo?) "If you have a few moments, I'd like to make an introduction." She unfolds her arms and cants her head with the query about his time.

A look to his coffee mug at the warning, Milo chuckles and looks back to Olivia. "Well, having been the deliverer of enough pranks myself perhaps it would just count as karma catching up with me." Then she is mentioning the Chief. The young man closes the desk drawer, picking up the shoe horn and setting it on top of the binder and then both on the desk before standing up. "Yes, ma'am." As she calls over to the Chi-Captain?...he gives a quick glance down to double check his appearance before back up and in the direction of the man. When Olivia cants her head he just gives a quick nod of his own in recognition.

Ruiz pauses, and backtracks a step or two as he's addressed out of the blue, and dragged out of his introspection. The captain's not in uniform today, but has rather opted for a completely unremarkable off the rack shirt tucked into dark, equally off the rack pants. A tie is knotted at his throat, and he's got the sleeves unbuttoned and turned up to his elbows. Which reveals an unfortunate amount of ink, for a supposed Chief of Police. Reads more like an ex-convict, with the gang-style tatts scrawled all the way to his knuckles on his right hand, the hard, weathered face, and the nose that looks like it's been broken a few times in the past.

Milo gets a little up-down with his eyes, a furrow of his brows. He sips his coffee, and glances from the young man, back to the tall blonde accompanying him. Then to his watch, before sliding a dubious look back Milo's way. "Sure. I've got a few minutes. Not one of the new crop of rookies, are you?"

Olivia tosses a sidelong, mildly assessing look to Milo as Ruiz speaks to him. The Captain's demeanor is never particularly welcoming or gentle, but this doesn't seem to surprise her. No. What she's watching for is Milo's reaction to the man and the air of power and restrained violence the captain wears more comfortably than his off the rack clothing.

But then she speaks up. She offered the introduction, after all. "Captain de la Vega," she still hasn't explained why she was previously calling him 'Chief' to Milo yet. "This is Milo Hartwell. He's our new forensics intern. He's been bitten by the bug to learn everything he can." She goes on to name the two detectives she'd assigned to oversee his day-to-day experiences.

"Hartwell, this is the Gray Harbor Chief of Police, Captain de la Vega. He'll take you seriously if you prove you should be. And he's a good man to keep abreast of significant elements that may come into play. I simply suggest you avoid --" Here she looks from Milo to Ruiz with that inimitable mild smile of hers that suggests she's paying attention to any number of details. "-- wasting his time."

Ruiz does get a look from Milo as he approaches, but there is nothing assumptive or negative in the expression. Instead, it's more one of observation like Olivia seems to give. Though with far less years of training and awareness behind them. As the other man speaks, the new intern takes in the tone of voice and general presence he is exuding. Then, he thinks it's best to let Olivia introduce him. However, after she does so Milo would extend a hand towards "Understood. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir and thank you for your time." Short, sweet and to the point. Or at least as much as Milo could get. No time wasting!

Maybe the captain simply prefers to keep things succinct and to the point. He doesn't smile, but he does manage to dredge together enough manners to swap his coffee cup to the left hand, and grasp the offered one in his heavily inked right. Eye contact is made without a stitch of hesitation. Intense and probing, like one might pin a still-living butterfly to tar paper and watch to see whether it struggles or submits. "Forensics. I'm sure you'll have your hands full around here. It's good to have you aboard." His grip's firm, though not overpowering, and he shakes once before releasing the younger man. "Have you met Cecil Harvey, yet?" He speaks with a fairly strong accent, despite obvious attempts at erasure. Mexican Spanish, Tijuana gutter trash if Milo is at all familiar with such.

There is no rush to the interaction from Olivia. Older man and younger man size one another up, and they'll do so in their own fashion and time. She stands with subtle poise to the side and facing both men, one foot slightly in front of the other, as they shake hands and do their male thing. How they interact? Well, that's right up Olivia's alley. It might as well be that they are putting on a one-act play just for her. Her gaze flickers from the clasped hands to Milo's stance to Ruiz's hold on his coffee cup. The name 'Cecil Harvey' just might be familiar, though her attentive gaze might tip a bit in askance to Ruiz as he mentions the man.

There is no attempt to display bravado or strength in the hand shake because, even if Milo had wanted to, it was already obvious that Ruiz would come out dominant in both strength and demeanor. No, instead the intern simply kept his own confidence present but contained in the gesture until finally the handshake was released. Eye contact is kept as well, but again not in a challenging way. He was just raised to make eye contact with a person when you are addressing them.

In the young man's blue eyes there is a light that flickers with each thought and connection as he processes everything kept internal. His mind never stopped. It was his strength and also his weakness. "It's good to be here, sir. Thank you." Short sweet and to the point again. At least outwardly. So many details and questions are being tucked away for later. Whether he'd ask Olivia or just try to calculate the answers himself remains to be known. At the question of Cecil Harvey a simple shake of his head is given "No, sir."

There is, in all fairness, no bravado from the cop either. Perhaps some of that inherent arrogance. That instinctive drive for dominance that's so endemic to the macho police culture. But he's not overtly pushy about it. And he does actually smile eventually; just a flicker of it at the corners of his mouth as Milo's hand is released and he offers up his gratitude. Dark eyes shift back to Olivia, and de la Vega takes a step back. "He's usually here on, uh. Thursdays, I think. I might have the day wrong." He digs in his pants pocket, produces a business card with the forensic specialist's name and number on it, and passes it to Milo between scissored fingers. "I'll let Doctor Kincaid make introductions for you, but he'd be a good sort to show you the ropes."

Then, assuming the card's relinquished, a touch of those knuckles to Olivia's shoulder. Brief, casual. "If there's nothing else. I should get going. I've got shit to do." And coffee to drink, apparently.

From where she stood for the liturgy of that mutual introduction, Olivia stirs, steps back a half pace, smiles, that bare expression of invitation but not humor or playfulness. "We'll make sure an introduction happens," she replies to Ruiz in the collective, endowing personal efficacy to the intern in this workplace that should be heard as a compliment. "Tomorrow then. We'll see what we see."

Olivia doesn't look at her shoulder as it is touched, but to the captain himself, some sort of query in her blue eyes before she starts speaking, "And I have some paperwork to complete that I've avoided for too long. You good, Hartwell?" She asks it as if the answer can only be affirmative, but perhaps just faintly allowing for some request or question. "Good afternoon, Captain."

Milo gives a nod to Ruiz as the information is relayed about more introductions. Then, a glance to the business card as his hand comes up to grab it between his thumb and pointer and middle fingers. The hand is then lowered back to his side and the card is kept held there, not pocketed, as Milo gives another nod to the Captain as he makes his departure. A glance is given to Olivia, "Yes, I'm set." Then a look back to Ruiz again, "Have a good day, Captain. Thank you again for your time." The amount of gratitude Milo gives people for their time would normally seem kiss ass in nature. However, it is said with a genuine tone if the others take it that way. He understands that time is important, especially in this office, and Ruiz had taken part of his day to focus it on them.

"Doctor," returns the cop easily, meeting those blue eyes with his ferociously dark gaze. A beat, two, before he turns, rakes that same gaze over Milo in parting, and then prowls off without another word. His phone buzzes as he moves, and he shoves his hand past badge and gun, and digs the device out of his pants pocket to tend to it.