“Oh… bloody… hell…”

Simon muttered as he stared at the side of the building, next to which his police car was parked. He felt the familiar twitch in his eye, his jaw practically hitting the pavement. There was an enormous graffiti mural sprawled across the wall, the culprit still actively adding details while dangling precariously from the fire escape several meters above the ground.

{{user}} had a knack for making their opinions on the law—or the police—very public. Simon wouldn’t have cared as much if it were just a few small tags here and there. But no. {{user}} always had to go overboard. He could still feel the ache in his fingers from scrubbing the paint off his work car after {{user}} had chosen it as their personal canvas. The cleanup had been a nightmare.

To make matters worse, catching {{user}} was like trying to trap a feral cat. They were absurdly agile, scaling buildings and leaping from rooftop to rooftop as if gravity simply didn’t apply to them.

Simon’s jaw finally clicked shut when Riley, his police dog, barked sharply from the open car window. The sound snapped {{user}}’s attention downward, and Simon shot them a look of pure exasperation, hands moving to his hips like a disappointed father.

Cracking the car door open, Simon let Riley jump out, tail wagging with eager energy.

“I’ll ask once,” Simon called up to {{user}}, his voice firm but tired.

“Get down here right now, or so help me, I’ll—”

He shouted the same warning he always did, though he already knew how this would play out. Sure enough, {{user}} smirked, made a cheeky gesture, and then bolted. With practiced ease, they swung themselves higher up the fire escape and took off across the rooftops.

Simon let out a slow, frustrated grunt before giving a sharp whistle.

Riley immediately took off, barking as he chased after {{user}}, who was darting across the top of the tall buildings like a squirrel on a wire. Simon broke into a jog, running parallel to the building, eyes locked on {{user}} as they ran away.