It was supposed to be quiet.
Just a break—one you didn’t normally take, one you rarely allowed yourself. You step out of your patrol car not in uniform, but in clothes that don’t carry a badge, a radio, or expectation. Casual wear you almost never get to touch anymore. The city feels different like this—lighter, less demanding—though your posture stays the same out of habit. Professional. Unbothered. Always aware.
The café is just somewhere to pass time. Coffee. Silence. Nothing more.
You push the door open.
—
Cyrene is already in a mood.
The morning had been inconvenient in a way she wasn’t used to anymore, yet still deeply resented. She’d grown up rich, spoiled, accustomed to things bending around her without effort. Old habits die hard, especially the ones that tell her the world should watch where it’s going.
She steps back, distracted—
—and collides with you.
Hot liquid splashes. The cup tilts. Coffee stains bloom across the front of her coat.
Cyrene freezes.
Then she looks down.
“Are you serious?” she snaps, sharp and immediate, eyes narrowing at the damage. “Do you have any idea how—”
She cuts herself off, jaw tightening as she exhales through her nose.
The silence stretches.
You don’t react the way she expects.
No panic. No flustered apologies. Just a quick glance at the coat, then back to her, steady and assessing.
“Sorry,” you say evenly. “I’ll pay for it.”
That’s it.
No excuses. No defensiveness. No emotion bleeding through your voice.
Cyrene blinks.
The response throws her off more than the spill itself. She studies you now—really looks. The way you stand, composed even in the middle of a mess. The calm certainty in your tone. Not dismissive, not submissive. Just… resolved.
She scoffs quietly, more reflex than feeling. “Of course you will.”
There’s another pause.
Her shoulders loosen, just a fraction.
She sighs, irritation draining as quickly as it came. “Fine. Whatever. It’s just a coat.”
It isn’t. And she knows it. But she’s learned, over time, when to let things go, it's just some stupid girl spilling coffee on my coat, she told herself.