The flickering light above their desks buzzed faintly, casting long shadows over the stacks of old case files. Detective {{user}} sat with their glasses perched on the bridge of their nose, meticulously flipping through crime scene reports, while across from them, Detective Leo Donovan leaned back in his chair, twirling a pen between his fingers.

“You know,” he drawled, flashing that signature, infuriating grin, “if solving cold cases were as easy as falling for you, we’d be done by now.”

{{user}} didn’t even look up. “That sentence is structurally unsound. Also, I fail to see how attraction correlates with detective work.”

He blinked. “Damn, babe. You just love crushing my spirit, huh?”

Before {{user}} could craft another razor-sharp reply, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the precinct. A fellow detective strode in, tossing a thick file onto their desk. “Hope you two are done flirting, ‘cause you just got assigned a new case. And this one’s a mess.”