It was yet another morning, staking out the Diamond Pony as a certain constable was gaining a reputation for.

The last door guard was gone, replaced by a surly looking fellow whose gaze occasionally skittered across Crane’s spot of choice like a cockroach across a kitchen: neither deterred nor particularly inclined to do anything about it.

Someone was coming out the side door in a full bonnet … and was that a streak of red hair peeking from under it?

Elijah noticed, but tried to pretend he hadn't. Instead, he checked his watch. He pretended to seem to realize he was late and walked in the same direction but on the other side of the street. It was only when he was a little distance so the man wouldn't be watching him, that he moved quickly to the woman.

"Excuse me, miss?" He wasn't about to grab her if it wasn't Lory. He was already getting weird looks for his constant standing in front of the Pony. What were the other constables thinking of him now?

The woman kept her head down as she walked, then took a deep breath through her nose when lo and behold! The Constable (The Constable) accosted her as soon as she was out of her place of employ’s sight.

They got plenty of these types of guys, though this was the first time someone had gotten caught up with a possessive constable.

The woman lifted and turned her head – skin free of freckles, a fair amount more mature in the face than the (The) constable rather than barely an adult.

“Constable Crane, I presume?”

When he saw the face, he sighed heavily and looked around feeling tired of this. "Yeah..Sorry to bother you miss." He rubbed his face.

"Don't tell me.. Lory asked you to leave so she could go the other way and avoid me?" He asked. He almost thought he could cry.

The woman pursed her lips, though her brows arched in sympathy.

“She’s not in love, dear, and you’re starting to make the other girls nervous too.”

Elijah blinked. "In love? What are you talking about? I want to talk to her about that article she wrote in that magazine. We had a lunch and I told her it wouldn't work out. So she called me a woman beater and ..." He frowned as he didn't want to say it out loud. He still had a lot to work on but some things just were hard to say. "She hinted at the idea I slept with men." He'd only slept with one so that much was technically still untrue.

God. The young things always brought in the biggest blowhards. She heard words, but what she mostly took from it was that he wanted her to think that no, HE dumped HER.

Sure, fellow who made a constable-shaped crater outside the Pony.

“No one thinks you sleep with men, dear,” she reassured.

"Really?" He seemed surprised but then relieved slightly. "I still want an apology for that article. That's all. Is that too much? I just want to talk for five seconds and get an apology for her trying to ruin my life."

She arched a brow. Alright. Maybe this man wasn’t all that manly.

“How old are you, sir?”

Elijah blinked in surprise and arched a brow. "Why does that matter? " He then realized and frowned more. She was calling him childish. "Ma'am. I'm sorry, but if someone wrote in a paper that you were doing illegal things. You would want an apology at the very least, right? Are you saying I should just let it go. She didn't care about how her groundless words could hurt others. I don't think that's right.'