Message: XXIII

"Any news?" she asked, making Aria release an angry, disgusted noise when she opened the door to her office. It wasn't like Chyler forgot to knock. It was more on the line of... well. Just wanting to piss her off.

"Hellblades are from Saskatchewan. For a long time. That we already know, so I didn't rediscover a fucking America. Eh, every single fucking file is just confidential for me. Since you're asking, I assume ain't no luck on your side either."

"Correct." Toussaint sighed, rubbing her forehead, but not coming closer to Aria's desk. "I started doubting if we can figure it out on our own."

"Call the Saskies and just ask them?" Callaghan shrugged, pushing a lollipop into her mouth and then gnawing on its stick with her cheek pumped by the candy. She was flicking through some documents, still trying to find anything useful. "I guess they're the closest ones that actually can have something about it, don't you think?"

"Maybe." Toussaint sighed. "But I started wondering if that victim was really their doing. I mean..."

"If you're here to speculate, you're just gonna waste my time, Grenouille." Callaghan scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And since I'm in the middle of something, how about you call them and ask if there is a possibility of them to actually give us access to their files, huh? Be useful for once, I'll allow you to."

"You know what, you could be a bit more respectful to..."

"... the people who think they're my superiors when they aren't? To frenchies? Nay, I'll pass. Thanks for the concern, though."

"To other human beings in general." Toussaint rolled her eyes, unamused. "I haven't done shit to you, and we don't even know each other."

"We work together for like two or three days, and I don't even care about it. You don't get in my way, I don't get in yours, you do you, I do me and we'll be fine." She shrugged, pulling the lollipop out of her mouth and Toussaint swallowed, but then she frowned.

"Can't we just be, you know... in armistice? Or something?" she decided to try one last time. Aria just shook her head, licking the candy and then leaving it on her tongue, looking at her partner almost with pity.

"We ain't fighting, Kougnette." She snorted. "So maybe don't demonize something that's not even there. And now, please, do your work, since we do want to finally be out of that shit, and our lovely pathologist couldn't tell us more than we already knew."

"You're insufferable, you know that?" she glowered at the obviously disturbed woman. "You could just try."

"Trying mean caring." She sighed. "And if I don't care, then I don't try. Simple as that. And now, begone. I need to do shit."