[b]December 3rd, 2019
9:40 AM, ET
GCPD - 13th Precinct, Gotham[/b]

[hr][center][h3][color=#ff4fcb][u]Hex[/u][/color][/h3][/center]

Tommy sighed, bouncing a dirty multi-colored tennis ball off the brick wall opposite him. He’d found it a few minutes ago, and was now content to use it as a way of relieving boredom - not that it was working. He sighed again, adding more emotion and volume to it in the vain hope that someone would hear him and finally come outside. This was so boring, and so gross, why couldn’t the officers afford to clean their alleyway out? It was grody out here. A rat hissed at him. [i]Hissed.[/i]

Grody.

He threw a bolt of random pink magic at it, sending the obscenely fat creature bolting down the alley for it’s life. He managed a snort of amusement, but lose interest and went back to bouncing the rainbow ball up and down and off the walls.

Finally, after what felt like ages, Pads stepped out from a side door with a murderous expression on his face. Tommy’s expression lit up, and he let the ball ping off into the distance, likely to never be seen again. “Pads!” Or Justin Cárdenas- oh, excuse me, ‘Officer Cárdenas When I’m On Duty Tom’ as he’d corrected more than once, was a scruffy looking young man with dark hair and a permanent expression of long-suffering etched into his face.

“What do you want Tom,” he demanded briskly, “I’m busy.” Judging by the no nonsense tone and the dark circles under his eyes, Tommy would wager that claim might actually be true this time. Not that it mattered.

“We had a deal,” Tommy smirked cheerfully, “I’m just delivering my end is all.” This was going to be [i]brilliant[/i].

It was amusing watching the emotional acrobatics the man’s face pulled, from confusion to surprise to embarrassment and scowling once more. “What?” He squawked, “Here? Now?! But I’m-”

“Too late.” Tommy shrugged, still grinning with a suspiciously bright smile, “You didn’t specify, so I guess you’re just gonna have to take it aren’t you?”

Pads was slow to gather a response, and seemed almost nervous, “Tom, I really don’t think nows the time, this is a police sta-” 

“Yep, and there’s a whole street full of people just there,” Tommy pointed out helpfully, shooting a glance towards the end of the alley. “And earlier there was this rat, pretty sure it’s still around here somewhere, ready to see the whole thing and tell all his little furry friends about-”

“[i]Tommy,[/i]” he tried, interrupting a little desperately and shifting awkwardly as he blushed a bright red. Mission complete.

Ah well, torturing the poor officer had been fun while it lasted. He burst into barely restrained giggled, which did nothing to comfort the older man, “Relax,” he finally consoled, collecting himself, “I’m not [i]that[/i] evil. Just take this-” he dug a small plastic bag out of his pocket and tossed it to the flustered officer, “oh, and call me, I do actually need to give you my end of the deal and you never answer my texts you asshole.”

It was amusing to see the sigh of relief at his words instantly replaced by trepidation as he inspected the severed finger Tommy had just tossed him. Despite the finger being several days old, cut from the finger of the girl who summoned that demon-golem when his dad wasn’t looking, it was preserved by magic and didn’t seem in particularly bad shape. “Witch’s Finger?” Pads asked, suspicious. A rune had been carved into the tip of the finger; a circle with a hexagon inside and a line through it.

“Yep, that whole GCU thing.” Tommy shrugged, already waving it off despite Pads’ rising eyebrows.

“But what am I supposed to do with it? Isn’t this supposed to be your thing Witch Kid?” Tommy shot an annoyed look at the mention of that dreaded nickname. Pads continued unperturbed though; “Is this about the divination thing? I told you I needed-”

“Yes, it is, and no, I didn’t get it wrong. This isn’t a substitute for Crone’s Eye, it’s a substitute for Demon’s Gate.” He clarified, words more sharp and professional than his earlier teasing would portray him as being capable of.

Pads blinked at that, then narrowed his eyes as the pieces fell into place; “So the GCU incident was-”

“Necromancer turned Demonologist- by mistake, but eh.” He shrugged, seemingly unimpressed, but that was a flimsy facade to hide how freaky the whole thing had been, especially with the whole… demon thing. Speaking of the demon thing; “I want in on this too.” He said suddenly, “I know what you’re planning, and I want a question.”

Clearly Pads hadn’t expected his sudden interest, and was reluctant to cave; “That's not a good idea. You shouldn’t-”

“I don’t care. I want in.” They met each other's eyes, each unflinchingly serious. 

“No.”

What had started out as a cheerful teasing session ended in steely silence and narrowed eyes.

After a long moment, Tommy nodded, accepting that while he’d been leading the conversation, interrupting and teasing the older man, this was still an officer of the law, and a werewolf to boot, both of which lent themselves towards protective ideals. He wasn’t going to let Tommy near something so dangerous as a diviner ritual, no matter what the boy offered. So that was one avenue closed.

...but the girl had more than one finger. He’d do the ritual himself if he had to.