Patrols [Crit]

"Now to be fair, kids are frequently up to no good sometimes. Even if ain't criminal activity."

There was a little smirk on Lelei's face giving away the fact that he was only half-kidding. If everything he knew about young people was even half right, and he knew a lot given his experience, the lady was... not wrong. Maybe she had jumped to conclusions, but groups of kids often encouraged themselves to be a little unruly sometimes. But even Lelei had to admit that that was a little unfair too.

The two of them continued on their patrol for a little while longer without any incident. The night was looking good and it seemed that their mere presence together was keeping trouble away, as it should. But a completely peaceful day was a rare, if not impossible, occurrence in an officer's life.

While Lelei was making them take a stop at a food cart for a hot dog, they were approached by a concerned citizen.

"Officers! We need a little... help."[/i/]

Lelei was almost about to bite into his snack when she came up.

"Yes? What is it you need?"

"We, uh, got a couple of guys who are looking like they're about to throw down. I think they might a little drunk.

Lelei made swift work of the hot dog by just tossing the whole thing in his toothy mouth. He immediately took off after Angelo so it was difficult to say whether he actually chewed it or just swallowed the whole thing in one piece. Whatever the case was, his mouth was empty by the time they had arrived at the scene, lead by the concerned citizen.

The scene of the incident would not have looked out of place on any one of the numerous reality cop shows on television. About half a dozen young belligerent men were barking and posturing at each other while a few onlookers stood to the side. The instigators were pretty obviously inebriated, and the watchers ranged from concerned to excited. Everyone at the scene was around the same age, including the citizen that had lead the two officers. They immediately went to one of the yelling young men and started talking to them. Apparently they were friends or something.

"I'll go bad cop. It's what I'm best at, and I just don't look like a good cop anyway."

The cause of the confrontation was impossible to discern as the young men were just boasting, posturing and generally being testosterone-driven boys cajoled by alcohol. They had just escalated to the rough pushing stage of fighting when Lelei and Angelo intervened, literally. The two of them stepped between all the young man and tried to create distance.

"Hey now! Back up! Back up! Stay where I can see you, and keep your hands where I can see them! No one has to be one the ground yet, but I'll put you there if you don't calm down!"

The spectators to the would-be fight began to disperse, and those that remained had backed away from the nexus of the conflict. However, the six or so young men that were about to throw down had only made space for the two officers and nothing more.

The boys were still taunting and posturing to their opposing sides as if the officers were not even there. The little acknowledgement Angelo and Lelei received were the craning of necks to see around them, and make eye contact with their targets. Soon the officers were included in the boasting and threats, as the boys threatened to throw some beat-downs had the officers not been there to stop them.

Lelei was still unable to determine why they were fighting in the first place. There was no obvious sign of rival affiliations. There were no gang colors or signs, not even rival sports team hats. Strangely enough, there was no mention of girls so no one's honor had been questioned. It totally just sounded like someone had maybe said or done something that triggered alcohol-fueled aggression. No doubt it had been something minor and inoffensive.

"Hey! What did I say?! BACK. UP."

A couple of the boys on Lelei's side began to advance, and Lelei had to shove them both back. Lelei's boys took that as a threat and began to yell at him instead, while the boys on Angelo's side began to hoot and taunt some more.

"Angelo, tell THEM to get back too. I ain't afraid of putting ALL of you in cuffs!"

If there was one thing youths did not like, it was bureaucracy. And the police station was full of it. All of the exciting police work happened outside the walls. But once inside, it was all paperwork and regulations and red tape. The idea managed to penetrate through the drunken haze of the boys on Angelo's side. His words and threats of paperwork did better than Lelei's threats of muscle, and they began to back off.

Not that the boys were any less agitated though. They were still tossing softer threats and insults while making up excuses for why they were backing off from the fight. The good ole fashioned 'these guys aren't even worth my time' even made an appearance as the boys started pull away in a wobbly huff.

Meanwhile, the boys on Lelei's side were acting like they had won, somehow.

"This ain't an invitation for you stick around. You should get your asses moving too before I slap a disorderly conduct and public drunkenness charge on all of ya!"

High on their "victory", the boys began to pull away with an air of smugness in the face of Lelei. As much as Lelei wanted to smack those looks off their faces, he had to let them go. Trouble had been averted for now, and that was the best outcome. The person that can alerted them in the first place left with the boys, and gave the officers a thankful nod.

Lelei relaxed when he could no longer any drunken banter.

"Welp... Crisis averted for now. At least they ain't driving home."

Lelei's response was quick, and born partially of his own curiosity.

"Yeah. Go ahead and do that. I'll stay back so I don't mess you up any."

Looking back over his shoulder at the disappearing backs of the group that he had dealt with, Lelei concentrated a little more in his electroreception and picked up their presences. He was not going to be able to sense them for much longer, but he could at least keep an "eye" on them a little longer like Angelo was doing for his own group.

So far, they did not seem to be moving towards any more trouble, and Lelei was thankful for that much.

"Meet me further up the street, I'm gonna tail my own group of kids for a minute too."

With that, Lelei split with Angelo to head up to a nearby corner of a building where he could get a better read on the kids while still staying inconspicuous. Or as inconspicuous as a giant shark man could be.