Nerium oleander

Dahlias

The apartment complex was small, the narrow corridor filled with noise, a couple of children ran back and forth on the stairs, sticking their head out of the handrail observing them with widened eyes.

Alfred waved at them and the children gasped, running back into their home and closing the door with a tud.

"Hey, Fred!" Called a familiar voice from behind. Alfred fumbled with the keys as the woman approached. Her friendly smile faltered as her eyes fell on his partner. "Officer Braginsky, it's been quite some time,"

"Erzsebet," Ivan replied, tucking his hand in his pockets. "I see you still try to pry on the new officers to get your headlines."

"I see you prefer to be a mediocre officer instead of actually solving the cases," she huffed, crossing her arms. "It's such a shame because I genuinely thought you were different."

Ouch, that was harsh, Alfred thought. He merely stood in silence, observing how they glared at each other.

"Why don't you ask Gilbert for help? He's quite the chatterbox." Ivan said, averting his gaze from her.

The door was opened and Ivan stepped inside, throwing a glare at him, Alfred offered her a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I have work to do."

"I know, I have to work too and your colleagues have been more aggressive than usual. I can't even get close to the department without being scolded away," She frowned, placing her hand on the doorframe. "Just give me a clue, I'll work out the rest. It doesn't have to be anything crucial, this town is easy to entertain. I'll put it as an anonymous source,"

Alfred sighed, looking back at Ivan, shaking his head. He lowered his eyes, whispering. "You know Gilbert's cabin? I think-"

Alfred's eyes widened as he was shoved back, Erzebeth let out a chuckle as she stepped back and the door was closed.

"Thank you!" She beamed, Alfred could hear her footsteps growing further away.

"This is going to come back and kick you in the face." Ivan said, irritation coating his words.

"It's nothing, that place is probably filled with cobwebs and dust. Did she trick you before?"

The reply never came, Ivan focused on pacing around the living room, looking around.

Alfred felt suddenly self conscious about his apartment, it was a mess. He opened the window with a chuckle, walking hastily to the kitchen and fumbling with the dishes.

A hot beverage, that's what is appropriate when you have a guest in your home, right? Alfred filled the kettle with water and left it on the stove, cursing himself for not knowing how to adult properly.

He had always been the guest in Adelfa, even in this apartment, he felt like a stranger. Alfred fidgeted with a spoon, the kitchen's lightbulb flickered reminding him that he had to change it.

Walking to the living room, two mugs of tea in hand, he chuckled. Ivan was stocking the papers in a neat pile, sorting them, probably by date as Ludwig always asked them to.

"You don't have to do that," Alfred said, handing him the beverage. He felt a pang of embarrassment, bringing the other inside without giving the place a decent cleaning was a stupid idea. "I didn't know if you like to put sugar on it so-"

"It's fine." Ivan interrupted him, sipping on the drink without batting an eye. "Thank you."

Alfred nodded, he had been expecting a snarky remark, a comment about his lack of order but none of that came. He kept on fumbling with the documents for a while, trying not to disturb the silence until Ivan shoved a folder in his hands.