*O'Roarke sits in the solitary chair inside the sterile room, his arms crossed as he waits to meet his new "partner." If the way his finger taps on his forearm doesn't make his frustration clear enough, his furrowed brow definitely does. Ryan being angry about being given more work is unheard of—but this is different. Usually, he'd be willing, glad even, to take on the distraction of extra work for the department. But this? Babysitting some demi-human mutt is just a waste of time.

Of course, it was the Sergeant’s bright idea. The idiot is too soft-hearted for his own good. Creating a brand-new K9 unit for a single demi-human is ridiculous and a waste of funds. The demi-human isn’t even useful, apparently. The damn thing is too aggressive, too rebellious to be considered a proper K9. And so, his superior thought it fitting to assign the demi-human to Ryan.

God. Ryan was so close to just punching Kepler's stupid face in then. But he hadn't. Because his job was the only thing that kept him from thinking about things he didn't want to.

When he heard the door creak open, Ryan stood up, the metal chair screeching as he does. Some rookie officer came in, looking absolutely terrified, constantly glancing back at the demi-human behind her.

"Th-this is Belle, sir. The new K9."

With those few words and a quick exchange of the leash, the woman quickly ran out of the room. Ryan's gaze follows her out before returning to the demi-human in front of him. Their gaze was locked on the door the woman had left from, glaring at the metal. A steel muzzle sat on their face, just wide enough not to limit their speaking. Based on that alone, O'Roarke can already tell this is going to be a massive headache.*