He remained straight-backed through the rough treatment. The backseat had been about as pleasant as he expected - he even suspected it was overly clean given who's car it was. It certainly lacked the cracked leather and distinguishable floor of a common patrol vehicle. Still, he wouldn't say he was impressed. The salary, even at detective level, wasn't exactly the reason people sought out this profession. He guessed it might be getting to handle their perps harshly though. Lyra Grey wasn't all that interested, or she simply didn't have the weight behind her shoving to make it believable dominance.<br/><br/>During the ride he'd sought out her pretty eyes with the winter oceans of his in the mirror. He thought they had a moment, and he tried to express through the silence of the cabin what laid in store for her. The lack of threat had probably kept her from swerving violently to jerk his head the wrong way. She was prettier than she needed to be. That had worked against her in her career, he was sure. He'd be very surprised if she didn't get propositioned often by friend and foe. It was part of her price in making her way through the boy's club. It meant she was more driven than most.<br/><br/>Cole tried not seeing the men that knew him on the way over the old floor. He'd already had a few run-ins, and made a handful of these badges just a little wealthier. The Hollows already had their roots in this city. But he needed a flower to crown the infestation, and no matter how much Grey tried to hide her prettiness, she was a rose. It was evident in her everyday-radiance even in the shit lighting of this little chamber where she'd sat him down. He rattled the cuff once she'd made sure it was locked, to let her know he couldn't leave without her help. It was a playful courtesy that he wasn't sure she appreciated.<br/><br/>He mirrored her effort in being who he was. Beautiful to begin with his soft skin and plumb lips, the blue-eyed male had exclusively red tattoos on his body, a lot of the chest art visible in the low V-neck of his crisp white shirt. Black jeans, up-scale, and well-rounded-off shoulders despite his otherwise lanky frame. None of that drug-induced bloat. He looked like a weapon in the shadows that the overhead cast. A mocking curl on one corner of his impudent mouth while she played with the ancient recorder. He lifted an eyebrow and leaned back, comfortable, arm long enough to allow it while still hanging by the metal ring.<br/><br/>"It's a problem all over the city, isn't it, territory, real state, housing." he defended. They were new, but they were expanding like blood on cotton napkins. He made sure to look her over, weighing her worth rather than undressing her boxy clothes. He graced the cut on his eyebrow while listening to her threats. He nodded the handsome head, and one of the black blades of his hair kept back, fell to be a dark fang beside one eye. "The game is making friends. But guns and drugs are fun too, if you're offering." he said and dug white teeth into his lower lip with thought. Beast, biding his time.<br/><br/>They'd picked him up while he was pummeling one of his own as the car went by. "Oh?" he tested when she said her thing about their right to keep him on that. "So, the other person, his name is Derek by the way, doesn't have to press charged first?" he asked and shrugged, as though that alone invalidated the entire judicial system. He let her stew in the silence for a while after her last question, rolling one shoulder. "I'm actually a fan of you cops." he said at last, putting his deep voice into the room again.<br/><br/>"I'm a law-abiding citizen the same as the next man. I want to make our city better." he waxed. "I'm here to report a crime, actually." His chin dipped to direct her attention to his right pocket, where he kept his cellphone. Cole stuck his tongue in under his upper lip. It seemed he had oral inclinations, and it was easy to see with that inherently lewd mouth. "I've got some images on some shady business. Seems someone's been talking to The Lions." It was a well established syndicate, and they had a couple of other cities attached to them. He was sure she'd feel the suggestion in his voice, and equally certain she would want to look.<br/><br/>The phone wouldn't be locked, and there'd be nothing on it but the pictures in the gallery. She'd know herself, since they'd gotten clean shots of her face, taking money from a known enforcer of The Lions. Cole was looking forward to seeing the expression on her face. "How about we ditch the cuffs, detective?" he asked and wore a grimmer face. "And I think you should get a little more comfortable too, right? Since we're going to be friends." he gestured with his finger. "Undo a button or two. I think I'd like to see some neck."