author's note: sorry it took me so long (by my standards, anyway) to get this up. I hope I've kept them in character so far... feel free to slap me if they're not. In any case, this chapter finally gets some good interaction in. And minimal scene switches to boot!

Chapter Seven

Despite her blaring aversion to a day at the beach (Ema always liked to think of herself as the mountain type, or the science lab type), Ema decided to go to the office party for solely two reasons: one, in around six months at her new job, she had failed to make anything more than a few faint friends and one annoyance. The second reason was much more scientific: technically speaking, said party wouldn't be going down at a beach, but a lake.

At least, that's what Ema told herself for comfort as she flung open her tiny closet sullenly, searching for something she could deem appropriate for a day at the beach/lake. She already knew there was no way in hell the could bear to wear a skimpy bathing suit on this outing, but the desperate need for a tan crossed her mind and she almost gave into the temptation to dig it out of her plastic bin of beachwear. Something stopped her, however, as the thoughts of a certain individual harassing her incessantly popped up.

Ema ended up picking out an outfit not too different from her usual regimen—she pulled on a scoop neck purple shirt with a flowing, ribbed exterior. Always the fan of her half-length pants, she picked out a dark pair of capris, buckling them with a loose belt. Though she was hardly dressed differently than she would on a normal day of work, she felt oddly casual without her lab coat on, and swung it over her shoulders, reveling in the sense of security it brought. As an afterthought, the detective grabbed the latest newspaper crossword puzzle and shoved it in her bag. Just in case this beach day is worse than expected.

Ema's pen scratched against the newspaper as she filled in another word on the crossword puzzle, her third answer in thirty minutes. This was almost a new record! She glanced up briefly through her rose-tinted sunglasses to survey the party. Familiar faces were chatting around her while other lounged around in typical beachwear, enjoying the flawless sunny weather. This hasn't been so bad, after all, she thought contently. No fop in sight, it hasn't started raining or anything, and nobody's bothering me. Plus, I get brownie points for attending. And I have a whole bag of snackoos left. What more could you want?

With a contented sigh, Ema stared down her paper, trying to search out a doable clue with no avail. She was so deep in thought that she barely noticed when the sun suddenly disappeared, and her unadjusted eyes were temporarily blinded. When she turned around to see what the cause it, shading her eyes with one hand, she almost had a heart attack.

Towering over her was Klavier Gavin, his usual silly grin plastered over his face as he leaned over, hands on his hips. His chain necklace dangled over his unbuttoned plum shirt, and sand dotted his shiny dark pants.

"Mind if I sit here, Fräulein Skye?" he said suavely, plopping down next to the bewildered detective without waiting for a response. He peered over her shoulder as she tried to ignore him, quickly scribbling a word into her puzzle, pressing down on the pen dangerously.

Ema just grumbled, not articulating a proper response to his unwelcome approach. She shot a quick glance his way, despite herself, quickly observing him. He was sitting opposite her on the sand without a towel, and seemed perfectly content to do so.

"Why aren't you off with your other detective friends, Fräulein?" asked Klavier innocently, still peering over Ema's shoulder. "I should think that you would be more socially active at a gathering such as this, ja?" He paused for a moment, focused on Ema's paper, before straightening up with a grin. "Oh, and try 'fretboard' for 24 across," he remarked, running a hand through his hair. "That one was simple; why didn't you get it, Fräulein?"

Ema looked up at him, debating whether to write in his answer or not. "Maybe I didn't know that so quickly because I'm not the glimmerous star of a rock band?" she supplied snidely before admitting defeat and penciling in his answer. "I mean, how am I supposed to know what takes up 58% of the space on the average guitar? And why are you here, anyway? This 'party' was supposed to be for detectives."

"Ah, Fräulein Skye, you forget," said Klavier airily, "that the invitation for this party was technically for the Criminal Justice department; with the way Herr Chief Detective worded it, any patrolman could step by—or any prosecutor. Plus, is it a crime to be curious and come to browse?"

Grumbling, Ema made an effort to ignore the prosecutor—she really did—but his chains catching the sun as he leaned over her, shadowing her puzzle, was incredibly distracting. She tossed a quick glance his way, running her eyes from his stomach to his face, reddening when their eyes met. "Wh-why are you still here, then? You've seen everything, so go join in or something. I'm working on a crossword puzzle here, you know. Please, go spread your foppish glory somewhere else." She scribbled in another word, pleased at herself. Formaldehyde.

Klavier responded by lying down on his stomach next to Ema, still in the sand. He propped himself up on his arms and pulled down his sunglasses, covering icy blue eyes. "Well, you won't mind if I stay here," he responded, ignoring her blatant invitation for him to leave. "You could probably use some help with that puzzle of yours, ja? Oh, 61 down is 'Mill.' Another easy one you missed, Fräulein Detective!"

Two words in two minutes, thought the brunette grudgingly. For a fop, this guy is pretty good. She glared at him before writing in the proper word. "Fine," she muttered. "You can stay there if you keep civil. Step out of line and you get snackoo'd. Got it, glimmer-boy?" Her tone turned dangerous as she fingered one of the dough snacks for a moment before suspiciously going back to the task at hand.

"Glimmer-boy. That's a new one; it seems Fräulein detective gets more creative with each passing day." Without warning, Klavier inched closer, shooting out his arm to grab Ema's bag of snackoos. Caught off-guard, the detective was stunned for a moment as she glared up at him. She reached up with one lazy arm to try to snatch them back, but Klavier immediately got on his feet, taking a few steps back until he was far out of range.

"Give those back!" called Ema with a bloodcurdling yell.

Klavier laughed, flipping his hair. He dangled the snackoos above his head with a grin, swinging them back and forth childishly. Indignant, Ema sprang up as well, despite herself, ignoring her aversion of sand as she leaped off the comfort of her towel. She chased after him, spraying grit with her bare feet as she did so. As the girl approached, Klavier took a few quick paces back, adeptly dodging her as she grabbed for her prize.

"Gavin! Those are mine!" she yelled in her outrage, ignoring the bewildered stares coming from her coworkers. "Dropping in on our beach day may not be a crime, but theft is a punishable offense!"

"Oh?" mused Klavier, still dodging every assault she made with expert precision. It was an easy task to fend Ema off as she tried to snatch her beloved snacks back, and an absolutely entertaining one. She was flustered enough that she was reduced to clumsiness, almost falling twice. "Who will prosecute the big bad thief? Last time I checked, that would be one Klavier Gavin, ja?"

"You fop," grumbled Ema tiredly, making one last, disheartened grab for the snackoos. Her surprise was evident when she felt the bag placed in her hand, and saw Klavier leaning over her like he always did. She was about to tug it away when he lifted it out of her reach again.

"Ah, Fräulein Skye, I'll give you these back, under one condition," he said with one of his infamous Gavin smirks.

Ema wished she could shoot lasers with her eyes. Agreeing could be potentially dangerous. Scientifically speaking, she mused, agreeing to hear him out on the condition could end up having me overstep myself. And it's just one bag of snackoos… that's totally not worth it! Right?

"Forget it, Gavin," she said, glaring obstinately ahead. She was about to stalk back to her towel, defeated and sandy, when her stomach gave an insistent growl.

"Achtung, Fräulein detective, I think you really should take these, and take the deal. All I want is to help with your troubling puzzle. That's hardly a bad deal, ja?" offered Klavier, handing her the bag of snackoos. "I would never expect you to react so fiercely about a few dough snacks."

Ema began to slowly calm down after she had snatched the snackoos back and had given the prosecutor a curt handshake to seal the deal, stalking back to her towel and flopping back down with a sigh. She tried to ignore Klavier's hovering presence as he lay next to her, calmly reading over each clue and trying to piece it into the grid.

"I've got one!" said Ema after a moment of concentration, quickly scribbling in her answer. Klavier leaned closer over her shoulder to look at it, ignoring her when she tensed.

"Chloroform?" he read slowly as she wrote in the letters. "Really, Fräulein, you seem to only be going after the clues that sound like scientific gibberish. Some of these can be answered with simple common sense." To illustrate, he pointed out a clue on the page. "That one's easy enough, ja?"

Ema furrowed her brow, racking her brain. She somehow appreciated his help, even if his voice condescended her relentlessly and the smug aura that he radiated pierced her more down-to-earth one, rubbing her all the wrong ways. "Oh…" she muttered, tapping the back end of her pen on the grid. "Eleven letters… Testimony, Verification. This is another lawyerly one! You're supposed to answers those, Gavin," she complained, thrusting the paper toward and pen toward him.

Surprised by her sudden friendliness, Klavier tried not to push it. He pushed the puzzle back towards Ema. "Achtung, Fräulein! This one takes nothing more than just a bit of sense. Think."

"No need to sound like you're so much older than me," grumbled Ema. She frowned for a moment, staring down the page before her face lit up with recognition. "Oh! Confirmation! That's definitely correct," she said excitedly, scribbling in the word.

Klavier smiled. Ema was almost sparkling, like she did whenever she pulled out a bottle of fingerprinting powder or luminol testing fluid. "If I may take a turn now, Fräulein?" he offered, plucking the pen from her right hand. "47 across. Fatal attraction."

Ema frowned. "Klavier, that's so wrong it's not even funny. That can't even fit! 47 across can only fit in five letters."

The blonde prosecutor just laughed, shaking his head.