before hoenn, uri would've never woken up this early even to a phone call from his family. but now, waking up early seems to be a common thing for him to do, between the military and now the police, so it doesn't bother him too much when his phone buzzes him awake.

"hello? who's this?"

it's with a groan that he gets up, eventually moving to get dressed.

"this better be good. i'll be there in a bit, hang tight."

and with that, he's off, soon arriving at the warehouse in civilian clothes instead of his uniform. it's his day off, after all.

there, he sees jessie, and he waves at her.

"looks like someone's been out partying."

"You idiot. Check your caller ID next time!" she practically shouted into the phone instead of answering the question, stomping her foot on the ground in frustration.

"Hurry up!"

Jeez, she had the heebiejeebies now. Crossing her arms over her chest as if that would protect her from what she saw, Jessica looked around with an uncomfortable look on her face as she waited for her brother to show up.

When she spotted his flaming hair, she felt some of her tension melt away. "Took you long enough."

Jessie put her hands on her hips, tilting them to the side. "I got off work like an hour ago. I wasn't partying." Okay, maybe a little.

"There's something in there. A body. It's, like, totally disgusting."

"uh huh."

it's still way too early for him to be as energetic and lively as he usually is, especially after a rough day at work yesterday. in fact, there was a body involved then, too!

"jessie, why didn't you call the cops?"

oh wait. he is the cops. but he's technically off today.

"you just found it?"

Jessie threw her hands into the air, an exasperated noise leaving her mouth as she stared at him with an incredulous look on her face.

"You are the cops, Uri! Who else would I call?" she exclaimed.

She practically slapped her palm against her face, sighing loudly. What an idiot. She should have just left the body and pretended nothing happened. What a fool.

"Didn't I just tell you that? Are you going to check it out or what?" Jessica asked, holding her arms close to her body.

"...good point."

in his defense, it's still early, but he definitely should've known better.

he sighs, nodding before reaching out for her shoulder to lead her into the warehouse.

"fine. but this better not be a prank."

Jessica gave him a look of disbelief as he got behind her and started to push her toward the warehouse again. Where the freaking dead body was.

Was he serious?

He wanted her to go back in there?

"Why do I have to go back? Wait, I can't do it-" It was too late, since they were already through the doors again. Jessie gave a small gasp and scooted to hide behind her brother when the body came into view.

"I'm gonna barf."

"oh shit."

there really is a dead body. in hindsight, he probably should've let her stay outside, but what's done is done.

still, realization hits him like a truck, and he's turning back at her to try and usher her out.

"shit—wait outside, jessie."

When Uriah seemed to realize what exactly was going on and simultaneously told her to go outside, Jessica did exactly what she was told.

But not without a tantrum on the way out, only notched down a few decibels because she was covering her mouth with her hand.

"You mean you didn't believe me? I swear, you're going to be the next corpse here, Uri!" she shouted back at him, leaning against the front wall of the warehouse as soon as she got outside.

She sighed, her hand dropping to her side.

yeah, he should've definitely believed her.

"i better not be!"

he can't help but look around as she says that because what if the killer's still in here somewhere? there are a few OBSCURE places to hide here, but he finds nothing.

with a sigh, he kneels down besides the body to check for a pulse just to be sure. finding nothing, he stands back up, calls for the backup, and heads back out.

"backup's on the way. they'll want to ask you some questions, too."

he steps next to her.

"are you okay?"

Jessica's nausea subsided for the moment, now that she was not looking or within vicinity of the dead body. She sighed again, looking up at the full moon falling down into the horizon. The telltale sign that the sun was coming soon.

She hears footsteps, turning her head over her shoulder to see her brother appearing beside her again.

Yeah, she's still a little pissed at him. But she's more relieved that it would be over soon.

"Can I not just... go home?" She rubbed her face with her hand, a sudden wave of exhaustion overcoming her.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired."

uri's likely desensitized enough to seeing a dead body that he doesn't feel all that bad. movies, games, and training with both the military and the police have exposed him enough, he supposes.

even so, he can sympathize with his sister.

"actually, i think it'll be fine if you want to go home. i'll tell them to come by later when you're feeling better."

he smiles at her.

"i gotta stay here for now, though, but i'll come over later? bring you that pumpkin spice drink you really like even though it's like twenty bucks?"

Jessica looked over at him, all the fun let out of her system from the discovery. She had to make sure her girls were alright too. She'd check on them later.

"If any pumpkin spice drink costs twenty bucks, that's a rip off. Mine are like six, thank you very much." She pulled out her phone to send a quick text.

After she put it away, she looked ack at Uri. "Are you sure?"

"shit, really?"

huh. he's been getting ripped off, then. those sons of bitches down at sawsbucks just lost themselves one of their most loyal customers.

maybe he'll just go to a different branch instead...

"and yeah. i'll text you when i'm on my way."