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Alexis:
Alexis gratefully sipped at the hot cup of tea, leaning back into the chair and people-watching out the window of the coffee shop. The day had been havoc, but it was the final spasms of chaos before the end of the semester, at least. Now to deal with the other chaos that was churning around her. She typed away at her laptop as she waited for the woman who had called her in regards to Mei and the case to arrive, tabbing between multiple reports as she combed through the events of the weekend, looking for tidbits of information.
River:
As ever, River had lucky timing; that was sort of her, you know, 'whole thing'. She slipped around a man carrying a tray's worth of coffees and in through the closing door just a second before it rattled shut behind her, and she scanned the crowd. Professor, UPenn, first and last name - hadn't taken more than a few seconds on social media to get a photo and a sense of where she was apt to be. The Acanthus caught sight of her, and meandered over with the gait of alleycat, dropping herself into the seat across from Alexis. "Hi there," she started in a congenial tone. "Mind if I sit?" She already had. "Alexis, right? I'm a friend of Mei's, and she wanted me to let you know she'd be out of reach for a little while. Crazy business, maybe you caught it on the news," she charmed and beguiled, voice low and honey-thick. She had tattoos that snaked down her fingers, a discrete septum piercing, meticulously manicured eyebrows, and her smile was too... well, too perfect. Too practiced. Too easy.
Alexis:
The programmer smiled faintly before her face returned to a slightly exausted-looking neutral, "You seem to have found a seat that works well enough." Alexis gives River a look that all but screams, 'And what is your schtick, hmm?' before reaching down and pulling out a manilla folder from her computer bag, "Yeah, I figured as much after I saw it." She tosses the folder on the table, "Mei might like some of those pictures. I have the original files too if she wants to blow one up big for a poster or something."
River:
River dropped her attention down to the folder and canted her head at a slight angle, opening it with a slender-fingered grasp and eyeing the print on top. "Nice," she praised lightly, but earnestly. "So you were there?"
Alexis:
"Nah, but I captured pretty much all of the streaming feeds, especially after the cops went nuts." The top picture is probably the best, a nearly perfect shot of Mei kneeing a cop full-force between the legs. "I already happened to run into someone working with her legal team, turns out she's a friend of a friend." Alexis tilts her head, "Why did you get tapped to tell me, anyway?"
River:
River drags the fingerpad of her middlefinger along the edge of the image, admiring it. "I want to hang this in my office," she purred in appraisal, letting Alexis' question go unresponded-to for a long moment before she dragged her stormcloud-colored gaze back up. "Why not? I was available. How do you know Mei?" she wondered back, as long as curiosity was being satisfied. She reclined back in her seat, body long and lithe, movements languid and liquid, like a big cat.
Alexis:
"I needed someone to look into something extremely unsual that happened to me, and she was the best person I could find for the job." Alexis hums to herself for a few moments, "Which makes me wonder how exactly you know Mei, because I'm pretty sure that's true of almost all her clients." She looks straight at River's eyes over her glasses for a moment before looking away out the window and sipping on her tea.
River:
"Look into something extremely unusual," River repeats the words, takes them, makes them her own, drizzles them in additional layers of meaning, questions she implies but doesn't ask, at least not outright. "We just met. Lovely lady, don't you think?"
Alexis:
"Uh huh." Alexis sighs, "Look, if you're trying to win people's confidence, it usually helps to not come across slicker than an eel dipped in grease. Tends to make people think you want to get one over on them."
River:
River only raises her shoulders at Alexis, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Do you think I'm trying to get one over on you?"
Alexis:
"I'm not sure what it would be. But it is extremely offputting and I would appreciate it if you would either stop or leave." Alexis scowls, "You're making me feel like a mouse being toyed with by a cat, and I do not like it."
River:
River sags her head back on her neck, her lips peel back in a smile, and she stifles a laugh in her throat. "I'm sorry," she apologizes, tipping her chin back down. "We must have gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm River. It's been a long week for everyone who knows Mei, as you can imagine."
Alexis:
"I'm sure Mei has it worse than you and I do. For one thing, neither of us got the shit kicked out of us by cops."
River:
River props her elbow on the table and leans her head into her tattooed hand, cracks her knuckles against her chin. "That's true." She eyes back down at the photo. "Went out like a champion, though," she adds. "What do you think about," she gestures vaguely with her hand, "Allllll of that? Protests are always a little crazy, I guess," she supposes.
Alexis:
"Something is really fucky about it. The cops were dumber and more brazen than usual. People who were not prone to violence behaved like underground brawlers. It was manipulated by something or someone."
River:
River casts her head to the side, dark blonde mane tumbling down her shoulders. "Nahhh," she protests. "You think? The cops acting out, that's par for the course. That volcano's eventually going to erupt, you know? As for that guy, the Rabbi?" she clarifies, inquisitively. "His anger seemed pretty righteous to me. The cop was waling on his friend. What else are you going to do? The animal takes over."
Alexis:
"You're confusing emotion with action. Motivation with manifestation. Not everyone reacts to righteous fury by smiting the vile, nor is it the only valid course." Alexis shakes her head, "I don't think you're seeing it. The cops don't usually act out like that when they know they're being recorded. Not without the cover of a provocation. Its why they don't like being recorded in the first place." Alexis shuts her laptop and starts putting it away, "I, unfortunatly, need to go. I suppose I'll see you around. Tell Mei that I hope she's feeling better soon and that she doesn't need to worry about working on my case until this mess is over."
River:
"Mm," River muses as she listens, bobs her head in a nod, and she pushes out of her seat, rises, and taps lightly on the tabletop. "Well, it was a pleasure, and I'll let Mei know. All the best," she purrs, and the moment that Alexis looks away from River, she's practically gone. Or maybe she's still standing right there. It's hard to say, she's hidden in plain sight, and perception aside, she's off and on her way, shagging her fingers through her hair.
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