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Having just placed her order, Anneliese sits back in her booth, facing the entrance so she can watch people coming and going. And wave if anyone she knows - or merely recognises - enters. She's dressed relatively casually, considering this is her day off; denim jacket, instead of something fancier.
Mei walks in at this point, styling herself in what for her is a pretty typical set up with a leather jacket with lapels (and other parts) that are basically all metal studs, leather boots, black jeans, and a t-shirt. Her eyes and lips are painted black, and she's wearing leather gloves... gloves she didn't take off at the meeting Anneliese and Mei left not long ago, even when she took her jacket off.
She glances around upon stepping in, taking in who's there, and when her eyes land on Anneliese her brows raise just slightly, she she scans around again, and then she shrugs and heads over to her table. "Hey, you were just at that same meeting, right?" She pauses like she's scanning her brain for something. "Anneliese?" She must have overheard someone saying it.
"Yeah." She smiles up at the other woman. "Mei, right? Please, feel free to join me." She gestures at the seat opposite her. "I have just ordered, but it should not take long for the waitress to return if you want something as well."
"That's me," Mei says, and she extends a gloved hand across the table as she sits down. "Nice to meet you. I was thinking of getting a shake or something. I'm not sure if I want real food yet or not." She glances around. "Maybe I do. I don't think I ate anything since breakfast."
"Eating is probably a good idea, then." She shakes Mei's hand, firmly but not overdoing it. "I do not know how strict you are, but they have a fairly good range of options here, and two separate grills."
"I know you just saw me at a planning event for a seder," Mei says, looking like she's relaxing a little. "It's still nice to have someone actually assume I keep kosher, instead of acting like it's the biggest surprise they've heard in a decade. I'm not as strict as I probably could be, but I won't be ordering a burger if I'm having a milkshake, either. Chicken, maybe."
"I am sorry that you have to deal with that." Anneliese says gently. "I have heard good things about the chicken here, though, but being vegetarian I cannot personally vouch for the quality." She grins at Mei. "And do not worry - I am not as strict as I could be, either."
"I tried going vegetarian for a bit," Mei says as she glances around, spots a menu on the table behind them where nobody is sitting, and turns around in her chair to lean over the back of the seat to grab the menu. "I work a weird schedule and sometimes have to take what food I can find in whatever weird ass part of town I'm in," she says as she sits down. "It ended up stressing me out constantly. The woman I was dating at the time was vegan, though, so..." she shrugs. "How long have you been vegetarian?"
"A month or so now? Adjusting was easier than I thought it would be at first, but going fully vegan would likely be harder." Anneliese shrugs in turn, taking a sip of her water before continuing. "What do you work as, if you do not mind my asking?" She doesn't seem at all fazed by Mei casually mentioning having dated a woman previously, but then they did just attend a planning meeting for the Kol Tzedek seder.
"Oh, not very long then. I'm glad it hasn't been too rough," Mei says as she looks over the menu. "I'm a private investigator," she explains, glancing up. "Which is usually boring as fuck, not as exciting as they make it out to be on TV. I think that's true for most things, though. They make them look more exciting on TV. What about you?" She seems to make her decision on what to order quickly, and puts the menu back down.
"Bartender over in the Gayborhood." She grins. "Also a less exciting occupation than it tends to be on TV, but. I suppose few people would want to watch a show that does not glamourise these things." Another shrug. "Also I study medicine, which is definitely less exciting than on TV, but that is probably a good thing."
"Oh, which bar? I'm surprised I haven't seen you there," Mei admits with a laugh. "I spend too much time in bars. Both a professional hazard and a personal one. Personal takes me to those bars more often and professional, admittedly. Either the straights are worse at handling their own shit, or more inclined to hire PIs." Then she thinks and adds, "the fact that I'm listed everywhere as 'psychic private investigator' probably also skews things."
"Vertigo. I only started a few weeks back, though, so you might not have been in recently enough. Or just not yet had a visit coincide with one of my shifts." The comment about being psychic gets a raised eyebrow. Either she doesn't believe Mei actually is one and is too polite to simply say so, or she's just surprised at how blatant she is about it.
"I know the place, but I don't go in often," Mei admits with a smile and a shrug. Then she laughs and says, "yeah, that's the look I usually get." The server comes by at this point, so she orders a chicken sandwich and a vanilla malt, and when she's done she comes back to the conversation. "I'm a heart on the sleeve, cards on the table sort of person."
Anneliese blushes slightly. "It is not that I do not believe you, but... I am still not used to people being so open about such things as they are here." She hesitates for a moment, taking a sip of water while she gathers her thoughts. "Do you know many others with such abilities?"
"Most people just don't believe me, and that's fine," Mei says with a shrug. 'I don't really care very much what some random person thinks. I know some others, but their stories aren't really mine to tell. They're not really common gifts, I don't think. Or curses, depending on your perspective."
"And the abilities you have, presumably." She shrugs. "I merely ask because you are not the only person with such abilities I have met here, and I was wondering if we might have mutual acquaintances outside the faith."
"Mine are curses," says Mei with a wince. "They're useful ones that I can try to make other people's lives better with sometimes, though. So there's that, at least. They come in handy with my line of work, they're why I got into it in the first place, but I suspect my life would be a lot happier without them." She considers things for a few moments before saying, "I'm not going to name names, just because nobody has told me they're okay with that. Not everyone is as blasé as I am about this kind of thing."
"Reasonable enough," Anneliese nods. "So, um..." She's obviously casting about for a new topic. "Have you been in Philly long?"
"Most of my life," Mei answers with a nod. "Aside from a few years where I lived in Hong Kong when I was a teenager. I'm definitely a local. What about you?"
"I just moved here a few months ago." Not technically true, but accurate enough given that Mei's not one of the Lost. "What was Hong Kong like?"
"Oh, how are you finding things so far?" Mei asks, genuinely curious. "Hong Kong was... well, I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I was a teenager in an unfamiliar country where I speak the language well, but not perfectly. I was dealing with not knowing anybody, being in a new school, developing psychic powers. I was not a happy kid at the time. But the place itself is fascinating."
"It was something of a shock, at first," Anneliese admits. "I think I have adjusted well, though. Having a supportive community, both within and outside the faith, has helped, of course." She shrugs. "I am sure you did a better job fitting in than I would have, even setting aside how pale I am; I could not tell you which dialect is spoken there without checking first."
"Good, I'm glad you're finding the support you need. I do understand how hard it can be in a new place," Mei answers, nodding softly. "In some ways being white might help there. You might get a lot of looks, but nobody's going to be expecting you to speak the language fluently or anything."
"Thank you." Anneliese smiles at Mei, before glancing up as the waitress returns with her ordered food - eggs and chips. "Do you mind if I start eating before you? I do not wish to let these go cold."
"Oh, go ahead." The waitress has Mei's malt too, which means she's not left with nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs. "Enjoy your food while it's hot. I was just going to poke around on my phone by myself when I first came in here, or just watch people, so I have way more company than I planned as it is. Not that I mind."
A nod, before she glances down for a moment. "Blessed are You..."
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