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Jeremiah Hamilton:
After a bit of back and forth texting Jeremiah had extended Alexis an invitation to come by the studio located above the Green Room, waiting for her arrival downstairs by the cafe entrance. He was dressed casually as on her last visit, glancing at his phone now and again as the minutes ticked by.
Alexis Bartram:
Alexis comes up to the cafe, walking briskly. She's dressed a lot more casually than she was the last time she was here, in jeans and a N7 Hoodie, of all things. She shows a flicker of a smile as she sees Jeremiah, and gives him a tiny wave. "Mind if I get another tea before we go upstairs?"
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Shepard." He replied with a nod and small smirk, moving to open the door into the cafe for her. "Figured you might want something first."
Alexis Bartram:
"Wrex." She manages to deadpan...and then ruins with a giggle, "Green tea again, please. Don't want too much caffine, I'm keyed up already."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
He couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head with a smile. "You got it." And a few minutes later their teas were procurred and he led the way to the side stairway that went up to the studio above. The space was homey in a way, infused with the sort of care that any artisan put into their primary work space. The largest bit of real estate was taken up by a grand piano, accompanied by a collection of other string and brass instruments and a shelf of music book on one wall. Another door was on the far wall, closed for the moment.
Alexis Bartram:
Alexis parks herself on a handy chair, one of her legs bouncing up and down in a nervous tick, "Have you been watching the news about that...travesty that turned into a riot downtown today?"
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"I saw the video, yeah..." He took a seat on the piano bench, shaking his head with a deep frown. "I thought the cops in LA were bad."
Alexis Bartram:
She barks a laugh, "I mean, they are?" A hand brushes the hood off of her head, "But I know...well, at least one of the people that were in the start of that melee."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
Cue look of concern. "Shit...sorry to hear that. Have you been able to get a hold of them?"
Alexis Bartram:
"No. But considering she planted her knee between a cop's balls like she wanted him to spray them out his mouth, that's not really a surprise. I bet she's in hospital custody." Alexis sighs, "Which bodes poorly for her being able to do what I hired her for."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
Jeremiah visibly winced, crossing his legs on reflex. "Damn...sounds like he deserved it, at least."
"Oh? Was she working with you on that mapping project?"
Alexis Bartram:
"Different project. Although I think she might have been someone who could help with the map too." Alexis sighs and sips at her tea for a moment, "I didn't get into tracking the supernatural by accident. I pause here for you to express your shock."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"This is my surprised face." His face went stoic for a moment or three, relaxing back to a small smirk afterward. "Most people don't, from what I know. They see something that doesn't make sense and feel the need to keep digging."
Alexis Bartram:
"Yeah, my problem is literally I don't know what I saw." She shifts in the chair, crossing her legs so she stops twitching the leg, "Or rather, I don't remember what it was. Which is a bit like most people waking up and not remembering their own name."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"We talking like MIB-style flashy thing sort of stuff here? Just...poof?" He made the hand motion to go with the sound effect with his free hand, watching her curiously.
Alexis Bartram:
"Somewhat? My friend was able to tell that someone erased the memory and then put in a...poorly planned fake over the gap. If my memory worked normally I probably never would have noticed, but..." She waves her tea vaguely, then takes another sip, "Which is the kind of help I was hoping she could give me. That and finding out what on earth could do that to someone."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
He, being one such 'what on earth' himself, nodded quietly as he sipped his tea. "She's some kind of psychic, then, I'm guessing?"
Alexis Bartram:
"Yeah. Telepathy and Psychometry, that I know of. Probably really handy for a PI to have."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Psychometry...that's the Dead Zone style stuff, yeah? Touch things and see what happened with them?"
Alexis Bartram:
"Yeah, that's it. I just...damnit, I was finally getting somewhere for the first time in ten fucking years and this happens literally a day later. And its just so fucking stupid! Like, it looked like that Rabbi...uhhh...Cohen? I think his name is. He PUNCHED one of the cops. What in the hell is with that. I've seen him at protests and stuff, he's like...I wondered if he had some sort of super-nonviolent-protest powers or something. And now there's video of him just laying a cop out with one punch."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Something got into him, maybe." Like a vision of the world beyond the veil, nothing big. "I didn't see what started the fighting, just the tail end of it when they got cuffed and hauled off."
"Can't say how much I'd be able to help you figure out what happened, but I'm willing to do what I can, even if it's just listen."
Alexis Bartram:
"I'd be glad for the help." Alexis frowns, "Although I feel bad that there isn't anything I can help you with?"
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Only thing I can think of off-hand would be brushing up on my Latin, since I haven't taken that since high school." He replied with a smirk, taking a sip of his tea before setting the cup down. "If I ever need a hand I'll let you know. For now, I'm happy to help you."
Alexis Bartram:
"Oh, Latin is easy, I can do Latin." The fact that she isn't lying is probably disturbing on some level.
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Easy, huh? I know French and Spanish, but the Latin's gone to the wayside over the years. That and I can curse rather well in Italian, thanks to a professor I had at Stanford."
Alexis Bartram:
"I've got Spanish and Latin, but my French is atrocious, I have on good authority. I also speak Mandrin, and I'm passable with Arabic and Russian. And I sign."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Most impressive. What got you into studying languages, out of curiosity?"
Alexis Bartram:
"Initially, pushy parents that wanted me to get into a good college. I think I did a little better than they were expecting at that. But fuck them, I study languages because languages are the closest I can get to fucking magic."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
That brought a smile to the Warlock's face, followed by a quiet nod. "I feel the same way with music, honestly. The ability to conjure emotion with a melody and the right amount of pathos is unlike anything else."
Alexis Bartram:
"Well, I mean, its the same thing. Same idea." She waves her half-empty tea at the piano, "I'd play something but I haven't touched piano since I was eleven and my hands are still too small for a proper pianist. But its all ways to capture what's inside one person and somehow make it go inside another person's head. Capture ideas in symbols and sounds."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Exactly. That is pretty magical, when you get down to it." He smirked a touch, picking up his tea and taking a pull from it. "The way that certain phrases or melodies can call up moments in time, that sort of thing."
Alexis Bartram:
"So do you have any ideas as to where I shoud start looking?"
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Good question. What do you remember about what happened?"
Alexis Bartram:
"I was headed over to my friend's apartment to play board games. And then I woke up the next morning. Everything in between is made of lies."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
He nodded quietly, mulling that over. "And you left your place that afternoon, evening? And that was here in Philly?"
Alexis Bartram:
"Troy, New York."
"Alas."
"I left my place right about fifiteen minutes before five in the evening. With a stain on my jeans, a scuff on my new shoes, and my head not fucked-about-with."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"And woke up the next morning spotless and with a bad drawing in place of what happened, I'm guessing?"
Alexis Bartram:
"Basically. Like...none of it is the kind of thing that a normal person would notice? And they clearly screwed with my friends heads too, whoever or whatever it was, because they remember me being there. Except I don't remember it RIGHT. Its like most of my memories are photographs and this one is taken with a different aspect ratio and grease smeared all over the lens."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"Gotcha...friend of mine at uni was like that; could look at a page and tell you what the 54th word on it was without looking at it." He gave a little nod. "And you've been dealing with that for ten years...that's messed up."
Alexis Bartram:
"I can sorta ignore it, if I bury myself in something else. But when I focus on it, its like the inside of my brain is itching because of the wrongness."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
That didn't sound familiar at all...no sir. Showed she was on the right path, at least. "Well, hopefully you'll be able to figure it out soon, and I'll be more than happy to help you do that."
Alexis Bartram:
"Heh." Alexis glances at her phone's lock screen, "I should probably head home. Hm. I wonder if I should isolate that frame of her kneeing the cop in the nads for Mei. I think she might appreciate it, aesthetically."
Jeremiah Hamilton:
"I imagine she would, yes." He nodded with a small smirk. "Was good talking with you, and if I think of anything that might be able to help with all this I'll let you know."
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