[hr][i][h1][color=dodgerblue]Lihua Zhao[/color], [color=red]Meifeng Zhao[/color], [color=9966ff] Lihn Phan [/color], & [color=B0E0E6] Kei Phan[/color][/h1][/i][i][sub]Written in collaboration with [b][@FernStone][/b] & [b][@Spoopy Scary][/b][/sub][/i][hr]
[i][u]Strong Gold Community, Silver Hills.[/u][/i]


Their conversation went on and on, until....

"Lijuan!" Lihua hissed as she finally looked down, and noticed that Lijuan ate almost all the french fries on the tray. That girl's going to be a land whale at this rate. "I said you weren't going to eat like that anymore."

"I'm sorry." Lijuan said in a tone that made it sound like a complete lie.

Meifeng chuckled for a moment - only to receive a sharp glare from Lihua - before she immediately went quiet.

"So, how are you all enjoying this [i]great[/i] little fair?" Meifeng asked. "Well, no, what I [i]really[/i] want to know is how you all feel about Mr. Liu opening a brand new community...." Her eyes drifted over towards Lihua, whom she [i]assumes[/i] still has a negative opinion of her brother.

"Well, if you ask me," Lihua injected. "He's trying a bit too hard to sound like a good person." She rolled her eyes up into her head as she bitterly spoke. "All he's really trying to do is put himself up on a pedestal... When, truth be told, there'll always be someone out there to criticize him."

"Hmm, well," Lihn paused, looking thoughtful. "I can't say I hold a large opinion on this. The fair itself has been fun, if a bit busy. But the new community? Well it sounds like a good enough idea but we'll see how it pans out." She looked over at Lihua. "I can, honestly, see some of the things you say though. I missed most of his speech but it was easy enough to tell there was... some kind of fakeness about it." Lihn shrugged.

"Of course there is." Lihua answered, she reached for a drink that wasn't even there. She shook her head. "Truth be told, no one [i]truly[/i] buys into that - except for his-" Lihua finger quoted, "[i]Hardcore supporters.[/i] But, no one's going to criticize when they're [i]really[/i] just here for the party."

"C'mon," Meifeng said, turning her body towards Lihua. "I know the two of you don't really get along, but ease up just a little bit."

"That man is foolishly idealistic." Lihua rolled her eyes up into her head. "It's been that way since the two of us were young.... But, perhaps you do have a point." Lihua sighed.

She leaned back just a little bit, just look at Lihn (Kei probably didn't realize they were even talking). "In case you didn't notice - Jiao-Long up there is [i]this person's[/i] older brother." Meifeng raised a hand up into the air, and pointed down at Lihua, whom merely rolled her eyes up into her head.

"I figured out that much," Lihn responded. "I do like to pay attention to these kinds of things. I wouldn't be very good at my job if I didn't." Though, it wasn't something Lihua had talked about before. Lihn made a mental note of that.

"And that job is?" Meifeng asked.... She had literally no idea what Lihn could have meant. She could be a garbage woman for all she knew.

"I would wager..." a familiar voice echoed from behind the Zhao family, "being acutely perceptive as she is... sociology or... more fittingly, social psychology."

"Hey, wait, that voice sounds familiar..." Meifeng said as she turned her head to look over her shoulder.

"Currently a therapist," Lihn responded to Meifeng before trying to look past the Zhao family (a bit difficult considering the height difference). "But quite an accurate wager." She fell silent, listening curiously.

[hr][hider=Pacific Coast Highway - Mad Men soundtrack][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AFdlMp-wUs[/youtube][/hider][hr]

Baron met Meifeng with a smile, and stretched his arms out to her. The past seven years has done a bit to help age him, looking as young as he did when he was thirty-five. His black hair had silver strands in it, and was clean shaven as usual. He wore the typical black dress suit and tie, but with a purple dress shirt underneath.

"Baron, hey!" Meifeng greeted him as she turned around. She recognized the man almost immediately - he was Baron Moreau. The neuropsychologist extraordinaire! Meifeng and Baron kept in touch while she was out, and their relationship was pretty good. Despite the fact that Meifeng couldn't get a solid read on the man  "I didn't expect to see you here."

Lihua merely shook her head, and kept quiet. She didn't have anything to say to Baron.

"I'm scheduled to meet with DOVE tomorrow night, and I thought I would stop in to see the opening." Baron said, still smiling. "Look at you, you've gotten so big! Try not to hurt me, okay?"

He tilted his head toward her and shook his leg. "I'm a cripple, you know."

Meifeng winked.

"Oh, I [i]never[/i] noticed." Meifeng playfully said, before she turned to look over at Lihn for a moment. Baron was a big name with the DOVEs - even though he never was one. Rumor has it that he had connections all the way up to Deborah.

"So, who's your friend [i]Captain Zhao?[/i] She sounds like a bright one."

"Oh?" Meifeng said. "This is... Lihn?" She said, almost as if she was unsure of her. "Heh, literally just met her five minutes ago - you're better off asking old ironsides about her." Meifeng said in reference to Lihua, shrugging.

Lihn just nodded in affirmation to what Meifeng said, not saying anything herself. She had just about figure out who the Baron was and was internally freaking out (the headache didn't help with keeping her own mind completely calm).

Baron gave Meifeng a hollow smile. Tsk, tsk. First step of avoiding a tense environment - in a social setting - is to not point out the elephant in the room. Privately, it's good for development, but the case between him and Lihua - that had to be worked out on its own. For a setting such as this... it was less appropriate. But the damage was done. He would hope Lihua could play the same game.

"It's nice to see you coming along, Q--  Lihua..." Baron said to Lihua, catching himself at the last second. There was a brief moment of sincerity. "How'd you come about meeting Lihn?"

Lihua didn't like being addressed in a conversation she was content with staying out of - but she wouldn't be the woman she is today if she breaks down like a crybaby over a situation not being ideal.

"She's one of my neighbors over in Greencrest." Lihua answered. "We met a few years back, and she ended up being my therapist whenever I need one."

She quickly peered towards Lijuan, who was looking up at Lihua like she had no idea what was going on. She was probably a tad frightened by Baron, but Lihua ruffed her hand through her bobcut to calm her..

"She's a [i]very[/i] good therapist at that." Lihua answered. 

"Oh, is that right?" Baron chirped, picking up his mood almost immediately. "That's good, very good. I look forward to young blood in the field."

He extended his hand to Lihn with a bright smile on his face. "I'm Dr. Baron Moreau, I teach at the University of Washington. It's my pleasure."

"Lihn Phan," Lihn responded, going to shake Baron's extended hand. He shook too, his other hand wrapping around. "A pleasure to meet you. I've heard of your work and it really is quite amazing." She was speaking a bit more nervously than she normally would do, being a generally calm person. 

"Amazing?" Baron parroted, backing up a bit. He rubbed the back of his neck a bit and deliberately looked away with a slight smile. "Well, thank you, I have to say that the work I've been studying on these last couple of years is experimental... but I'm seeing progress. With DOVE's cooperation, of course. I send back reports of my studies to them when I can, and come into town myself to give lectures and presentations when I have enough material to discuss."

Lihn looked slightly apologetic at his reaction to the word she used to describe her work. "I've always found studies related to metahumans interesting, however experimental many are. Though I've, uh, only ever known what I can find in books and online which is sadly lacking. Well, really, I find anything psychology related interesting but that's beside the point..." She was rambling a bit, she realised, as Kei gave her an exasperated look in a way to tell her to calm down a little.

Baron calmly put his hands behind his back and smiled. Leaning forward, he spoke slyly and quietly to Lihn. "Well, I might have a surprise for you then! Tomorrow night at the DOVE facility, I'll be giving a lecture... and its open doored."

"Oh?" Lihn blinked, taking a moment to process the information. "Is it really open doored?" As far as she was aware she was free the next night, excluding the responsibility of looking after the sleeping six year old in her arms.

"Opened doored and live." Baron assured. "If you don't feel like leaving home, it'll be live-streamed on DOVE's site."

"Well, I'll have to see, but I'll definitely watch it one way or another," Lihn smiled. "It all depends on my daughter." As she spoke she shifted Thanh slightly in her arms (which were now getting tired from holding her for so long). "But yes, I'm not going to miss watching it."

"I hope to see you there!" Baron beamed. "Here's a tidbit for you that no one else knows yet: I will be talking about the effects on the psyche that comes with being a metahuman, what differentiates us, and the social repercussions, as well as how to manage those repercussions and ultimately offer possible solutions to the growing problem of anti-meta dissent."

"That sounds very interesting," Lihn's dark eyes lit up slightly at what Baron said. It was something she'd always wondered about, but of course there was no hard evidence about it. "I've been curious about that for a long time."

"Damn," Meifeng said... earning a hostile look from Lihua. She awkwardly laughed, before she cleared her throat and finished her line of thought. "Sounds like you got big things planned." She now wishes that she asked for something to drink as well. "Probably won't show up myself - being a RAVEN and all - but I know that your speech will interest a good friend of mine." That friend being Cindy. [i]Boy,[/i] Meifeng just [i]knows[/i] she's pissed. She'll have to hear the lecture tomorrow.

"I do have to say that it [i]is[/i] interesting." Lihua added. "But, I have things to do tomorrow - being a teacher for the illustrious Academy in town, after all."

"Speaking of," Baron pried, "has DOVE yet issued their own set of regulations for the academies? For the sake of their own interests, I would expect them to keep eye on students' development. I haven't yet entered one of the academies to see for myself how involved they are."

"Yes." Lihua quickly answered. The DOVEs were heavily involved in the academies - a bit too much. Lihua can understand why DOVE would want these kids to stay safe, but it's getting to the point where they're [i]coddling[/i] them. She merely rolled her eyes. "They've [i]well[/i] gotten across that we are to teach them to use their powers - not fight with them. Along with a few other redundant rules that are supposed to be... [i]in their best interest[/i]." Lihua said the last part sarcastically. Which well got across that she thought they were bullshit.

Baron nodded pensively. "I see. I'd imagine that they are looking out for the best interests of [i]everyone[/i]. Regardless, I'm interested to learn what they've done with the more [i]educational[/i] courses to see what kind of social conditioning they're exposed to.  I suppose that wouldn't be any of your concern as a power instructor, you are more interested in..." Baron paused for a moment. "...substance! The sociological development and how they integrate may be better suited for the professors... lest DOVE officials have already taken over those positions?"

"Yes and no." Lihua quickly answered. "From what I've heard, DOVE personally selects who's in what teaching position. It could be a DOVE, or someone they figured would be the best for the position." She shrugged. 

"Anywho..." Lihua said to cut off the conversation here and there. She slid off the stool, holding Lijuan's hand tightly. "We have to get going... we have a reservation at the VIP section." She started walking.

"Yeah, might as well get moving." Meifeng hopped off the stool as well. "Nice to meet you two, and it's great to see you again, Baron...."