milliways_bar | (no subject)

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[oom: You really shouldn't have said his name.]

When Matt walks in a whole lot of noise follows him. The police station he's exiting is in a state of chaos and Matt is speaking to someone behind him as he leaves.

"It's alright, Sergeant, I'm fine. Foggy or I will be around to check into those files later."

An apology from Brett Mahoney follows Matt as the door closes, and Matt sighs.

Matt is tired, and frustrated, angry even, but he's also just realized where he's walked into.

After a moment he decides he could use a respite from the cacophony he's just left and so, using his cane, Matt crosses the room and takes a seat up at the counter.

"Cup of coffee, please," he requests as he folds up his cane and sets it down on the counter.

Bar provides a cup along with a bowl of hearty potato soup with half a club sandwich tucked next to it.

Matt's stomach rumbles in response to the smell, but his expression is less enthused.

"Do you mother everyone who sits down?" he asks, to which Bar responds by providing a cloth napkin and a spoon.

Matt's jaw tics, but he withholds another sigh.

[ooc: warnings for violence and npc death in the oom.]

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Sunshine chuckles. "That makes sense."

Her brother had not let her see his dorm room. She did not insist.

"So far most of what I've learned is that I need to respect Kenny a bit more. And maybe send him more frequent care packages," she replies. "I've always known my half-brothers are clever, but reading this has made me very appreciative of the familiar and practical chemistry of baking."

Give her discussion of how different brands' specific wheat cultivars and the differing fineness of their flours can affect liquid absorption rates during mixing and thus increase the possibility of errors in nonspecific baking recipes...

"I'd rather make ten dozen croissants by hand and a fifty-layer crepe cake than try to untangle the convoluted and infuriating Gordian Knot of Other law. It was 1996 - ninety-six! - before Part-Blood Others were even allowed to sit on juries when Others of Part-Blood Others were on trial - and then only because this one guy kept appealing and making a stink about there being a jury of the defendant's peers. Before then, it was just assumed Part-Blood Others would be biased or couldn't be trusted. And '96 is just when they were 'allowed.' They're still almost never picked to actually sit on the jury."

And full-blood Others? Don't even bother considering it.

Laughing lightly in response, Matt replies, "Well, I think the closest I've ever come to baking is making pancakes. And the one and only time my dad and I ever tried making them from scratch we ended up with frisbees so... you won't hear me knocking the 'practical chemistry of baking'."

Besides that, her baking is amazing.

His smile dims as she describes what she's been reading on, and Matt gives a short, solemn nod.

"Unfortunately the law does find itself behind the times. On my world it was a long road towards Civil Rights for people of color and women, and even now the laws are on the books, but discrimination, prejudices and unfair practices still happen."

Not to mention how politics and money can buy influence. And then of course there's the corruption.

"Some days, when the system isn't working, infuriating is a good word to apply."

Today would be one of those days, when a woman fears the loss of her home, or officers sworn to uphold the law murder a witness in custody.

Now Matt finally laughs. He can't help it.

After a day like today it's good to find something to laugh about, and in his opinion that deserves more sandwich.

"Won't find a pigeon who does that," he notes with a chuckle. "Here."

The remainder of the sandwich is tossed Puffy's way. He's earned it.

"We're keeping the lights on," Matt replies, taking a drink of his coffee. "We have a new client as of this morning. A landlord dispute we're hoping we can help her with."

It isn't bowling alley murderers or corporate conspiracies, but it is the type of work Matt set out to do when he got into practice. Helping the people of his neighborhood.

"I'm not sure if your world as renter's laws but, out client is living in a rent-controlled building and her landlord wants to throw her out so that he can build more expensive condos. We're working to prevent that."

"Some planets do, Coruscant probably has the most at least in the upper levels, but I've never heard of rent-control."

Depending how its set up that could be helpful.

"It's meant to protect people from having their rent raised past the point of affordability," Matt explains. "There was a time that tactic could be used to force people out of their homes. With our case that is the landlord's intent, he's just using other means to try and go about it."

"What's he doing?" He knows that landlords can be brutal and at least in the Empire, usually have the government on their side.

Matt considers for a moment how much to say, then replies, "He offered them a buyout. When they didn't accept he sent workers who were supposed to do repairs. Instead they broke up the place trying to make it unlivable."

Something that doesn't sit well with Matt at all.

"Was anyone hurt?"

Cassian's seen the Empire do things like that but they usually hurt people along the way.

"No, fortunately." Of course, that was more a product of the landlord keeping within the bounds where police can't get involved than anything.

"My partner and I are going to do what we can to help them." And Matt will do anything outside of the law firm if it comes to that.

"What can you do? I know in my galaxy there aren't a lot of options."

The Rebellion tries to help when they can but there's only so much that can be done.

"We can prove that he's working outside the bounds of the law," Matt replies. "He's violating codes and ordinances and acting maliciously towards his tenants. Our case could make the court to step in and force him to stop."

"I hope it can." Losing a home is one of the quickest ways to destroy someone.

"Thanks, we hope so, too." Mrs. Cardenas and her neighbors deserve to stay in their homes.

Cassian takes a sip of his whiskey and stands up with a stretch, "I think I'm going to do some cooking. Have a good night."

"I am a bona fide super hero. Got my powers from an experimental serum based on spider venom, so I ran with the theme. I also do PI work, which is how I know my Matt best. I take pics for him, he makes sure my contracts are solid and keeps me out of jail when I step too far out of line."

"People find it easier to re-define 'people' instead of treating people like people," Sunshine mutters, nodding without thinking.

"Special Other Forces, the very law enforcement agency in charge of policing all Others, still doesn't allow anyone but purely humans to serve. Which is... the most straight-forward of the charges against the Goddess, but it's the one I don't want held against her. If things are going to change, someone has to push. And... this is an opportunity, even if it's risky."

Sunshine would like the Goddess to be punished for what she did - and in the process discover the extent of what she might have done, in addition to what Sunshine knows she did - but doesn't want the Goddess punished for what she is.

Not an intelligent pigeon.

Or something.

On the other hand Success! Puffy has achieved sandwich!

Greedily he grabs it in his mouth and runs off just in case Matt decides to change his mind.

"I haven't met many 'bona fide superheroes'," Matt notes. He's impressed.

"It sounds like you and he keep each other pretty busy."

Matt gives a solemn nod to her first statement, wishing it was otherwise but there is definite truth in it.

Listening to her, Matt is impressed by her resolve. Such a brave thing to do for a local shop baker; although Matt is sure there's more to her than that. Still...

"You told me you would try for that route," he comments quietly. "It may be risky, yes, but it is the right thing to do."

Situations and cases like this are how things change.

"For what it's worth, from what you've said of what happened I believe you'll still have a strong case without those charges."

Sunshine takes a measured slow breath, and holds it a moment before letting it out.

"I think so, too," she says, though her tone suggests reservations. "Director Misra has... tentatively agreed to try and set aside that particular charge against her. In... hope that it might set a precedent."

Rae picks up the hefty tome. Too much of law seems bound by precedent, by what someone else thought and how they interpreted something, however many years ago.

"I'm... not a lawyer, and not officially SOF, so it's going to be up to Director Misra and others to do the actual crafting of the case. I'm... going to have to testify, and lurid, multicolored hells is that a daunting thought," she remarks, giving the word 'daunting' a tone like another person might say 'terrifying.'

A non-zero percentage of her recent insomnia has absolutely been spent trying out how to word replies that aren't lies but also won't leave her either in jail or disappeared to some secret lab somewhere.

Matt listens to her lungs filling and the cadence of her heartbeat as she gathers herself.

He hears the reservation in her tone; wavers in her voice of uncertainty that he attributes not to misgivings of her decisions, but fear over facing a scary scenario.

And yet, he can also hear her determination to do it anyways.

"I know you're afraid. You can't give into the fear."

He offers her a comforting smile, and a moment later lifts his hand to rest on her arm; ready to pull back if the touch is unwanted, but he's hoping to impart some reassurance in this daunting situation.

"If there's anything I can do to help... " he offers.

"Obviously I'm not up on Other law," he adds, just a touch wry, "but I can go through what you have on it and see if anything pops up that might be useful? Or, I'm sure your team will prep you for testimony before you have to go up there, but if it helps to have another practice round I can go over it with you, too."

Matt couldn't help her before, when she was going to face the Goddess or after, but maybe now there's something he can do.

Edited 2020-03-20 17:30 (UTC)

The offer and the comforting touch are much appreciated. They pull a smile from her, at least, and ease some of the tension she carries. "I appreciate it. I may take you up on the offer for... testimony prep. I don't really know what to expect."

"Even just being able to talk about all this helps. The turmoil at SOF has pretty much kept my SOF regulars out of reach. They're not... keen on trying to set aside the charge of impersonating a human in a position of trust, or whatever the official name is, and they'd be upset if they knew I was borrowing Kenny's lawbooks. I didn't even feel..." safe "...comfortable telling Kenny why I wanted to borrow them."

Rae chuckles, faintly. "Told him I wanted some light reading to help me sleep."

He had laughed, and given her a hug - a sure sign he was worried about her - and hadn't asked any further.

Matt gives her arm a light squeeze and then pulls his hand back.

"Alright. I'm here when you need me."

Or he'd try to be.

Listening to her, Matt suppresses a frown and asks, carefully, "Do you think any of them will take exception to what your doing? Maybe retaliate?"

Two cops just killed a witness inside of the precinct while Matt could only listen. He doesn't want to think the worst in people but, he's been fighting an uphill battle against corruption for awhile now, and he just doesn't want Rae to get hurt.

"Retaliate?" Rae echoes. "I... couldn't see them doing that. Pat, Theo, and Jesse have already shown far more faith in me than I had any right to expect, even though this situation puts them at risk, too."

("I've got you guys' back, too, you know," she had murmured, thinking of him and Pat and Theo, of Jocasta and the faces of the Other SOFs she had seen this morning, and of Director Misra as well. "All that... 'to the last gasp' stuff. It goes both ways.")

"We - they and I - know we're in this together, even if no one is comfortable. But they've got my back. And I've got theirs," she replies, adding, "for what it's worth."

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