She wasn't used to waiting- usually she was the late one. And yet here she was, clicking her lighter open and closed, not in impatience, but just in her typically fiddly manner. She didn't like being left alone with her thoughts- she didn't something to distract her. Her father's old lighter worked perfectly, as did the cigarettes they lit when she decided that she didn't mind the smell after all. As she was wont to every couple weeks. What could she say? She's a fickle thing.
Finally, just as she was reaching for the packet in her pocket, Manon appeared, walking towards her, head bowed and mouth already forming words of apology.
"Sorry, I was-" "Deciding whether or not to come?" Manon's mouth closed, and she met Rio's amused gaze with a cool one. "... Yeah." Rio smirked, tucking the lighter back into her pocket before swinging her arm around the girl's shoulders. "And now? Still feeling indecisive?" Manon shook off the older woman's arm. "I'm here, aren't I?" Rio sent her another teasing smile, and Manon, in her traditionally short-tempered fashion, stormed on ahead, leaving Rio to catch up.
Manon had spent the morning in an internal debate. To go or not to go. She felt hesitant, although she wasn't sure exactly what it was that had her so fearful. Was it the danger of the killer? The danger of other extraordinaries? Or, more likely, was it that fear of rejection that had her so on edge? She knew the latter was the most likely culprit, and it plagued her to no end on the days leading up to the portentous meeting.
At least Rio was going. Rio the reckless. Rio the fearless. Of course she was going. What did she have to fear? But then again, Manon wondered what exactly Rio's reasons for attending were. Rio was hardly the sort to get caught up in the dramas of other people, if you could call the serial murders of extraordinaries, 'drama'. And she was even less the sort to care so much as to join some sort of ragtag justice team. As they walked to the address, Manon briefly considered looking deeper into Rio's emotions. Just as quickly, however, she abandoned the thought. Boredom, she presumed, was Rio's most likely motivation. The woman loathed being bored.
Finally arriving at the address, a unassuming little cafe, Rio turned to her companion. "Not too late to turn back, Nonny." Manon paused at her words, but shook away her reservations, stepping forward to lead the way through the door.
Immediately, Manon tasted tea. Sweet, as though the cafe's most regular occupants preferred several spoons of sugar. Rio whispered in her ear, "Let me know if it's tasty." Sliding her hands into her pockets, Rio barely had to look about the shop before noticing the man in the army uniform, and the girl with blue hair. They were hard to miss, the uniform in particular being hard to ignore, and even harder not to scoff at.
One a picture of confidence, and the other wishing she was but with less success, the (cute) blonde Asian in a leather jacket and the girl in a tan hoodie and black jeans walked over to the group of three. Rio slid into a free chair, already comfortable, whilst Manon chose to wait, standing by her side. "Huh. You're all a lot better looking than I expected. Kudos."