Devils Roll The Dice, Angels Roll Their Eyes

Chapter 1

"Well, little lady, haven't seen you around these parts before." 

"Oh, ha, well, this isn't my usual scene... or place... or job for that matter." 

"Oh, here on business, are you?" Already, the dark-haired woman could tell that she'd found a perfect mark. Yelan had long worked out how to get a perfect read on people, and being on her turf just made doing so that much easier. The gentle, lulling music in the background, that was only complimented by the roaring waterfall in the distance. The unfamiliar smells floating in the air from the newest tea brews, imported from Fontaine and much further away. 

The dimly lit floor was the den of a lion, and right now, her icy white pelt was swinging hypnotically on her shoulders as she stared down an unsuspecting prey that had wandered in. As Yelan pulled up a chair, still giving off nothing but the aura of a friendly floor manager, she took a moment to size up the flamboyant new customer across from her.  Bright hair in a tint that she could've sworn she'd seen in the coral reefs around Watatsumi Island, a dress that couldn't be any deeper red if she'd tried, and a perfectly innocent smile on her face. There wasn't a sin that Yelan could trace from her lips or steal from her emerald irises, and she found that, from first impression, admirable.  

However... Yelan was not, inherently, an admirable person. There were a million ways to get good Mora off someone like this, and a thousand to get much more. "Care to stay and chat a bit? We have some fine new teas in from Fontaine, first one's on the house." 

"That's generous of you but um, I'm afraid I'm more of a coffee drinker, thanks.  Besides that, I came here more seeking information than anything." 

On the other side of the table, Yanfei, the legal expert of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, sat attentively, eyes focused right back on Yelan's. Qiaoying Village was never a place she'd normally visit, the hustle and bustle of Liyue Harbor much more her speed. Sometimes, though, her job as an adviser would take her out quite a ways, as was the case today. 

She'd heard there were people here, in Yanshang Teahouse, that knew the details of a certain deal between a client of hers and a figure that she had... almost no physical details on.  Some shadow in the night. Meanwhile, if she didn't work it out soon, the case against Antony, the Snezhnayan merchant she was defending, would end in a counterfeiting conviction sooner rather than later. 

"Yanfei, pleasure to meet you," she said, extending a hand across the sandbearer wood table overenthusiastically. 

Yelan reached out and took her hand with a slow, assured gesture. "Hua, and likewise." The name was a blatant fake, one she liked to use in this area. A few greased wheels at the Ministry of Civil Affairs and she was on the books in no time.  

"Should've known, you've definitely got the energy to you. And we've got you covered."  She snapped her fingers in the air twice, harshly enough that most of the room looked over.  

"Tao, a cup of our best coffee for the lady here. Now." At that, one man almost jumped before heading to the back of the tea house, a bit of clatter now coming from there as Yelan shook her head. The incompetence was... slightly aggravating, but that could be dealt with later. 

"Information, huh... that doesn't come cheaply here, I'll warn you now." A smirk crossed her lips, the tongue of a serpent flicking out from her mouth. 

Yanfei, for her part, couldn't help but be impressed by the hold Hua seemed to have on the place. Everyone reacted to as simple as a wave of her fingers, and it was apparent that this was the person she wanted to be talking to. 

"Oh that's... quite generous of you." The words were barely out of her mouth when the coffee was set down by a hand jittery enough to have drunk about six cups. Yanfei took a sip, the notion existing in a corner of her mind that she might be playing the exact same game. Fingers curled and tapped on the warm porcelain mug, heat spreading into her torso.