Tea with the Queen

[welcomequeenalice]

Superheroing was great for the soul but didn't pay the bills. Genevieve subsidized her hobby and her rent payments through working the late shift at a coffee shop. Her coworkers were a relatively ordinary mix--some went out of their way to be kind and chatty, some had a chip on their shoulder, most regarded her with an apathy that was often a relief when she needed to be alone with her thoughts and the blender. The need to focus on each coffee-related task and complete it with practiced motions was soothing and kept her from wobbling in indecision. Some days were easier than others. Some days stress threatened to eat her alive.

The Queen helped with that, but you couldn't bring the Queen to work with you...and of course there was the problem of Jervis.

Genevieve heard the voice of a coffee order as she wiped down the spout of the latte machine. She turned and saw no one, and went back to work. Late night, must be hearing things. She was short, for any gender, and occasionally had to get up on a step stool to reach the spare beans and milk stored in the hidden cabinets behind the menu boards. Seeing particularly small people over the height of the counter was even more troublesome.

Comments

[welcomequeenalice]

Now Genevieve gives her an honest, proper smile. "No, no, I'm hardly a writer. I just do a lot of reading." Though little of it is Serious Literature. She enjoys light things, childish things--things with happy endings where no one is sad for long or hurt in any meaningful way, which seem to never be the topics that are considered cultured literature for cultured folk.

[not_a_doll]

"Well, they do say the best writers are readers. But I don't know much about that." Mary smiled, a bit brighter. She was glad to see her new friend was feeling a bit more comfortable.

[welcomequeenalice]

Genevieve laughs. "What books do you, like then?" Please tell her that she wasn't blushing, please please please. They passed by the duck pond, where the sunset was glittering off the ripples in the water and throwing the trees into stark black silhouettes.

[not_a_doll]

Mary had a to think a minute. "Well, I don't read much. But when I do it's...well, you'll probably think it's stupid. But I read a lot of romance novels. And Shakespeare. I love Shakespeare." She giggled. "I sometimes even act out of the scenes." She blushed, she did that with most things she read. Including romance novels. "I guess that's sort of silly..."

[welcomequeenalice]

Genevieve shakes her head emphatically. "No, no, it makes sense! I've done that with books I like too." A lot. Compulsively. For therapy and occasionally justice. "It's fun. You want to pretend you're part of that world, just for a bit. Right?"

[not_a_doll]

Mary nodded. "Yeah...though sometimes I do it as a confidence boost. Playing someone else, you know? I used to be so confident when I was on tv..." She sighed. "But hey, I spoke to someone new today. That is an achievement."

[welcomequeenalice]

Genevieve makes a note to google up Mary Dahl when she gets home, possibly to later do a 'oh, NOW I remember, it's just been so long' as she pretended she'd indeed seen the show. Maybe Waylon would know something about it, he was far more into pop culture than she was.

"I like playacting from books because you'll know what will happen. Usually. You know it'll be all right in the end."

[not_a_doll]

"Sometimes. Though I do like my horribly dramatic endings..." Someone needed to have a spectacular death scene!

"I should have been born tall and beautiful, then I could work in soap operas and fulfill my calling." She joked. "But yeah, I get it. I enjoy my sappy endings too. Especially in movies."

[welcomequeenalice]

"I think you look nice." Genevieve studiously watches the ducks and holds her breath, trying to make the comment feel light and irrelevant. It's fine for a woman to compliment a woman, right? Just fine.

[not_a_doll]

Mary blushed slightly. "Well, thanks. You're not bad yourself." A little mannish, but who was Mary to judge? "I'm cute though." She knew she was adorable. People told her that all the time. Beautiful? Sexy? Never. She would never achieve that.

[welcomequeenalice]

Boy, aren't those ducks interesting. Genevieve rests her eyes upon them, until they start humping each other and she has to retreat to gazing at the gazebo on the other side of the pond.

"Sort of a...I mean, I'm not a writer. But pretty, definitely. I can see why you were a TV star." She tries not to speak of china dolls, small and perfect, because there's only some of that. There's a confidence and casual grace to Mary that Genevieve wishes she could maintain without a scepter.

[not_a_doll]

Mary laughed. "That's not why I was a TV star...and it wasn't because I could act either. I played..." God this was embarrassing. She used to be so proud of it, now it sort of made her sick. "I played a child. I played her for ten years."

[welcomequeenalice]

"Ten years?" Genevieve jerks her head away from the gazebo to stare down at her (and boy isn't that an odd feeling). "You started when you were little, you mean? That's quite a career!" She assumes Mary must have grown up with the show, keeping the title of 'child' while her character itself had started on middle school by the show's end.

[not_a_doll]

"Yup." Ten long years of play acting as a child. Sure, she had been around 8 when the show started, but she had turned 18 at its end.

"Just how old do you think I am, Gen?" This was always good for a laugh.

[welcomequeenalice]

"Um..." Panic mode time. There's no completely graceful way to answer a question about a woman's age. She looks Mary up and down, worries with her fingers, and has to spend a long time thinking about it. "Twenty-six?" she ventures. It's hard to tell, her features are still quite childlike even to Genevieve's eyes, but twenty-six seems a good guess when you want to avoid offending someone. If she's younger it might be a compliment. If she's older, even more so.

[not_a_doll]

"Don't worry, I won't be insulted either way." Mary said quickly as Genevieve panicked.

She smiled. "Hey, pretty close. I'm gonna be 30 next year."