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]

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."