maskormenace | [Video]

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[This is new for Keith. He monitors the network, of course, too paranoid not to pay attention to everything that's going on around him, but actually posting something? It's out of his comfort zone. ~~It's the vlog all over again.~~

So he looks awkward, like he can't believe he's actually doing this. But he is. He's still wearing the green apron that makes up his uniform (the Moonbucks logo just barely visible in frame), mullet tamed back into a little ponytail. He's got a coffee in his hands, and he's tucked himself at a table back in the far corner of the cafe he works in. He's on break.]

Is it really that bad if someone spells your name wrong on a coffee cup? I mean, the drink's right. I always get the drink right. Isn't that the important part?

[Someone has had a few complaints apparently.] It's loud and busy in here. How am I supposed to hear the difference between Bob and Bog? ...Bog could be a name. I know I've met a Bog.

[They were an alien, but that is not the point. He spreads his hands in a "see? a point!" gesture. And in this gesture he uncovers his own name written on his cup. Somehow he's left off the "h" and and scrawled the "t" in such a way that it looks more like a "f" and anyway, he's currently drinking a coffee that belongs to "Keif."

This problem goes deep.

Anyway.]

Sometimes I think this job isn't a great fit. Also I'm pretty sure I'm going to smell like pumpkin spice for the rest of my life. There's not even any pumpkin in it.

[Keith's having that kind of day.

Anyone who wants to catch him in person at work, feel free to find him brooding into his coffee on his break. And feel free to have been personally victimized by Keith's inability to get names right on coffee orders.]

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Thanks.

[Like he means it. He appreciates the sentiment. And the honesty.] What's your name?

[So he can figure out how badly he'd butcher the spelling.]

Sure. I'm Rikki. I get loads of coffees with Ricky on them.

( She wrinkles her nose again with distaste. )

But that's not the end of the world and it's no reason to be nasty to a barista.

Rikki.

[Yup. Well.] I'd definitely have screwed that up. Probably at least two different ways.

[But he shakes his head.] People don't always need reasons. But I should probably try harder not to give them any.

Yeah, that's all right. I get that a lot. If it bothered me that much, I'd've spelled it out for people. But, like I said, it's not that big a deal.

( She makes another face of distaste at that and shrugs her shoulders. )

It's not your job to pat them on the head and make them feel special, mate. It's your job to make coffee. The rest is on them.

That's fair. Keith's pretty hard to screw up on Earth. It really confused some aliens though.

[But they weren't making coffee. Anyway.]

Guess that's a point. It's probably gonna sound weird, but this is my first real job. [He's twenty-one, but between the Garrison and then being swept into an intergalactic war, he never had anything with a regular paycheck or schedule.] I don't plan on sticking around here long term, but I was hoping not to screw it up anyway.

Yeah, I imagine the worst thing that could happen is someone swaps the ei for an ie.

[ Rikki shakes her head and smiles a little. Part of it is not knowing how old he is and the other part is not knowing where he's from and what the culture there says he "should" be doing in that vein. ]

Just because you didn't have a proper job before doesn't really mean anything. Maybe you were spending your time doing other important things. Who am I to judge? I think it's good that you're trying to do a good job even though you don't want to stay there. That's better than I can say for myself. I half-ass it every day at this job; I can't stand it. I just do what I need to to get by while I'm working toward something better. But good on you, seriously.

Yeah I mean, there was the whole intergalactic war... thing.

[Which was pretty important, still is once he gets back home, but it does mean that this whole having a vaguely normal life with an apartment and a job is strange and new.]

That sounds like my approach to school, when I was a kid. [He cracks a smile, a small one, but a smile nevertheless.]

What job did they stick you with?

Well, there you go then. You've a perfectly valid excuse.

( She smirks a little, shrugging. )

Dressing up as a mermaid and handing out bottled water at H2Glo. Ironic considering I'm an actual mermaid, but I don't turn into one until I touch water. Glad the government got a laugh, if nothing else. They must've done, in any case. What do you want to be doing instead of what they've stuck you with?

Mermaid, huh? That's pretty cool. Couple of my teammates landed on a whole planet of merpeople at one point.

[He was off elsewhere at the time.] I can see why that'd be a pain in the ass of a job though.

[He would not want to dress up as an anything.]

But well... flying. I'm a pilot. I miss the sky. Shiro and I have been looking into it actually.

Thanks. I happen to think so, as well.

[ She smirks at that thought, but the smirk shifts into surprise when he mentions a planet of merpeople. ]

Hold on, a whole planet of them? Mermen are a thing?

[ They're a thing where she comes from, too, she just...doesn't know that. ]

You're a pilot and they put you in a coffee shop? That's really crap, I'm sorry. I hope you find your way back to what you love soon. Definitely keep looking. Something's bound to open up, yeah?

Well, alien merpeople, but yeah. As far as I know they had two genders.

[In fairness Lance mostly wouldn't shut up about the mermaid part of things, so Keith can't say for certain.]

...mermen aren't a thing where you're from?

[How does that... nope. No you know he's met enough alien cultures that he should know better than to ask for specifics.]

Yeah, it's a little... different. And thanks me too.

( Rikki shrugs a little, looking genuinely uncertain. )

Dunno. I've never seen or met one. But...I wasn't born a mermaid and I haven't been one for very long, so I'm sure there's loads I don't know.

How'd you wind up a mermaid then?

[He hesitates before adding,] If it's not too personal a question.

[It might be? He has... no idea.]

Oh, it's not. It was right place, right time. The moon pool, the full moon, and some magic, I suppose. I still don't really understand it, but I'm certainly not complaining.

( She's never had a problem telling people when it felt safe to tell people. Here, it's a lot more safe than at home. At home, she's still convinced that she and the girls would be science experiments if people knew. )

One day, I was just Rikki and the next day, I was a mermaid. It was really inconvenient at first, actually.

( Sometimes, it still is, actually. )

Huh. So... magic is a thing in your world?

[Neat.] I don't think it's a thing in my world. Except some aliens seem to have it?

[Unclear. He just flies ships and stabs things with swords and knives. That's his wheelhouse.]

Yeah. I bet that was an adjustment. Do you change whenever you touch any water at all? Can you control it?

Apparently so, yeah. I didn't realize it was until the mermaid thing, though, so I think it's largely a pretty big secret. Maybe it's a thing in your world and you just don't know it yet.

( That's possible, isn't it? Until a couple of years ago, if asked, she'd have asserted that magic wasn't real in her world but it very much is, as it turns out. )

Yeah, whenever I get wet, so...I've got ten seconds to dry off before I get a tail, so if it's just a little drop, I might be able to avoid it. But no, we've tried loads of ways to control it to no avail.

Yeah could be. I mean, no one on Earth realized aliens had been there before. But they had. They left an ancient warship there for hiding thousands and thousands of years ago. ...and then there was my mom. She was on Earth a lot more recently.

[And even he hadn't know that until he met her for the first time he was old enough to remember rather recently.]

So who knows? Could be magic no one knows about too.

[But wow. Huh. That sounds...] Rainy days must be inconvenient.

See, you never know.

( She laughs a little and rolls her eyes, shrugging. )

That's putting it mildly, yeah. Really, really inconvenient.

Guess you really don't.

[A flicker of a grin, though this one seems to settle and linger.]

Sounds it. I mean, there's always the desert. I grew up in one. They're pretty nice.

Maybe that's why the government here shipped me off to Jeopardy. I do miss living coastal, though. I'm from Gold Coast, Australia and when I was home, I was a quick walk from the ocean. Being this landlocked is uncomfortable for a mermaid, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Wow yeah, that's a pretty big change. Thinking about moving? There's Heropa. That's a Porter city. Florida's closer to the water anywhere in the state than Nevada is.

[Because a mermaid probably does want to be able to get to the ocean, right?]

Yeah, I've been considering it but I want to make sure I've another way to make money since I'll probably quit my job before doing that. I might as well go all in if I'm going to make a change like that, yeah? I've been, though. I go every Friday and then my friend and I head to the beach for evening swims.

Makes sense. Better to have things figured out the way you want them.

[Probably. Keith's not always the best planner, but he's getting better at it as he gets older at least.]

Is your friend a mermaid too?

Oh, no...no, he's not. He rents scuba gear, though, so that he can go in deeper and stay under as long as me.

That's cool though, that you two can do that.

[Scuba gear and all.]

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