fandomtownies | Groovy Tunes; Tuesday [01/21].

Tisarwat's week was feeling a little off again. She'd missed Seivarden at the flower shop on Saturday and a headache had her out for most of yesterday, which she supposed was fine, because she didn't have any classes that day, it just meant she missed breakfast, but they did it every week, so that was fine. In general, though she was feeling better, she felt like she was in a bit of a fugue state, a little antsy, starting to question what she was even doing here, how she'd much rather be back home, she didn't even know how things were going with the conclave, maybe it had already happened, and things were progressing forward, without her, and she should be there, but instead, she was here instead, doing nothing but organizing recorded music in a small shop that hardly anyone even visited...

...and she was really getting low on her Radchaai tea, too.

It left her feeling a little maudlin that day, anyway, but the work at least provided a distraction, and the stereo was cooperating, playing soft, moody music to suit how she felt, even if she was pretty sure it kept playing one song more frequently with the specific intention of getting it firmly stuck in her head.

Groovy Tunes is open!

[[ and totally where I attempt to get out my earworms ]]

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Seivarden was actually hoping for that Radchaai tea, made in a proper tea flask. She stepped through the door in the afternoon, dressed a lot fancier than usual, and grinned at Tisarwat.

"So this is where you work?"

And those fancier clothes were the first thing Tisarwat noticed, her brows lifting and feeling a slight pang of envy because when was the last time she had nice new clothes? Having her uniform and feeling dedicated to wearing it as a Lieutenant of Mercy of Kalr despite not being on Mercy of Kalr was something she took comfort in, but there would always be a certain pull toward just having nice, new clothes to wear and show off...

So her smile and the gesture that went with it was a little rueful as she greeted Seivarden, and, even though she knew they were both in the same situation and there really weren't many options for people like them out here, she felt a small tinge of embarrassment over that question. "It's not really work," she reasoned. "It's mostly just helping out. And even that isn't very demanding, I just listen to music and organize things all day."

The music part, she felt, was the important aspect of it, because she couldn't see even Fleet Captain Breq thinking listening to music was that much of a waste of time.

"But I have tea, of course," she added, words that weren't necessary, really, but still... "Would you like some?"

And Seivarden wished she had a uniform, as if she was still Captain of Sword of Naphtas. At least what she was wearing now was more suitable to someone with her background.

"I'd love some tea, thank you."

Also something she didn't really have to say.

"Who are you helping out?" she asked.

"Breq," said Tisarwat, after a moment, because it would never not feel weird that Breq and Seivarden didn't really know each other here, when back home, it seemed that you could hardly keep Seivarden away from their Fleet Captain, but pouring the tea and handing it over helped distract her from any of that, "who owns the store."

"I don't know her," Seivarden said. She glanced around the shop.

"Do you know much about music?"

"No," Tisarwat admitted with a faint laugh, shaking her head a little, and following Seivardern's eyes at all the stuff she still wasn't entirely sure about what it was or what it did. "But I know someone back home who does, and I think she'll appreciate it if I can bring some of it back for her. It's not a bad way to spend the time, though, and I enjoy most of it. It's probably like you and the flowers. Not really something you're interested in, but it's at least..." She shruggged, "something."

Seivarden smiled a little wistfully. "Yes. It's something."

Not really wanting to head in that direction, she continued: "Of course, now I have a class to teach as well."

Tisarwat wasn't about to broach that subject unless Seivarden herself did, and the fact that she did made her smirk a little, despite herself.

"You do have a class to teach now as well," she agreed. "How do you like it so far?"

It was honestly one of the highlights of Tisarwat's week at this point and not just for the tea, either.

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be, even if I'm not impressed by all of the students," Seivarden said.

"What is your impression so far?"

Tisarwat's impression so far involved a lot of being smug about the fact that she'd already gotten to at least Lana and Nina first and generally being amused by Seivarden's attempts to smooth over the rougher parts, but she wasn't about to disclose that.

"I'm interested to see how it goes now that we're about to move past gloves and tea," she said with a tone of amusement, "and I think you're doing well."

Better than she'd have anticipated, actually, so there was that.

"It's a little too early to tell too much, though, especially since we've really only covered the basics. I mean, if you weren't able to at least get gloves and tea down, then, it'd be pretty rough going into much else, I'd think."

And she wanted to ask where she was planning on going next, but the element of surprise was part of fun of it, too.

"At some point I want to show them an entertainment," sh said. "But I haven't decided when. Or which ones."

She smiled. "Probably not one of Amaya's favourites, I don't think space battles and explosions are a priority."

"No," Tisarwat agreed, her own smile gaining a wisitful sort of fondness as she thought about how she hadn't had an opportunity to ~~bother~~ ~~pester~~ ~~moon over~~ visit Amaya lately, and perhaps she should make the time for that this week. "Usually, you save those for when all attempts at being civilized have failed. But maybe a historical one might be good. I'm sure Nina and Lana, at least, would appreciate some context for what it means to be Radchaai, but you'd have to be careful, because you wouldn't want to bore them, either."

Because there were definitely plenty of them that could be used to aid in solving insomnia and sleep deprivation, not to mention that Tisarwat was much more sensitive to ones that took certain liberties with accuracy than she would have ever expected to be now.

"You know them better than I do. What would bore them?"

She sincerely wanted to know. There was no need making things unnecessarily complicated, and even if some of the students were doing ok, some weren't.

"If I'm anyway doing this I can just as well make the best of it. It's not like I have a lot else to do here."

Tisarwat just needed to take a moment to acknowledge to herself just how surreal it was that Seivarden Vendaai, of all people, seemed to be asking her for advice.

And that her desire for the advice was so genuine, too.

"I would say some good political intrigue would interest most of the class," she offered, after a moment to really consider who was in there with her, "except maybe the one person who's going to be your biggest challenge." She did not think she needed to name names. "So maybe I was wrong, and starting with the battles and explosions is the best place to start to get her more on board."

And then, another thought.

"And I know for a fact that someone in class is going to be sold on romance. I think the trick might be finding one that has a good balance of all of it."

Seivarden considered this.

"I mean, that sounds like a historical drama," she said. "I probably can't go wrong with that. I've noticed that people here often get the wrong idea about annexations, and I'd prefer not to have to explain that."

She understood why Tisarwat wasn't using any names here, and it wasn't really necessary anyway.

"Starting with some explosions though." She smirked. "I've had to see a few of those lately."

Groovy Tunes; Tuesday [01/21].

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