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The Perk, Sunday Afternoon

With a cup of tea in her hands an a book next to her on the table, Lucille was glancing out the window. The day had been dull so far, and the book hadn't really managed to catch her attention today, so she watched people walk past, mostly waiting for time to pass. It wasn't unpleasant though; a little lonely perhaps, but not with the painful memories of her home.

She sipped her tea, then put the cup down.

[Open]

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Now that it was September, Summer felt it was her duty...nay, her honor!...to swing by the Perk and support their dauntless efforts in the PSL arts as much as she possibly could. Which absolutely meant she would be swinging by on her way to the store to see what this issue the glitter-snow had apparently caused with the Squishy machine.

And she couldn't just come in and see her new neighbor there already without coming over to say hello! And maybe smirk somewhat knowingly at her.

"Hey, Lucille! How's it going, neighbor?"

"Good afternoon, Summer."

Lucille smiled a little.

"I'm enjoying the afternoon. How are you?"

"So far, so good," Summer chirped honestly enough, but it finished with a snort. "But we'll see. There's apparently an issue with the Squishy machine, and that's always fun, but I am more than happy to put that off if you wouldn't mind a little company? I can finish my drink in relative peace before diving into whatever awaits me over there..."

"Please, have a seat," Lucille said, gesturing to the chair opposite hers. "I can think of better things than dealing with the Squishy machine, whatever that involves."

"Usually," Summer snorted again as she pulled out the chair and had a seat, "it involves no small amount of clean up and calling Amaya to come hit it with a hammer a little bit, both of which I'm in no rush to get to. But how have you been? I've noticed that piano seems to be working out for you pretty well."

"Amaya has many talents, doesn't she?" Lucille said. "And yes, I'm very happy with the piano. I hope I'm not disturbing you."

She didn't care if she did.

"Oh, I don't mind at all," Summer assured her. "Trust me. It's a vast improvement."

She sipped her latte and looked thoughtful for a moment.

"From what I can tell, you're pretty good, too. Tisarwat said something about maybe you teaching her sometime?"

And by 'said something,'.Summer mostly meant 'assaulted me with questions about good pieces to suggest,' but, you know, same difference.

"She mentioned that?"

Lucille was oblivious to the faint blush on her pale skin.

"Yes, she seemed interested, and I'm happy to teach her."

Adorable. Summer his her smirk behind another sip.

"She did," she then confirmed with a nod. "Thought I could suggest some good pieces, since I'm basically, like, her gateway to contemporary music. I think she'll be in good hands, though I'm sure I'll hear all about it.

"Do you have any other artistic talents, Lucille? Like...I don't know...painting, or something?"

Today random choice! Really!

"No," Lucille said, looking a little surprised. "Why?"

"Oh," said Summer, almost dismissively, with a casual shrug, "no reason. I just know Tis," yes, she called her Tis now and it was super cute, don't ever, "is into a lot of artsy stuff like that, I just wondered if that was another common interest between you two, like the piano."

"We discuss literature," Lucille said, ignoring the nickname. "Tisarwat has only recently taken an interest in the piano, it's not an instrument they have where she is from."

"And yet," Summer mused with a wry smirk, "they seem to flock to it like bees to lemon Squishy...must be the hands."

Which, of course, she had to emphasize by lifting her own hands with a scandalous wiggling of her fingers.

"I do wear gloves," Lucille said. "When playing for Tisarwat. Obviously."

Black lace ones.

"They?"

Oh, lord, if Summer knew about those gloves.

"Tisarwat," she explained, "and Seivarden, another friend. I don't know if you've met her, but they're both Radchaai, same universe, different timelines. Both enamoured with the piano, too..."

Or maybe just piano players...

"I haven't met her," Lucille said. "But I suppose it's an instrument that can seem very..." she was looking for a good word here, "...intimate for someone from that universe."

Well, at least Lucille wasn't completely oblivious to it! Summer grinned.

"That might have something to do with the appeal," she agreed, "yeah."

"Not that that is the reason Tisarwat wants to learn how to play," Lucille said, taking a sip of tea.

In case Summer was getting the wrong idea.

"She does work in a music shop, after all."

"Oh," said Summer, emphatically, "for sure. It's easy to see why that might make her more interested in...strange and exotic," well, it would be to Tisarwat!, "instruments..."

"I'm glad I've managed to inspire that interest," Lucille said. "I believe I can take some credit for it, but Tisarwat is quite interested in many things from Earth. But I'm sure you know that."

"She does seem to have a really curious mind " Summer admitted, tilting her head a little in thought. "Not just about Earth, but anywhere, really. Earth just sticks out probably because she's stuck here, might as well learn about the place while she is, you know?"

"True," Lucille said, not reflecting on that they were talking a lot about Tisarwat for some reason.

"She seemed very moved my Frankenstein, and I think she likes Carmilla. Are you interested in literature yourself?"

"Not really," Summer admitted, with a shrug, because, hey, she wasn't trying to impress anyone here. "My family was never really a reading family, and I'm a product of my generation with an addiction to attention-deficit shots of seratonin to the brain via a small screen. But I've seen a lot of movie adaptations?"

Lucille sipped her tea, giving Summer a slightly judgmental look. "I can lend you some books if you like."

Judge all you want, Lucille, at least Summer was being honest over here.

"I mean," she said, "it'll probably take me a million years before I even bother reading it, and it's not like I don't know where to find books, I just don't read much..."

Bonus points for honesty.

"I suppose not everyone enjoys reading," Lucille said. "I used to think that a solitary upbringing might make you more likely to be drawn to it, but I understand Tisarwat is well-travelled for her age. That reminds me, I should lend her a novel from my time about journeys to the moon. They are quite inaccurate, so I'm sure it's amusing for her."

Summer's brows lifted.

"This can only end in her wanting me to take her to the actual moon in my spaceship," she realized. "It's going to be super disappointing. I totally approve."

"You have a spaceship?" Lucille asked, trying not to sound too curious.

"I do have a spaceship!" Summer beamed, trying not to sound to prou--ohhh, who was she kidding? She fucking loved talking about her spaceship. "You want to come out to the moon and be super disappointed, too, Lucille?"

"It would be," quite exciting, "interesting," Lucille said. "Disappointment or no."

Summer's grin grew. "We'll definitely have to plan something, then," she decided, with a conclusive, determined nod.

And who knew? Maybe it might not even be disappointing, and they'd catch some sort of rift or whatever and it actually turned out to be interesting.

Well, probably not. But still!

Although, to be fair, Summer was going to guess the spaceship part alone would be enough to impress Lucille, at least.

Now to just figure out whether to just make it a girls' trip to the moon...or a double date. Hmmmmm....decisions, decisions.

"I have never been on a spaceship," Lucille said. "I know of course that the illustrations from my time is nothing like the what they actually are."

How could it be a double date, Summer?

It could be a double date if she dragged that guy she was kinda dating atm with her, and then what else would it be, Lucille??

"Well," Summer allowed, "they vary a lot from place to place, but my ship is really one of a kind. And it'll probably be a little weird, breaking atmo and dealing with zero-g if you never have before, but how cool would that be? You don't get nauseous easily, do you?"

"No," Lucille said. "I'm used to carriages on bad roads. It can't be worse than that."

"I am a much better pilot than that," Summer scoffed. "So hopefully that means you'll at least do better than Tis. For someone actually from space, she can't handle an atmo-breech for crap.

"Also, don't tell her I told you that, she'd probably kill me."

"I promise I won't tell her," Lucille said with a curved smile. "Although it surprises me to hear that, she seems quite experienced for her age."

"I mean, sure," Summer allowed, "but sometimes even experience can't get past a weak stomach, you know? At least she has the benefit of being used to it, though, and knowing what to expect."

"It still sounds uncomfortable," Lucille said.

"Yeaaah," Summer allowed, "it can be, if you're not used to it, but I am pretty good at making it as smooth as can be."

And that would be Summer definitely hiding a smirk in her latte for a moment, because, yes, she was still talking about space travel, thank you.

"Maybe I'll bug Tisarwat and see when she might be free," she then mused. "We can make a trip out of it."

"I'm sure you are," Lucille said, smiling over her tea cup. "I might mention it to her too."

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The Perk, Sunday Afternoon

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