Groovy Tunes, Tuesday

[myfifthrodeo]

Was it weird that someone who was too young to have listened to it when it came out even at her real age would feel super nostalgic listening to Third Eye Blind's self-titled debut album?

Probably. But Rosa didn't care. She was blasting the whole thing today at the store, as she scaled the guitar racks, the counter, everything she could find that could get her up high enough to paint the ceiling.

She was giving it a star scape. The night sky of Roswell, New Mexico, to be specific, because she knew it like the back of her own hand, having spent endless nights up on the roof of her family's cafe, listening to music and just trying to escape her own head into the cosmos.

Once that was laid out, she started adding details. UFOs, of course, and shooting stars. Ringed planets and man-made satellites. A tiny unicorn trailing glittery stardust, a cat in an astronaut helmet. And then, on a whim, she pulled out a blacklight sensitive marker and started writing the lyrics to "God of Wine" invisibly into the negative space.

Hopefully if her actual boss ever showed up, she'd appreciate the now very space-themed decor in her store. Rosa couldn't seem to get space out of her head these days.

[open!]

Comments

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

Funny that the narrative should mention her actual boss, since that was exactly who was walking in that day. After choking down some tea at the Perk, Tisarwat figured she should stop by the store to see if she could manage to catch this elusive new employee, and hope that it went much better than the tea had.

It was a very low bar.

"Not a single spot left untouched, huh?" she noted, coming in and looking up at who she could only assume was Rosa and her work.

[myfifthrodeo]

Rosa looked around the store and shrugged. "I get bored easy."

She hopped down to the floor. "Welcome to Groovy Tunes. Can I help you find anything?"

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

Tisarwat's grin went a little wry.

"Might want to think of a job elsewhere, then," she noted, with a less than subtle glance around the store herself, almost rolling her eyes before they returned to Rosa.

"Are you Rosa?" she asked.

[myfifthrodeo]

Rosa gave the store her own long look around. "My reputation proceeds me," she said. "Though I guess no one else has been coming in here and painting."

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

"If anyone else has," Tisarwat said, "I have a lot of questions, but I actually wouldn't be that surprised, considering this this place."

There was a slight pause before she offered out, "I'm Tisarwat. The person allegedly responsible for this place."

But she'd clearly missed a few things lately.

[myfifthrodeo]

". . . Ohhhhhh heyyyyyyy," Rosa said, her smile at least half grimace. "Hiya, boss. Nice to finally meet you, I guess?"

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

The 'I guess' with that expression was an...interesting addition.

"It's nice to finally meet you, too," Tisarwat said, "and....very belatedly welcome you aboard, I guess, but if the worst Troy did while I was gone was hire on a new person, I'll just consider myself lucky."

[myfifthrodeo]

"As far as I know, that's it," Rosa confirmed. "I mean, that and tell me it was okay to paint. And I spoke to . . . Summer? She seemed to think it was probably going to be okay, too."

She was really wondering if she was about to be fired.

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

"Honestly?" said Tisarwat, looking around again. "That was a good call. It looks great. More interesting than it did before, and I've been thinking of updating the fixtures a little to make things more cohesive. Might as well make it a theme."

She gave Rosa a light smile. "And you're obviously very talented."

[myfifthrodeo]

Rosa relaxed visibly. "Okay good. I was really hoping not to get fired. And, um. I glad you approve? Space and aliens are kind of a theme for my entire life."

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

"Is that so?" Tisarwat's brows lifted. "Mine, too." Plus about an additional couple thousand years of someone else's life, as well. "I just got back from there, actually." Not entirely willingly, of course, but details, details. "Are you from there?"

Honestly, considering how broad of a category it was, it continually surprised how few people around here answered no to that question.

[myfifthrodeo]

"Oh, no, I'm from Roswell, New Mexico. But a bunch of my friends are. And I, uh. Kiiinda have some alien DNA? It's a thing."

She was not at all used to that being something people were just casual about around here, no.

[lilac_eyed_lieutenant]

Tisarwat nodded a little in understanding, although, admittedly, it was a little difficult for a Radchaai to be too comfortable with the idea of someone being part Geck or part Rrrrr or something like that. But she could lean on pleasantries and avoid it well enough.

"What's Roswell, New Mexico like?" she asked, instead. "I'm not exactly around here," she smiled a little at the understatement, "so I'm not sure I've ever even heard of it."

[drumsticksandd20s]

Not that Steph regretted the choices that had landed her on this island (much), and she was really proud of the kind of space she was building at the game shop, but sometimes she missed being surrounded by records all day.

Hence her stopping in on her lunch break.

"Hey, what's--" Hang on. She looked up at the ceiling, a slow grin crossing her face as she took in the details. "Rad."

[myfifthrodeo]

Rosa looked down and gave her a bright grin. "Thanks! I'm having fun with it."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"You have been busy in here since the last time I stopped in," Steph remarked in a distinctly approving tone. "Love the commitment to theme you have going on."

[myfifthrodeo]

Rosa laughed. "Thanks. Just kind of . . . have space on the brain, you know?"

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph, scanning the starscape on the ceiling, caught sight of the astronaut cat and smirked. "Never would have guessed. Is this the view from anywhere, or just one you made up?"

[myfifthrodeo]

"It's from my papi's cafe in Roswell. I have spent a lot of nights looking at it, over the years."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"That explains the UFOs." Steph found the closest record bin, and leaned back against it with her arms crossed. "And... maybe the sparkly unicorns?"

[myfifthrodeo]

"Those are a tribute to the little girl who wanted space to be full of more than little green men," Rosa said, shrugging. "Of course, it turns out that aliens look a hell of a lot like regular humans, but I'm still holding out hope for something a little more exotic. . . ."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Wait, really? Damn. That is actually kind of a letdown," Steph said. "The human body isn't even an efficiently designed machine. Someone's got to have done better somewhere."

[myfifthrodeo]

"Yeah. I mean . . . far as I know they don't have shapeshifting powers unlike in the books, so." Rosa shook her head. "They've got all sorts of other powers, though. Maybe that makes up for it."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Yeah, I guess," Steph said with a reluctant sigh that was only slightly exaggerated. "I remember you mentioned psychic powers once. What other kinds do they have?"

[myfifthrodeo]

"Uhh, well . . . one guy can float stuff with his mind. And . . . I guess he's immune to fire? The woman can do the moving stuff thing too, but not the fire stuff I don't think. And this other guy can . . . heal people." Rosa felt a little weird about mentioning Max like that, since 'healing people' was kind of an understatement in her case. "But he tends to get really sick and short out local electrical stuff if he's not careful with it."