strangetrip | [EP] aliens control the coffee supply

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[EP] aliens control the coffee supply

Xavin, for the most part, hadn't actually bothered keeping regular hours at her little coffee nook. She spent some time there most days, how long depending on how many people wanted coffee or how interested she was in whatever books she'd selected for the day.

Today was probably going to be a longer day, if only because she'd had to restock a little from the kitchens. She'd found a little cart to haul things and was currently engaged in putting her supplies away. Milks and whipped cream into the little refrigerator, beans stashed in their cupboard, disposable cups stacked and non-disposable cups cleaned and put away. (Some people liked those, particularly if they didn't intend to leave the library. But it meant that her kitchen time included doing dishes, which was often more fun than drudgery. Especially when she accidentally overdid the soap.)

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"Novel concept, right?" Tony winked, a rush of tension escaping his shoulders and back. Enjoying his 'coffee' would at least be a preserved luxury.

"Gonna start coming around here often?"

"I usually spend at least a little time here most days, if only because I will make myself a coffee and read for a while." And if people wanted coffee while she was doing that, it worked out well for everyone. "Some days you will see a male human here. That is also me. Do not be alarmed."

"Uh-huh." If the alien bit didn't bother Tony, neither should the gender-swapping. That's what he told himself. He merely shrugged again.

"Girl. Boy. Skrull. Gotcha." It wasn't normal but the way Xander was so...straightforward made him really believe it was as commonplace as their attitude bespoke. It was hard not to feel reassured, in a very strange sense. "I don't order expresso shots every time, by the way. Today's special."

Xavin nodded. “I rarely make drip. The cafe tends to have that available and I enjoy making the machine do my bidding. But I will remember.” Perhaps set up a samovar for those who would be satisfied with drop during her absences?

Merely nodding along, Xander's words couldn't help but make Tony think. Be the job ever so humble, they legitimately seemed to take pride in it. Meanwhile, he was dragging his bag of bones from place to place in what seemed to add up to a big circle every single time.

"Question." He licked his lips of the bitter liquid. "You got this job...how?"

“I decided I wanted to do it.” It really had been as simple as that. Illyana has been building a library, Xavin liked coffee, coffee and books went together. “Many of us find taking on some task or responsibility helpful. I had little difficulty adjusting to the Inn, as I arrived here from a far worse imprisonment, but even I have found that having some purpose an improvement over none.”

'That imprisonment have anything to do with me?' Tony didn't dare ask, even if he had a feeling. He nibbled on the rim of the cup a little.

"Good to know. I've been going a little stir crazy." An understatement. He had just nearly blown the wall off his room in a fit of sheer existential panic. "Anything in demand as far as work goes?"

Xavin's imprisonment had not in fact had anything to do with Tony Stark. It had been pure Runaways, pure Karolina-and-Xavin, as far as it could be.

"I have not heard of anything paticularly. But I would also advise not waiting for demand. Simply say 'I am doing this thing' and people will start coming to you for that thing, or ask to help, or something." In Xavin's view, that was how most of the jobs at the Inn came about.

Tony raised an eyebrow. He very much doubted it was simply as easy as announcing you were working and waiting for the consumers to arrive. Supply-and-demand. He was a businessman, after all. Well, was.

"Anything?"

Xavin shrugged. "If there is something you like, do that. Illyana made this library, I made my coffee place here. Kitty tends bar and teaches." Thus far Xavin herself had managed to avoid being pressed into classes despite not being much older than Peter and Liz. "The clerics and Dr. Butters have an infirmary. Emma and Carlos cook. I believe some take on minor repairs and such. You are an engineer, are you not? The Inn is not as modern as some of us. An engineer and inventor might find ways to help with that."

"That'd actually work?" That was an appealing concept. Tony assumed that any attempted modifications to the hotel were either forcibly reverted by whatever malevolent force was keeping them there or punished by public stoning or something equally dumb.

"I do not know." Xavin shrugged. "I have some training as a mechanic, for emergencies, but I have no gift for it. I imagine the challenge here would be that everything is old. It would require repurposing, reforging. Reimagining." She chose her words very purposefully now; Tony Stark on her world was an inventor, whatever else he was: an imaginative and driven man. She had no doubt this one would be similar in that respect.

How else would you get 'Iron Man'? "Some changes stay, others are eliminated. I do not know why. That is also a question that could be answered, perhaps. Why this, and not that? And so on."

"And I won't get my hand slapped." Tony drew out each word, his clever mind already working at a hundred miles a minute. The caffeine helped.

"I moved my machine from the café to here. I regularly take supplies from elsewhere. I have not been 'slapped'. I do not know where the limits are, but the Inn seems to accept at least some improvements and alterations." It was fascinating, really, watching a mind go to work. In Xavin's view, that was the most important part: if you had a purpose, you would not fall.

"...I have a trip to make. A few." As Tony said that, he was already getting up. The souvenir shop had no doubt recovered from his last visit, or that's what he was betting on.

"You, my dear--" He pointed right at Xander with his unoccupied hand, forming an 'O' with his ring and thumb, "--you make the best coffee this side of The Overlook."

Xavin smiled. "I have no idea what that means, but I thank you." Even as a hatchling, then-Prince Xavin had wanted to be a diplomat, a peacemaker, someone who resolved problems with words rather than force of arms. She'd failed that goal so often that even a little peace to a single man felt like validation. And, of course, the good coffee helped. "If you require assistance fetching, carrying, or holding items in place at any point, I would be pleased to help. For the record."

Resisting his knee-jerk reaction to deny the offer and play it cool, Tony spun around just long enough to give Xander a little finger gun as he backed down the hall.

"For the record? I probably will."

Edited 2018-08-10 17:40 (UTC)

Completely seriously, Xavin returned the finger-gun with two thumbs up before going own her own business again. She had learned a few human customs with the Runaways, after all!

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[EP] aliens control the coffee supply

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