Ma'am

[Jonathan Lee]

Work was a touchy subject for Jonathan. She was particularly broke because of the lack of a job; the fifteen hundred dollars in her savings when she was forced to leave home did not last even a few months. She, in result, became far more conscious of the worth of a dollar. She also resorted to doing people miscellaneous favors around Hammel for cash and relying on her roommates, who were kind enough to allow, for food and other necessities as she could not provide. Jonathan promised them frequently that she would pay them back for their kindness as it felt wrong not to do so even after being told multiple times that it was "fine."

Jonathan had good reason for not wanting to work yet, though, even as a senior - she could not control her shifting. She frequently imagined herself at a cash register. The customer goes into their wallet to get out some money, and while they're looking away, the shift happens. Or if she is waitressing. She would shift when bringing the food to the table, right in front of a bunch of non-powered people. Not only would she be a target for extreme ridicule, she may even be captured for experiments or something - so people who don't understand may understand in the future. That was obviously just her being paranoid and insecure about her power, considering everyone around knew, but still.

Regardless, Jonathan couldn't steal herself away from this little joint in Pilot Ridge downtown. It sold BubbleTea, which was a little lick reminder of her home near Washington DC. There were places in every town center, usually Pho restaurants, that sold BubbleTea and she would often walk to one to buy one for herself and her younger sister. This place sold BubbleTea almost if not exclusively. It definitely drew in the younger crowd, based on its delicious flavors and gorgeous interior - all bright colored and the like. It pulled Jonathan in as a sophomore at Hammel and she has been coming at least once every couple of weeks regardless of money ever since. Jonathan knows the people who work here, and they give her discounts when they can due to her "loyalty."

Sometimes there was confusion with her gender.

Jonathan was still stuck in male form after all this time no matter the gender she was feeling. Today was a "she" day, but not for the life of her could she shift to the female form. This was growing far more frustrating than anything; Jonathan was told to be patient, keep being patient and keep trying - it'll come, surely, right? She's been patient. She's been trying. Nothing is working when it comes to control over these stupid ass powers - it makes Jonathan wish she was living a completely normal life, it makes Jonathan wish to be back home with the family who cast her away because she is different.

At the counter, with what little money she had left for the week after organizing three people's backpacks and closets, Jonathan paid for her BubbleTea - green apple, one of her favorite flavors. The cashier, trying to be the polite serviceman he was trained to be, said Have a good afternoon, sir!  This reminded Jonathan that she was in the male form more than the fact that there was a penis pressed to her upper thigh. She didn't mind and was not at all offended. Jonathan, not wanting to hold up the queue behind her, quickly corrected the individual who took her money.

"It's actually ma'am today, but that alright. Don't worry about it." Jonathan smiled brightly before stepping off the line, backpack zippers jangling, taking the BubbleTea with her. "Have a good rest of your day!" Jonathan proceeded to sit down in a car at a store table and suck on her BubbleTea, dropping her backpack to the floor in the process. She starts to unzip her backpack and, once it's unzipped, pull her homework from it. Jonathan spread all her work out and set to work.

[Gryphon Matsuoka]

Gryphon enjoyed his own work. He hadn't really been able to work much after his teeny tiny little widdle accident, but his boss was kind enough to let him keep his job throughout his recovery period. Even now, he still had to be careful, but that didn't stop the winged man. He wanted to earn his own money, not just use the money his dad sent him every month (not that he spent it all - he mostly only used it for necessities for himself and nice things for other people). There would come a day when he would need to support himself entirely and Gryph wanted to be prepared for that. He had never been 'poor', and he was (somewhat) sure he would manage if his money did suddenly deplete, but he didn't want to get to that point. He didn't need another problem to pointlessly stress over.

Still, even though he was back to working, he definitely wasn't as active in moving about as before. He was still undergoing physiotherapy after all, and he was seriously trying his best to be careful. The last thing he wanted to do was push his limits too far and backtrack to the point of losing mobility again, either temporarily or for a lot longer than he ever wanted. So instead of continually practicing, or learning a new dance or whatever to distract himself from his life, Gryph was relaxing. He was a chill person anyway, usually - hopefully that more carefree attitude would return more prominently soon - but yes, he was happy where he was for now, in the bubble tea shop. This was a pretty regular hangout spot for him. For some people it would be Starbucks, for others it could be a nerd shop, but for Gryph, it was here. Who didn't love bubble tea? And the baristas (was that the right term?) weren't awful looking, which never hurt, even if it wasn't the most important thing in the world. Cute tea with cute people was nice. And cute.

So he was just sat there, absent-mindedly sipping on his tea and chewing the little tapioca balls, watching the world go by and fiddling with his phone. It sounded creepy, but he found it interesting to just watch the people around him sometimes. Everyone did that, right? Just subtly watching a conversation, trying to work out what it was about. Of course, he wasn't interested for the sake of being nosey or rude, it was just pure intrigue. He would also glance at people as they came in to see what kind of person they were. A busy student who waited with a fluttering air of impatience. A quiet man buried in a book (or Kindle, as the case went). An older woman looking around, seemingly confused with the concept. Gryph tilted his head. Oh, human beings. He loved the variety of them.

He was texting Phoenix when he overheard the short conversation of another customer that made his ears perk up. His brow furrowed momentarily, glancing up to see who had said the statement. How... interesting. He shook out of it and finished his text, sending it before looking at the boy... or should it be girl? He wasn't sure. Anyway, his expression was little more friendly this time. He was fairly certain his ears hadn't deceived him... he blinked a little, looking at the table he was sat up. There... there was no harm in asking, right? He--- she had seem fairly calm about the situation anyway...

Gryphon found himself slowly walking over the table where this person was sat. "Excuse me," He said softly, not demanding attention, but requesting it politely, "I... I overheard you talking to the work... person..." He muttered vaguely, waving in the direction of the counter, "...I hope my curiosity doesn't come across as rude, but... are you...?" He asked vaguely, expecting her to complete his sentence.

"...I ask because, I might.... I dunno, I haven't..." He continued to mumble vaguely. It wasn't like Gryph to be timid, but this was a touchy subject, definitely. So far, it had caused him more problems than comfort, and he was just wondering... if she really was... fluid, maybe it would make him more comfortable. Somehow. You could read a million times that other people dealt with the same problems as you, but it would always have more impact when you saw in person, right? Not that being genderfluid was a problem... whaa.... Gryphon stood awkwardly, twisting his foot on the floor and sipping his tea again.

[Jonathan Lee]

When Jonathan reached out for the green-apple flavored drink to the left of her math homework, she was greeted by a set of eyes and an excuse me, said softly and with clear nervousness in tone. Startled, she hesitated from taking her drink. After a second of graced eyes and quietly spoken words between them, she acknowledged the boy in front of her with a smile and a nod. The guy's question was overly vague, but Jonathan knew immediately what he was referencing: her gender identity and or her sexual identity, considering that she had just corrected the cashier quite loudly in front of the whole entire store. And now, of course he was not being rude - the curiosity was actually quite neat; Jonathan didn't get a lot of questions regarding her preferences and who she really was. 

"Oh! No, no. You're fine, actually. Perfectly cool. Pull up a chair, lets have a chat," Jonathan gestured to the empty chair on the other side of the table for the unidentified young man to sit. Jonathan was clearly not shy about who she was, except when it came to people like her parents - her parents don't and probably never will accept her for who she really is on the inside. If they hadn't thrown Jonathan out for her power, they would have for sure thrown her out for who and what she identified as - genderfluidity and, well, any form of transgender, was a bit of a soggy topic to discuss with family. Love is not a choice, who you are is not a choice - you are who you are and that's that.

Some people had to learn that. Jonathan still needed to learn that, somewhat. She is really working hard to accept herself for what she is and will always be; she wants to feel free from restraint, so she will work for that. Maybe some day she would be ready to work too.

Jonathan first verified and answered the question that she was asked initially, "Yeah, i'm genderfluid. So you picked up on it. I mean, anybody who clearly looks like a guy and asks to be called ma'am - I guess that's pretty suspicious. Eh. I'm open about it, and really don't care what people say about it. I've heard it all, aha." Jonathan really has. In freshmen year of high school, not everyone was so supportive of it. Some people made fun of her, bullied her, called her a fag and all this other nonsense. Jonathan had a couple of supporters, like Lucas and Sergeant, but not many others. Luckily, her dog loved her no matter what, so she did feel a bit better when she was home - that big furry monster Llama. 

"Do you ask because you're question-- wait, hold on. Let me get an ID on you. What's your name?" After being at Hammel for two years, Jonathan was only close to a grand total of only so many that she could count all her friends on her two less-than-dainty right now hands. The person in front of her looked familiar - perhaps she had seen him around the school or had class with him once - perhaps she had been introduced at one point and simply forgot. Oriel seemed to have a bigger "circle" than Jonathan. That or like, he was on the retreat? Or maybe Jonathan was crazy and this was just a local. 

"I'm Jonathan; it's nice to meet you, mystery person."