The number Mataya had called was in fact Yasmin's personal cell phone number. Knowing that true 'stars" never answered their own phones, Yas frequently impersonated the voice of one of the WHAM secretaries. Replicating a voice she heard countless times before was easy enough to do for the mimic. Sure, she could have created a new voice, and an entire personality for a fake secretary to answer her phone, but using the faces, voices, and identities of others always seemed to be so much more convincing. After awhile, people might begin to ask where her personal secretary was, but this avenue featured its own truth, and every good lie contained an element of truth.

Most people just assumed she gave her work number at WHAM instead of her personal number, whether it was intentional or accidental. Yas wanted people to wonder. Apparently, she made Mataya wonder a little too much about her intentions, which is why she called to set up this meeting.

Yas heard of Incredible Edibles; it catered to several events in the past. She wasn't quite familiar with it, and Yas didn't like going to places she wasn't familiar with, so she never did....but she could go as someone else so she could become familiar with it.

A tanned, long haired brunette woman was seated in a corner, reading a book and sipping some tea, before Mataya arrived. She would casually glance up from her book to look around the room when someone stirred, always subtly including Mataya in her rounds. Much to the woman's surprise, Mataya slipped off her shoes and curled her legs up on the couch. She definitely seemed laid back, which was a good sign. Confident in what she had seen, both in the shop and in the theater owner's demeanor, she sipped the last bit of her tea, and silently closed her book. Taking a quick glance at her tea leaves in the bottom of the cup to assess her fortune before standing, she nonchalantly walked out of the shop, turned, and walked out of view from the shop windows. A few minutes later, Yasmin walked in.

Bright sky blue skin was only highlighted by her hot pink tank top and gleaming white mini skirt. It was a wonder how even her shoes remained the same bright white tone. Her short pixie cut, platinum blonde hair contrasted with the big, black shades that rested on her nose. She walked with a self-assured swagger as she made her way towards Mataya.

"Ah, Miss Luca,? Yas said softly, as not to interrupt the other patrons. Taking a seat by Mataya, she removed her bold sunglasses and placed them behind her back, seemingly putting them in a back pocket, though it was highly unlikely that the mini skirt had any pockets. As she sat back in her seat, she slightly tugged at her skirt. By the time she was done adjusting it, it oddly covered her knees and the hue became muted, almost like an off-white. She then looked back up to Mataya with a sweet, toothy grin.

Having just downed a cup of tea, Yas replied simply, "Sure, just a small cup." She caught herself before ending with "please". That diva appearance wouldn't invent itself.

People judged so much on appearances. Yasmin was just as guilty of judging, though not in the same ways. Still smiling, she admired Mataya in her jeans. In Yas's experience, people who didn't dress to impress had their own quiet confidence. They had been through a lot more than they would let on; they were already confident enough in the fact that they could handle whatever the world could throw at them; and they no longer felt like they had to prove it to anyone else.

It wouldn't seem like it, but Yas knew the feeling from personal experience, though she never stuck around in one place long enough to go the love and family route that Mataya did. Out of all of her adventures, parenthood seemed like too daunting of a task. Glancing to Oscar's endearing mark on the bag, part of her regretted that decision now. Only a part. The other part of her didn't like to be tied down to any one place for too long. For a shapeshifting "freak", it could prove dangerous.

Just like all the places in her past, Yas had taken on a different role, made a different name for herself here in Rhydin. If her previous flights had set any precedence, she should have moved on by now. She just didn't expect to like this place and these people as much as she had.

Yas just about spit out her sip of tea as Mataya jumped in. She liked it, though. Appreciating it when people got to the point, she was just having a hard time with her own point.

Mataya was right. Yasmin did shift gears and she shifted hard within the last show's run.

A couple years ago, Yas was the queen of events, DJ"ing for magic, sword, and fist dueling events. She did a carnival to support local businesses. She did a Monte Carlo Night at the Imperial Grand Rhy"Din Casino. She hosted a Snowball War Zone two years in a row for Winterfest. But then the calls stopped. Yas took a year off, focusing on her job at WHAM. Then last year, she saw the Shanachie was hiring actors and she hoped she could make a name for herself there. Calls and opportunities started pouring in again.

In the beginning of the year, she joined a boy band and was a model in Fashion Week. In the spring, she worked on a podcast with a friend. In the beginning of the summer, she guest DJ"ed at a new club and for the Midsummer Night's Bash event. As the summer began to end and fall started to show its first falling leaves, Yas realized she hadn't done anything new in months. She feared she was losing her momentum once again.

Mataya was right that something happened. The problem was....something happened awhile ago, and nothing was happening now. Afraid she would lose everything and have to start all over again, Yas made a desperate attempt to revitalize her career the only way she knew how, with shock value.

Not knowing what to say, she stared at Mataya a moment. This was probably one of the few times that the loud, exuberant, wild woman was speechless. Would it be better to say that she planned the whole thing, that she didn't just snap and go off the deep end" She felt sick about it. Part of her wanted to give Mataya the warning of what she was planning, but if she did, it would ruin her diva status. At the time, she told herself that the theater would get publicity from her antics, so there would be no harm. Although it did, she couldn't help but feel remorseful for it now. Just like Mataya had said, her actions affected the crew and her co-workers. She hadn't considered them in this. Maybe she really was as selfish as the part she played as DJ Zazzy Yas.

"I regret the problems my disturbances caused to the cast and crew," she began, trying so hard not to begin profusely apologizing like she wanted to do. "It was not my intent to hurt anyone." In fact, she had hoped her continues absences would give her understudy more of a chance to perform, but she couldn't exactly say that.

"I had no real issues with the script," she tried to answer. "If I did, they were my own personal issues, which had no place affecting my work." She hated her words. They sounded so cold and impersonal. She attempted to make amends, "I will not accept any payment for the final shows. I believe my payment should go to the understudies and the crew. And I can assure you that there will be no further disruptions from me....if I should be allowed to re-audition for the upcoming season."

Her usually over-emotive face was expressionless, save for a slight look of worry in her eyes. Her bright sky blue skin had started to slowly fade as she spoke, subtly turning to a light shade of blue gray, as if she was no longer focusing on her appearance and her subconscious was trying to reveal her emotions.

Yas nodded as Mataya gave her kind warning. "I understand," Yas said softly. She then mirrored her, taking a sip of her own coffee just as Mataya did. Yas wasn't even aware she was doing it, as she was simply trying to focus on what Mataya was saying. Apparently she was focusing a little too closely. Once she realized what she was doing, she quickly crossed one of her legs over the other, trying her best to not mock the theater owner.

Not being able to help herself, she began listening just as intently as Mataya began to go into her life in get detail. Yas was astounded that she would be so willing to reveal so much about her past obstacles. She wished she could reciprocate the gesture and tell Mataya something about her past, but she hadn't dealt with her past indiscretions on her own yet. It probably wouldn't have taken a clinical psychologist to understand how a shapeshifter could have her own identity issues, but word by word, Mataya had broken through to her.

When it boiled down to it, Mataya was right. All Yas had been doing was continuing to find another way to be noticed, but she had no idea what to do with the attention. She should be getting something done that she always wanted to do. ...but what was that' She broke off into her own train of thought for a moment, only to be brought back by Mataya softly touching her hand.

"Oh, that would be....wonderful," Yas said sincerely to Mataya's offer of friendship. She often pretended to have more fans, more friends, and know more celebrities than she did, but she didn't have many real friends, outside of her seamonkies. Maybe that was another reason she would overwork herself. One couldn't be lonely if they didn't have a moment to think.

"I think you have inspired me a bit more than you can imagine..." Yas said, beginning to have an idea. "Your life is full of a rich past that probably not a lot of people know about. There's probably a lot of things that most people don't know abut you, or many of the other performers at the Shanachie. Do you think you might like to do an interview on my radio show sometime during this next season of the Shanachie" You don't have to go into anything that you don't want to, though. I'd like to offer an interview to the rest of the cast too, if that would be alright with you." Yes, Yas had been accumulating all of this publicity over the past couple of years, but she didn't like her own life to be in the spotlight. Why not share it with people that had amazing life stories to tell"

Yasmin smiled as she took the paper. She continued to hold it in her hand as they spoke.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," she said in regard to Mataya monopolizing her show. It was a general enough statement that could easily mean Yas was confident that no one could take over her show. She hid the truth that she hoped Mataya would feel free to unwind and unleash during the show. To Yas, the guest was supposed to be in the spotlight.

After finishing the last sip of her espresso, Yas said with her laid back flare, "I can wait "til the initial shows for the next season begin at the theater to let everyone kinda get into their performing rhythm, then hit them up for an interview. It can be like my Talk Tuesdays from last year..." She trailed off. Her last statement was more an internal thought. It may not be quite like her previous interviews. Maybe she might ask those deeper, more insightful questions like what the actors and performers had to overcome in their lives. Maybe. Maybe she would just ask what color underwear they had on. She wasn't sure yet, but she liked having the options.

As she stood up, she added quickly, "No need to stand. I can find my way out." She smiled. That was even pretty silly for her to get through.

"Thank you for your help, Mataya....with everything," Yas said more seriously, clutching the paper tighter in her hand. "I'm so glad that you asked to meet with me. I can assure you that if there are any important....changes to my performances at the theater, that you will be the first to know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few months later, Yas had made good on her proposal to show off some of the Shanachie's stars by starting the Inside the Actors" Shanachie segment on WHAM. But that wasn't the only thing she was up to.

Just as she and her agent planned, news started breaking of Yas's drinking while filming for "Rhydin Nights". Of course the first person she thought of was Mataya. Even though the scandal wasn't directly associated with her performances at the Shanachie, she still didn't want to worry the theater owner as she had done before. She just needed to figure out how to give her the message that all was ok, without doing anything to ruin the hard work she and Eddie had been doing to stage all these drunken scenes.

She went to Incredible Edibles and bought a Red Eye coffee and a Tuna Melt to go, picking up an extra napkin on her way out.

After finishing her meal back stage before a practice, she scribbled a note on the back of the napkin. Using a different handwriting just in case, she wrote simply, "No need to worry about any snaps. Everything under control.?

Yas snuck the note into Mataya's little Shanachie mail cubby. Hopefully between the napkin and the code, it would be enough to ease any of Mataya's concerns that she might have read, or might continue to read, about the always-acting actress.