I've been lurking around Subreality for a while now, but only recently joined the SCML, unfortunately, after Month of Muses, even so, I wanted to do the story of how I met my muse. So, here it is.
Thanks to Tessela Zel for copyediting this thing, letting me use Humbug, however briefly, and for pestering me to finish this thing. Although, I've never met anyone else who uses threats of physical violence and up to and including death if a story isn't completed.
Hmm... maybe I should confiscate her phaser rifle.
SC is Kielle's, Ambrosia is Farli's, Humbug is Tessela's, but Kes is a birdbrain and always will be. ;)
-Rhi

First Encounters
By Rhianna

Kes bit down onto the walnut and felt it break up into tiny bits in her beak. She dropped it to the bar she was sitting on in the Subreality Cafe and picked out the centre, eating it within a couple of seconds.

Had she ever been this bored? Kes thought about it. Well... yes. She was always bored between writers. She'd been told that one of these days she'd make a writer burn out. Kes was far too eager at her job to consider the writers' brains. As a result, most of the stuff she inspired went unwritten because she'd inspire something else, and everything else was put on hold. She could recite by heart the lecture Ambrosia gave her every time that she stopped musing for a writer.

"You have to remember, they're only Human." she'd say.

As far as Kes was concerned, if they couldn't keep up with her, why did they become writers in the first place? Ambrosia tended to just smile and tell her to wait for her next writer and admonished her to do better next time.

So far, Kes had paid little to no attention. So here she was, bored, munching on walnuts, waiting for her new writer.

"I thought I'd find you herrre." purred a rich alto tone from beside her on the bar.

"Stop rolling your r's." said Kes, turning to look at the other muse.

Humbug looked annoyed. "Whateverrr." she said primly, getting in a final purr before she dropped the act. "I've got a message for you." She rolled her eyes. "Trust me to get collared by Ambrosia when I pass through the Collegium." Humbug grimaced. "I /was/ heading for Pizza Hut." The tabby cat produced a small roll of paper from somewhere and dropped it on the bar.

"What is it?" asked Kes, curious.

"What do I look like, an encyclopaedia? A telepath?" demanded Humbug, looking cranky. Obviously her writer had writer's-block again. "Read the damned message." she snapped and stormed back out to try and inspire her writer to do something.

Kes shook her head and tried to open the roll. It was a little tough to do, considering that was a red and green macaw - no hands after all. After much scrabbling and fighting with the piece of paper, she managed to open it and looked at it.

TURN AROUND

Kes whacked her head on the bowl containing her walnuts and sighed deeply. This wasn't fair. She was supposed to understand messages like: "turn around"??

That was it. Kes considered eating the thing for being so difficult to open then giving her this ridiculous message. She blinked in thought, then swivelled her head to look at the table directly behind her.

The brunette sitting there was obviously a writer, by the indefinable sense that Kes got of the girl. It was also obvious that she was muse-less. She was staring at the pad of paper in front of her, but wasn't writing anything. Couldn't write anything.

Kes' mind flipped back to the dossiers she'd had a quick flip through earlier that week and the name of the writer came immediately to mind. Yes, this girl would probably make a good choice for her. And if not... well... Kes thought that Pyx would appreciate a new writer.

How in hell had whoever had written the note (with her luck, it was probably Calliope in an interfering mood) known she'd be sitting behind... oh sod it... Kes didn't understand anything these days. She'd given up centuries ago.

She launched herself from the bar, ignoring the shouting and swearing from the people she almost collided with. She landed on the table in front of the girl, almost giving her a heart-attack.

Good for her circulation, thought Kes with a brisk nod to herself.

"What do you want?" asked the girl, irritably.

"Your name is Rhianna Esselth?"

Rhi's eyes narrowed. "Yes, what do you want?"

"To be your muse."

Kes hadn't expected hysterical laughter, but at least it was better than Rhi trying to bludgeon her with her writer's pad.

"I don't need a muse." said Rhi after she had regained her breath.

"I beg to differ." Kes tapped the blank pad with a clawed foot. "You are a writer, you need a muse to inspire you." She spread out her wings and took a bow. "And here I am."

Rhi was waggling her pen between her thumb and forefinger in such a way that Kes was convinced Rhi was planning to clout her over the head with it. "Why should I?" she asked.

"Why shouldn't you?" said Kes with a tilt of her head.

"Ha! Alright then, have at ye, birdbrain, and start talking." said Rhi.

"If you insist," said Kes, "But I have one thing to tell you."

"What?"

"Don't call me birdbrain."

"Well... what do I call you?"

"Kes."

"Ok... BB."

Kes sighed and briefly considered changing into her other form to clout her new writer around the head, but decided against it. "Rhi, I can see this is going to be the start of a beautiful relationship."

-fini