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WHO: Tina Belcher and YOU
WHERE: Heropa + Maurtia Falls + other?
WHEN: The rest of October
WHAT: Tina's had a lot of changes the past month and is trying her best to Cope with them.
WARNINGS: None. If you would rather do actionspam/brackets format I will match. If you want a toplevel or a prompt, let me know at

shurimon.

A. Home

Moving for Tina and her mother had been a whirlwind of boxes and unpacking and shopping for those necessities they were so sure they'd packed and/or hadn't realized they needed til they were there. But their new home at Heropa #006 was beginning to come together somewhat, and now they could take their time to decorate and really make it their own. Tina's used stencils to paint their names and a hamburger on the mailbox and is arranging and rearranging her room to make it just so.

But it's not the same. No TV blaring with home improvement shows or reality trash all day and night, no click of the dogs' nails on the floor or Uncle Jesse's booming barks filling the air, none of the familiar noises and smells of the place in Maurtia Falls she'd come to think of home. Tina knows she's made the right choice, but she's miserable, and she does what she usually does when she's miserable- she throws herself into doing things.

She leaves the window open as she bakes, so that enticing smells might waft into the street, and she'll happily share with anyone who investigates. Or sits on the porch writing in her diary or doing homework.

B. Horse

Life has to go on, however, and once Jake has been safely transported to his new stable and is settled in, Tina's allowed to progress to the next stage of his therapy horse training. Namely, she's allowed to put on his bridle and a lead and take him walking around the town, getting him used to the sights and smells of many more people than he's used to. She even looks in on pet shops she finds, considering what to dress him as for Halloween.

However, Jake soon begins shying away, and Tina has to do everything she can to make the miniature pony budge without tugging too hard on his bit, not wanting to hurt him.

"... Come on, Jake, please?" she begs. "I'll find a market and get you an apple or... something."

C. Halloween

Before moving, Tina had committed to helping at a safe trick-or-treating event in Maurtia Falls at the Endeavor Center, and so one night, off she goes back to the city, donning her costume. She's A Pizza Your Heart, dressed in a homemade pizza slice costume with heart-shaped "pepperoni" slices all over it. However, nobody seems to really get her costume, and by the end of the night, she's a touch crabby about it.

D. Spelunking

Tina and John are on the outs and she's pretty sure they're officially over. Though they'd both wanted to give long-distance a chance, their schedules kept conflicting, both of them were frustrated, and they'd had an argument that had ended in them just not speaking to one another for several days.

Not that Tina cares. Of course not. There's a new town, she's ready to mingle, and she can become intangible. Which results in her making clumsy attempts to spy on groups of teenage boys wherever she sees them... and more than once being shown the door or nearly getting caught and getting in trouble at school.

But she's fine. She's great.

E. Wildcard

Want a toplevel? Or to run into her elsewhere? Write a starter or hit me up.

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At this hour, the music store's fairly quiet. Lester isn't doing anything particularly interesting as he leans on the counter, flipping through pages of sheet music and humming the melody under his breath.

Every so often, he writes on blue post-it notes, sticking them to various pages. The best (and worst) part of teaching, right here: figuring out what songs his students would like to learn, and then adapting them to fit his kids' current skill levels.

It would've continued like this too, if he hadn't sworn he heard something - or someone - move from the front of the store. But he glances up, furrowing his brow.

"Hello?" He should be in salesperson mode, but he's not sure how many people waltz in to buy instruments. "Anyone there?"

A music store was a good place to find boys, Tina reasons. They liked music... right?

Except she doesn't know the first thing about reading music, and her tastes tended toward top 40/boy-band stuff, and as soon as she steps into the store and hears someone address her, and realizes there are lots and lots of instruments and sheet music around, she goes into groan mode.

"Uhhhhhhhh..."

Well, that wasn't what he expected to hear. Lester leaps across the counter, turning to find the source of that... hesitation (?)

"Um." Words, Apollo. Find them. "Can I help you with anything...?"

Tina hears the voice again and chides herself, trying to shake herself into action. ... then she sees a teenage boy approaching her, and immediately feels smitten.

"Oh, uhm. Sorry, I was overwhelmed by the... I mean... I just wandered in off the street because it looked nice in here."

Smooth, Tina. You're going to snag a new boyfriend in no time. The fact that she's staring impolitely doesn't help.

"I just moved to Heropa, so I'm looking around. Getting to know the place."

The girl kind of looks like Meg, if Apollo squints hard enough. Short, glasses, and then she - she apologizes, which makes the whole analogy moot.

He laughs, despite himself, leaning against the counter.

"Well, you've come to one of my favorite places, if I say so myself." He's definitely biased. "I happen to teach, but we've got a bit of everything - instruments, sound equipment, sheet music, play-along CD's... anything to kickstart a hobby."

With that, he reaches behind him and hands over a flyer for a fall series of local concerts - most of the artists are either students or Heropa residents.

"Oh, and we tend to know when anything music-related's happening, but honestly, our social media's better at keeping you in the know than walking in here."

"Hmm..." Tina looks around, considering. "I gotta admit, I've never tried playing an instrument myself. ... I can't sing, either. But my brother loves to play music- he's got a keyboard."

Which might have been why she wandered in here, even if she wasn't aware of the reason, she thinks with a pang of sadness. Moving has made her miss her family all over again, consciously and subconsciously. Seeing musical instruments definitely reminded her of Gene... and not just him, but her friends, too, like Rudy and Peter.

But there's a cute teenage boy here. She needs to get her head back in the game, she thinks... even if part of her realizes she's changed, and maybe doesn't NEED to be a flirt, and she could be happy with one boy. Tina shoves that away. A new city means she can reinvent herself.

She accepts the flyer, looking over it with interest. But that doesn't stop her from sneaking glances at the boy, too.

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you," she replies. "Going to concerts is a nice way to meet people... Mom might like it, too." She realizes belatedly how that might sound, because not a whole lot of kids her age liked hanging out with their parents as much as Tina herself did. "... not that we do stuff like that together or anything. Ha. Ha. Ha."

This girl must really be into music. Lester's seen her steal glances at the guitar behind him at least four times now, and he knows it's definitely not him she's looking at. No one in their right mind (except maybe his boyfriend) would think he's cute.

For Gods' sake, he has acne! Curly hair that just can't be tamed! All the things he once hated about other people!

"I think that's pretty cool," he says with a grin, tilting his head to the side. What a lucky Native, to have her family right beside her through thick and thin. "I don't see my mom as often as I used to - actually, not at all since I got to this world, so I wish I got to hang out with her. What kind of things do you do with her?"

Absolutely not. Tina finds her eyes wandering toward the butt area, too, but that could be the drum kit nearby.

"Oh, phew," Tina says with a sigh of relief. "I mean, a lot of kids my age think it's weird to hang out with their parents, but I don't mind. My parents owned a restaurant back home, in my world, I mean, so my siblings and I spent a lot of time with them. It's just me and Mom here, though. Uhm, we like to watch reality shows. She drinks wine, and I have grape juice."

Wait, hold on...

"You're an imPort?" Lester stands up straighter, regarding her with new eyes. Now he wishes he had paid more attention to the network, because he certainly can't skim posts to figure out just how he knows her. "I - " He pauses, squinting at her again. "I... think I bought burgers from you at Fanport. You had that stand near the Japanese cafe, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Tina claps her hands in delight, then takes a closer look at the boy. She likes to think she'd remember such a face, and yet... "Uhm, sorry if I don't remember you either. I had a lot of customers that day. Lots of cute ones."

That last part's deliberate. Tina just needs to push herself back into being the flirt she was before, she thinks, and she'll feel better, but it's not coming as easily as it had to her back home. Being in a committed relationship and not just... whatever it was she'd had with one Jimmy Jr. Pesto had felt amazing.

Either this kid was implying that he wasn't cute (which, fair) or that he wasn't memorable (totally unfair) . . .

Lester wasn't sure which possibility he disliked more. Neither sat particularly well with him.

"Yeah, well," he says with a bit of an exaggerated huff, as if his dignity and entire sense of self is at stake here, "I had plenty of cute cosplayers too. The price we pay for fame."

"Uh-huh," Tina says, wondering if she'd said the wrong thing. Or perhaps he hadn't gotten that she was trying to imply that he was cute. Perhaps she was out of touch. "I mean, it can be hard to get so much attention sometimes. But it's a burden we have to try and carry. And hopefully we can get to know each other better now."

"Well, yeah." He manages a grin, looking kind of amused. "I would've referred you to another person if I didn't want to talk to you."

It's the truth. Lester isn't above handing clients or customers over to someone else if absolutely necessary.

"I'm Lester, by the way." He fishes out his business card, handing it over as well. "That's my work number, but since you're also an imPort, you can find me over the network too."

"Okay. Phew."

Tina can't really keep the relief out of her voice; she feels more awkward than she has in quite a while right now.

"I'm Tina." She takes the offered business card and nods. "I spend way too much time watching the network. I didn't really do social media back home, but our network is so fascinating sometimes. All the different people from different backgrounds... all finding things in common."

That's one way to look at it. Lester blanches at the realization that someone so young has been exposed to some of the more unsavory characters (seriously, Herr Starr needs a parental warning).

"Yeah, plus everyone's got a heck of a story. I don't think I've met anyone who was..." He pauses, not wanting to say normal, "Not special in their own right."

Her included.

Tina nods slowly at that, though inside, she's feeling a little self-conscious. She knows she wasn't really anything special back home, but should she say so?

"I guess everyone is," she finally replies, "though I didn't have much of an exciting life back home. I mean, exciting compared to here. My family owns a restaurant, but I know people my age who were going on adventures and stuff."

"You're also like, what?"

He takes a moment to seriously study Tina. She looks fairly young, like a middle schooler. A kid who hasn't quite found adulthood (or worse: a very short high schooler). Lester can't place her without potentially alienating her. He knows that.

So he settles on, "You're still a kid, right? Plenty of heroes didn't discover their true destiny or whatever until they hit adulthood."

"I'm 14," she affirms. "And I guess that's true. I just get impatient sometimes." She smiles ruefully. "I thought my life was exciting sometimes, til I came here. I know people who were... who were flying around in space, and fighting monsters, and all kinds of other stuff. The most exciting things that happened to me were doing well at school or getting a weird customer in our restaurant or something."

He wishes he could relate to that kind of normalcy. Even as a mortal, Lester's been thrown into the deep end one too many times to count. Yet he finds himself craving it and wanting it.

"Grass is always greener on the other side," he admits, leaning harder on the counter. "I can't blame you for feeling that way, but you know - even Perseus didn't start his grand adventure until he was grown up."

"Perseus?" she repeats, not familiar with the name. "And yeah, I guess that's true. I've already lived vicariously through writing fanfiction, but when I control the story, it's easy to have a happy ending."

Girl writes a whole lot of fanfiction and she doesn't know Perseus's story (yet)? Lester has to wonder about middle school English.

"Perseus. Also known as the only hero in Greek mythology who got his happy ending, fair and square." Apollo breathes, trying to recall the rest of the story. If it didn't involve him, truthfully, the details always escaped him. Even more so now that he has a tiny mortal brain with jumbled memories. "You might know him for slaying Medusa? Before Hercules came along, this guy was king. Literally. And yet his childhood was pretty uneventful."

He adds, after another moment, "Look him up next time you're on Schmoogle. I bet you'll find something interesting."

"I'm sure I will," Tina says, suddenly flying into a daydream. "Mmmm, someone who was strong enough to slay Medusa... I bet he was strong. And had great abs."

Oh, she's still got it, she realizes.

"I probably learned about him in school when we learned about mythology, but I don't remember it. I had other things on my mind a lot. ... like boys."

"And their great abs," Lester finishes, raising his eyebrows and struggling to fight back a laugh.

Girl, he gets it. He's swooned over more than a few guys in his day because they were hotter than the fires in hell - and he'll swoon right along her, if any of those guys are appropriate for them both.

"Well, if you know what you're about," and homegirl seems to be, so Lester drops his voice, "I'd look up the sculptures too."

"And butts," Tina adds. "... not that I think about them a lot." Her interest then perks up. "Oh... well, I can imagine why, now that I think about it. I mean, sculptures never tended to leave much to the imagination."

"They sure don't."

Said sculptors had prayed to him, time after time, and who was Apollo to deny the world yet another gorgeous man? (Even the Renaissance guys knew what they were doing.)

He grins, "Check out the art museums when you get the chance. I bet they'll even give you free admission for being an imPort."

"I haven't been to a museum in a while," Tina replies, thinking. "We only had the one back home and went to it every year for a school field trip." She brightens up. "... But there are lots here in Heropa, right? Even without detailed statues. ... Maybe living here won't be so bad after all."

He nods at her question, his expression softening as he realizes how uncertain she must've been about her decision.

Maybe her mom had made it for her, but it's hard to start over. He knows from experience.

"Yeah, there's even a whole modern art museum," he adds with a nod. "I know it's nothing like whatever your home was, but it gets better. Even if it doesn't seem like it now."

"I hope so," Tina sighs. "I lived in Maurtia Falls before, but Mom and I decided to move here because it was just too dangerous there. But it was also home, you know? I knew the places and the people. Now... I'm just wishing I was back there. Or even better, my home world."

"Yeah, but you also lived in Crimetown, USA."

Apollo's not even going to try and sugar-coat it. He raises his eyebrows, knowing full well what he's insinuating.

"I get missing landmarks and places, but the incredible thing about humans is that you'll learn. You'll adapt to anything if you really give it a shot."

"I mean, I did have to do that right off the bat when I moved here," Tina concedes. "I was the only person from my world here, and I just got thrown into this after a lifetime of having my parents and siblings around me pretty much 24 hours a day. I did it once, and I know I'll be able to do it again."

She wrings her hands briefly, but stops.

"I wish it didn't have to be this way, but it was what was best for me. Wanting it to be different isn't going to make it so."

Edited 2018-12-02 23:37 (UTC)

As he listens to her, Apollo is reminded of how similar she is to the demigods at Camp Half-Blood. They've seen and experienced more than a child her age should. They hold themselves to higher standards.

Yet she actually takes his word to heart - something the majority of demigods don't.(This, in his mind, puts her on a higher list for future immortality.)

"Exactly," he says, letting out a slow breath. "It's what gods admire about -" you "us. We change. We grow. We can become better people, even if it's happening slower than we'd like."

"We are pretty awesome," Tina says, pumping a fist. "Things that I don't like are always going to happen, but... I try to choose to be positive about it. As positive as I can be, anyway."

"You'll get there," He says, with a slight, sage nod as he turns his attention back towards the rest of the store. "So hey - if you're still interested in looking around, I can show you what we've got."

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