riverviewlogs | I don't know where I been

Entry tags:

I don't know where I been

who: Athena Parker AND YOU!
what: Catch-all
when: from mid-August through September
where: All Around Ze Town
warnings: None, will edit as needed.

i. shenanigans - backdated to august 8th

[ Athena likes shenanigans, but she is also a giant-ass softie. So here she sits on a park bench with a jar full of multicolored fireflies, feeling guilty over trapping them. They look just like real fireflies, fireflies from home, except they're in there blinking away in their little rainbow.

She holds the jar up to her face. She managed to catch them all without getting bitten, somehow, and the jar is pretty heavily populated. ]

Hey little dudes.

[ Yeah, sure, the original plan was to turn them loose inside a building and retreat to watch the chaos unfold, but she can't stand the idea of the little guys being trapped inside and starving. ]

What am I gonna do with you?

[ Another moment of thought, and then she makes an impulse decision and acts on it, twisting the lid off the jar and upending it over the back of the bench. Not into her lap. She's not that dumb.

The air around her fills with sparkling insects, and for a second it's nothing but beautiful.

And then, y'know, the bugs scatter and go after anyone in the vicinity, Athena included. ]

ii. the good samaritan

[ Athena's thrown herself into the beach cleanup wholeheartedly, working almost every day she doesn't have to go to her job. It feels good to help clean this place up, to feel like she's contributing something. It makes her feel a little more at home here, instead of like a tourist staying in some space equivalent of an air bnb.

It's midway through one of the days of cleanup when she finds a weird, wriggly mammalian thing trapped in a plastic bag in the water. It's hopelessly tangled, and whenever she tries to get close enough to work on the knots it snaps at her with very long, very sharp-looking teeth. ]

Come on, little guy. I'm trying to help.

iii. please note - twofer night

[ It's buy one get one night at Please Note karaoke bar. This applies to songs, to food, to drinks, to the whole place, which means Athena is way busier than normal.

She mostly likes her job. She even likes her uniform, which changes depending on the theme of the week. This week it's Earth-hippies, something that Please Note's owner only barely seems to understand, but by god he's got the place decked out to look as psychedelic as his budget and magical skills will allow.

Athena's wearing a tie-dye shirt and ripped up jeans, a bandana tied around her forehead, serving drinks and occasionally singing along with whoever's on-stage, her rich alto covering up any mistakes the customer might make. All the Earth music is half-off tonight, and there's a lot of Willie Nelson happening.

She'll live. ]

iv. do I know you?

[ So here's the thing. Tell a teenage lesbian who misses her girlfriend that she has to find a partner to pop open a "Man's Best Friend" romcom party favor with her, and her immediate reaction may just be FUCK YOU.

This whole party favor advertising thing seems stupid to her, and she resents everything about this movie and how it's everywhere around town. When she's accosted with one of the advertising party favors, she takes it, steps on one end, and yanks on the other, while glaring at the giver the whole time.

It bangs open, the mist drifts free, and very abruptly Athena's mind goes blank. She's standing there, holding half a party favor, in the middle of a busy sidewalk on a street she doesn't recognize. It's alarming enough that she backs up until she hits the nearest building and can stay as out of the way as possible. The woman who gave her the cracker is already gone, apparently not eager to see the results of her handiwork.

Hopefully no one nearby got hit with the other side of the spell. ]

v. Mini Mingle??? - closed to Jeff, Cam, and Peter

[ Gee, Athena sure has had Peter over a lot lately. She says it's because he's helping her study for her GED-thing, which is probably true, but it also just happens to fall immediately after her meltdowns on Jeff and Cam over, y'know, having a friend who's going to die.

No correlation there, right?

Anyway, today is one of those days where she planned on making dinner for Jeff and Cam, and what d'you know, Peter just happens to be helping her study again. It goes a little long, in fact, long enough that she just asks Peter if he wants to stay to eat.

This won't be awkward at all. Not during Athena's prep to cook (she insisted on doing it herself this time, sorry Jeff). Not when Athena runs to the store to get some ingredients she forgot for what she wants to make and Peter is left alone with Jeff and Cam. Definitely not during the meal itself!!

What could possibly be awkward about any of this. She's just having a friend over for dinner! ]

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[There is absolutely positively no correlation to the dying friend, no sir.

It's just the wide-eyed goofy kid who is polite and quiet for the most part (though admittedly he's a little less energized than he usually is, but that's what being in the middle of traumatic situations'll do to you) — he has no shortage of 'Mr. Calhoun's and 'Mr. Waltz's, dots his i's and crosses his t's on manners, and generally stays out of the way when he visits for Athena, leaving any of his sass and snark for her.

And yeah. He on occasion shows up with a few mysterious scrapes or bruises that are never there the next time he's in, and also apparently likes to fall asleep on books if left alone too long. Mysterious. But mostly, Peter is a teenager, and teenagers usually try to stay out of the adult's way. Fact.

So he's a little alarmed when the code of teenaged ethics is broken and he's left alone with Jeff and Cam, sitting at the table as Athena vanishes with his hands in his lap and a sugary can of soda newly opened in front of him. This feels suspiciously like a set-up. Like. A lot. It's like that time Ned tried to hook him up with Nancy from the eighth grade? Only Nancy already had a boyfriend and Ned didn't know it? That was awkward. And anyway, there was no way Nancy was gonna date someone with glasses as big as his or hair as curly and uncool.

...Should. Should he say something? He squares his shoulders, looking around.]

... Iiii didn't know Athena liked to cook.

[A concerned pause.]

She's... not gonna accidentally poison us, is she?

[ Athena, you are not subtle at all. And this is super awkward for Jeff! He wants to be able to help Peter-- he's a good kid, and he might have a bully problem, judging by his tendency to show up bruised, and in any case, Jeff knows about that impending death thing-- but he doesn't know what to do with an obvious set-up like this.

You're really putting him on the spot here, kid!

Plus there's the fact that he and Cam just had an amazing first date (and first... a lot of things) the other day, so he's kind of in that nebulous "I want to kiss this person but I don't know if we can casually kiss yet, and also there's a child present so it would just be weird" zone right now. It was fine when Athena was still in the apartment, too, but now it's just weird!

Is he sitting too close to Cam? He'll just scoot away a tiny bit... ]

She... ahhh... is usually more interested in eating food than cooking it...

[ Have another pause. ]

I trust her not to poison us much. I mean, at worst, we might be looking at some light salmonella-- [ JEFF, NO. ] That's a joke, I'm kidding!

[ Cough. Now what? Athena, why'd you go and break the teenager code like this?! Yeah, that's right, Jeff knows all about the code, as a teacher of youths and a father of one, too. ]

She's probably gonna be a while.

[ Let's be real: Jeff has no idea if Athena has any real plans to buy food or cook anything. He's about ready to suggest they just whip something up themselves, and TURN THE TABLES ON HER. ]

Edited 2018-08-30 15:47 (UTC)

I wouldn't worry about it. Athena knows what she's doing.

Besides, you're at a higher risk for salmonella eating food prepared in a restaurant or grocery store than at home.

[Enjoy your next meal out boys. Cam sips at his tea, entirely unbothered by the situation. Peter is as smart, kind, and polite as a teenage boy can be. Like Athena, Cam doesn't feel the need to simplify his language or water down his opinions in Peter's presence.

Athena doesn't need to tell him Peter has a lot on his plate. It's obvious in the smudges beneath his eyes, bruises on his elbows, scabs on his knees, the way he can't seem to keep his eyes open if you're not looking at him. In his time, he's met plenty of Athenas and Peters. Good kids grown up too fast. Their growing pains aren't just physical. They're mental. Emotional. And they hurt all the time.

Cam's glad Peter has been coming around, because it's important Athena makes friends, and because it gives him opportunities to watch and listen. Without having spoken much to one another directly, Cam feels like they've become comfortable enough to finally speak on a personal level that isn't altogether forced and invasive.]

More tea, Peter? You look a little tired.

[He fills Peter's mug without waiting for a response.]

When I was your age, I was always pulling all-nighters. When I couldn't sleep I studied. Good for my grades. Bad for the bags beneath my eyes. They were so big I should've folded them up and put them away in the pantry before I went to school.

I've never been much of a morning person.

[It's okay, Jeff, he's fond of jokes. Dad jokes, cheesy jokes, nerd jokes, whatever goofy-ass quip you got, he'll take it. It's why he offers the man a tiny little smile, humored, before Cam speaks. He blinks at him, mouth open for a response just before the tea is served.]

I — thanks, yeah!

... I guess I just work a lot, lately. I just got approved for my own studio apartment, and they're holding it for me while I work on getting the deposit? So I've been doing extra stuff. [He wraps his hands around the mug, pulling it close but not quite drinking yet. He clears his throat.] But I'm good. A friend of mine is helping me cut back on the 'not sleeping' thing.

[ Jeff pulled his share of high school all-nighters, too, but they were definitely not of the 'studying' variety, so he has no personal anecdotes to offer on that subject. But he does smile, EVEN IF HE'S TRYING NOT TO BE TOO OBVIOUS ABOUT IT, as he pictures a teenage Cameron Waltz staying up all night with his textbooks.

What a nerd. He's so cute.

Still, his brow creases in concern when Peter mentions how much work he's been doing, saving up for an apartment. ]

How much is left on that deposit?

[ Yeah, it's probably pretty clear where this is about to go. But it's just... LOOK. Peter's a kid! He shouldn't have to bust his ass like this just to save up for a deposit! He should be able to have some fun and, like, do teenage shit. It's what he tries to do for Athena, and Peter deserves it just as much. ]

Edited 2018-09-18 00:04 (UTC)

[Oh look, Peter chokes on his tea before he whips to look at Jeff.]

I don't need any help on my deposit, Mr. Calhoun! I'm fine, really! I'm getting by.

[He looks at Cam, as if he needs to say it directly to him, too.]

I'm, I'm aces. Next paycheck and I'm 100% set.

Mm.

[Sorry Peter, Cam's with Jeff on this one. There's nothing right about an already stressed sixteen year old working himself to the bone. Cam practically has his wallet in his hand before Peter's finished talking.

He thumbs through the contents, grabs a couple large bills and tucks them into the front pocket of Peter's shirt with a smile that won't take no for an answer. Cam glances to Jeff, holding the window of opportunity open for him.]

A housewarming gift.

I don't blame you for wanting to move out of the city provided accommodations. I last a week before I started to go crazy. I'd rather sleep in a storage locker than live in a dormitory again.

Where are you working now? And have you contacted your case worker at all in regards to financial support? At the very least, there's probably a bursary of some kind for living outside of assisted housing. They might even cover the cost of moving.

[His mouth hangs open at the questioning, hand over his pocket, looking like a deer in the headlights.

He looks at Jeff. Looks at Cam.]

I-I-I don't... have a case worker? I mean, I opted out of one. I'm old enough to, anyways.

[HE QUICKLY SIPS HIS TEA BECAUSE HE'S NOT SURE HOW TO ANSWER THE JOB QUESTION T B Q H.]

... I work for, um, a surveillance company, and do some electrical work for them.

Good with technology... Gen Z, and all.

[ Oh, well, Jeff was going to write a check, because he doesn't carry FAT STACKS OF CASH LIKE SOME HANDSOME MEN-- but he's got... some money in his wallet he can spare, to add to the housewarming gift.

Enjoy double dadding, Peter. ]

Uh huh, yeah, well, since you're set, you can just blow this on something stupid. Or save it! For an emergency!

[ Annnnd... Okay, kid, he has to ask: ]

And you're not moonlighting as a bouncer or anything, are you?

[ THE BRUISES. THE SCRAPES. He's Concerned and trying to mask it behind some laid back humor. ]

[Cam smiles at Jeff when he adds to the pot, patting his leg beneath the table. His hand stays there. Innocently. They're in the presence of a minor. He's not that shameless.]

Oh, which company? I'm curious to know who's hiring sixteen-year-olds for working requiring a security clearance.

[Cam is a master of communications. He's fluent in many languages, including the language of lying. It's not that he thinks Peter is a dishonest boy, it's just that he's the same kind of vague regarding his own position back home.]

We're just worried about you. It's hard adjusting to this place as an adult, I can't imagine being your age, worrying about work and rent. I would've been a mess.

I was a mess, when I first arrived. Even with all my experience. It's taken some time to settle in, and I still have... moments.

[He blushes despite himself. This feels like the nicest police interrogation he's ever seen. To be fair, he's only ever watched them on TV, but he's pretty sure they don't give you cash and worry about how you're acclimating to new places.]

I'm not a bouncer! I just get banged up sometimes. Teen stuff.

[He tugs on his sleeve a little as he talks, feeling the heat.

He's a little more confident when he says:]

And I work for Riverview. I mean, the government has job openings, 'specially for people who come in without much direction? Kinda like how people sign up for Perimeter Guard... It pays me pretty well! I mean, a kid affording an apartment studio here is crazy-easy compared to New York.

[ So, he had this adventure with the fireflies thanks to Athena's prompt and, aside from the fact those things were a lot more aggressive than the usual kinds he was used to seeing back home, capturing them was fun! His eyes shone with pride and marvel as he stared at the jar full of beautifully multicolored bugs, brightening up the night.

But there's a catch to almost everything, and that catch was Athena suddenly deciding that opening the jar and letting those beasts out was a great idea. Jyushimatsu wouldn't have stopped her, frankly. And now he's in a bit of a pinch as he's flailing wildly and dodging one pretty angry red firefly buzzing loud and determined to bite him. ]

Hey, dude! Stop! Are you secretly a mosquito? My blood ain't delicious, I promise!

[ Ah shit. SHOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING, REALLY. This is what she gets for trying to instigate shenanigans and only going half-way with the whole thing. She's currently being divebombed by orange and yellow bugs, trying to swat them away without killing any of them.

That works about as well as can be expected. A yellow one lands on her hand and bites her, and an orange one chomps on her neck. ]

Ow! Fuck! Ah, fuck!

Wah—! Athena-chan are you okay?

[ Suddenly he yelps, because while he managed to send the red firefly somewhere else he failed to notice the blue colored one buzzing by and biting the back of his neck when he drops his guard. ]

Ow! Jeez, these things hurt!

Fuck! No I'm not!

[ She's getting a surge of panic from nowhere in particular--they're bugs, not even that dangerous--before it occurs to her that the insects are doing exactly what she planned on having them do to other people. ]

I need a fucking t-shirt that says 'Jeff was right.'

[ At least the insects are scattering now. Athena braces her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath in spite of the nerves buzzing in her gut. ]

Any... any idea how long the whole biting thing lasts? I kinda didn't bother checking on that. I kinda didn't think any of this through actually.

... I've got no clue. Never got bitten by any of these things... before.

[ He massages the back of his neck where he got stung, overcome with a strange wave of dull ache that constricts his chest, the back of his eyes tingling like he's seconds close from crying. ]

I'm... afraid I caught the sad one. Ouch...

Harry is also out on cleanup duty today, hoping that while he's out there, he might find some interesting creatures or objects as well. So far he's found a very lovely shell, empty of its inhabitant, and an iridescent red feather.

He sees Athena, but not what she's dealing with, and raises a hand in greeting. "Good morning."

"Hey, doc!"

She waves, brightening when she sees him. If anyone can help her with this little monster, it's probably Harry Goodsir. She wades over and grabs his arm, towing him back toward her discovery. "I found a thing and it hates me."

"Reptile, avian, or mammal?" he asks, following along. His question is answered as soon as he sees it, though—he's seen these creatures in the river. They somehow manage to be reminiscent all at once of otters, serpents, and shrews. "Oh! good lord, the poor creature."

"Yeah, and I can't get close enough to even like, try and cut it ou....t."

Cue Athena being struck by the most obvious solution in the world.

"I could totally magic this situation."

"You—can?" He stares. "How?"

He knows Athena is from the same world as Jeff, knows that Jeff is conversant in magic somehow, but not the details. He's still vague on the rules that govern magic—what it can do, how it can be used. Never mind the fact that it seems to vary by world.

"I can sing a spell." She frowns at the little animal, trying to figure out what would work best. Something with words, maybe, something about untangling or getting free or suitably metaphorical.

Athena scrubs her hand through water-dampened hair. "That's kind of my thing--bard, so I do magic through music, basically."

It sounds like something out of a fairy tale, even if Athena is ... if not completely the opposite of a fairy-tale princess, something almost entirely unlike. But Harry is more than happy to let her attempt it.

"If you are willing to try—by all means. Can I help in any way?"

She takes a deep breath, thinking through how she wants this to work, what she wants to accomplish, setting mental limits on what the spell can do and how powerful it needs to be.

"Just yank me back fast if that thing tries to eat my face."

She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. The song she landed on isn't exactly what she was looking for, but it'll work. Her voice is a rich alto, well-trained and pure.

"It's been a long dark night
And I've been a waitin' for the morning
It's been a long hard fight
But I can see a brand new day a dawning
And I've been looking for the sunshine
'Cause I ain't seen it in so long
Everything's gonna work out just fine
Everything's gonna be all right
That's been all wrong."

There's a thrum of power to the words. She keeps her focus on the little animal and the bag, imagining the two slipping free of each other, imagining a gentle separation. The bag tugs lightly against the water, one strap sliding over the animal's head and into the water. She keeps singing, more confident now. The creature thrashes, feeling itself starting to come free.

"'Cause I can see the light of a clear blue morning
I can see the light of a brand new day
I can see the light of a clear blue morning
Everything's gonna be all right
It's gonna be okay."

The bag slides away like a snake, bobbing to the top of the water. The little animal rolls in the water and hisses at the bag.

Harry watches, astonished. It's not the first time he's seen magic in Riverview, but it's the first time he's seen it used so beautifully.

As soon as the bag slips free, he reaches in with a stick and flicks it out of the water.

Athena exhales quietly, coming out of the spell. As soon as her concentration is broken, it's replaced by delight and pride.

"Fffuuu--rick. That wasn't bad. I thought I might be rusty."

The little creature rolls in the water a few times before diving and vanishing. She squints in disappointment. "Aw, man. I wanted to touch it."

Because that's a great idea.

"The males have poisonous spurs," he notes matter-of-factly. "But if you would like to see them again, I found a den on the other side of the river a little downstream, not long ago. The kits in particular are quite charming." He disposes of the bag in one of the large trash bags they've been given for the purpose. "But that was truly marvellous, Athena! I have never seen anything like it. Have you always been able to do this?"

"Cool. Man, I want poisonous spurs. Why don't humans get anything interesting? You've got to show me. The babies I mean, not the spurs, but the spurs would be cool too."

She sloshes toward the shore, backwards, still euphoric from success and pleased with herself.

"Thanks. It's not that uncommon where I'm from? I mean, magic isn't, but magic with music isn't either--am I making any sense? Anyway no, I couldn't do it when I was really little, but I got tested when I was about eight and that's when I started learning."

"So your magical skill is akin to an aptitude for—say—mathematics?" He smiles. "I think, you know, that while we humans may lack claws, fangs, or indeed poisonous spurs, we rather make up for it with our brains."

"Yeah! Yeah, exactly. And with magic like mine, like ours I mean, it's like... Okay, I use magic through singing, but other people use different things, like painting or dance or woodworking, stuff like that. So if you want to be any good at the magic part, you have to be good at the craft part, too."

She pauses. "Okay, that's fair, but I'd still like poisonous spurs."

Harry laughs. "And they cannot be created with magic?" Partly a joke, but he's also curious.

She starts to answer, and then stops, her mouth open.

She shuts it. Thinks.

"I mean, our magic can't? I mean I don't think it can. I know some people have Affinities where they can change into animals or whatever but that's super rare. Magic here could probably do it though."

"Now here is something I have wondered—" Harry says, and pauses a moment, trying to think of how to articulate the source of his puzzlement. "It seems that with so many people from so many different worlds, there are any number of magical systems that they have ... brought with them, so to speak. But how do they all coexist? Forgive me if this is a naïve question; I admit I know little of what I speak, but it seems to me as if—say there was a man who came here from a world water flowed uphill, and whereas for most of us, water flows as we know it, but for him, it always went in the opposite direction." He stops, the look on his face indicating that he feels he's gotten his brain badly wrapped around the axle, so to speak. "Am I making a grain of sense?"

She stops, staring at him with a slightly helpless look.

"Uhhhhh."

She shrugs, scrubbing a hand through her hair. "I mean yeah, I think so? I guess I... never thought about it."

Harry has the grace to look embarrassed.

"I'm sorry—I ought not to think out loud when my thoughts are barely formed. Much less on a subject I don't even begin to understand yet." He'll have to figure out a way to put it, because his curiosity on the matter is only growing.

"No, dude, seriously, it's fine! Jeff can tell you, I talk until I figure things out all the time. I might not... get everything you're trying to say, but that doesn't mean you have to stop."

She rubs her nose. "Besides I think I kind of... get it... maybe? Like. Okay. Say each world's magic is like a giant jigsaw puzzle--you know what those are right?"

"We do have those, yes," Harry says with a smile—not mocking, but he is amused. He's interested to see where she's going with this.

"Right. So each world's magic is like a big jigsaw puzzle. Including this place, it's a full jigsaw puzzle on its own."

She bends to catch a bit of debris floating by and chucks it past Harry and onto the shore to be picked up later. "So people come here and they bring little bits of their jigsaw puzzle with them, and dump them in with Riverview's pieces, but somehow the Riverview jigsaw puzzle doesn't get fucked--fricked--messed up. It doesn't make sense. There shouldn't be anywhere for those pieces to fit."

"Yes—yes, I see what you mean," Harry says, relieved. That's a better metaphor than any he was fumbling toward on his own. "And yet somehow it does, and the pieces accommodate one another just as the local puzzle does for the newcomers."

He is charmed by Athena's attempts to not swear around him. He wants to tell her to not worry about it, but he enjoys her little amendments and would miss them.

"I wonder—" A thought occurs to him and he frowns. "I wonder if the system can be sustained indefinitely."

Athena blinks. "You don't think it can?"

There's a frightening thought. Magic is so much part of who she is that it's hard to imagine it... not being there. Somehow breaking, or coming to pieces, or just simply not working any more.

"I don't know," he admits, "and it's probably not my place to speculate so wildly in a field that is completely alien to me." That's about as close as he can get to being comforting.

It's just that he knows what happens when organisms compete for resources, and when the population grows to be more than those resources can bear. Perhaps magic doesn't follow those rules, particularly not on an alien moon populated by men and women from across a multitude of universes.

But then perhaps it does.

"Cam," she says suddenly. Her thoughts catch up to her mouth. "We should tell Cam. He does the whole public representative thing, maybe he can find out more about how the magic works? Christ--" A pause as she tries and fails to find something to replace Christ, but then she's barreling on. "--I would hope they know how their own magic works. What if they don't? I mean they've got a whole school for magic so they at least have to know something, don't they?"

"Surely," he agrees, "but I think you are right—it could do no harm to ask, and the answer may very well set our minds at ease."

On one hand, he can't imagine that a couple of newcomers would have hit upon a problem that no one else has already considered. But stranger things have happened.

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I don't know where I been

V. two men and a baby????? I mean

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breaks order thanks to nervous teenager syndrome

U LIL SHIT

anxious teen strikes again

DAMN IT PETE

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i.

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ii. we have to stop meeting like this. or not?

definitely not, this should just be a thing

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