fandomtownies | The Boards, Tuesday, All Day

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The Boards, Tuesday, All Day

Well, the new equipment had finally all arrived at the Boards, and it was safe to say that Jono was even a touch excited about it. Hardly 'a kid on Christmas morning' levels of excitement. He seldom had that much in him to spare, really. But he was at least nearly smiling a bit as he worked on getting the soundboard hooked up in the booth, and then proceeded to make his way up onto the catwalks to make certain that the lights and microphones were all connected properly, as well.

It was another Pearl Jam day, but if anyone asked, Jonothon was going to tell them that he was simply using their music in order to iron out the kinks in the system.

Wouldn't you?

[Open for visitors, or anyone who wants to ask about the poster in the window! OCD-freeeee today!]

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Miley stared for a second. Because she had not expected that level of praise, spoiled or not.

"Thanks," she said, blinking. "And, you know, I tried the redhead thing? Doesn't look great with my skintone. But, I don't know..." She sighed, idly playing with a stapler on his desk ~~if he had one~~. "It might not stink that bad if people knew, you know?"

"It's nice that you're popular, but a little credit would be nice?" Jono gave her a wry little smile, at that. "Ultimately, that one is your call, luv. You're a big girl, it's your life. Either way, if you audition for our Winter Showcase, I can tell you flat-out, I'd far sooner have Miley on my stage," he reached out to pull off her wig, if she'd let him, "than Hannah bloody Montana."

That was... sort of insanely sweet. Miley glanced down at the brown locks that had tumbled out of the wig when he removed it, smiling faintly. "Thanks," she said sincerely. "Yeah. I mean, I've been thinking about it more lately? I guess about all that's stopping me is how bad my friends would have it if every time we went out, they had to get photographed too, you know? But then again, I'm here. Not like there's a ton of paparazzi everywhere, right?"

Except Kenzi, of course.

"Here? Hardly. My dashing façade would have wound up in so many bloody tabloids in under a week, back when I was still a student here."

Amazing fire-faced demon boy, or something. Right between Bat Boy and Elvis Presley, space invader. Which was absolute rubbish.

Everyone knew Elvis was a vampire.

"This... is th'place for being yourself, Sunbeam. Trust me, it floored me too, when I realized."

Vampire space invaders could be a thing! No need for speciesism!

"Yeah," Miley said, softly at first. Then she repeated it, more firmly. "Yeah. Yeah, no, I really could. If I wanted. I mean, unless people from here are from where I'm from too, right? And they probably aren't, because everyone here's all... fiery and vampirey and wacky." A beat. "No offense."

"I think, compared to some of th'things I've been called over th'years, 'wacky' is more or less a compliment," Jono allowed with a shrug. "But really, luv... you could. Hell, I was prom king, th'year I graduated. If that doesn't say something about th'mindset of th'people here, I don't know what does."

... Okay, he still figured that it mostly meant that everybody on the island had been taking the good drugs before the Prom. But still. He was being encouraging, or something.

"You were?" Miley asked, momentarily stunned.

Sorry, Jono. No offense. She was Disney, after all. Her high school had yet to elect a prom king who wasn't a white football player. This was new for her.

"I mean, um, you're totally sweet," she added quickly. "I'd vote for you! Or maybe Rock Band Warren, 'cause he's totally cute and he has feathers. No offense! I'm just, you know, sorta surprised."

Ugh, Warren. After all of the mess that had gone on with the X-Men this past year for him, that was one of a number of names that he was going to have difficulty separating from the younger counterparts here on the island. But he managed not to curl his lip back at the mention, at least.

"I was fairly surprised myself," he offered, instead. "Figured that perhaps the entire senior class had gotten into the punch of something and just missed somebody else's name on the ballot. I'm not the prom king sort. I wasn't then, either. And, frankly, I didn't really want to be."

"Why not?" Miley had to ask, leaning forward a little.

Popularity was OMG SO IMPORTANT, after all.

"What, and bask in all of the attention? Wear a stupid crown and get up in front of the entire graduating class and take th'hand of some beautiful young woman and dance th'night away? I was so terrified back then that people would actually like me. Fire pouring out of my face and voice in their heads and all." Jono shrugged. "Maybe I wasn't half the monster I'd convinced myself I was, back then, but I could name off at least a half-dozen blokes who would have worn the crown better, if nothing else."

"...oh."

She had never thought of that. Any of it.

"But, I mean, you're super sweet," Miley reminded him. "Even with the, uh. Fire. You're a good guy, you know? Maybe it's not so bad that people like you. Right?"

"Maybe." He smiled momentarily. Just a flicker, and then it was gone. "But that wasn't what I was getting at, anyhow. What I was saying is that people around here seem to have this infuriating way of caring more about who you are than what the rest of the world sees you as."

It had been! Really!

"Well, I mean, my friends back home kind of..."

Come on, Miley. Come on now.

"Oh. Yeah. I get what you're saying," she said after a moment. "Like, Dave -- um, I guess we're dating, he's, like, he's a guy I've gone on a date with -- he doesn't even like Hannah. It's weird. Both my BFFs back home are, like, huge fans, but Dave's just kinda not into her at all."

"Well... Hannah's fake," Jono pointed out, as if that explained everything. "Nobody around here cared a bit for that antisocial me, glowering at people from th'corners. They were far more interested in that bit of me that I didn't want them to see. That part that actually cares."

"You weren't that bad when you were a pony!" Miley offered helpfully. "Like, we totally talked. I mean, I was sorta weirded out by the fire at first? But then I realized you were cool. So, you know, that might be what it was like for everyone else. Even if you couldn't tell."

"Maybe. I usually kept th'fire covered up, mind. The speaking... that tended to bother people more."

You know. Because he was putting words into their brains. That was generally cause for concern.

"So, they gave me a chance. I don't see why they wouldn't give Miley a chance, too. Besides, on an island full of queens and vampires and demigods, what does it matter that you're some sort of famous pop star? In the end, we're all just... people."

"It's just, like, I'm worried people will just want to be my friend for the wrong reason," she explained. "When I first told my friend Lilly that I was Hannah, she flipped, and she was all, 'OMG we have to tell everyone at school,' 'cause she wanted to be popular. I don't want that. Even if people here are really nice, they still, like, want those things, don't they?"

Jono lifted his shoulders. A question like that seemed to demand a shrug in return.

"Some of them might," he allowed. "I can't vouch for everybody, Miley. But I know I'm not in any hurry to run off and spread th'word that I've had Hannah Montana under th'roof of this theatre. Some of th'students at th'school are millionaires. Some are billionaires. One of my best friends here is a Queen. But you don't see people running around and bragging about th'people that they know here, do you? How many are from different worlds entirely. Why should Hannah matter to any of them more than th'girl they already consider a friend?"

"...oh."

Miley was starting to get the feeling that Jono might be a pretty smart guy. You know. Just a hunch.

"Huh. That's probably true."

It was hard to go through as much hell as Jono had been through, and not actually pick something up out of all of it. Really, now.

"If anything, I imagine they'll wonder what in th'world you thought you were hiding from, luv," Jono replied. "I've been asked that a few times, myself. And if I'm wrong... Well, let me know. I'll be surprised, luv."

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "Yeah, no, that, um, that makes sense." She bit her lip, finger-combing the wig in her lap, then admitted, "It's weird, though, you know? I'm used to Hannah being, like, the most important thing there is, back home."

"No," Jono said, shaking his head. "What you're used to is mobs of screaming fans whenever you have yellow hair. There's a difference between importance and popularity, Miley. Important things? Important things in most people's lives are how they're going to feed themselves from day to day. Whether or not they'll have a roof over their head tonight. If they're seen as any less of a human being because of the situation they were born into. Important people are the ones that do something about that. The entire bloody world might know your stage name, Miley, but that doesn't mean you've done a thing to help them with any of the important things in their life. That just means that you're good at getting bouncy rhythms stuck in their brains in th'meantime."

Maybe Jonothon should consider getting a soapbox installed as part of the renovations here at the Boards, too.

Staring. Staaaaaaring.

Finally --

"Um," Miley said, then wet her lips as she sought an adequate response to that. "Um. Well. This one time, I did a TV commercial for a pet adoption place."

WHAT A PHILANTHROPIST.

"And I'm certain you were paid well for it, too," Jono agreed.

Was it possible that he was smirking? He wouldn't go Ha in so many words, but the thought was certainly there.

Miley bit her lip.

"Maybe?"

No, really. Maybe. She genuinely didn't know.

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Re: dear god, so NFB

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Re: dear god, so NFB