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The Beach, Wednesday Morning

Yesterday's class (the one with the bar fight, not the other one, which had been pure and joyous fun) had turned out okay, since Raven had helped her save Bubbles and Hardison had been really nice to her (he'd even given her chocolate milk!) so she'd slept okay, once she'd gathered up her toys and clung to them a bit back in the yurt.

But today left her without a thing to do and she was sort of sad, though she didn't really know why. She'd taken Bubbles with her today (because, as she and her toys had agreed, Bubbles deserved some extra cuddling after yesterday's near disaster) and since the beach had been pretty close, she'd ventured down there.

It was pretty big and scary too, just watching it. (Though she stayed well back from it.) But it was also really pretty and didn't seem to be out to get her, so Alluka decided that it could stay.

She didn't feel unsafe or anything, so she wasn't sure if she should do it, but after a while she did what Jono had told her to do if she ever wanted him.

Jono? she thought really hard, not sure if she was doing it right, but giving her all to it. Are you busy?

[Expecting one, but open!]

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//Not so busy at all, Sunshine,// came Jono's reply. //Need some company?//

He was already making a reach for an umbrella. He'd noticed the sticky, syrupy mess still clinging to the window pane earlier, and it didn't seem like the sort of trip he wanted to chance without one.

... He was totally chancing it with a kitten in his pocket, though. Because he figured Joni might go a long way to helping soothe whatever was eating at the girl.

Alluka had noticed that the ground and everything else had been sticky too, but it hadn't been raining syrup when she'd left the yurt, so she hadn't really thought about it, except for how it made her shoes feel kinda funny to walk.

Still, an umbrella was probably a good idea on his part.

She hugged Bubbles tighter. Yes, please, she thought back, grateful that he wasn't busy. I'm at the beach right now.

Hey, it wasn't like he had any very pressing duties to get to, these days. He wandered in and out of the Groovy Tunes whenever it suited him best, and she was in his class already.

//Then I'll be there as quickly as I can,// he replied, stepping outside with umbrella in hand, glancing up speculatively at the sky to see if it was about to open up on them again any time soon. //I'll even jog, how's that sound?//

He was doing so already, in fact. By this point, Joni had learned to just kind of hunker down in that cozy deep pocket and enjoy the ride.

There was a lot of beach, but what good was telepathy if he couldn't even figure out where a thought was coming from, more or less?

She hadn't even thought of that--really, he was lucky she'd told him where she was in the first place!--so Jono was going to have to do his best without more help from her on that particular aspect!

Alluka giggled, ducking her head. You're jogging for me?

He'd said he would, but the idea that he actually was still struck her as pretty amazing.

//I made a promise, didn't I?// Jono's feet hitting the kind of soupy pavement was catching his attention enough that it might even carry over along with his thoughts. //It's not even really that far to go, you know.//

Well, it sort of was. But Jono hadn't gone on his jog today yet anyway.

Because of the syrup, but still.

Edited 2015-07-01 17:29 (UTC)

The syrupy impressions was getting from him were kinda funny, but mostly she was just happy that he was coming for her.

That was a pretty big deal, in Alluka's world.

It's a lot far to me, she admitted.

//Well, it's a bit bigger out here than you're used to,// Jono allowed, and now the beach was in sight. //There's still a lot to take in, isn't there?//

The world was huge. Reality was even bigger.

And Alluka still had only a passing familiarity with either!

Yes, she said, glancing at the water again. It was still big and scary but pretty too. Alluka thought she might like it, a little. And everyone knows more than me.

//Well, that's because they have more experience,// Jono pointed out. //You'll get there too, luv. It's just a matter of time.//

Well, it was a touch more complicated than that, but why muddy the conversation just yet?

He could see her up ahead, now. Oh, Alluka.

//Turn around, Sunshine?//

She spun around--which was made a bit dangerous by the syrup, but she didn't fall--and when she saw him, her eyes went huge and she beamed.

And then she was going to trot on over for a hug.

Was it time to cling to Jono? It was definitely time to cling to Jono, and Bubbles was coming too.

Clinging to Jono time could absolutely be now! He held his arms open for both Alluka and Bubbles, since he could only imagine that Bubbles would need one just as much as she did.

Call it a hunch.

//Hey there, luv. How're you doing today?//

Bubbles totally needed one too, so she was glad he got to come along for it.

Alluka didn't let go as she answered, in a small voice, "I don't know."

She was sad, and her head hurt from thinking, and things were confused?

... Was it okay that she'd called Jono just for things like that?

Well, Jono would rather she call him than sit around lost and sad and alone. So yes, it was perfectly fine by him. In fact, he was giving her a little squeeze, so that she didn't feel rushed to let go.

//Want to talk about what's bothering you, luv?//

He sort of imagined so. Unless she just wanted the hug. Either was fine.

He might regret that, like, three hours later if she still hadn't let go, but the squeeze pleased her, so she leaned into him.

Alluka made a sulky noise in the back of her throat because talking about bad things had never helped her before--not that she'd ever had someone to really talk about them, though Killua had always listened--but said, "There was a bad class yesterday."

Yeah, sorry, Hardison. Your class was bad according to Alluka.

//A bad class?// Jono's expression was etched with worry now as he looked down at her. //What happened, luv?//

What teacher did he need to punch in the teeth?

"I signed up when they gave up the papers for it because I thought it would be like Parker's class," she said. "And, and because it was called adventuring and that sounded like fun."

Parker's class was her favourite! It was the bestest!

"But we got taken to a bar in the danger room and that was pretty fun! I'd never been to one before." Which wasn't even remotely a surprise! "But then Hardison talked a lot about classes and characters and things and then a bar fight started and, and I nearly lost Bubbles and it was scary and bad!"

... Ah, that sounded an awful lot like...

//So... You took a class about adventuring, and instead of being like the sort of outdoor sporting adventures you had last term, you wound up in the middle of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign,// Jono surmised. He'd played the game all of once, while the world was ending, but he knew well enough to figure out all the little stereotypes of a first adventure from there. //First of all, are you alright? You didn't get hurt, did you?//

That was more important than anything else at the moment. Make sure she hadn't been injured, and then figure out where to go from there.

That was precisely it! It wasn't her fault! THE CLASS HAD BEEN CALLED ADVENTURING.

"No," she admitted, though she hugged Bubbles tighter. "Raven came and got me."

//Well, then I'm glad Raven was there,// Jono replied honestly, leaning back so that he could look down at her, offering her something like a smile, and then nodding to a patch of sand that didn't look too maple-soaked just yet. //Here, let's take a seat and talk about what scared you about it, then. Finding yourself in the middle of a big fight like that must have been shocking.//

Jono would've been right at home, but then, Jono had always been a bit of a shit.

While most of her family possessed great capacity for violence, Alluka was... well, honestly, she'd never developed enough to get her own taste for it.

Nanika did it better anyway and big and loud and scary bar fights were a lot different than Nanika's work.

She huffed, a little, and let go of him to go and sit down. She kept Bubbles safely on her lap as she did so. "I cried," she admitted.

There was possibly a more useless response to that sort of situation! Possibly. Maybe. Er.

//Crying can be a natural response to being frightened,// Jono replied, following along and then taking a seat beside her. //I've cried before, too.//

He didn't now, so much, but that was mostly because the act of crying was something of a physical impossibility for him. Jonothon still had plenty of reasons to cry from time to time.

//The class is liable to continue being loud and violent that way,// he noted, gently. //It's not the sort of adventuring that Eliot and Parker were teaching. Not really.//

"They were scary," she said, studying Bubbles. "And Hardison said there'd be fun costumes to wear."

He'd meant later. In other classes.

Alluka was pretty okay with costumes, though. Funny that.

"He did give me a chocolate milk though, after, and asked if Bubbles was okay. He's not bad, but his class..."

//It's something bigger than you were expecting,// Jono noted, looking thoughtful. //You know, nothing in there can hurt you or Bubbles, no matter how scary it looks, right?//

He didn't imagine it would be too reassuring, but it seemed like it might be helpful for her to keep in mind later.

She gave him a look that was extremely disbelieving.

"Bubbles nearly died!"

Or had almost gotten trampled!

//You know, I think Bubbles is much tougher than even Bubbles gives himself credit for.//

Please let Bubbles be a he.

Jono reached out and gave the end of Alluka's nose a beep. Nosebeeps, he found, were a very important communication tool.

//And you were there for him in the end, weren't you?//

He was in luck! Bubbles was definitely a he.

Alluka blinked at the nosebeep and then giggled.

"I was," she said, "but it's only because Raven helped me."

//Well,// Jono pondered that for a moment. //You know... when I used to go on adventures, right around your age, I never went alone, either? There's something to be said for strength in numbers, after all. Bubbles is strong, but stronger with you, and you're strong too, but stronger still with a friend by your side. There's no shame in that.//

She frowned and thought about that.

"I'm not strong," Alluka said matter-of-factly. "Everyone here is smarter, and cleverer, and stronger than I am. I don't mind mostly, but I wish I could do something sometimes."

//There are different kinds of strong,// Jono replied, gently. //There's the fighting strong, like Raven or myself, where we can step into that bar fight that scared you so much and feel right at home throwing a few swings ourselves. That's the strong you're thinking of, isn't it? But it isn't the only kind, luv. I've seen your strong. It comes out when it's most important to you. It took a certain sort of strength of will to wander through the portal that took you here. It takes even more to continue coming out to face the day, even though things here are big and new and intimidating. That's a sort of strength that sometimes even I can't find.//

Sometimes even more than 'sometimes.'

//And then there's the strong that you show for the sake of those that you love. I've seen you stand up for Nanika, Sunshine. You looked ready to fight, for Nanika. That's strong and noble, and all too many people would have let that comment slide without saying anything at all. You have plenty of the kind of strength that, honestly, I admire the most. Cleverness and smarts and physical strength, you can pick up with time. Almost anybody can. But you can't learn your kind of strength, Alluka. That kind of strength comes from someplace special.//

She buried her face in Bubbles' head for a while, thinking about that, and then she said, in a small voice:

"I fell through the portal accidentally."

Some strength that was.

//I came here by accident too,// Jono offered, after a moment's pause, reaching to put an arm around her shoulder. //But you standing up for Nanika? Was that an accident?//

Couldn't deny that strength, Alluka.

She snuggled into him, feeling a little better, though she still wasn't super sure exactly what she felt bad about in the first place. Her head hurt from feeling things though.

"Noooo," she admitted, drawing the word out. "Nanika was upset, so I got mad for her."

//That's a very strong thing to do,// Jono offered her, soothingly. He gave her shoulder a little squeeze, and then offered her a proper hug right there where they were sitting. //This is all new for you, luv. And... new can be confusing. And sometimes 'confused' might be mistaken for 'weak.' But that's where it's most important to recognize all of the ways that you're strong. Only... perhaps you don't know all of them yet, yourself. Which is where friends come in.//

She was going to cling into that hug, yes she was. Same with Bubbles.

"All my friends can do so many things," Alluka said, after a moment. "And, and I love them doing those things because I get to come along and watch and try and help, but when I think about it, I don't have anything like what Mabel or Lottie or Kathy or Ringo--"

No, she didn't want to talk about Ringo right now. That made her funny feelings twist.

"That all of them can do," she finished.

//Well...// Jono hung on tight for a minute, and didn't let go until Alluka seemed as though she wanted to let go, first. She needed comfort. He could do that. //What is it that they can do that you wish you could?//

She did let go, eventually, though Bubbles was being clung to in a death-grip. (Bubbles didn't mind.)

Alluka took a deep breath. "Ringo--" Ringo was on her mind a lot, for reasons. She swallowed and started over. "Ringo can skate really fast and go through the air on them and Mabel can knit sweaters and both of them know how to make real parties and Lottie knows how to do a sock raid and she's not afraid to get in trouble, even if her parents are involved."

That last one maybe wasn't entirely true, but Lottie did seem to hold getting in trouble as way less important than Alluka did.

Alluka was terrified of her parents.

Jono considered that for a moment.

//And you can't skate or knit or... steal socks? Is that what it is?// A pause. //You know... those are all things that come from living, and doing. Nobody is a master at everything they do on the first try. I bet you throw an excellent tea party. And I know you've got the best hugs around.//

... Not that he got many hugs, but he graded hugs on a bell curve and Alluka was top of the class on the 'hugs he had actually had' list. So.

She giggled, peeking up at him through her hair.

"Killua says I hug the best too."

To be fair, Killua's list of people who got to hug him was also extremely limited.

"I miss Killua," she admitted.

//Your brother,// Jono replied, nodding faintly. //He's good to you, isn't he?//

At least, Jono certainly hoped he was. Alluka deserved somebody who genuinely cared for her, back home.

"He always makes me wait," Alluka complained half-heartedly, before giggling and leaning against Jono more. "But he always comes back eventually and says I'm a good girl and plays with me, so I forgive him."

//It sounds like he does what he can,// Jono replied, nodding approvingly. He liked this Killua boy. At least, from the little that he knew about him. //You are a good girl, you know.//

He leaned sideways to give her shoulder a little nudge with his own.

//And I have faith you'll find something you're good at, too. Even better than tea parties. Maybe even better than hugs. But those hugs of yours are rather big competition, you know.//

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The Beach, Wednesday Morning

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