Uh...Sorry? (Harmony tags Josef)

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

It had been a while since Harmony had talked to, or even seen her uncle. But her mother was getting a little suspicious. Every time she called her daughter, she had asked about how things with Josef were going. Harmony had dismissed the issues or come up with a quick lie. Still, she knew that sooner or later she was going to have to just bite the bullet and go see her uncle.

Besides, she did feel a little bad about how things had went last time. And she was a little lonely in Pilot Ridge. Just a little.

So here she was, walking into her uncle's gym. She had to admit she was little excited to see the place. The idea of taking a karate class was pretty cool. If she ever managed to smooth things over with Josef that was. She walked in, trying to act like there was nothing odd at all about here being here.

"Hey uh...Uncle Josef," she still wasn't sure how he would react to this. Maybe she should have just called him. "How's work...and stuff?"

((sorry it took forever to start this...hope it's okay))

[Josef Muller]

The talk with Hart had reminded Josef about his duty to his niece. Well, not duty. Duty made it sound so negative. More like…his responsibility. Out of discomfort, he’d been ignoring her, trying to pretend that she didn’t exist or that their problems hadn’t really happened. But this wasn’t something they could continue with. So he’d been calling the school, talking about a meeting they could set up, about schedules, about something. But so far, with his own schedule, he hadn’t been able to come up with a valid solution. So he’d put it aside for another day and had refocused on the task ahead of him. Right now, there was a gap between classes, and he was bent over the front desk, doing paperwork. This wasn’t a task that came easily to him. His brow was furrowed, and his lips were turned down into a frown as he studied the work in front of him. He didn’t notice the door open, and didn’t realize someone was there until she spoke. His gaze flickered up, and then his eyes widened.

“Harmony,” he said. He wondered if he sounded as startled as he felt. Probably. “I, uh…” both of them were stammering now. This wasn’t a good start, but at least they weren’t yelling at each other. “Why don’t you sit down? Work’s been all right. I don’t have class for a while. Want something to eat? How are classes and, uh, training working out?”

((Psh, no worries! Take your time.))

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

((thanks for being so understanding. sorry that this is so late.))

Harmony helped herself to a seat across from her uncle’s desk, realizing that she had shocked him a little by showing up. Although it felt good, perhaps a little devious even, to know that she was keeping him on his toes, she had to admit that even she was surprised that she’d gotten the courage to check in with him. Well, it was more her mother’s persuasion and constant inspection that had brought her here.

“Got any good classes going on?” she asked. She was hoping she’d get to see some butt-kicking action or something. Anything to prove that Josef wasn’t a totally lame-o. “I’m alright, unless you’re hungry or something. Classes are…um…” she paused, wishing that she could come up with something to tell him about class. Although she was attending them, she hadn’t really been paying close attention to what she was being taught. That was for nerds. Harmony had a reputation to keep up after all. She focused on scrapping by just well enough to keep her mother off of her back. “Well, class is class, ya know? And training sucks, just like I knew it would.”

She leaned her chair back so that it was balanced on the two back legs as she looked around the front desk area. “So…have ya heard anything from my mom?” she asked, not meeting her uncle’s gaze. She wasn’t sure what answer to hope for. She hated the fact of her checking up of her through him, but at the same time it’d be nice if Josef was sharing some of the heat from her.

[Josef Muller]

Josef would have been surprised and irritated that she wanted to prove he wasn’t lame. He wasn’t a stick in the mud by any means. He could have told her stories about what he’d done when he was twelve that would have had her looking surprised. Sneaking alcohol from his parent’s cabinet to get drunk with his friends. Playground fights, short affairs…well, his teenage years had been interesting to say the least. But then, he might seem boring to her now, working far more often than he was doing things interesting.

“Soon I’ll have a self-defense class coming in,” he told her. “So I’ll have to teach that. I’m not hungry. Um?” He eyed her with a frown. Um wasn’t an answer. Now was “class is class,” but he’d given something similar for as long as he could remember, so he wasn’t going to pick on her. He of all people certainly couldn’t. “Oh? Bad experiences with training? You can ask for a different trainer, maybe. Someone who suits you better.”

Ah, so that was why she was in there. His lips tightened, and he shook his head. Of course he’d heard from Helene. Only twice a week, asking about her daughter. Josef had been evasive. He’d asked for her advice in hiring an assistant, talked to her about meeting someone—avoided any hints about that person being female—and had hung up before too many questions on his niece were asked. “Yes,” he sighed. “I’m guessing you have too. Is that why you’re here?” he eyed her. “To get her to shut up?”

Not that he could blame her. That was a feat in itself.

((No worries! Mine are never much better.XD we'll take it slow.))

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony started to fidget in her chair when her uncle mentioned training. So far she had ditched three of her training sessions. Not because she necessarily hated the teacher. It was the fact that she wasn’t progressing fast enough that really bothered her. Everyone kept telling her to be patient, but that wasn’t exactly her biggest character trait.

“Training…is okay,” she lied, hoping her uncle didn’t know her well enough to see through her just yet. “You know…tough…but okay.” She looked around the gym, wishing secretly she could train here. She didn’t mind looking like an idiot in front of Josef so much. He was pretty dopey himself.

She joined in with her uncle’s sigh. At least she wasn’t the only one who had to deal with her mother. “I wish she would stop treating me like a freakin’ baby,” she said as her voice started to rise. “You think you could get her to lay off me for a bit?” She paused to try to calm herself and keep from yelling. “Please?”

[Josef Muller]

Josef didn’t know her well enough to know that she was lying. But he could tell she wasn’t very happy about her situation. He frowned as he studied her, then nodded. “I see. I hated training when I first got to Hammel. I never knew anything I thought I was supposed to, and I always felt a day late and a dollar short.” He shrugged. “It comes with time. And you’re starting younger than I was. You’ll get there. And.” He shrugged. “You can always practice around here. Safely. Like…within the room. I don’t want to explain to your mother why you’re missing an arm one day.” But he smiled to show he was mostly joking.

And speaking of Helene…Hmm, that wasn’t easy. How was he supposed to explain and help with something he hadn’t figured out?

“Well,” he said slowly, “no. If I could, I would have done it years ago.” He shrugged. “Look, do you want to go get some ice cream or coffee or something? I’d like to get out of here. And maybe it’d help get your mind off of this…stuff.”

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

(((sorry this is so late)))

Harmony nodded along as her uncle tried to relate to her problem with training but she wasn't really paying attention. She'd heard this speech way too many times since she'd started going to Hammel and frankly she was a more than a little tired of it. If everyone had the same problems that she did, then shouldn't there be a better solution than patience by now? Still she tried not to show her annoyance too much. She was here to be nice...or at least try.

Since she wasn't listening to Josef, she missed the joke about her loosing an arm. Glancing at him, she noticed he was giving her a smile and waiting for her to reply. "Uh yeah..."she said, having no clue what he had just said.

She frowned when Josef claimed there wasn't much he could do about their mother. "Couldn't you just tell her I'm real busy with all this meta stuff...or something? Maybe then she wouldn't feel the need to call me fifty times a day."

"Nosy old bag," she mumbled.

For a moment she considered arguing that she wasn't a two year old, therefore everything couldn't be solved by taking her for an ice cream. But she managed to stop herself. Besides, she did have a bit of a sweet too. "Sure," she said, managing to give her uncle a smile. "As long as you're payin."

[Josef Muller]

She hadn’t heard him. Probably hadn’t been paying attention. His smile slipped a bit, but he forced it to stay on his face all the same, because he was going to try to make sure that he kept this relationship going, even if neither of them seemed very good at it. He swallowed, then shook his head and leaned back in his seat, trying to figure out what to say to make this…less awkward.

And then, of course, the conversation had to go back to Helene. He resisted the urge to sigh, but instead shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve tried, Harmony. But I’ll try again if you need me to. The best thing is just to...talk to her. That usually catches her off-guard enough for her to leave you alone for a while.”

It was worth an attempt. And he could already tell that talking was a real problem with Harmony.

“If I wasn’t paying, I wouldn’t offer,” he said. He smiled at her, still a little strained, but trying all the same. “Got a preference for a place?”

He knew it was more of a little kid thing, and that she was twelve years old, but he’d always appreciated ice cream and free food when he’d been a teen. But maybe that just had something to do with the fact that boys supposedly matured slower than girls. Oh well.

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

Harmony opened her mouth to continuing pressing her uncle to grow a backbone and deal with her mom. But she too felt like keeping the relationship going. There would be time later to bring it up again. “I am not up to talking to her,” she said, unable to keep for arguing completely. “It’s not like she listens anyway.”

She smiled at his response about him paying. Good to know that he knew his place in this relationship, she thought as she hopped of the chair, getting ready to leave.

“I dunno,” she said. “It’s your town, not mine. I wouldn’t know where’s good to go,” she replied. Still she guessed it was nice of him to ask for her preference. Even if she also thought it was idiotic of him to think she would have developed one by now.

[Josef Muller]

Josef did have a backbone, he’d swear. Except when it came to his sister. In that case, all backbone dissolved due to the ever-present older brother guilt when it came to hurting little sisters. As a result, she had and would continue to walk all over him. The sooner Harmony learned about this…the lower her opinion would become of him.

“She really doesn’t,” he agreed with a slight sigh. “But what will you do? I tend to just tune her out these days.”

He frowned at the “his” town comment, and shook his head. “Harmony, you’re going to be living here until you get your powers under control. You might as well try to find your way around, right? But there’s a good place in town—I’ll show you, and then maybe we can find another place to go.” He paused. “I hear there’s a good music store in town. I’ll buy.”

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

“Yeah,” Harmony agreed. “Although it’s a little hard to tune her out with that screeching quality she tends to get.” She made a disgusted face. “You sure she’s not part ...” she paused trying to think of a suitable animal. “…rooster, or something?” She wasn’t sure it made much sense, but she hoped Josef wouldn’t comment.

She gave him a scowl. “This is not my lame town,” she said. “I can’t help it I a prisoner here.” Normally she would have smiled at the idea of new music, but Josef was starting to get on her nerves. She was trying too hard to keep her mouth shot to pay attention to the end of his comment.

“Maybe we should just drive thru somewhere,” she said, wondering what had made her come in the first place. “I need a ride back to the school anyway…and you have work…and stuff.”

[Josef Muller]

Josef was really trying hard not to smile on the description of Helene’s voice. She was the girl’s mother. He couldn’t nod in heartfelt agreement, even if he really wised that he could. Ah, well. He’d behave himself. “No,” he said. “I don’t think she’s part rooster.” He thought she was part Chihuahua—all yapping and trembling.

Well, at least he hadn’t said that to her. That counted as behaving himself, right?

His smile slipped a bit as she called Pilot Ridge ‘lame,’ though. He liked Pilot Ridge. Sure, it wasn’t the largest town, but he enjoyed the size and the people there. But he supposed he hadn’t felt that way before they’d become an adult. It wasn’t fair to judge her by his standards.

“You’re not a prisoner here,” he said. “You live here. You might find you enjoy it more if you—but I’m lecturing.” He rose and grabbed a jacket, slipping it over his shoulders and putting his wallet in the pocket. He paused again as she said that a drive thru would be fine, and nodded. Clearly, bonding wasn’t in the cards. “Fine by me. We’ll make it quick.” He opened the door for her. “After you.”

[Harmony Muller-Barton]

“Yeah…well…whatever,” Harmony said, searching for some sort of argument to prove that her mother was actually a rooster. “Well whatever she is, it’s annoying. She never gets off my case about everything. She thinks I can’t do anything without her shoving her stupid opinions on top of me. I mean sheesh, give me a freakin break.” Harmony sighed dramatically. At least her mother had decided not to move to Pilot Ridge since Josef was here to keep an eye on things. But she wasn’t about to tell her uncle that she was lucky to have him or anything. He hadn’t done anything to deserve that yet.

She was about to start arguing with her uncle that she was a prisoner. It wasn’t like she was allowed to leave the school. At least not until she got her power under control. And it didn’t look like that was going to happen anytime soon. But luckily for Josef, he realized he was lecturing and stopped. Harmony couldn’t help but smile. At least he realized when he was being a pain, unlike her pain of a mother.

“Fine,” she said walking out the door. This wasn’t working out like she had pictured it. But at least they weren’t actually yelling at each other this time. That had to count for something.

((wrap?))

[Josef Muller]

Josef sighed. As this was much of what he had experienced with Helene, he couldn’t say anything. The woman was still Harmony’s mother and so by that fact alone he was obliged to keep his mouth shut. Damn it. He would’ve loved to swap coping techniques with his niece. Maybe later, when Helene wasn’t so obsessed with asking if he’d “tainted” her daughter yet. Josef hadn’t asked what kind of taint she was referring to. Better to avoid that whole issue entirely.

He felt himself relaxing a little as she walked out the door, then sighed again. Ah, well. At least it was a start.

((Wrap!))