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 Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 8:11 pm
Summer was almost here giving Harmony more time to pursue her interests and spend time out in the sun. She should have been taking more hours at the coffee shop to save up money for a car but she wanted to take a little time for herself. She was still actively trying to put a portfolio together for college and deal with the stress of scholarships and applications. All in all she was still as busy as she was while classes were in session.
That was why she was headed the the library. As the light changed she jogged across the street toward the park leading to the building and thought about how nice Tony had been to her in a time of need. He'd taken her in at the library and let her force herself on him as his assistant. He put up with her being overly organized and authoritative with how things were done even if he didn't follow her orders once the left. He was a good guy, really, even if he was her mom's boyfriend.
She made her way in just before closing as stragglers made their way out of the building. She didn't want to risk anyone being around while she talked to him about her plans and, respectfully, gave her notice for the summer. Other things were calling her name more loudly than being behind his desk a few nights a week. There were pools, friends, photos, and fun to be had everywhere.
Not that he wasn't fun, mind you...
"Mr. Darrow?" She should be calling him Tony by now but this felt formal to her. Not pleasure, but business. "Can I talk to you while you close up?"
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 8:23 pm
Tony was tired today, but he was content. How could he not be? Every day he was thriving. He knew he was going to be married to the greatest woman in the world, the woman who made him the happiest person in the world.
Dogby was sitting on the floor with him, next to his feet, looking up at him expectantly. She knew what time it was on instinct more than being able to read a clock. She knew that it was time to go home and get some food and curl up in a ball on the bed with her favorite person in the whole world and go to sleep so tomorrow they could come back and she would get more cuddles from all the people in this magic house.
It was a good life.
Tony looked up when he heard the familiar voice, smiling at her.
"Ah, Harmony. A bit late for work, aren't you?" He grinned, bright and warm, his heart light. Dogby wiggled, nuzzling against his leg before she hopped over toward Harmony to say hi. Tony noticed her diction, though, and felt the need to correct her.
"Just call me Tony. You're more than welcome to by now. I mean, we're all but family, considering the amount of time we spend near each other. Ah. What did you want to talk to me about?"
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 8:54 pm
Harmony wasn't stupid. She knew he and her mother were an item, and close. She knew to recognize love between them and it made her happy to see her mother so taken with someone and cared for. The mint haired girl held out some hope for her hero, Camelot, but she supposed Tony was a good alternate. She hadn't seen Camelot in a while, anyway, and in her book is was a double edged sword. It meant she wasn't in trouble for one but on the other hand she loved him. He meant something to her in this dangerous and confusing world.
She had no idea she was staring at him at the moment.
She also was blissfully unaware that her mother was getting married. It didn't really come up as Harm was spending more time out and Kyn was spending more time with Tony. She did know they were moving in together at some point...but missed the ring. Kyn was leaving it for Tony to break it to her and was hoping to ease some of the tension offering to tell his son. She thought he might like the idea. Harm was much easier than Nate but Kyn also knew Harm would be on her best behavior, still, for him.
"It's ok, Tony." She stooped to pet Dogby. "I just...I wanted to ask you if I could take the summer off. Maybe talk to you about my plans for the fall. I'm graduating next summer and thought maybe we could talk about my schedule and going to college."
He was a smart enough guy...and safe.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 9:34 am
Tony felt it was important to tell Harmony, though he hadn't asked Kyndall if she wanted to, or if he would. But if the moment arose he should try it. He smiled at her thoughtfully, letting her speak first.
She had come here with a goal, obviously. Maybe she'd already been told.
"Take the summer off?" he echoed. He looked surprised for a moment, almost hesitant to agree, then reminded himself that was what jobs at the library were for and he smiled after a moment.
"Of course," he nodded, "don't worry about it. I'm glad you have long term goals, and of course the library will be here. It won't be too hard to work something out, I think. Ah. Actually, since we're talking, I've got something to tell you as well. I'm not sure when it will impact your schedule, but it certainly will."
He couldn't help but grin at her.
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 10:55 am
"Sure."
She didn't have any plans for the rest of the evening but to spend time talking to him to see what he thought. She couldn't talk to her mom because her mom was too close and would try and influence her decisions and try and get her to do the things she hadn't been able to do in life as she had for the whole of Harmony's growing up. It was only now that Harm was old enough to say no that she eased up. But still not much when it came to her future. Kyndall had definite plans for her daughter so Harm needed another sounding board that would not be so...momish.
"Wanna go get some tea?"
Despite working in a coffee shop she did not enjoy the brew but she did like the smell of it and subtle hints of it used here and there in cooking. Both of the Rosens seemed keen on tea. Harm shrugged and left it up to him. Whatever he wanted to do. She picked up Dogby, happy that he found the pup again, and scratched her tummy to soothe her own nerves. The idea of graduating, and growing up and being on her own, made her nervous and excited.
"Unless you're going to see mom..."
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 12:21 am
Tony smiled brightly and moved with her to exit the library. He had the timers set and he locked the door behind them, leaning on his cane as he did so before he walked with her down the stairs.
The library looked warm, even in the settling dark of evening. It was a friendly place, and though he had some trouble with youma there it was a safety net for his friends and for himself. A nice retreat from the world, which was strange for him as he did not get to escape into the books as others did. It was his job. But he loved it all the same.
"Sure, tea," he nodded his head.
Dogby was more than happy to be carried, her little legs usually tired this late in the day. Camelot always took her home before he started his patrol, but it seemed they were deviating from plans tonight. She cuddled against her, yawning contentedly.
"Oh, I'll see your mother soon enough. I'm sure she won't mind. We didn't have any plans tonight," He smiled and walked with her, limping on his cane. It wasn't as pronounced as it had once been, though.
"So, what have you got on your mind? You look a little overwhelmed." He was good at listening, and half of that was because he was honestly interested.
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 12:42 am
"Well, I am."
Harm was full of doubt and fear sometimes that being a photographer, her passion, was not practical as a profession. She wanted to be an artist but that would be a struggle, wouldn't it? No one found their dreams right away. She carried Dogby down the stairs and walked with Tony to the closest coffee shop instead of her own a bit further down the way. She didn't want to be this way around anyone she worked with as she was trying to be serious. Or maybe it was a superficial fear and she just didn't want them to know she was anything but the outgoing carefree girl she often presented.
"I mean, it's just so confusing. Studying art at DCU is a great plan but what can I do with it practically? I want to be an artist and have my photos in galleries. I want people to look at them and feel...I don't know, something. But that won't work right away so I don't know what to do in the meantime and if I get a job am I stuck with it for the rest of my life? I don't want to be some newspaper photographer taking pictures of traffic lights or crime scenes."
Burlesque was just not something practical for a young lady, just ask her mother, but it was something for which Harm had passion. It was elegant in her eyes and pretty. And fun. It combined most everything she loved: flirting, an old style feel, sex appeal, and photography.
She was idealistic and thought that picking something meant she'd choose her career not really knowing that people could switch paths, and often. Her mother had been a teacher as long as she could remember and Tony was a librarian and likely one for a long time coming. She lead the way into a shop and sat down with Dogby in her lap so the baristas couldn't complain. She was a good pup so Harm wasn't too worried about it.
"Did you always want to be a librarian?"
Her violet eyes lifted to his face. She looked earnest and felt vulnerable, wondering. Getting into college at this point was a challenge, not to mention trying to pay for it. Scholarships were her only means besides loans and she was working hard to earn as many as she could get through artistic merit. That would be her job this summer and next year more than most other things. In this way she was very responsible but not in many others. Hard work, yes, but sometimes a streak of immaturity and pettiness.
"I'm too young to be this uptight, aren't I?"
Maybe a little happy news would cheer her up.
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:21 am
Tony listened to her, pondering her words. As a father, he understood the drive to make sure a child succeeded. To give them the education they needed for a successful career. But he also understood that they needed to be happy in what they were doing, or they would end up like he did. Or how Nathan was heading.
He'd messed up with his son, not being there for him. He wasn't going to mess up with Harmony.
"There's always compromise," he said evenly, "you'll have to do something, to make ends meet. We all do. we can't all find success in what we dream of as a kid. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Maybe you can study art and something else. Something that feels practical, something you might like as a career. If photography makes you happy, then pursue it, but plan as if it will be a hobby. You're not guaranteed anything else."
He sat down with her, watching Dogby. No one ever complained about the dog, as she was a good little thing. When she wanted to be.
"No, I don't suppose I did always want to be one. I never thought about being a librarian before I was working here, actually. But it fixed a life that was well past broken, and put me back on a path I was supposed to be on. So I guess now I always want to be a librarian." He smiled and then laughed at her comment.
"You are your mother's child," he said with a teasing grin, knowing that one would get back to Kyndall and he'd suffer for it later. "Ah. Speaking of your mother... we've got some news. I'm not sure if she's shared it with you or not yet..."
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:55 am
"I guess you're right." She conceded, mulling it over. "I just don't want that to define me. The 9-5 thing isn't gonna be my life."
She was afraid that she'd become defined by what she did as a job. Her mother was a teacher and most people knew her as Kyndall the teacher. He was librarian Tony and Camelot was a knight. It seemed like people were categorized by the job they held and she didn't want that to happen to her. She didn't want to think that she'd gone wrong somewhere later on when she was defined.
"Are you kidding? Mom's barely been at the house lately. She's usually with you."
And Kyn hadn't planned special time to break it to her daughter that she was getting married. It wasn't because she was being insensitive or even just overly excited...it was just hard to explain to her teenage daughter...not that she thought Harm was incapable of handling it.
"What about her?"
It was nice to know Tony had something of a sense of humor and she smiled at his joke. She was like her mom in that respect though no one would ever get her to admit it out loud. That would be asking too much of a teenager. Harm was rebellious and even volatile to a point but not prepared to admit to being anything like her mom...though their relationship had strengthened much in the last year since her kidnapping to space.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:26 pm
Tony noddded his head, smiling.
"I didn't expect it would," said. He couldn't imagine her pulling a desk job for the rest of her life. She needed more room than that, to explore and grow, and enjoy the world around her. He wanted for her to reach and succeed, and he wanted to see her happy. She deserved it, after everything she had been through.
And maybe there was a little guilt in all of this. He knew that he and Kyndall were hiding from her, in their way. They were both living two lives, and it gave them a freedom they couldn't really get in the day to day. But then, they had found their nooks. The jobs that made them happy.
At least Tony had. He loved being a librarian, and he loved being a knight. He couldn't complain about those facts, though sometimes both offered challenges that seemed more difficult than he could handle. That was life. With the good came back, and the other way around.
He chuckled, blushing a bit.
"Well, ah. Your mother and I have been spending a lot of time together, as you know and. Ah... well. We... I asked her to marry me. And she.... she said yes."
He watched her at that, chewing on his lower lip thoughtfully, maybe fearfully. He hoped Harmony would be happy for them, but it was always difficult to predict how teenagers would react.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:39 pm
"Poor Camelot!"
The words were out of her mouth, though quiet, before she could restrain them. It had been a silly hope, of course, as Camelot was a knight and Tony was, well, a librarian. It wasn't that she was unhappy about it, she was. She was deliriously happy her mother had found someone but part of her had always clung to her mother's old school desire to be swept off of her feet by a knight in shining armor and she didn't think Tony could do that.
Oh, how wrong she was!
She realized Tony might have been able to hear her and blushed, peeking at him from under her bangs with her face tilted down. She didn't want to hurt his feelings. He'd been so good for the both of them and in her own way she loved him. He just...wasn't what she'd envisioned for her mom, that's all. Harm pet Dogby and tried to think of a way to smooth this over.
"I'm sorry. I'm happy for you, I swear, but Camelot's this...this guy. He's kind of a knight and kind of goofy but I kinda always thought he'd be good for my mom but it's stupid cause I haven't seen him recently at all and that's kind of a good thing, I guess, but I just..."
The rambling wasn't helping. She sounded like a lunatic and was saying too much for Camelot's safety to Camelot himself. She sighed, blushed a deeper shade of crimson and tried again. She didn't want him to think she was just being a brat about her mom getting married again.
"Forget I said anything. It's good mom's so happy with you. Really! It's awesome...I haven't really had a dad before."
Camelot had the role still if he'd take it. She'd just have to learn to fit Tony into her life, too. If her mom was happy so was she.
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:28 am
"Poor..."
Tony stared at her for a long moment, confused by her words. She did not know Camelot was the same person as the one she was talking to, but he was still surprised to hear his alter ego's name come up in this conversation. Especially in this particular moment, after learning her mother was engaged.
He didn't know how to process this one.
He listened as Harmony tried to explain some of her thought process. He lifted his eyebrows but tried not to look too understanding, trying to look a normal level of surprised and confused when, really, he wasn't either. He realized why she was upset and it made him want to smile.
She had no idea that Kyndall had her knight in shining armor.
Hell, he had one too.
"I understand, if you had picked someone else for her. It can be a little... disappointing. But I promise I'll be good for her, and you can always count on me to be there for you, too. I mean. Obviously. Not in the same... did you say dad?" he blushed a bit. He had been nervous about this above all else. So far, he didn't count himself a very good father, because of his failure with Nathan.
He smiled though, forcing himself to relax again.
"I've never had a daughter before. I guess we'll both have to figure it out."
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Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:06 am
"Yeah, I guess we will."
She was excited to try, anyway, and that was good enough for her. Not many men had come through her mother's life or hers by proxy so this was a good step for them both. Harm smiled, toying with a strand of her long mint hair and trying to figure out what this meant, really meant, and how it would change her life.
"So I guess this means Nate's gonna be my brother. Not taking bets on how excited he'll be about any of this."
Harm looked down but grinned. She was mostly teasing but Nathan's bad attitude wasn't exactly a secret. She wasn't sure how she felt about having a dad and a brother in one fell swoop and it was probably a mercy she wasn't thinking about them having kids of their own to complicate matters further.
They were old and that was icky.
"But if you guys are excited I can be, too."
She still hadn't decided yet if she'd ever actually call him dad or just Tony. There was time enough for that later.
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:06 pm
Tony scoffed, shaking his head.
He imagined Nathan would either not respond at all, or just get pissed and leave. He was getting to the point where he couldn't say anything to Nate at all: whenever he tried, the younger Darrow just left or went into his room and shut the door.
For the most part, Tony was fine with it.
"I'm very excited. I hope Kyndall is too. I just want to make her happy." He smiled dumbly, imagining it. He loved Kyndall so much, it was to his joy to knowhe would be spending the rest of his life with her. He only hoped he could make her half as happy as she made him, but he would strive for a thousand times more.
He sighed, then shook off his happy induced haze.
"Well. I have kidnapped you long enough... ah. Well. Are you heading home? I can walk you..." With no ulterior motive of seeing Kyndall, of course.
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:21 pm
"No, thanks, I'm ok. I was going to head out and work on some shots for my portfolio."
She had her camera in her bag, the bulky thing over her shoulder with her usual equipment inside. She was serious about this passion of hers. She knew it was probably just an excuse to see her mom, anyway, and he hardly needed a ruse to do that. She imagined them in the Ozzie and Harriet moments of life like out of a black and white show and chuckled to herself.
"You guys really ought to just move in together."
She could just see Tony coming through the door and taking off his coat with a "honey, I'm home!" And then her mother would come out of the kitchen and smile at him. If it wasn't so sweet it'd be sickening. She stifled another laugh. The girl moved to hug him, feeling happy for his "kidnapping."
"Congratulations. I'm sure you guys will be really happy. Now go home. Mom's probably waiting by the phone."
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