The Imperial Junke Yard, Saturday morning

[intotheout]

Tip had been going out for donuts, but then she ran into the Chief on the way, and after a little bit of her denying that he was anything more than a particularly vivid figment of her imagination, the donut run had turned into a "show the Chief everything about Fandom" run

Comments

[hexentotchen]

Tip would be getting a text about now: My Papa is here!!!! but he says he can't stay long. D:

[intotheout]

Tip's text back involved a lot of exclamation points and startled face emojis.

Then she sent Hanna a picture of the Chief examining a piece of a spaceship, with the caption i got 1 2!

[hexentotchen]

Hanna stared at the message, and wondered if it was wrong to be so relieved. Is that the Junkyard? OK to show up/meet him? Or wait for a bit?

Frankly, Hanna could use the buffer between her and her Papa, because she kind of wanted to shake him for getting himself killed.

[intotheout]

"Chief, want to meet my roommate?" Tip asked.

"Sure thing, Stupidlegs."

Tip beamed and texted back. yes come come come

She wanted to show off her Chief.

[hexentotchen]

TY we will be there in 10

Hanna didn't underestimate. She and Erik-- looking fairly normal in a winterish coat over a suit-- arrived in almost exactly ten minutes. Hanna could feel how jittery she was, and kept one hand on Erik's arm, in case he melted away on her.

"Tip! This is my father, Erik Heller. Papa, this is my roommate, Gratuity Tucci." She gave a hesitant smile to the older Native American man. "Hello, sir."

[intotheout]

The Chief stiffened a little, and Tip shot him a please don't immediately start shouting at my roommate and her dad look.

They weren't American white people, at least?

"Hi," Tip greeted in return, waving to Hanna's father. "This is my friend Chief Shouting Bear." She looked up at him again. "That's Hanna."

The Chief nodded and offered Erik his hand. "Any actual friends of Gratuity's," he said. "Nice to meet the both of you."

[vaterholzfaller]

Hanna had told Erik a little about 'Tip' on their way over. He tried to restrain his condescension down to the usual adult-to-younger-person kind of attitude. He didn't have anything against the girl, after all. But his eyebrows rose at the introduction to Chief Shouting Bear, clearly telegraphing his surprise. Even as he said, "I would consider her a potential friend, at least. She has been quite kind to Hanna," he was also scanning the junk yard for weapons, threats, and information, then evaluating Tip with a glance.

Hanna was turning pink with discomfort, but she held out her hand after Erik did. "Tip has said good things about you to me. And we have been through some strange things together, too. She is one of my best friends here." She cast her father a glance that clearly said, Was that okay? and then tried to straighten up and hide the nerves.

[worstufoever]

Oh yeah. This guy was definitely going on his 'communicate with only by shouting' list. The Chief would just ignore the guy for the time being. No need to needlessly upset the kids.

"She's a good kid," he told Hanna, pleased to hear her call Tip by the right name. "I'm glad to see she's not living in a casino anymore."

"Chief," Tip groaned. The Chief pretended not to hear.

[hexentotchen]

Hanna was looking delighted. "A casino? I don't think I heard about that. J.Lo, and the Boov, and her mother, and some other things... but I do not remember hearing about a casino." She beamed at the Chief. "She also helped destroy a giant moving statue with a bowling ball."

Okay, that had been a statue of herself, and Hanna realized as soon as she said it that perhaps she shouldn't have; she shot Tip a glance of apology, even as Erik's eyebrows rose to his hairline. Casinos? Giant statues?

"...this is sounding like a dangerous place for you to be living, Hanna."

[intotheout]

"Bowling ball, huh?" the Chief said, blithely ignoring Hanna's father. "Yeah, that sounds like her."

Tip blushed, even as she continued to be totally unable to wipe the doofy grin off her face. "Hanna's been here a lot longer than I have, Mr. Heller," she said. "I think she's doing just fine."

And you're dead, so you don't get to have a say anyway, so nyeah. That part she didn't say. But she wanted to.

[vaterholzfaller]

"Mmmm. Two years, yes. She said." Which was almost two years too long, in Erik's opinion, to settle anywhere. But then, he wasn't quite sure how this Island worked yet, since it could bring him back from the dead.

Tip was so happy to see the Chief again, Hanna had to smile even wider at her expression. "I am graduating in May," she added. "But I will be here through the summer. And we have been looking out for each other, these last few months."

Erik had finally realized that some of the junk in this junk yard was spaceships. Pardon him a moment while he gaped.

[worstufoever]

Mmm, arrogant white man shock. The Chief side-eyed Erik, but otherwise continued to blithely ignore him.

"In May!" he said instead. "Well hell. You're practically a grown up." He looked over at Tip. "And Tip likes you anyway. You must be pretty smart."

Tip elbowed him gently in the leg. "Be nice, Chief."

"Never."

[hexentotchen]

Hanna couldn't help laughing. "Maybe. Hard to tell around here. There's a lot of geniuses." And a lot of crazy, crazy people. "Tip's doing good, though, and working at the Post Office."

She noticed her father's expression and coughed. "Papa? Are you well?"

"Hmmm?" Erik's expression was blank, but he was starting to come back to himself. "I am... if that is a spaceship, then at least I'm not going insane."

[intotheout]

"It's a spaceship," Tip said, with the casualness of one who had been familiar with spaceships for almost a quarter of her life. "But that doesn't actually mean you're not crazy." She shrugged. "Just, you know, not about that."

[vaterholzfaller]

Erik sent her a very quick, sharp look, but saw the pleading on Hanna's face, and kept whatever words he had to say about that behind his teeth. He had noticed the Chief's attitude as well, but had dismissed it as an old man's prejudices.

That he had his own went without saying, of course. But he could function around them.

"Thank you for clearing that up," he said dryly.

Hanna bit her lip, and said, "I told you this Island was unique." She never would have said an I-told-you-so before. Felt it, maybe; radiated it at him, when she got something right. But not actually said it.

"So you did," Erik said, giving her a surprised look. He checked his watch, as if they were late for an appointment. "It has been very good to meet you, Miss Tucci. Chief Shouting Bear. I think Hanna and I need to be moving on and seeing more of the island, though. I have many questions about this place."

Rude, Papa, Hanna's glare said for her.

[worstufoever]

Tip and the Chief exchanged a look.

"I THINK THE GIRLS SHOULD GET TO HANG OUT A LITTLE LONGER," the Chief said. Loudly. "WE SHOULD TAKE A TOUR TOGETHER. ARE YOU AFRAID OF ASKING QUESTIONS IN FRONT OF PEOPLE?" Then, because it was tradition: "JERK."

Tip had her hand pressed over her mouth, and leaned in closer to Hanna. "That's why they called him Chief Shouting Bear."