SA Challenge Log - 12/8 - Marce & Erin "Snowglobe"
9 December - Challenge (Snowglobe)
MARCELINE PROUDSTAR + ERIN TROY
PG | COMPLETE
Wild Christmas so far. Marceline had found herself backwards in time (with a great deal of her friends, thankfully, that made it easier) and while that would make for a really cool adventure, it also came with its own pitfalls. Her family was here, but didn't know her because she hadn't been born yet. Her adopted cousin was actually about to be born. She didn't have her music and couldn't just start introducing her music to the past because what if that ruined her future? Still, she was determined to make the best of it.
"Right, but what kind of gift says Hi Mom and Dad who haven't actually had a kid yet because I'm from the future and I just want to maaaaybe put in a good word for myself because I know how much trouble I'll be when I am born?" she asked the poor, confused salesperson in the shop. There were all kinds of holiday-themed gifts about and she was going to do whatever she could to get a good gift for her parents. Future parents. Whatever. The salesperson had already shown her a few things and she'd shot them all down. He smiled wanly and offered to go look in the back for a few ideas. Marceline shrugged, put her hands in her coat pockets, and continued to browse the shelves.
There was so much to explore in Atlantis. Erin couldn’t help but feel like she’d been on an island before, well, of course, she had, but a weird one was what she kept feeling felt familiar to her. She also had no idea how much time she’d be in Atlantis and decided she should get some Christmas Gifts now that could be left for the people she knew here.
She’d figured out most everything when she ended up walking past some holiday-themed things and heard someone speaking. “A memory,” Erin offered as a suggestion. “Not something that would change the future or dangerous, for them to know, it could just be as a smile ‘thank you for picking me up when I fell down.’ I know it sounds really cheesy, but I think if I had a kid that showed up from the future I’d want to know if I was an okay parent.” Erin frowned softly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep.”
Marceline had swung around at the sound of the other woman's voice and took her in as she spoke. Of course, she was instantly attracted to her a bit, but that wasn't her fault because Marceline was attracted to nearly everyone. That's just who she was. So she listened to the rest of what she had to say and smiled. "Cheesy's good. My parents would like cheesy. And don't worry about it. Overstepping's usually the best way to make new friends."
She held her hand out, "I'm Marceline. Proudstar. I have no idea if you know my parents or not." A memory, something to be a 'thank you' and also something that wouldn't be weird to hold onto if and when Atlantis sent her back to her own time. Not changing the future would be key, of course, but she couldn't help but think them even knowing she existed would cause that anyway.
Erin smiled, she was just glad she hadn’t upset her, that was the last thing she’d ever want to do. She was right, meeting people did involve actually talking to them.
“I’m Erin Troy, I just got here with the big influx of people, so I’m not sure if I’ve met or spoken to either of your parents. I’m still trying to get used to the idea that this is all real.” She admitted. There was still a weird feeling about magical islands in general but it wasn’t anything she could really put her finger on. “Do your parents like Christmas?”
"Oh it's real. I grew up in this mess, believe it or not," laughed Marceline, shaking her head a bit. "Or I will grow up in this mess? Anyway, yeah, they like Christmas. Or they will like Christmas? Christ, I'm never going to get used to this." She had no idea if they'd liked Christmas before raising their daughter or if they'd always liked it. What she did know that was prior to Atlantis, their lives weren't easy by any stretch of the imagination, so it was entirely possible that they never really got to enjoy it until they'd arrived here.
"So, Erin Troy of the Influx, what do you think about snowglobes?" she asked, gesturing to a shelf just covered in them. Some were tiny Atlantises getting miniature blizzards when shaken, some were just random other worlds, probably designed by someone who knew them well enough to make recreations, and some were just generic Christmas-y scenes.
With a sympathetic smile, Erin was oddly glad she wasn’t trying to handle all the different timelines, or as future as they were. “I think you’ll get used to it, and if they like Christmas in the future it’s likely they like it now too.” Erin ventured, although she really didn’t know.
“I think of London would make more sense, or I guess Harry Potter from what my friend of mine told me, but it’s weird being from something that’s named after a person you know.” She admitted. From Harry Potter just sounded weird to her. Looking from Marceline to the snowglobes she smiled. “I think if one reminds you of a good memory and you present it like that it’d be the perfect gift.” Erin focused a little bit more on them. “These are pretty good too, with all the different places.”
Marceline swept a pink lock of hair behind her ear and reached up to grab one of the snowglobes she noticed almost immediately. It was a tiny Hogwarts set on a hill and overseeing a lake. She shook it quickly and handed it to Erin. "For you, then. My treat." Erin wasn't the first person she'd met from 'The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,' so she wasn't shocked or confused and she knew the material by heart at this point - though some of the later stuff was kind of problematic for her. Sometimes artists should kind of just stop with the Gotcha!s.
"Let's see. For my parents, I think one of these mini-Atlantises would be best. Maybe I could get an inscription on the bottom. Oof, then I need something for Dash and Vi, and something else for Lorna and Dawny. Aunt Lauren. My list is getting longer by the second." She grinned over at Erin and winked. "I talk a lot. Sorry."
“That’s really too kind of you,” she smiled taking the little Hogwarts. It was strange seeing it in a snowglobe in a weird way. “Thank you.” She would have insisted no, she didn’t need it but she got the impression that would be really rude.
“I can help with an inscription,” she said quickly. She could too, on top of good handwriting she knew just the spell to do it too. “Christmas lists are like popcorn, no matter how much you say you’ll limit how much you’ll have, it just keeps expanding.” She waved off the talking too much. “My best mate, Delilah, she can talk, a lot too.” Erin meant it warmly.
"Sweet, sounds like I've made the perfect friend, then" answered Marceline, picking up the mini-Atlantis and turning towards the counter. Whether she meant that in response to helping with the inscription or that she had experience with talkative friends or both (it was both) would be left for guessing, but she was happy to have someone to talk to. All of her other friends, whom were also from the future, were out spending time with their families or doing their own shopping, and she'd broken away to ensure she could get something for each of them, so it was nice to not actually be alone. She sucked at being alone.
"But now I want popcorn. Your fault," she teased, putting her snowglobe on the counter and gesturing to the one in Erin's hand as well, so that the shopkeeper knew that she was paying for both.
“Looks like I did too,” Erin smiled. She so far felt like Atlantis was a really friendly place. She still felt like there was so much she didn’t know about this place though and so much she wanted to learn. There was a lot to figure out.
Erin nodded her thanks to Marceline again for the snowglobe. “Well, from what Delilah told me there is pretty much anything here you could imagine, which would lead me to believe that there are a lot of popcorn options.” She kind of wanted popcorn now too.
"Oh yeah, there's an old theater-- sorry, probably not that old right now. You want to catch a movie with me? I'll share popcorn and we can watch something stupid and just hang out?" Marceline paid for the gifts and waited for the shopkeeper to at least bag up hers. She added a bit on top of the charge to add to the charity they were collecting for, though she wasn't really sure what it was for in a place like this and it suddenly occurred to her that her funds might be a bit more tight in the past since her income was probably like 25 years in the future.
"Oooor maybe just a popcorn shop," she offered, biting her lip. "Sorry, forgot I don't have a job in the past."
Erin smiled. “I think a popcorn shop would be ideal and I think we can figure it out,” Erin knew Delilah and Erin had lent her some money and she also knew she’d pay them back so it wasn’t a big at all.
“So, should we go explore for a popcorn shop, and hang out!” Erin liked that idea better. “And if we can’t I bet there is a store here and we make our own. Assuming one of the people we know is okay with borrowing their kitchen.”
"Just how many people do you know?" answered Marceline, smile spreading across her face. Nothing was better than a friend with connections, especially in a place where you didn't actually have any at the moment. Outside of her family, everyone she knew was stuck in the hotels with her, so kitchens were fairly limited in scope and capability. And she didn't really want to crash the kitchen of her own family, and especially not the kitchens of the families of her friends who were already adjusting to Surprise Kids.
"Let's see if we can find a place that sells fancy popcorn. Then if not, kernels and crashing a friend sounds like my kind of fun!"
“I’ve got a few that are here,” and she knew Delilah would just join them, or Emilia would have a lot more ideas for popcorn, and the others would just eat with them.
Erin held her hand out towards the door. “Lead the way! You still know this place better than I do!”