Terribly Suspicious Coincidences PV: M.Romero Finished

Interacting with @Hanako Tone
Mentioning @Starlee Kennedy

So this was what it felt like.

Tina shuffled through the train, poking her head over the window of each carriage to scope out the inside and search for her beloved Starlee, and then ducking away once she'd had enough of the bemused looks from the stranger's inside. Not one to be embarrassed by other's confusion, the young badger found herself doing this for quite a while, desperate to not have to endure hours of loneliness and silence on the long return journey to Hogwarts (she wasn't sure she could physically go that long without opening her mouth). She was a social creature, and looking for friends to hang out with wasn't something she was used to.

After yet another failed attempt, Tina carried herself towards the next carriage, standing on her tip toes to peek inside. She was met with mixed feelings when she realised that the lone inhabitant was someone she was already familiar with. Happiness at the comfort of actually knowing someone, discomfort at the fact that this person was Hana Tone.

They were... friends, right? Friends was probably an inappropriate word. He was incredibly creepy, and the only times she could remember talking to him were at the Fall Ball when he'd laughed at her outfit and helped her make Starlee jealous (Tina cringed with regret) and the time she'd caught him mistreating his Flobberworm last February. She had been staring for a good few seconds now, and in those few seconds found herself deliberating - with more seriousness than she'd expected - whether or not to resign and join him in a huff. From the angry look on his face, Martyna reckoned he needed some company as well, once again making the mistake that everyone was just like her in that regard.

Welp, here's to new beginnings.

Any sheepishness or caution that Tina might have been feeling didn't show on her face as she slid the carriage door open, dragging her trunk in behind her as though this was exactly where she intended to find herself. The door magically glided to a close when she flopped into the velvety red chair across from him, heaving her case into the empty seat next to her. Then, like a therapist meeting a new client, she knotted her hands together in her lap and looked up at the boy expectantly. Surely, this was the best approach.

"...So, I couldn't find Starlee anywhere." Her voice was a lot more blunt than she'd wanted it to be, and it told the story that Hana wasn't her first choice of carriage buddy, but she didn't stop there, leaning forwards on her elbows. The composed posture she'd vaguely attempted to attain evaporated completely. "But, hey, we're like... frien..." She trailed off. No, friends definitely wasn't the right word. "Well, okay, we know each other, right? So this is basically the perfect opportunity for us to catch up!"

Not wanting to give any chance for awkwardness to settle, Tina reached into her pocket and retrieved a pack of hula hoops crisps (absolute muggle classic; they were the ones that you could put on your fingers like rings and then bite off, at least in theory), which she split open along the side and placed in the middle of the table like an open bowl, pub style. She proceeded to do exactly this, attempting to squeeze the crisps onto her fingers and biting them off one by one in demonstration.

"So, uhh... Hana. How was half of Summer?" Tina asked. She was unsure where to start with him since their relationship was mostly built on him making fun of her, but couldn't bare silence. The whole reason she'd come in was for someone to talk to. "Help yourself, by the way. I dunno if you've got non-magical relatives or anything but these kinda slap."

Non-magical relatives... Tina shook off those thoughts. Now was not the time to be thinking about Patrick, of all people.

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Upon hearing the door open and a trunk slammed, without looking back, Hanako instincts kicked in. “ Oh no! I forgot to lock the-” his monotonous voice faltered when his eyes fell on a memorable face. Regretfully, memorable. It’s hard to forget the one who forced him into a date. The words he liked to describe the events that happened during their ‘date’ was as he said. Regretfully memorable. To forget what happened between them was as easy as forgetting his very own name. The odd thing about it is that they had never really talked about it. The 2nd time they met, she was judging his parental skills towards a flobberworm like it was nothing. And now the energetic Hufflepuff bursted into his carriage showing both her hesitance and urge to speak to him. So basically, she had a tough time keeping her mouth shut.

Hanako took his eyes away from the window to show he was listening to her rambling, but made no big change to his facial expression. But if she paid attention, she would notice his frustration decreased greatly. While she had stolen his fan and made his first date the worst one ever, he found it hard to hate her. Probably because her antics were amusing. Like a hyperactive cartoon chipmunk who's happy as long as they have something as simple as acorns. Now that he had that image in his mind, he hastily covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing. The hula hoops are her acorns. It’s a fact.

“Mariposa~.” He only recalled that her name started with the letter M.“ Lovely to see you and your Starlee-less presence again. Is this going to be a recurring thing? You just ‘c o i n c i d e n t a l l y’” he air quoted smugly “ finding me whenever you lost your precious Starlee? Because if you wanted to confess your love for me, I assure you there's much more romantic antics you could do~” he snickered joyfully.

“ My summer..was quite crowded.” he breathed out, oddly calm. He didn’t think he could talk even 1% of his summer before he lost it. Perhaps it was Mona’s refreshing vibe that made him less tense. Nothing makes him happier than teasing somebody. And Marissa just happens to be a great person to tease. At the very least, he shouldn’t tell her to shut her blabbering, because he was starting to think he needed it.

Upon glancing down to the bowless chips Mimi offered, he slightly reclined into his chair and stared skeptically at it. He grew up in a muggle environment and he would have to live under a rock not to know these things. Heck, he enjoyed it from time to time. But to eat it in front of someone? He recoiled. He didn’t want to call it shyness, but merely a ...preference. It was clear his company didn’t think the same. Look at her! She was eating them off her fingers!

“ Well, you don’t seem to have plans of impressing me with your table manners,” he chuckled, both impressed and intimidated. “ I happen to live in a very muggle environment, actually. I do agree they slap but please, how can I take one of your biggest sources of happiness? No, little Millie, eat happily all you want. Don’t mind me. I rather you talk about other more important matters~”

He propped his elbows on the table, leaned slightly closer, and rested his head on his palms. He showed a most likely familiar cheeky smile that indicated he was going to say something extremely dumb. This was his chance to say ‘ your pretty smile’ or ‘ your amusing presence’, or simply ‘ you~’. What came out in the end was;

“ Your - fan~” he still hasn’t forgotten the fan she took from him at the ball. “ Or should I say my fan. Kinda hard to call it 'mine' since the last time I saw it was when we were still on that horrible date, hm~? How is it doing? Still with you? Helping you scare away nightmares, hasn't it?”. The fan was actually the last thing on his mind when it comes to Mandy. He didn’t care about it at all but he was curious if she even remembered such a thing. Hopefully, she’d freak out about losing it. That would bring him laughing to tears.

“ Well.. I actually do have another question. What's your excuse for losing Starlee this time? Not another wardrobe malfunction, I assume~?” Now this question, he openly showed his interest in. Beats thinking about his father's affair, right? Somehow, Starlee almost always seemed to be an outside force that brought the pair together. It was quite amusing that whenever Mickey wasn’t with Starlee, chances of them meeting just increased. Take this scene for example. Out of all the cabins she could’ve picked, she decided to pick this one. Manny knew they weren’t friends. So why exactly was she here? Was he overthinking this? She could just be a very talkative kid. But he decided to halt his questions for now.
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@Martyna Romero

Interacting with @Hanako Tone

“Mariposa~.”

Tina wasn't too fazed by the suggestion that he'd forgotten her name, although she did feel a twinge of irritation when he cut her off mid-interjection during her signature 'it's Martyna, actually, but you can call me-' so that he could be purposefully obtuse about her reason for joining him. She should have known this would be a terrible mistake. All she could do now was sit there in a huff, watching him prattle on to himself through her furrowed eyebrows with a bowed head and mean eyes. She'd learned from their pseduo-date at the ball that he preferred to monologue fabricated truths to himself than actually have a nice conversation, not that Tina was the most thrilling person to chat with.

"I'm not in love with you," Tina replied. The harsh tone of voice she was employing, which didn't suit her, would tell him that she was having none of his ridiculous antics this time. It wasn't that she didn't think he was cute, per se (she thought every boy in the year above was cute, so the bar was basically on the floor) but his personality was so grating at times that it detracted from whichever physically attractive traits he possessed. Why had she entered this carriage again? She reached her hand forward to take another crisp - clearly, he wasn't interested.

Hana described his Summer as crowded, but that was all she got in the way of him answering her small talk. Strangely, that adjective seemed to sum hers up just as well: with five siblings, and two parents home for (most) of the holidays, their tiny terraced home had been full for the majority of July. Two birthdays were due a celebration as well: hers and Patrick's. It was because of this fact that they'd gone out for a rare meal at pizza express, where they took up an abnormal amount of space in the restaurant. In some ways, it had been a relief for her mother to go on brief weekend trips down to London, or her father to go work a shift, if it meant two less people sitting around the table to eat (or, in many cases, the television).

They didn't get very far before Hana was criticising her table manners (she ignored this, taking five more hula hoops and defiantly coating her hands with them like engagement rings) and using as many incorrect names for her as he could manage. Each time, she corrected him with increasing frustration ('it's Martyna, actually, but-'), but was either not heard or ignored. Instead, he continued asking her questions. Something about a fan...

"Oh yeah, that one... Yeah, I think I lost it."

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Ordinarily, she might have felt guilty for losing someone else's belongings, but this 'fan' couldn't have been of great importance to Hanako, judging by his nonchalant inquiry. Moreover, he wasn't in her good books at this moment. He could deal with it. "Anyway, I didn't lose her, I just can't find her. Those are two different things." One was a sign of incompetence, the other was a sign of... incompetence. So she was incompetent. Tina brushed that thought off. "She's probably just with Cash or something. There was no wardrobe mal- malfunc- mal-whatevers." Obviously: she looked too cute for that to be a possibility. "We were just running a bit late, that's all."

Admittedly, this was a bit of an understatement. That morning had been one of immense stress. Martyna had almost missed the train, and because her mum had abandoned her on the platform without going through the barrier (she was a little sceptical of it, as most non-magical folks were) she would've had to relocate her again without a phone if she had indeed missed it. Typically, when her mum was off to see Mr Daichi - as Tina liked to call him - she only had herself to worry about, but that day she'd had to ferry around Tina as well.

"We had to wake up so early to get the train to London," Tina said, all of a sudden feeling an urge to complain. He had asked for an explanation, so if this truly was the reason for her choice of carriage, he was going to have to deal with it. "Mum gets so stressed. I wish papa would've taken me instead because he'd probably get me ice cream, but it's on the way to a work thing for her so I 'have to come withhh'." She used a different voice for the last part, representing Alana, characterising her mother with use of exaggerated air quotes. Then, a brilliant idea struck her. Grinning, Tina pulled her curly hair flat against her face, stretching it out so it was straighter and narrowing her eyes in an angry expression. She didn't really share the same features as her mum, but it worked well enough. "Martyna Romero, come downstairs NOW! If you miss that train, I won't be taking you to this Summer Camp EVER AGAIN! This is why Lucie is my FAVOURITE!" Tina looked up at Hana, hoping he was reacting with delight at her hilarious impression. "Okay, she doesn't say the last bit. But I bet she thinks it. It's like she doesn't even know how long it takes to do my hair! Or pick out clothes! Or eat!"[/size]

[font=PT Sans]Oh, so her name was Martyna. Unfortunately, this girl didn’t have enough Hanako affection points to have him call her name properly. He was determined to purposely avoid calling her anything but Martyna and with luck, perhaps he’ll forget her real name eventually.

"I'm not in love with you," she said, with a brisk sharpness in her tone. She was just like Wyatt Starkey whenever he got teased by Hana. Definitely got rejuvenated from that. There's something about a harsh response to his mindless jokes that make him chuckle. She’s not in love with him. Yea, well no duh. If she was in love with him, he’d like to recommend her to a therapist. Perhaps if he poked her more, she’d learn that responding to his terrible teasing would only encourage him to continue.

“ Ah, yes I definitely believe you” he snickered. “ So, if you’re not in love with me..then what was the reason for you being here? In a small space. With me? Who you definitely don’t love. Pray tell, Mona. I’d love to hear why you chose this particular carriage. One with me- who you totally don’t love- in it? Surely with your..energetic personality, it would be easy to chat with a few strangers, no?”

She then told him that she didn’t lose his fan. But instead merely misplaced it. Which Hanako responded with a small laugh. “ Oh, misplaced it, you say? That’s great! I don’t care much about that dumb fan but I certainly don’t want it to be lost. It’s one of the only things my grandmother has from her family back in Japan. She doesn’t talk to them a lot, but that fan was her way of remembering her family and life in Japan, you know? Weird I used it for a school ball, right? Apparently, she said it contained old magic that makes the wearer’s charm increase drastically. Again, weird right? Like I need a fan to make me more charming. Heh. Anyways, she’ll be glad to have it back soon. Hehe, many thanks, Mary Poppins~” he winked excitedly “ Just give me the thing before our next break. Okay?”

Of course, none of this is true. But he was good at acting suspiciously excited. She seemed sharp enough to catch on that he didn’t give much care about the fan. Instead of reacting as he wanted her to, she gave him an innocently dumb look. Which was still amusing but he still wanted to have a little more fun. This was his last chance at pulling her leg. Whether she believed it or not, it was of no concern to Hanako. Hopefully, at the very least, what he said will stick at the back of her mind from time to time and make her unable to see fans without thinking of him. That was payback for the horrible date. If it worked of course.

She then proceeded to answer his prior question about why she lost Starlee again. As she responded in a very Martyna way, Hanako found himself grinning at the scene. With all those exaggerated gestures and dramatic tone, it was hard not to enjoy it. He would say she had a certain childlike demeanor that urges you to let your guard down. Perhaps, he should give Starlee a box of macaroons. For her absence gives him a chance to interact with Martyna. Unintended, but it gave him a moment of enjoyment anyways.

That was until she mentioned a cursed name. From a content face, his face suddenly hardened. Romero. Martyna Romero. Alana Romero. Could they..

“ Did you say your last name was Romero? Martyna Romero?” he couldn’t stop himself from sounding agitated. Was he being too hasty about this? Romero wasn’t a very special family name so there were more than a few Romero’s around the world. But the name was cursed. Alana Romero. Hana can easily forget names if he wanted to, but he could never forget Alana Romero. Being the lady that butted into a family and seduced a married man made her much more than memorable. Surely, it wasn’t just some twisted fate, right? It’s just a mere coincidence. Now that he looked at Martyna properly, she didn’t look too different from that woman. But what if it’s not just a coincidence?

Too deep in thought, Hanako couldn’t ask any further questions or cover up his odd question. He only managed to stare at the poor girl with a hardened gaze as if he had completely forgotten how to smile.
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@Martyna Romero

Interacting with @Hanako Tone

Martyna was already aware that Hanako was either: a) unhealthily obsessed with himself, or b) enjoyed teasing first year girls in moon costumes, so she wasn't at all surprised that he wouldn't let her drop the topic of whether or not she was secretly enamoured by his beauty, all the while still using incorrect names. Her eyebrows dropped to frown. He was definitely doing it on purpose (really, how hard was it to pronounce 'Mar-tee-nah'?) She knew she should try to ignore it - after all, this interaction was being had under the guise of semi-friendship - but what he was implicating frustrated her greatly.

"I'm being nice, jeez! Because I'm like, a Hufflepuff, or whatever!" There must have been some reason she was placed in the yellow house. Her willingness to be patient (ish) even with someone as infuriating as Hanako Tone sat across from her was certainly proving her worth as a badger right now. Okay, never mind, her patience was dwindling into nothingness very quickly. "I bet you have sooooo many girlfriends, Hana. I can think of exactly-" She whipped her hand out from underneath the table they were sharing - no crisps coating her fingers this time - and gradually pulled each finger down until all that remained was her balled fist. Thrusting her hand slightly closer to his face in presentation of this, she continued loudly, "Oh! Zero people who you're able to be around for more than five seconds without ANNOYING."

Her volume had spiked to be more noisy than intended there. Martyna retracted back into her seat like a turtle would its shell, slouching down and folding her arms tight against her chest with her bottom lip pouted. The sight was similar to that of a small child who'd just had their favourite toy ripped away. She maintained this expression as Hana described with an odd fondness his grandmother's fan, which Tina had apparently been in possession of last, and as a result was tasked with returning it to him. She couldn't pretend that she didn't feel a twinge of guilt when he mentioned the history of the object, an emotion which perhaps inadvertently showed itself in passing on her features, but this quickly dissipated when Hana went on to describe the 'charming' properties. She sat in silence with a frown, having zero intention of ever returning it to him - how could she, anyway, if she didn't know of its whereabouts? - and also wanting to keep a hold of her grudge. She wanted him to apologise for... whatever he'd done that was making her annoyed!

When he was done scolding her (and being an arrogant douche in general), and Tina was done ranting about her mum, the mood in their carriage seemed to shift. She didn't miss the sudden clouding of his features - dark clouding, like a swelling storm - and raised an eyebrow at him. Was he irritated at her mother on her behalf? It would be an out-of-character miracle for him to show any sort of empathy towards her, but Tina wasn't exactly mad about it. It beat being lectured by him for losing his stupid fan at what had to be last October's Ball, at least (seriously, he had ridiculous expectations of her). Amused by his sudden change in demeanour Tina poked around for some further conversation.

"I know - annoying, right?"

"Did you say your last name was Romero? Martyna Romero?"

Perplexed by this reaction, Tina tried her best to give a serious response, but was on the verge of a nervous laugh. "Uhhh... yes...?" she replied slowly. This question struck her as very strange, especially in Hanako's creepy voice, but it was obvious to her by now that wizards and witches had a (albeit bizarre) obsession with last names, so maybe his behaviour could be dismissed as mere curiosity. Everyone seemed to introduce themselves with their surname, and pureblood supremacy ran ripe through the veins of even modern day Hogwarts students - a painful lesson she'd had to learn during her first year. At the memory, her pulse quickened, briefly apprehensive of the possibility that he was about to hex her for being a 'dirty mudblood', or whatever Liz had called her, but then she remembered that Hanako had said he grew up around muggles. "...Are there pureblood Romeros?" The word 'pureblood' made her gag a bit with all its disgusting implications (namely that her and anyone else 'non-pureblood' was somehow tainted) but she hadn't found an adequate replacement for it yet. "Cause that's not us! Papa and mum aren't magic. Plus, I don't think they're are famous or anything. Dad's a teacher and mum just like..."

Tina paused, putting her hand to her chin in the classical 'thinking' pose. In all honesty, she wasn't completely sure what her mother's job was. She did regular shifts in Lancaster, and then went down South to work with Mr Daichi on what felt like a monthly basis, after being promoted, that was.

"I dunno, she just works down near London with Mr Daichi. He's like, her boss or something." Poor Tina was completely unaware of the knowledge she'd just let slip, crashing down onto Hanako's shoulders. Blissfully ignorant, she continued, "He's really nice, though. He buys me magazines all the time."

[font=PT Sans]"I bet you have sooooo many girlfriends, Hana. I can think of exactly-" She whipped her hand out from underneath the table they were sharing - no crisps coating her fingers this time - and gradually pulled each finger down until all that remained was her balled fist. Thrusting her hand slightly closer to his face in presentation of this, she continued loudly, "Oh! Zero people who you're able to be around for more than five seconds without ANNOYING.”

“Reallyyy now~” He tried to feign hurt but clearly he was enjoying her comment. “ Now, that’s quite quick to assume now, isn’t it? Tell that to the hundreds, thousands of people vying to my attention. I’m quite charming once you get to know me, you know? Cute as well, if I’m in a good mood. Perhaps if you hadn't left me at the fall ball, you would’ve been charmed as well. I suppose it’s better that way, isn’t it? Having heartbreak just as you’re starting your new school year, what a pity.” he pouted mockingly, followed by a chuckle right after.

However, that was most likely the last happy expression on Hanako that she could see that day. For what came next rendered him speechless. When she started talking about her non-pureblood family, Hanako didn’t ease up at all. He leaned forwards, knuckles tightened, as he desperately listened in on every tone and letter coming out of Martyna’s mouth. Just as she mentioned her parent’s occupation, Hanako wanted to slap himself silly.

He was crazy. It couldn’t be the same Romero. Martyna had a father. Which means her mother had a husband with kids, which included her. Martyna didn’t seem like a troubled child. She was short, and sweet (for the most part), and best of all, she was hilarious. He was sure she would be a wonderful friend if Hanako attempted to be kinder to her (which he refuses to do). She had no signs that she grew up unhappy.

People cheat because they aren't happy, right? Hanako’s dad was different. His wife hasn’t been seen for years. Hanako eyed suspiciously at Martyna when she started to take longer than usual when she’s talking about her mother’s occupation. Do you really just…forget what job your parents do? As Romero put her thinking cap on, Hanako began to feel a sense of dread gobble him up.

Before he could tell her he didn’t want to know about her parents, it was too late.

"I dunno, she just works down near London with Mr Daichi. He's like, her boss or something."

Still. It was all so very still. Time, movement, energy. It all stopped the second she mentioned Mr Daichi. Mr Daichi? If Hana wasn’t so busy staring at her like she immobilised him, he would’ve whipped out his wand. Too many confusing emotions and so little time to register. Alas, he didn’t find it in him to attack her. It would be too out of the blue. Too obvious. Yet all too confusing.

Daichi. That was his father's name. Could it be another Daichi in London? How many Daichi’s are in London? Surely, fate wouldn’t be so cruel to him, right? He had hope that on this train, he could forget everything. Why the hell was she bringing this up now?

Then it hit him. Could she perhaps..know about it? Is she mocking him? Hana’s face suddenly turned irritated. To top it off, she mentioned him being nice as getting her magazines. Hanako scoffed. Magazines? Really? Had all the time in the world to get the child of the woman you’re having an affair with a cute magazine while you forget your own son’s birthday?

Before he smashed a table or set something on fire, Hanako took a very deep breath, looking away from Martyna as he did it. He wanted just a few moments to catch his breath. If Martyna said something now, he would outright ignore her and continue breathing.

He was overthinking it. There wasn’t any proof that this was really the case. Martyna was a… a nice person. She wouldn’t… mock him. Sure, he hasn’t been the best person to her. But she wouldn’t have anything hidden in her words when she told him about Daichi, right? If she were to mock him, why did she mention her dad as well? No matter how Hana saw it, there was no malice or mockery. And he should know if there is any. That was basically his 2nd language.

What if she doesn’t know?

Hanako kept his floor glued to the ground, his eyebrows furrowed at the thought. The only reason Hanako knew about it, was because he caught them. Did this mean Tina was lucky or unlucky? Would it make it better if she knew?

If it’s true, he repeated inside his brain. If. If it’s true. This was mere speculation and a scary case of coincidentally similar names. He might be wrong and all of this wouldn’t be a big deal.

But one thing is for certain. Tina’s face was the last face he wanted to see now.

“ Get out,” he said, finally looking up to her, no longer jolly. As if their earlier banter was forgotten, his tone was unusually cold. “ You stink, your hair is a mess, you sound like Jennette from Alvin and the Chipmunks, you have the fashion sense equal to a colony of ants- which, by the way - will come anyway considering the absolute mess you left this carriage in”

Everything little thing spilled out of his mouth that he wasn’t sure if it even made sense. The more he saw her the more he remembered the women he saw walk into his house. The other women. He needed to be alone. It didn’t matter if Martyna were to flug cheese dust over him so long as she walked out. “ This is my cabin. I got here first. It’s mine. And I want you out. I don’t recall saying you could stay for long anyway. You’re boring me. I don’t like boring things around me. Kindly see yourself out. Find another cabin to bother or share hulla hoop crisps with.” he shooed, leaning back into his seat and glancing back out the window, as if convinced she’d leave right away.
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@Martyna Romero

Important OOC note!
Martyna Romero disabled her account due to private irl reasons. But we did talk about it and everything in this thread indeed happened. Hope you enjoyed reading!