[Futurelandia] The Thanksgiving and Early December Post

[generalflirt]

[ It's been around a month since everything started to change. And frankly, a damn sure more things have changed even in that month. There's simplistic ones, such as Masaomi getting a vasectomy which even if he tried to keep it on the downlow, everyone found out about because of what a whiner he was for his week of medical abstinence and everyone felt after that for how he proceeded to fuck every relevant woman in the house and who would sleep with him out of the house into submission for the next two or three days. Everyone sort of had a rude awakening there.

But then, some changes were bigger and more serious. A new member joined there pack (Veroncia) not all that long ago, and it was much to everyone except some of the adult's surprise. Everyone had to learn their new pecking order and where she fit in with the rest of them. Masaomi and Nariko continued their rituals and continued their seeing other people, to mixed results from both. Audrey was hanging around the house more, though she hadn't had the recommended Talk with Masaomi about joining, despite making this something of a second home for her. And of course, Junko's training continued despite the week long hiatus from it.

Everyone was changing, and everyone was adapting. Yamato even had a sexy car now. And at the culmination of everything, a sort of milestone in the midst of everything, there was Thanksgiving, the lead up to it, and the follow up after it leading into December. A time when a lot of people hung out in one house, and then things got weirdly tense for a variety of reasons. God bess us, every one. ]

Comments

[gunslingerqueen]

[They look so cute, even though Olivia, in her own teenage way, might be kind of resentful of such a picture perfect moment. In that moment Nariko can't help wanting to be there, with the littler one in her arms. The ache is so powerful that she has to set her phone down and stop looking at it for a few seconds. That's not her family, and it never would be. She'd - Well, there was no hope of having another daughter, now.]

Well you were kind enough to give me one, so I'll send you one later, I promise.

[Deep breathes.]

I don't want them to stay up too late so I'll be there as soon as possible. And what you aren't ready to let Olivia have a sip yet :P?

[Yes, she still uses old school emoticons.]

[futurelandia]

Call me a little old school, but I do think she needs to wait until she does it behind my back.

[ Still, he snorts a little at that, shaking his head. Joshua needs to work on his potatoes though, so he's got some time between these replies anyway, both his response to hers, and between these two ]

I got your favorite, though.

[ Or at least, what she said her favorite drink was (what is it?) a week ago ]

[gunslingerqueen]

You got the white chocolate wine???

[That's the first text, the second is:]

oh my god I almost want to leave right now.

[She will abandon things for alcohol and it's shameful.]

So basically it's gonna be us and the kids and wine and the whole night.

[At least until she leaves to come back home, but - is he going for an angle here or is she just paranoid?]

[futurelandia]

Sure did. Looking forward to seeing how drunk you'll get on it.

Kidding, of course! Just wanted to have something special for the occasion.

[ Not that he wouldn't want to have fun with her, what with his blueballs and all. Still, he shakes his head and ]

Like I said, the girls and I wanted to see you. Chances are Ariel'll be asleep by then, and we can hope she stays that way. Olivia might follow not long after.

[ And... ]

But if you can spare the whole night, I'm not going to pass that up.

[ If that implication he'd like sex even if he knows she might not actually do it is an angle, that's his angle. But the rest of it is genuine as well, and if she doesn't believe that, then she is paranoid. ]

[gunslingerqueen]

I think I can be there the whole night.

[Deep breathes. She needs to just - just commit to this, and maybe the alcohol will help her.]

Hey, I just want to say thank you okay? You've been really patient with me and I know it's been unfair to you but I think once Ariel and Olivia are asleep we can make up for some lost time.

[Definitely, this time. She'll strap herself to his bed if she has to.]

[futurelandia]

[ . . .

Olivia probably complains at her dad for how long he leaves his hanging. He looks at the phone, and he probably releases some of his scent, distorted by some back up. He frowns, and decides to go through another two steps in his cooking process. He thus waits the better part of twenty minutes to reply, and when he does, it's carefully thought out ]

Nariko, don't get too stressed about the whole thing or I might just disappoint your expectations in the first place, lost time or not. But if you can really stay the night, that's the best news I've heard in a long time now.

[gunslingerqueen]

[Twenty minutes. That's a long ass time between replies and she knows he's busy or the girls might need his attention but she can't help being nervous. Maybe he wasn't even attracted to her anymore, or she'd pissed him, made him wait too long. Maybe he was thinking of how to breakup with her...

It wasn't any of that and she feels silly for having a miniature meltdown over it. It takes a lot of work to keep from telling him that if she can manage to go through with it then that'll meet her expectations.]

I really can.

[She'll have to leave as soon as the sun comes up to be back in time for her morning ritual with Masaomi but it'll be worth it.]

you know this means you're obligated to think of me until I get there now

[futurelandia]

Come on, don't make me get all hard in front of my girls!

[ His comes with an actual real not old school emoji which is built into the phone of a tongue sticking out. He almost follows it up with something sincere, or some little bit about making sure her mate's okay with things, but ... she's an adult, she can handle things herself. He just needs to be ready for tonight. ]

[gunslingerqueen]

Gotta make it interesting!

[And they've definitely been an interesting pair. It's easy to flirt and kind of string him along but when they did manage to get to the finer details she seemed to break apart, turn into some shy, uncertain version of herself that needed guidance. As such all these fun words might not mean much of anything, because with Masaomi she was uninhibited, near crazy with the need to please. With Joshua it was just - it was different. Softer, and far more cautious. Hopefully it wasn't a bad thing for him.

But tonight she'll really do her absolute best to overcome that.]

[futurelandia]

Pretty sure you pull that off every time I see you.

[ The mood switching, if nothing else, really added to it. The way she became strangely demure was surprising, almost more so than that this began in the first place, or how at odds with how he body looked and the tattoos/piercings therefore of. He hums, and then takes another photo, this time of his face, giving her a little wink.

... Sue him, he's a bit excited ]

[gunslingerqueen]

oh that often? I had no idea ...

[Because clearly she missed his eager scent every single time they fooled around, she just lost her sense of smell near him or something like that. But good god he's terribly cute himself, and she likes that picture enough to immediately send it to her computer over their wifi.

But in return he gets a picture of Nariko at her desk in the library, draped over her textbook and some notes and drawings for pieces. She hasn't changed into her usual Thanksgiving clothes yet sooo, he gets a very decent cleavage shot, courtesy of her tank top.

Merry Christmas, Joshua. The smile she wears in that picture says it well enough so she doesn't bother texting the exact words.]

[futurelandia]

[ You know there are serious things he really ought to discuss with her. He wasn't kidding when he said that his girls wanted her around for thanksgiving. Olivia less so, given she was a teenager, but the four month old had been whining about wanting Naarr or some close approximation of that noise. He himself didn't know what to say about it, but it's been enough time... well, he doesn't want to make a scene, but maybe it was serious enough to discuss.

Still, flirting.

He smiles, blushing and pushing out the eager scent from that picture, which Olivia scolds him for. He huffs, and responds eventually ]

Just imagine I've got a pic of my tush for you here

[gunslingerqueen]

[Those sound like very serious things! They should definitely be talked about in some form or fashion, probably in the immediate or generally loose future. But she won't know a thing, especially not now when they're just flirting and kind of having fun. It's funny how she didn't quite realize how muted she was about today until he made her smile.]

If you bought a selfie stick to somehow manage the angle necessary for such a picture then I will love it solely because of the determination involved. ass shots are difficult. I would know.

[futurelandia]

More like I'm pretty sure Olivia'd kick me out of the kitchen for being "too lame" before I pilled it off.

[ This includes a little tongue out emote again. But then a pause, and... ]

Speaking of, Olivia says hi too.

[gunslingerqueen]

She'll come to embrace the Too Lame-ness of her father one day, it's inevitable. Just don't tell her I said that. But do tell her I said hi and that I found the shoes I think would fit her! I'll bring them over tonight, actually. And double speaking of! I wanted to take her shopping if that was alright with you, I meant to ask last time but didn't get around to it.

[Mostly because they'd ended the night with most of their clothes off and she'd bolted as soon as her panties came off. But never mind that.]

[futurelandia]

[ Olivia is dutifully informed of this, which she gives him a look for, and almost asks him the painfully difficult question of if he's trying to give her a new mom. He doesn't respond to that, instead just telling her "Oli, come on, we're just-" and she says "I know ... I'm looking forward to the shoes." ]

She's excited for the shoes! And I'm excited to hear you want to take her shopping, actually. I was hoping that you would spend some more time with her.

[gunslingerqueen]

[... Ah.]

She's a really great girl but I guess I didn't want to be. y'know, weird about it or whatever. She's not like Ariel, she remembers her mother just fine. I'm sure knowing that her father is interested in someone else, even passingly, is kind of hard on her.

[It'd certainly been hard on Junko, and she wasn't seeing nearly as many specifics as Olivia might see with her father..]

[futurelandia]

[ On his end, Joshua looks over at his girl, leans over and kisses her on the forehead, and asks her to handle what's left of the potatoes. Which is basically just putting the butter in and turning off the burner for then. No problem for him to walk over to his couch and sit in it ]

She does, but she's also no less mad at Melissa for leaving us. The whole things hard on her, and I'm glad you can see that. Just kind of the baggage I've got, you've got that whole pack, but if you're seeing me, its's just me and the girls, it's all the family I got. So you become on the edge of this family. I know it's a lot for you, but I've been hoping you would want to spend time with Olivia about that.

[gunslingerqueen]

[She stares at those words for a long time, letting certain things jump out at her more than others. 'All the family I've got' and 'spend time with Olivia'. This seems to be bordering on something that it shouldn't - can't be.

Or, well, is that really the case? She and Masaomi hadn't really talked about this, probably because it hadn't occurred to either of them in the moment. Was it wrong of her to provide emotional support to another man's kids? To be there for them and somewhat mother them? She doesn't really know, but.]

If it's not too hard on her then I don't mind taking her out some. There's a lot of stuff a girl can't talk to her father about anyway.

[futurelandia]

Thank you.

[ That's what comes out first, and he slumps back in the chair. He exhaled and runs a hand down his chin, stroking his beard. Melissa, damn the bitch, was the love of his life. When he was left by her, it ruined him. Ruined him. In so many ways. The man now was a ghost of who he was them, and he's pretty sure that his teenager daughter could see that. And it's probably because of that he's allowing himself to be this selfish. But it's precisely because of this same pain that he pulls the phone back up and,

He starts to type out "give you mate a big kiss before you leave" but then thinks better of it. He frowns at the phone, and sighs ]

Guess I owe you and that mate of yours a big Christmas gift, huh?

[ He's such a coward. And he's such an asshole. He needs her in his life to survive now, he's pretty sure. Or at least, his daughters and him benefit a lot from it. But if he had even the inkling he was contributing to breaking up two mates, he's pretty sure he wouldn't survive the guilt of it, knowing how it hurt for him. But playing both sides is so - ick. ]

[gunslingerqueen]

[She gets such a sense of relief from those two words on a screen, and she doesn't know why. But Nariko's happy to put the phone down, having lost much of anything to say in return, and she did have a quiz to finish out before Christmas break. But then the second text comes in and she's - it makes her stupid angry to read that. To be reminded that Joshua even thinks about Masaomi.]

you don't owe anyone anything

[Least of all Masaomi.]

Is Ariel doing okay?

[futurelandia]

[ It isn't something he always thinks about, her mate. But he is aware, well, that she has a mate. She has a pack. It's a balancing act in his mind, wanting to monopolize her time some - and feeling justified for that, at that - and wanting no part in the guilt he's sure he would feel if he influenced anyone to take actions similar to his Melissa's. It's something that weighs hard on his mind.

About as hard as the idea she really might not be that into him.

But she'd come back enough after running from him, e's pretty sure he made some sort of an impression ]

She's been fussy all day, but she's okay for now.

[ And he so does owe her ]

[gunslingerqueen]

That's good. I miss her. And you and Olivia.

[By the time she's sent that message the realization is only vaguely dawning upon her. She shouldn't have said that but it's, well, it's true.]

I'm sorry I'm trying to not be weird about it all and I'm not doing a good job

[futurelandia]

[ Perhaps she shouldn't have said that, but there's really no taking it back. The man's eyes glow a little at it, and he feels some skipping of both his heart and his loins. He's not really in love with her or anything, but he was leaning on her, and he did have a big crush on her and he really, really wanted to fuck her. Why wouldn't he be flattered? ]

Don't got to apologize to me for that one. I'll take an apology to my poor balls though.

[ There, he'll deflect it to make it shallower for them both ]

I'm still at work I swear I'm not purposely ignoring Audrey and Masaomi

[gunslingerqueen]

[And that's exactly what makes it so awkward, that there aren't any dramatic feelings, not really. He's kind of using her for almost the same reasons she chose him and there's some kind of unsettling irony in that. But the response helps and she finds herself smiling again.]

I'll apologize to all of you by wearing something very special. Slutty maid or hot pilgrim?

[She's kidding, obviously.]