masanari | [Futurelandia] The Wonderful Christmas (and maybe into New Years stuff too)

[Futurelandia] The Wonderful Christmas (and maybe into New Years stuff too)

[ Their pack's Christmas tended to be one which was full and chaotic, despite the fact that there were increasingly less children in the house as Yamato and Junko (and yes, Koji too) all grew to maturity. In some ways, this was actually more "kids" than had been in the house for it than in a long time, what with their new additions.

Still: Masaomi, Nariko, Ada, Sullivan, Emily, Octavio, Tom, Yamato, Junko, Koji, Veronica, and Audrey - Twelve people with at least one gift for everyone else, often times more in the case of those who were more generous or had deeper pockets or more to impress others with. The sheer number (even if it had grown over time) is probably what prompted them to set up a grate tree in one of the living room spaces which was probably meant to be a formal dining room and then lay out all the presents from everyone wrapped up under it andt hen sprawled out for a wide area around it all. There's chairs set up in a circle around the room to give everyone room to sit and the first one there (Which if, of course, Masaomi) brought bags for the wrapping paper to go into a recycle.

Also Masaomi has on a santa hat and a fake beard. Both of which Ada picked out years ago, and he wears mostly out of tradition. It's similarly out of tradition that he got up at the ass crack of dawn to sit in the room and eat some rice before anyone else got up, wait for them all to filter on in here usually starting with Ada or Sullivan or in recent years his eldest son so people can start to make breakfast and be ready. But either way, breakfast and present opening in the morning! A white elephant gift exchange game in the afternoon! A big dinner in the evening!

Christmas is a time of togetherness, where there has to be some structure, but there's a lot which can happen beyond all that and often did. Movies watched, songs sung, and even if this year of different and strange for a variety of reasons... well. It was still their day, and everyone would enjoy it. ]

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[If he does that to Yamato anytime soon Masaomi, for the first time in nearly twenty years, will know what it's like to be in the doghouse. No sex, no affection, and possibly kicked into someone else's room, too. That cheap sensibility wasn't going to keep him warm at night or pay him any attention! But, hey, if he really wanted to die on that hill? His business.]

I still can't believe you did that! Where did the idea to go away even come from? [... It's probably normal for a lot of couples to go away together, but they've just never done it, so.]

I mean, it'd have to be a small house, at least! Let's see, I should be able to use my skills as a realtor's wife here and ... A two floor home with a master bedroom and matching bath, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a modest kitchen with updated appliances, a porch, and a decent backyard with a white fence!

[Okay so she could have been a little more eloquent but it's not bad for someone trying to copy Realtor Speak.] Basically something just big enough for us and anyone who might temporarily visit. It'd be great to swing a breakfast nook, but that might just make it harder to find.

[Compared to their actual house what she's asking for is technically small but. Yeah, it's basically another house.] Besides, if it's only that big then I can take care of it just fine! It'll keep me busy. That and gardening. Oh! And I'm actually going to learn how to cook now, so when we're there I can actually have dinner ready!

[.... She's got a whole image going on here, Masaomi.]

Honestly, I'm probably thinking the same as you, some alone time just seemed nice.

[ That's... that image is pretty complete, pretty wide, pretty broad. He's not sure what to think of it, and while he was on board with the idea of them getting their own place to get away, he was thinking more like a condo or an apartment that they go off for a retreat ever now and again. A house of that size was actually potentially pretty big for just two people. And who did she think they were entertaining? But... might as well discuss it ]

Mmmm? That sounds more like a house that we'd move into than one which we'd just go for for some time alone. In fact, if I was going to sell us on time alone I was go one floor with only a master bedroom and bath with a modest kitchen and a sizable den for if we wanted to host... guests.

[ But moving out of this house? That was unthinkable. This was their dream house - hell, it was Nariko's before it was his. but somehow in the back of his mind he wonders if she wasn't satisfied with it, if she had somehow wanted it not to filled with their pack, but with...

This wasn't the time to get paranoid. She was going to garden and learn to cook? (and could she actually manage it, she tried to cook for years was she saying she never learned in all that time?) ]

[She wasn't suggesting moving out of the house, even if the dream she'd associated with it ... Didn't originally include Masaomi in the strictest sense. And if he's thinking that she'd originally thought to fill that house with kids then, well, he's right. She had looked at it and planned to buy it before they'd properly mated and accepted that their future would include one another. She'd planned on raising Yamato by herself, getting him to a certain age, and then the idea was to find someone again and basically start over again. It was still her dream house, but it had ended up holding a dream she hadn't thought to buy into until Junko was born, that was all.

As far as Nariko's concerned ... Didn't he already know all of that? They'd never discussed it outright and in truth there were only little hints to this truth but she kind of assumed he parsed it out which. Might not have been the case!]

I don't think we're really 'guest' people.

[It's not as if neither of them have friends, even outside of the pack but. It was difficult to imagine happening.] You're probably right, though.

[Her responses aren't clipped or even vaguely unnatural but. She's a little embarrassed at herself, that's all. She'll get over it.]

A--ah... I don't want to shoot down your vision though?

[ Maybe it was just a money thing, like the two story house struck her as a better status symbol. Or something. ... Man he didn't want to blow it this soon into it ] Just more... the bigger the side house is, the more hassle there is with keeping it maintained and such.

[ . . . Yeah they need more friends.

Probably. Now he's embarrassed, and mildly worried that he offended her. Maybe she really did want to move out? After all, Charlotte's pack didn't all live in one house. Not all of them necessarily did. But a two floor house with a white picket fence... he wasn't totally ignorant, he couldn't help but wonder if that would eventually make her wish she were married or they could have more kids or - ... or he's being dumb again. Okay, breathe, be honest ] That's all I was really worried about, because I don't want to move out of this one completely.

[ He wasn't actually worried about them, he realizes. As a couple, they're rock solid, and he can feel confident in that. Rather, he just wanted to impress her a lot, and he was worried about being the one to make it difficult for her. So really, it all came back to his now belated (and far too late) realization maybe they could have more kids. ]

Edited 2016-01-10 05:39 (UTC)

[Uh, excuse you Masaomi, Nariko has lots of friends from school, actually? Gosh don't assume like that, jerk.

In any case, she shakes her head.] I don't want to move out either, though. Our pack is still here, we can't just not be here. [Because while it's true that some packs were a little spread out that had never appealed to her, and her father had been vocal about his disdain for that practice, so it had kind of seeped into her in some ways.] But you do have a point, and I guess we're a little beyond all that.

[If she just moves the playset the yard they have now should be big enough, and she can put more flowers in front so that'll be kind of like having a flower based garden. They're obviously not getting the kids anymore but it would have been nice to at least have the house and the quiet. She could be happy with just that. But, well.

.... Why would he even need to impress her.]

[ ... He feels he owes it to her to impress her. After all, she was the love of his life, and he feels like he only realized what that really means recently. Like he had maybe taken it for granted for years and yes ]

But.

[ He hums a little, and he tilts his head ]

Does Nathaniel garden? ... Also how do you feel about cacti?

[ These questions might not seem related, but the gears are clearly turning his head ]

I have no idea if he does or not. I'd imagine he doesn't, since he's usually busy, and when we were younger the house we lived in didn't have much of a yard to do anything with. [That and she hadn't been very interested in anything that made her dirty when she was a teenager, so there was less of a chance he might have gotten into it on his own.]

I'm really not big on cacti, and I'm not entirely sure how I produced a daughter that doesn't appreciate tulips as much as I do, and would rather have a whole row of tiny, uninviting prickly things on her shelves.

[So. No on any cactuses. Please don't get her a cactus, Masaomi. Obviously something is churning in your head but it had better not result in getting an at least moderately classy woman like Nariko a cactus. Go for roses. Or the tulips.

Also if you listen closely enough you might hear Junko hollering about cactuses being a pathetic metaphor for herself okay.]

Awww, I think her collection is cute, myself.

[ Still. ]

I was just thinking, you could arrange the garden at Nathaniel's property - if he takes the one I've got in mind, it'll only be a seven minute walk. And then for our personal space on the edge of town, we could do something more low effort.

[ But obviously, cacti are out. He nods at this, still with his head tilted. He was working out the best way to handle this, because... well, having too much at the second property would just give them complications. He didn't see anything wrong with giving her that excuse to see her brother though, not really. ]

I'm not sure his girlfriend would like that very much, though.

[... She knows he's trying to compromise, here, it's just kind of a shame that Masaomi doesn't get it, or even the hint of it. He probably didn't even know to take Irina into consideration and he can't help being who he is.] You've already got something in mind for him, though?

[This is about as safe a topic change as they can hope to manage right now. Or maybe not entirely safe because she imagines that house and that full image with - well. With Nathan. It's only for an instant, and it doesn't affect her scent or even shift her expression but. Hm. Hindsight and all that. Not being good enough, and all that.]

... Hey, when were the dates for our trip, again? [If she remembers them right, then didn't he schedule it really close to when she'd go see her brother? Or something along those lines.]

[ What is he missing! You really got to tell him these things if he's missing something with your dream houses, okay. He's learned the hard way that if he tries to read intent too much that can end up backfiring on him. Still... ]

Aaaah, you'd be cutting her effort anyway, she might like it. [ A beat - ] But yeah, I do.

[ He hums and - ] We leave on the 5th and get back on the 12th.

[ So he might be cutting into the time, depending on how you look at it. ]

[Considering that she had every intention of actually leaving on the 4th and coming back on the 11th it goes beyond just eating into one end of the time frame. It's true that she hadn't exactly discussed it with him beforehand, but she hadn't thought that would really be necessary since, well, up until a few hours ago they weren't going on a trip together.]

Hm.

[Obviously she has to push off going to see Nathan until the 13th, or she'll have to go to him straight from their trip, but.] I'm not going to be able to stay with him for very long, then.

[She goes back to school around the 16th, after all.] Well, I guess that means I won't be away for too long.

[.... This'll actually be the longest they've ever been away from their kids, and she's pretty much never left the house, come to think of it. Shit.]

[ He---? Oh, right, Nathan. Had she planned to be at Nathan's for a week or something? ]

He'll be here himself soon enough though, right? [ Maybe Masaomi had figured Nathan could move too fast, be all packed up enough for Nariko to finish the job even before the New Years, and then she went over the seal the deal and possibly even flew back with him. Still, the guy had a whole house and a whole life, so maybe that was unrealistic. ]

I didn't know you had booked anything.

I didn't, the flights'll be cheaper the closer to New Years we get. [See!! She's not expensive about everything! Although maybe that's not the right takeaway for this conversation. She's quiet for an extra moment, trying to figure out the best way to tackle this.]

You know, if it was another man I'd think that it was best for to just wait until he gets here with Irina.

[She's not saying that's what'll happen, but he knew she couldn't go after Christmas because she wouldn't have made it back in time for New Years day, which she spent with her mate. So. The logical conclusion there had to be that she would go sometime after then, and before she went back to school.

While Nariko's willing to accept that she's maybe being a little paranoid and critical here? She'd bet just as much that he did it all on purpose.]

[ Hmmmm.... ]

No, no, I don't think so. The both of you were looking forward to seeing each other without me breathing over your shoulder, particularly Nathaniel.

[ and... Well, yes, it was deliberate in some ways, but really, could you blame him. That spineless puke told Nariko to leave him, and even if he was mostly cool with the guy or at least was trying to be, there were hard feelings over that ]

If needed, I can get my money back for the flight.

[ And he should be able to cancel at least the resort room... He's trying to show openness to her but he knows or at least hopes she won't take it, won't want to have an extended trip with her bother over a trip with her mate. ]

Edited 2016-01-10 07:28 (UTC)

[Without me breathing over your shoulder?! It's that, really, and the mention of money, that upset her so badly in that moment. Could his words be taken as a sign of openness, that he'd be willing to cancel it all so that she could see her brother? Sure. Maybe. But there's no way that Nariko would ever view it that way unless she really sat and combed over the words which - might have been a possibility if he wasn't always so concerned about fucking money!]

Obviously I'm going with you.

[But it's good to know he apparently thought it was a choice, when it never was.]

[ He thought she would, but all the same, he says - ] Mmmm, I'd hoped you would.

[ Because it was a choice, everything they did was a choice. And the siblings probably would benefit from time together when he was on the other side of the planet, or at least, Nathan would see that as beneficial, even if it made his stomach do some strange flips. But the Alpha cups his her face in hands, not necessarily oblivious to how upset she is, but also not necessarily knowing the extent of it ]

Time together alone like that really will be fun.

[ Both on this trip and with her little house idea. Sure he might have gotten on her about the specifics she threw out, but he didn't dislike the theory! ... Maybe he was missing something under all of it, though. ]

Edited 2016-01-10 07:53 (UTC)

[It's an incredibly good thing that he doesn't know how upset she is because if he did the last thing Masaomi would want to do is touch her. He trusted her to fuck everyone on the planet but he couldn't trust her to naturally choose him, or to be alone with her brother for a little while? He had to use one of the few, meaningful romantic and thoughtful gestures he'd ever shown her as some kind of backwards ass evaluation?

It just sucked. And in a way it was impossible to keep up with what he deemed inevitable and what was apparently a choice.]

It will be.

[She can probably stop being upset by the 5th.]

[ The truth of the matter is that if Yamato excited him, Nathan scared him. When he was in the abstract, back at the pool, that was more exciting that she would admit it. But when he met the man... the fact of the matter was that Nathaniel not only probably could make a compelling argument to her that she would be better off without him, but he was willing to do it when he was in the same room. What would he be willing to do with him a continent away.

He didn't see it as a test, or if he did, he saw that test as being romantic in and of itself. Maybe that was his failing.

But all the same... She doesn't smell as into him right now. He --

He was going to kiss her, but he decides not to. He slowly removes his hands from her face ]

I'm looking forward to it.

[Nathan wouldn't do anything, and neither would Yamato. Whether one excited him or the other scared him none of it would amount to anything at all. She can't really understand why he doesn't see that, but maybe that's what happens when your brain runs so quickly and constantly. You lose focus of the details that make up the whole picture in your head, and if enough of those small details are wrong then the whole thing can be, too.

In a way that's how she pushes the anger out of herself. In the end Masaomi still thinks she's someone that others might actually want enough to fight over and that's ... Really not the case. So it makes him stupid enough to accidentally hurt her feelings, in the end.]

You know, it's almost a little scary to realize that we haven't spent a lot of time alone together.

[She's back to normal, now! And even though it makes her feel a little desperate she tries to catch one of his hands so she can kiss his palm. He always pulls away when she needs him to hold on, or at least be dramatic. But maybe that's more of the romantic mess that gets them into these weird moments. She's supposed to be stopping, she promised herself she would before they came back home.

Maybe it just took practice.]

Edited 2016-01-10 08:17 (UTC)

[ That is absolutely the case, excuse you? Even putting aside that Nathan tried to do it in front of him, Masaomi firmly, firmly believes that she is the greatest woman in the world. Ergo, she is the most desirable woman in the world and therefore, there are many people who would want to take her from him. Basically everyone, really, though very few stand a chance between her ability to choose him and other people's being intimidated by him.

Or at least, it's that flux, that lens that he sees the world through. To him, it's exciting and terrifying and beautiful, especially now that they have that stronger connection that the funeral had created. It's why he had worked hard to finish that manuscript, or why he had wanted to give them some alone time in the first place. And when he's tugged back in he's...

mildly surprised. But only for a moment, only for an instant.

He smiles, and he takes that as his cue to kiss her after all. ]

Mmm. That's my failing more than anything, I'd think. Not only did I get that job, but I made this pack and gave you all those kids.

[ . . . It's a joke. It's not a great one, but few of his are ]

[But Nathan had rejected her. He hadn't stayed here with her, he hadn't even tried to fuck her for the entirety of that trip. And while it was true that her brother might be made weaker as a result of her presence, or maybe he was just weak in general - she couldn't know until she saw him around other people, after all - but if a man really wanted something, didn't he go after it? Or was that kind of thoughtless action unique to Nariko?]

Masaomi, tell me you love me.

[Because that's really what she needs to hear, right now but it might take a half hour or more for him to round up to that on his own. So she's speeding things up.]

[ That's... He actually blinks at that, as if she needed to ask that of all things. But dutifully, he responds, ]

I love you.

[ In fact, his eyes move off from her but only for a moment, only to look at the face down picture frame she's brought along with her when he carried her over, and then right back to her. ... He'd offended her again, but this time, he was only barely sure how. He could only barely guess what the problem was. ]

[What, she can't just need to hear it?] I love you, too. [And then:] Thank you.

[But she ends up watching the path his eyes make, from her to the frame back to her again. Thankfully of the two of them Nariko isn't the one to hesitate to ask a question or voice her first thought.]

What is it?

[He's staring for a reason, and she knows that, so he's better of just answering than trying to lie to her.]

You don't thank me for loving you, Nariko. [ Which is totally and completely not in contradiction to the fact that they chose to be together like this and shut up. ... Okay no, their biology helped a lot with that. Still, the Alpha - ah. He strokes her hair, absently. ]

I was just thinking back on how young we really were then. And our kids are really still quite young, if we compare them to us.

[ Basically, even if Yamato is an adult legally and Junko isn't long to follow, even if Koji knows his mate or Yamato is an Alpha, even if Junko went off to college or Yamato became a pro... even when they were in their early-mid 20s and mated and had a kid, in retrospect, they were so young. Or at least, it feels like that as compared to now. So even with all of their experiences then, they were young. How mature could their children possibly be.

... So basically, she was right to say he shouldn't have mentioned grandchildren ]

That's not what I was thanking you for. [So he really didn't need to worry about that. But she relaxes into that touch, draws designs along his lower back and up his spine as she listens to what he's saying just as much as everything he keeps to himself.] They're incredibly young, Masaomi, and we're not exactly old, either.

[Sure, they weren't in the same class as Yamato and Junko anymore, but no one was at an extreme aspect of the spectrum, here. When they'd been dealing with Yamato and his arrival they'd been stupid, winging it like any other set of new parents. If anything Nariko would make the argument that she wasn't really any sort of 'adult' until her mid thirties, and now she's just barely edging towards the next tier. They've spent a lot of time scrambling to figure out how it all works.

Maybe that was kind of why she wanted another kid. Yamato had been the first pancake, Junko was a little easier, and then Koji had just been outright smiled. If they had a fourth they'd both finally know enough to be the best parents they could be. ... But that was another topic. She looks at that picture too, and then makes the ridiculous effort to reach over just enough to turn it over so she can really look at it.]

I'm sorry. [She got upset, and some of the reasons for that upset were valid. But other parts of it were stupid and illogical.]

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They. They were doing so well.

God dammit woman rofl (okay no it's his bad as well buttmad at Nathan and wary)

the only mild upside is that he's wary of the right person at least?? or something like that.

hahaha true. .... Sob

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You know before their trip she's got enough tim to read them through his eyes in his book

true. but how much that fixes things is up in the air tbh the reverse is the real issue imo

yeah it really is, but it can be a conversation starter of "wow this is not how it is"

that is a very very good point

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