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

[generalflirt]

[ 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. ]

Comments

Well like I said it'll come to me eventually

[generalflirt]

Wouldn't it just be too sticky?

[ Fun. huh... it might be a little bit fun, all things considered! But hey, she's the one who insists on the waffles (he doesn't dislike the waffles though don't get it twisted) and the reason he's opening the door for them now, blinking at the dimmer lighting inside of the place ]

[gunslingerqueen]

Probably, but that's why fantasies exist!

[Once they're in she sighs pleasantly, because while it's dim there's the smell of coffee (slightly burnt), the sound of cooks hollering ... She likes it. It's comforting after the insanity of New Years Eve, which has included a lot of drinking, a lot of sex, and a lot of antics - usually all at once time. Waffles are great for soaking up all the after effects.]

So, what did you think of Lana? Aside from the whole being attractive enough to have sex with part.

[That was pretty self-explanatory.]

[generalflirt]

Mmmm, honestly, I'm not sure the impression I got goes too far beyond that.

[ That he can remember, at least? He squeezes her arm and tries to avoid doing something like tapping his cheek with a finger. He rocks in place and tilts his head a little. Okay... so what he thought of Lana? and man, he could continue with the chain of thought of the syrup ocean because that's interesting, but all the same, let's just get a booth or some shit. Either way... ]

Less talking than you'd think and all.

[gunslingerqueen]

[Yup, a booth! The one she likes is actually taken so they're going for the second best option.]

Really? She's the first of my school friends that you've met! [So she kind of wanted a whole opinion but, eh, they were both at a party.] I didn't think she'd be that enamored with you, though. I'd be worried if it was someone else.

[Nariko's somehow conveniently ignored that Lana's pretty obsessed with both of them.]

[generalflirt]

Haaaaaah... my bad. [ another easy apology. It's getting easier to do that, lately. And with that done, the young man shakes his head. He leans forward some in the booth (will they sit next to each other or across from each other) and he smiles a bit wider. Okay... ] It's a party, after all.

[ And as he said before, he probably shouldn't have said that. ]

I'm surprised I made the impression, but I guess I was going sort of hard.

[gunslingerqueen]

[Across, because otherwise she'd probably just take a nap on him or something.]

She's the type to idealize. She thinks we're this perfect couple or something.

[It's a whole thing to get into and she's already doing a bad job of explaining it. Lana had taken to her like black on latex, and since Nariko didn't exactly hide her life, she'd inevitably wanted to know more about Masaomi.]

I think I'm more surprised that you were into a woman who won't let anyone fuck her cunt. [It's after eleven-thirty in the morning, she's allowed to be vulgar.]

[generalflirt]

In my case, if I'm presented with something like that I'll consider it an amusing oddity! ... At least at first.

[ He has a lot of things to process in that response, so might as well respond to the last thing first, that just makes sense. The guy waves his finger in the air, and then presses it on the table between them, giving an almost sheepish shrug. He then grins a little more and leans back ]

A perfect couple though... eeeeh. Maybe it's just the tired, but I'll take it.

[ A sage nod ] But no, I met her early in the night, and in retrospect, Emily was clearly trying to introduce us because she popped up later to talk more.

[gunslingerqueen]

[Oh, the scheming one just happened to point out the young woman with the infatuation! That wasn't playing to Masaomi's desire for attention and domination at all! It takes a bit of work to shove back the response that's crawling up her throat but she manages it when their waiter arrives, asking about drinks. Since she already knows what she wants Nariko goes ahead and orders.]

I'm glad you got along.

[Although that they got along that well might be ... Interesting, to say the least.]

[generalflirt]

Yeah.

[ He sighs... should he ask about Yamato in turn? Nah, maybe in a bit, once he gets some tea this morning. Right now, he just smirks a bit more, rolls his eyes, and leans his head against his palm and holds out the other hand so he can take one of hers. He... ]

I was calling her Jello Girl all night in my head.

[gunslingerqueen]

[Tea sounds good, she almost regrets asking for coffee. She reaches over to hold his hand.]

What? [How weird. But there has to be an explanation for it.] Why that, of all things?

[Probably because it was a mess of a party with gross amounts of alcohol and drugs, and nothing has to make sense after the first fifteen minutes when you walk into one of those situations.]

[generalflirt]

Because I first ran into her when asked to suck jello out of her belly button.

[ He says this factually. He knows it might get her ire but... he doesn't think that it'll be a big problem in the grand scheme of things. So he shrugs his shoulders and squeezes her hand back. Nothing he did was wrong, just perhaps a little bit tacky all things considered ]

Then later in the night when she was passed out.

[ He tilts his head ]

[gunslingerqueen]

Well, that'd do it.

[... Is that supposed to upset her or something? It doesn't. Mostly she just kind of strokes her finger over one side of his hand, an idle little habit while she waits for her food. She probably would call it a bit tacky, but it's not her job nor her right to police what he does.

Besides, she's mostly glad he didn't get arrested or something.]

Mm, well, she's a lightweight, it's to be expected.

[generalflirt]

You've been drinking with her before? I somehow never realized pot hits Emily like a truck.

[ Or it's just got a lot stronger since his heyday of it when he was like fourteen, which is also ... more than entirely possible, all things considered. He gives a lightly curious sound, but he's wearing a self-satisfied smile because of the motion of her hand ]

[gunslingerqueen]

I have, but she also weighs a hundred pounds wet, so that doesn't help.

[Nariko's never met a woman that small and thin that could actually hold her liquor, so it's either an organ related thing or a mere fact of life. Considering that her own tolerance for alcohol has essentially evaporated over the years, it really counts for something if she's mentioning the trait in someone else.]

She doesn't smoke it in the house, that's probably why.

[generalflirt]

Ah, makes sense! [ On both counts.

... But man, if Nariko is pointing out that she's got a low tolerance is interesting. He almost, almost says something about it. But then he doesn't, exhaling and leaning forward a little. So... ]

So she's very taken with you, is it?

[gunslingerqueen]

Mmhm.

[That's, yeah, that's it for a second there. It's just sort of an accepted fact by now, she's beyond the point of being alarmed or vaguely weirded out by people like Ada or Lana.] It's not a malicious thing or whatever, or even inherently romantic.

[Lana just really, really likes her, a weird best friends with benefits kind of thing, with the addition of above average envy. It's kind of weird, and Nariko's often avoided thinking about it.] Like I said, she always asked about you and how it all works. I don't think she's ever been in a genuinely serious relationship.

[generalflirt]

Mmmmmm, well, she is a little bit younger than even Emily, right? [ Or maybe they're the same age? Or ... older? Maybe? He's not sure, but he hums a little ]

I might have fanned that, actually.

[ Because he comes to some realization now, squeezing her hand. It's not to issue her support or himself support, more to just center himself as all the details start to float back into his head from the other night... year. ]

[gunslingerqueen]

Mmhm, she's twenty-three.

[She laughs a bit, not at the squeezing but at his choice of words.] You did that by default.

[So anything that resulted from that alone isn't really his fault.]

[generalflirt]

True, I am pretty good. But she also asked about joining the pack last night, and being drunk... eeeh, well, I'll talk t her about it, she's not held to those conditions until the official talk.

[ So he shouldn't worry about it, he decides part way through saying it. He might be a literal sort of guy at the worst of times, but even he knows better than to live and die by the calls of Tequila brain. He shakes his head, and then he loks at Nariko curiously, as if asking her if she thinks Lana is legit or not ]

[gunslingerqueen]

[None of that is surprising in the least, it's the culmination of a few different things going on all at once time. As a result she's probably not the best person to ask for an opinion, and she's tempted to say as much. So to that wordless question she ... Shrugs.]

It's not an easily defined situation. Her reasons might be thin but that doesn't mean the effect she'll have should be undermined.

[Lana's much closer to their kids age, she's flightly, emotional, difficult, and far too impulsive. But she's also creative, grounded, undeniably compassion, loyal, and fair. If nothing else she'd make a good bridge between the youngest parts of their pack and the eldest.

All of this goes into yet another shrug.]

[generalflirt]

Maaaah. Even a shallow reason can still affect someone, and it can still inspire other people. I'll look forward to hearing it.

[ He folds his arms behind his head, leaning back as he says it. He's not sure if that's wise or just some bullshit. Maybe it's a little bit of both - but it's true, isn't it? It's not like his own reasoning for making this pack of theirs were all that deep. But he hums a little, surprised that Nariko doesn't question it more.

Maybe he should just supply more?

Well... weird promises probably don't matter until he knows if Lana was serious. ]

[gunslingerqueen]

Exactly.

[Well, she has to let go of him then, so she rests her chin in the hand that was being held before, closes her eyes for a second. Lana as a pack mate is just going to be ... A lot. She already knows it, but it's not her place to really argue based on that alone.]

At least this way we can all carpool.

[Silver linings.]

[generalflirt]

If she qualifies.

[ He doesn't want to it become an idea that it was a given. Sure there's been ... basically no refusals from him once he got as far as his private talk with him, but the pack that opens their doors to anyone is the pack that looses the ethics of what it was. It becomes more like those big political ones in the government of those fraternities-turned-"packs" which spring up at some colleges. There's no morals in that, no soul because it's discarded the need to have the Alpha pick and choose things carefully.

Or so be believes. ]

[gunslingerqueen]

Mm.

[He's free to his own beliefs, but it's far from a matter of thinking that Lana was guaranteed. It's that you didn't devote yourself to someone for nearly twenty years and not understand how their mind works. It's not a given but she knows her own mate well enough, has spent enough time with Lana, to understand how likely her acceptance may end up being.

But she also understands that Masaomi's got his pride in that, so there's no reason to poke at it. What she can do is dive into her food the second it's set down in front of her!]

yay you're back i'm excited

[generalflirt]

[ Works for him, he's not about to question anything here! Masaomi stretches a little bit as he goes for the food himself when it comes. The Lana topic is left there. He could mention his promises, but they don't... really matter right now, all things considered.

So he eats in silence, smiling at her. Whatever else they need to talk about can wait. Do they need to talk about more...? Ah, well, maybe. He'll let her be the one to breach it whenever she wants. ]