[Futurelandia] An Eventful Valentines and beyond (happy new year)

[generalflirt]

[ Nathan moved into tow and that was awkward, Yamato and Nariko probably have some sort of a relationship and that's awkward, Yamato's been trying to make new friends so that's interesting, and Masaomi and Nariko are hopefully solid as anything after that trip, Nathan and Yamato complications aside. There's a new pack member that Masaomi met at a party and Nariko met in class. It's been over a month since the new year began and the old one concluded.

A lot's changed and yet not a lot had at all.

And frankly, things were probably just going to change that much more in the coming days and weeks. this might be edited to something more poetic later once we conclude more stuff about that other log ]

Comments

[gunslingerqueen]

[She laughs a bit, going along with it - Nariko hadn't thought he would leave her in the first place, she just really needed something to say in that moment, bring herself back to reality. As far Yamato, uh, well she's probably going to find out what happens when she isn't able to send a picture every hour. She is breaking the rules but it's going to be difficult to take a picture without Masaomi, and did Yamato really want that? She'd just have to take the low road on this one.]

I'm sure you'll get wild later on, I look forward to hearing about the aftermath.

[Set of stairs!! One of the final obstacles!]

I can't wait to share a bed with you again. [It's the little thing.]

[generalflirt]

Same. Plus I feel bad for stealing the bed for a month.

[ And to some extent their room as a whole. He's still not clear on if she insisted on that one or not, but it still felt rude to deprive her like that. Either way, Masaomi laughs a little too as he gets them walking up the stairs.

She looks forward to hearing about the aftermath...?

Was that genuine? Actually, know what. ]

Wouldn't you be feeling it more than hearing about it?

[gunslingerqueen]

It smells like us, it would have defeated the point if I'd still slept there.

[Mostly she hadn't enjoyed sleeping alone on the very occasional nights when Yamato was busy with something else.]

That, too. But I enjoy it when you have every reason in the world to fuck me senseless, there's no 'aftermath' for me, just an afterglow.

[And they are not the same thing.]

[generalflirt]

Maaaah, I guess. [ ... Huh ] So what's alluring about an aftermath, then?

[ You know what, this sort of not quite serious but maybe serious quippy communication? This is getting them up the stairs, so that's good. Even if he does squeeze her a little tighter, both to pull her into him because of a brief question floating in his mind and because she just turned him on again ]

[gunslingerqueen]

Well, I guess part of it is how hard they're all going to try and do as much as they can, but you're going to leave every woman in this pack a complete, knocked up, drooling mess.

[She raises a finger.] Except me. I'll just be a happy mess who remains better than them!

[That doesn't sound arrogant or slightly played up at all! She tilts to kiss his cheek, though.]

[generalflirt]

[ Does he call out the technicality of Junko or Veronica and how even he's not sure if they're on the menu or not? Maybe. But right now, he just tries hard not to read anything into her tone, just laughing as she says that, and leaning into the kiss with some pride. She seemed so relaxed about it all. Or at least accepting?

It's interesting, nice. ]

Well it's pretty easy to be the top of the pack when you are the best, you know. Don't take too much joy in them being messes though. I feel like there's a pool for the order they fall in.

[ A little played up. ]

[gunslingerqueen]

[It's better to avoid reading into it, as Nariko is just sort of talking idly, enjoying her time with him.]

Mm, I'm sure there's lots of opinions about who is supposed to go where.

[That's a genuine guess on her part! It seems like the kind of thing they'd all get involved in if Masaomi asked, and Masaomi would definitely ask. And as far as she's concerned Junko's still off the roster as a whole, and Veronica is in limbo, but she's probably a green light.]

[generalflirt]

Oh, dozens. Want to weigh in yourself? After all, no one knows me better.

[ Then again, they do all know themselves? Or they can talk about some other topic - them, her class, her anything? They're talking this now, s he just quips something back about it, but says that second part both to be sincere and to allow her to duck out if she wanted ]

[gunslingerqueen]

No, that's alright.

[To her the order of it doesn't even really matter, so she wouldn't be able to think up an arrangement that would interest him. ..... The truth is Nariko doesn't care since she can't be the first, so rather than take joy in the idea like Emily had Nariko's immediately bored. Que sera, sera and all that.]

I'll just wait my turn. I'm still a bit worried, in some respects, but it would be nice to have kids again.

[She'd wanted, like, ten of them before?? So this is just getting back to how she was before, and smoothing over the hesitancy she'd displayed to him before.]

[generalflirt]

Why would I possibly wait?

[ Unless she still doesn't want to, that is. But he says it with a smile, so he sort of doubts that she would deny him that right now. Or well, in general. If she did, though, he wouldn't deny her that one because it's obviously a really big deal. Still, he does confidently...

Want to knock her up ]

[gunslingerqueen]

[ ........... Shit.]

Didn't you promise Emily first? She's the one that got the end of her almost mid-life crisis and decided to give it a try.

[NICE SAVE!!

Sounds a whole lot better than 'you go second because your son got it in first'.]

[generalflirt]

I did, but for all I know she decided to ask that boyfriend by now. And I'm not sure it was a promise-promise, I was drunk...

[ He gives a dramatic little wave. And a laugh. He hasn't connected there's a bigger issue there - either way, he can knock her up first and there's no way anyone would refuse him that! And they're at the top of the stairs. Now they just need to go down the hall and get in their room ]

[gunslingerqueen]

You still have to meet him, but he's not the kind of guy that inspires a 'I totally want him to knock me up' kind of feeling, you know?

[The desire to find certain traits in a father is something that Emily and Nariko both share, that and she's met the elusive boyfriend very briefly. If Nariko can tell within less than five minutes then it's really a problem, and ultimately she can understand how Masaomi would be the much more logical, comforting choice.

... She should really rip the band-aid off and just tell him, right? Maybe once they get inside.]

I was thinking about it, and I wonder if it's such a good idea to keep going to school if this is what's going to happen. There'll actually be a point to my staying home now.

[generalflirt]

I still do want to meet him, I'm not sure if he's right or wrong...

[ That said... ]

You don't need to though! Long term, as we get a new generation, it might be an idea... but I know you've been loving adapting to that school life. So there's no reason to drop out until the end of it all. [ He hums ] At least get some minor degree to show for it, worst comes to worst I can call Linda over to nanny.

[ Linda, his older sister who was the only one (except maybe Rin) who wasn't in a pack with some prominent position of her own to show for it. Well, Haruki only barely was. But still, technically she's got less going on ] Not to mention we can force Nathan into the labor.

[gunslingerqueen]

We can invite him over soon? We have a long weekend coming up.

[It's a bit surprising to hear that answer! Masaomi had seemed kind of ambivalent about her going to school and now he's encouraging her to not give up a third of the way through. There's something heartwarming about it.]

What are relatives for, if not doing us favors and getting to stay in our awesome house for free, in return?

[If they end up with a bunch of little kiddos and have multiple relatives stay over they might finally begin to fill the house up to it's obnoxious capacity.]

Thanks. [She's not assuming he has a whole lot of faith in her degree choice, but she does understand that Masaomi's probably trying to keep her happy and be considerate of her desires. What a good mate.]

[generalflirt]

Seriously! Seriously! I've got to meet this guy!

[ But as for everything else there... he snorts. No, he doesn't really "get" her degree, but it does suit her. Honestly, he's not gotten a degree of his own so maybe he's not in the right headspace for it. Still, he does want her to not have a useless college experience! It would be more fun for her that way, right? ]

But of course, though.

[ He's glad she didn't make a big deal out of Nathan there, he was trying to be casual about it all. ]

[gunslingerqueen]

[It's good timing, she can't handle anything serious concerning her brother so whether he meant it that way or not she had to let it go. When they finally make it inside she's happy to close the door behind them ...

... They did so well on their vacation, she doesn't want to ruin that, or have their entire mini-reunion here colored by her nerves.]

Masaomi, I have to tell you something.

[The guilt smacks into her like a tidal wave, and for a second she's tempted to cry. But she takes a deep breathe and puts her faith in him. It's only logical that he might be upset, but she has to trust that they'll get through it.]

I'm already - pregnant.

[It's not rocket science, there was no way it could be his, which meant someone else - Yamato, she'd bet, but that's not the point. He'd gotten so excited about this whole kids thing and this felt like some incredible betrayal.]

[generalflirt]

[ In all honesty - Alpha or not, especially right in front of his mate like this he is just a man - his immediate reaction might not actually help anything. Or at least, might not help that wave in her. Because as he stepped into the room, smiling still at his far flung idea and happy to let the more serious topics drop as they embrace their reunion, at least for three or four rounds before he then makes a game out of hearing the house gossip from her... she made him face her and she says that.

His expression first drops the smile and his brows knit together, as if running through a set of math to determine if it's possible it's his. When that's excluded his expression shifts to a half-open mouth as he tries to process who else it could be, until that's squashed just as quickly because it's obvious. She'd been ripped from one mate for a month because of his own bravado, it's only natural she would have the comfort of the other one, and no doubt...

That would run a pregnancy risk. The doubt comes to certainty, and while he doesn't look quite angry, he does keep that same expression like he's on the cusp of saying something and then redacting immediately what he might've said. And finally, he pushes out, ]

Oh.

[gunslingerqueen]

[It's not like she deserves to have the topic softened any, so it's fine. In fact, she expected something a lot worse, though it might just be on his way.]

Yeah.

[She wants to touch and hug him and make it better, and the only thing that stops her is compassion: If she heard that he'd run off and knocked someone up she'd be pissy as fuck all. But rather than standing there awkwardly she sits on the edge of their bed, quiet for a good, long moment.] ... You can't tell anyone what I'm about to say - not that I think you would, it's just - I know there's something difficult right now, but everyone's got their pride. You, me, him, everyone.

[That's not going to make her next words any more or less right. She's still going to be an awful person for feeling the way she does.] This is just bad timing. You know I wanted it to be you, even when I was scared of being a shitty mom again, I couldn't not imagine having your kids.

[She'd always wanted as many as possible, but after Koji a lot of shit started to come up, and she'd refused to deal with any of it.] ... So this is just bad timing, okay? That's it.

[generalflirt]

[ He can't tell anyone...? What did she say which was even so bad there? Ah, wait, it's the fact that he is (also) her mate. She was (also) his mate? Mates aren't meant to be shared... mates are not meant to shared. His mind is repeating thought processes should he? No, he needs to narrow himself, he needs to collect himself. What should he even feel about this - is it crueler to rage or be despondent? He's still not sure he's wholly over or wholly understanding about what's happened to her biochemistry and how that flies in the face of his worldview.

Still... ]

That's still your mate's child. If that bond's true, there's no way you aren't euphoric.

[ Even if she does feel bad to him... no, he shouldn't speak for her emotions, but he says it a little distantly, clearly still trying to process it himself, given his head tilts to the side ]

[gunslingerqueen]

Mm, you think so?

[She trails her eyes to her knees, trying to think of the right way to say it. Since Masaomi's been gone for so long she's had a lot of time to think about how this actually works in real time. So while she really had avoided him while he was healing because of their insane chemistry it had served an experimental purpose as well: What would happen to her if she spent more time with Yamato and gave him more attention? What would happen to her chemistry? A mateship was a biological phenomena, after all, one way or another it would change under various forms of stress.]

I'm happy, but I'm not euphoric.

[And there's something wrong with that because she was overjoyed for the first three kids. Stupid and giddy with the pure, undeniable reality that she was pregnant with her mates child. Hell, her desire to nest and practically shower people with unending affection had only increased.] I feel like I've skipped a step, and I wouldn't want to avoid this one either, but it just ... Feels like you should have come first. That's the only way I can describe it.

[It's an incredibly specific emotion: Still being happy to have Yamato's child, while also still feeling as if her first mate should have gotten it first (even though he already had. Three times over.).]

PS is that nursing thread done?

[generalflirt]

I do - I even have evidence as well, what with how you handled your first three.

[ A part of him wonders if she had her head wrapped around there being three, and not two. He's not really sure its his place to question that, but a part of him is now academically curious to talk about the changes to her biochemistry. How it worked now. But if he became academic, indulged in that, he would work past the whole emotional core of this issue. And that wouldn't be right at all, either for discussing this or for the fact both of them wanted to fuck a lot.

He took a step closer to her, his head rolling to the other side. ]

I'm sorry that's the case then.

[ For her... and really, honestly, for him. ]

Nah I just can't handle where junko would inevitably take it rn so - tomorrow? If that's ok

[gunslingerqueen]

[They've never hidden anything from each other before, this whole affair, completely fucking weird as it is, shouldn't change that. Besides, she'd actually feel a lot better if he asked question, made it feel a little more open and easy to approach. But his comment makes her shake her head.]

It's not really that bad, it's just different. [And it's not that she isn't happy! She's incredibly happy about it! Just in a very different way, and it's not any less valuable or meaningful just because it's deviating from the established norm.]

... But I did want you to hear it from me.

[And not Yamato or Tom or Sully or anyone, really, who might have assumed Masaomi knew and said it thoughtlessly.]

No it's fine I was just feeling out if we should figure out a new third! We're all good

[generalflirt]

[ Inhale... exhale...

Huh. ]

So everyone else knows?

[ He takes another step closer, and then realizing that he had been doing that? He decides to nod and slide his way over towards Nariko. He gets into sitting down next to her on the bed, his arms crossed together at his waist. There's more to say - should he say it? She seems... well she doesn't seem comfortable, but at the same time, this isn't as as uncomfortable as it could be. There's no reason he needs to approach this as an Alpha.

... How often had he been thinking that lately? He thinks of his daughter, and exhales ]

okay thank you for the understanding it is deeply appreciated

[gunslingerqueen]

No, just you and me and him.

[To be fair Masaomi doesn't seem like a bundle of fluffy pillows either, but yeah, it's the beast they could hope for. When he sits next to her she's oddly still for a moment but then leans into him a little bit, reestablishing contact, that kind of thing.]

... I have a doctors appointment and I'm not looking forward to it.

[Her irrational fear that her child will somehow be horribly deformed or otherwise given a shitty lot continues on, a full seventeen goddamn years later. At least some things never change.] Are you upset?

[At all of it, with her, with Yamato?]