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

[They've been together for the length of a human's life and he still gets embarrassed like that. Amazing. For his troubles, Masaomi has earned a kiss to one cheek.]

It was beautifully written, thank you very much, and I'll love it nearly as much as I love you. [She is not making it any less embarrassing, oops!] Besides, it's something that helped me understand you in the right, fundamental way. If you hadn't written it I think we'd still be a mess, and I'd still think you'd be just fine if I died in a corner somewhere.

[Anyway.]

You remember when I mentioned getting a separate house, right? And there was a whole image and series of things connected to that?

[ He is actually more than a little bit offended that she could ever think that, and almost says as much, but he's glad she kisses him, and he tries to focus on the question at hand.

Okay. ]

I do, I do.

[Then he should be even more relieved that he wrote that book so she could change her mind about it all!]

He's that house, and you're this one. One is all normality and idealized, romantic dreams made into reality, and the other is surprising and unknown and challenging, forcing you to grow even if it's terrifying. If, goodness forbid, it was a choice between me and this child, he'd probably save the child and you would save me. He needs to micromanage relentlessly, and you're fine as long as the overall devotion is yours.

[A waterfall and an ocean, but that sounds ridiculous so she doesn't say it.]

There's nothing wrong with any of those approaches, they're perfectly valid. It's trying to impose one on the other that makes it unbearable. He and I can have a 'married' kind of setup, but that's not right for you, it conflicts with your beliefs and it doesn't match how you and I have grown.

[Is she going in circles? She doesn't mean to.] You said that there's no such thing as one person knowing everything about another, and you're right. There's a quieter part of me that fits him, and there's a stronger part of me that fits with you. I don't feel unfulfilled because it's more private or a little quieter when that's the part of me that's mated to him.

[In fact ...... That's kind of what she'd constantly tried to get from Masaomi, so it actually works out really, really well.]

[ It's less the lifestyle - it's sort of the lifestyle... but really, the core thing he's having a hard time comprehending, though she does seem to contextualize it in this moment - is this. And he might as well seriously admit this. ]

The reason that the mateship's superior to the marriage [ And he holds up a hand, showing she doesn't need to correct him and he knows that's his perspective and he's being a little offensive ] is that it's a biological imperative. You know going in that you are right for each other and meant for each other. And in theory, that can allow for the greatest happiness that exists. No one person can know everything about another, but the natural connection allows for it to be smoothed over.

[ But then... if you can be mated twice, does that mean she wasn't fulfilled until then? Does that mean that it's a more complete picture of that same ideal he's always had? And his own ideals don't necessarily speak for say Ada's experience, who ultimately couldn't mesh with her mate. Or for the likes of Sully, who might never find that intense biological connection. ]

[She wasn't going to correct him either way, it's not exactly a big secret that Masaomi doesn't think highly of marriage as a concept. Yet another benefit of their trip was finally realizing exactly how thoroughly Masaomi relied on his viewpoints, the foundation that they made for his mentality and ultimately most all of his decisions. It's kind of funny to realize that the man you love so much is so incredibly different from yourself on a fundamental level.]

It's the chicken or the egg, though, and that's probably because I had parents who lived monogamously and were married, but were also mates. It's incredibly specific to me, and not the grander picture.[After all, Vincent was just as intense about pack life as Masaomi was, and her mother came from a staunchly monogamous, old family line.] I wouldn't get married to someone that I didn't think was my mate, and that's probably the most valuable thing to have learned from all of this.

[Then again this is also deeply influenced by the fact that Nariko would openly admit that a marriage ceremony was more a personal thing - if you went down to the bare bones of it, she leaned more towards pack life than monogamy, there'd just been some oddly timed growing pains.] If you're speaking about society as a whole, then marriage and mateship serve different functions for different, vocal groups, and what's 'better' is going to depend on your worldview.

[She tilts her palm, as if to somehow signify the tricky nature of it.] If you're talking about us, specifically, then it's just two different mateships with two completely different lifestyle's and emotional goals. It's a biological instinct either way. One instinct satisfies the need for an active decision, the other instinct submits entirely.

[Because, let's not forget: She had been tempted to leave Masaomi, mate or not. Which meant that the primal instincts he was relying on for his argument could fail in real life, and almost had. So it's probably better to say that it's more a complete picture with the three of them as a unit with separate moving parts.]

[ It's true, people are influenced by the environments they grow up in - he can't escape that he had a father he respected, and unknown mother, and a pack wit numerous older women raising him following the relatively early death of that father figure. That he had so many "brothers" and "sisters" which he wasn't sure of his precise relationship to but whom he valued because of the intrinsic connection of their rule under an Alpha.

It's something which colored hoe he saw the world, and further colored hoe he acted upon the world. He hums a little, rolling his neck and...

Society as a whole would benefit from it. But that's beside the point. ]

Maybe it's because history is my worst subject, but I'm still caught at the fact it's biologically possible. But then, it also seems arrogant to think we're unique in all the world, even if you are the best person on it.

[ And... ]

One of us doesn't have you submission? How dark.

[She tilts her head and gives him a raised brow.]

I don't mean it sexually. No matter what, he's still much younger than myself, there are ways I would be stern, and ways that I'll have to sort of guide him, and I don't have to do that with you.

[Because Masaomi was already grown, and the things Yamato is now experiencing as a young adult - she won't mother him, but she's his mate, so it's only right to support him. If it means a disagreement or two to spare him pain then her desire to avoid upsetting him won't be outweighed by her desire to protect.

And Nariko won't say it because it's only a half formed idea in her head now, but Yamato is almost less ... Intense than Masaomi in a way. Of course there's sexual submission but it's never felt like something they rely on, it's just a part of their sex life. But she and Masaomi had created a foundation on the idea that she was his mate, his bitch, and his partner, submission was a necessary part of their relationship, and she didn't begrudge it.]

As far as it being possible, though ... [She closes her eyes. It's not fun to talk about this, but:] There's a fair amount of proof that a mateship doesn't just magically smooth everything over. If that was the case then Ada would have never ended up here, Emily's parents wouldn't be the way they are, and mine wouldn't have been ready to throttle each other right after I came into the world. They're all, or were, bona fide mates but there are things about each of them they can't quite come to terms with.

[If it was just Ada or just Nariko ... Then that would be different. But that's at least three separate cases that actively work against Masaomi's perspective.] If it's possible for the most solid, instinctual, millennia old bond to end up fractured by one thing or another no matter what you do, then somehow ending up with two mates doesn't seem all that ridiculous.

[Because the mere thought that the bond itself could be dramatically harmed was really pretty awful on its own.]

[ Oh... ]

You know, when you put it like that, it does make more sense. [ He tilts his head, and... ] So you're suggesting that shouldn't view it so much as a competition so much as something which completes you? I've not shared you so much as had some part of you.

[ He's not sure that he can do that, but if it's that logic here, then there's a good chance that'll just be how it has to be. ... Was she a bonafided mate with her near-husband? Was it truly a biological connection? He had his doubts about that, but he knows it isn't his place to question it. ]

Like it's in your nature to ever accept something like that.

[It's not just years of knowing Masaomi that has her respond that way, but also because they have that in common: The need to have everything of a person or an ideal.] Honestly, if you make it into a competition doesn't that mean I end up having more fun?

[That's an awful joke, and the truth is that two men fighting over one woman isn't anywhere near as enjoyable as romance novels make it sound. Nariko's incredibly aware of that, which is why she isn't being serious.]

What I'm suggesting is that whatever it is will run its own course, but in the meantime it isn't any more or less valid than being with you.

[There's a vague sense of hesitation on her end, but Nariko works out the thought carefully, because she's genuinely concerned it'll upset him. But she also can't help saying it.] Besides, even if it's confusing doesn't this end up working better for you, too?

[ He's genuinely unsure if that last bit was meant to be serious or a joke, because she shifted between both of them in that response. Not wanting to hesitate, but also not sure what the more correct read on it was, he smiles and adopts a more coy tone ]

Eeeeeh? And how's that?

I mean, you're not a big fan of all the traditional stuff.

[By no means does she think Yamato is one hundred percent for it. It's more that he does a better job of humoring her, understanding her intent without feeling as if she's caging him or stopping him from doing what he likes with anyone else. It's a balance she couldn't really hit with Masaomi and it did cause some unpleasant tension, right?

But now he doesn't have a reason to even think about it because ... She can get that from someone else.]

And now you don't have to hear anything about it.

But even that, taking that niggling complication from me is taking something of yours from me, and that's something I can't abide by, can I? [ He hums a little, and then... closes his eyes. He said that in the coy tone, so it can ambiguously be read as sincere or joking. Or somewhere between the two. And in all due honesty, it is somewhere between the two where the truth lies - because while he is hyperbolic in their relationship because that's just how the act goes... It's also true that he finds some part of him resenting it. But more the point...

There's another topic worth discussing, one which weighs over him, her, and Yamato. One he wonders if she even thought of, though he suspects his boy will have, just reached a different conclusion if they were at all alike ]

But still, I'll have taken something back. After all, with packs, children stay with the mother.

[ It's tradition, that right which allowed him to claim Veronica ]

Mm ... [Yeah, she's going to leave that one alone and it's good that Masaomi's moved it along to something else. She's not entirely comfortable with the idea Masaomi would rather keep her misery than swallow his pride and accept a situation which alleviates stress, but she's getting better at stopping herself from going down awful rabbit holes now.

Of course it helps that hi statement is easy enough to respond to, even though she hadn't thought about it before.]

That's true, but it's not as if that changes who the biological father is, and that's more important.

[By the time Yamato's finally gotten himself together to form his own pack and stake out his own space, their child will be old enough to grasp the basics, or at least an incredibly simplified explanation. Of course Nariko is assuming that Yamato won't be an idiot and attempt anything too grand within the next seven years, which might turn out to be very wrong of her.]

In general, I'd feel less awful if people without established careers didn't give up their entire lives when there's a house full of adults here who all have some level of experience with children.

[And in that way Masaomi gets what he wants: A village raising children, a different take on his own upbringing with enough similarities to edge on nostalgia.]

[ In a way though, he can't help but feel it's an accusation of his own failings he could never meet out that need in her. But at the same time, it was him that said someone can't be everything for someone else. So this is just... the extreme of that. And if she was happy with it, then... that's all for the better. He rolls his neck again, and ...

More important?

Was it?

Probably. ]

Is he excited?

[ He should talk with him soon, honestly. ]

[She's kind of surprised he's asking such a question and the fact that she doesn't answer him right away says as much.]

He is, a lot more than I had expected. I'm not sure whether he grasps the whole weight of being a parent, but that's not necessary right now anyway.

[Seven-eight months in? That'll be different. Right now Yamato can just be elated that he's knocked her up and she'll kind of handle the rest.]

[ His next statement is far too humble, far too self-depreciating for the moment that they should be having. They both know it, but in a way, it's him trying to be understanding, trying to com to terms with this complication to his life and his mate's life. The fact of the matter is that he did try to be a father. But this long after the fact after Ada, after Junko, he can't help but feel he might've failed. And so with sincere sympathy, ]

Well, here's hoping it takes him less than a decade.

[ But he closes his eyes after that, and ... inhales, exhales. ]

Have you managed to have fun this last month?

Masaomi ...

[That statement and the question itself are both very unfair.]

It was alright enough.

I'm glad.

[ And a little bit jealous if he's honest ]

[.....]

You're glad that I wasn't around you for the greater part of a month?

[She's not angry or anything it's more that this just doesn't even sound like her mate right now and it's both concerning and kind of freaky. Or maybe she's just the hypocrite who would definitely be jealous.]

[ And his lips curl up a little now, either because he's teasing her or because he's developed a plan ]

Should I be missing misery on you? After all, you've got a good spare now, even if it can't compare.

He's not a spare.

[Nariko sound a little stern there, just because the wording edges on being a little too disrespectful for her tastes, and she can't help the impulse to defend her mate. Thankfully she's aware enough to reel it back, too, though it makes her next statement incredibly ridiculous.]

You shouldn't, but I thought you'd at least be a little more ... Opinionated. Or something.

[Possesive. That's the word she actually wants to use.]

[ Directly contradictory. Amazingly contradictory? She corrects him when he says something rude and then scolds him for not being ruder. No, he's still got something burning in his stomach, something furious. But he's trying to be fair, trying to be something understanding. But now he can't help but have his smile a little bit differently, ]

And here I thought being understanding was the call of the day.

[There are limits!!! Except, ehm, yeah she's being contradictory at the same time. Life is hard.]

I mean, I don't want you to insist I stop seeing him or anything like that. [Because she can't.]

But you're not exactly the ... docile type.

[This is surprisingly difficult to verbalize.]

[ Not exactly the docile type...

In a way, he's teasing her right now by denying her what she asks for, right? Would she even obey that insistence? Probably not. He looks away from her now, but still leaning up against her, he exhales, and as he does, releases a large outpouring of his scent onto the room. And then, perhaps just as contradictory... ]

So how's his cock, Nariko?

[It really would have been enough to absorb his scent and let things go from there. She doesn't put up any sort of fight, so it's almost like being pleasantly (non-creepily) drugged. But that question breaks her up a little, interrupts the part of her that answered him so naturally.]

Uh - [Why is he asking about his son's dick.] I ... It's goof - great? Obviously.

[Does she describe it completely or be vague?? What is he going for here??]

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I'm enjoying this meta conversation of theirs far too much

yeah I'm loving it too (PS Hi I'm back)

hello and welcome back friend

yes glad t be back

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