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

[ And... ]

And I'll hear out whatever complaints you have. Or well, as much as I can as a Father. [ As Alpha, he'll hear all of them. But as a Father, don't you need to eventually put your foot down or something? That seems like how it ought to be based on what else he's seen, right? That said, he looks down at the laptop again, tilting his head to the side. He clicks again. Next screen ]

I mean, I don't think it's anything that hasn't already been addressed in some form or another already, which is why I'm not worried about it.

[She pauses, considers -]

... I know you're really busy, but I'd like it if we spent more time together like this. I'm not ... Always the most entertaining person like Audrey, I know, but -

[It's really not like her to be so unsure.] It's just nice.

[ He's... ]

I'm not so busy that I don't have time for any of my pack individually if they want. And even more so... [ This is weird for him to say, but even as he starts to say it, it sounds sincere ] for my family.

[ To him, he knows, there's basically no distinction between them. But there's something to be said for the flow of blood, and the way that she's moving, it reminds him of himself. ]

[That's the thing, though - there is a little bit of a distinction for Junko, as his daughter. She can't imagine her Alpha sitting around and playing games and talking about boobs and stupid shit, and maybe that's just the result of his nature, or maybe it was always meant to be that way.]

Okay.

[Man she feels stupid for even asking such a thing. Why are feelings so mortifying? It might be easier to take her seriously if she wasn't making a really dramatic expression based on her own self-loathing over sharing her genuine feelings with someone she respects and looks up to so much.]

[ Inhale, exhale. An then he reaches out to rumple her hair a little. ]

And I'll try not to stare too much at your breasts, for what it's worth.

[ That's a classic him joke. Sort of. In a way, that one might not be the right joke for his daughter, but he wants to give her a wide and inviting smile. The fact of the matter is that he wonders if he accepted the response, or if he should have probably should have been more direct. But oh well, if it wasn't, he might've noticed. ]

[She snorts at the joke - it's maybe not appropriate, no, but this is ultimately a new facet to their relationship, and it was never that Junko loathed the sexual aspect or even had a problem with it! It was just unfairly unbalanced, and she didn't enjoy feeling as if she wasn't a good enough daughter - because she was a damn good packmate, thank you very much!]

Everyone else seems to be having trouble with that, Tom might get smacked with something the next time his eyes bug out of his head.

[Which is unfair, perhaps, since the guy knew her as a bitty, angry little child and now Junko is ... Still kind of bitty, but far from a child.]

Mmmm, mmm. But at the same time, you're cursed with that figure on a frame which is much more mine. It makes them pop a lot.

[ A petite Japanese frame with Nariko's massive tits? It's a recipe for standing out. He wonders if she thinks it clashes with her more traditional beauty she had going before...? He's not sure he should ask, particularly to a growing teenage girl. Still, he folds his hands together in front of him and scoots a little closer to her, closing the laptop. The game might be fun and all, but right now, he's paying attention to her and he wants the heat off his legs anyway ]

Exactly!

[It's awful and Masaomi's actually right: This is pretty much the opposite of what she wanted! Of course it would have been nice if they were a little bigger and fuller, but not to such an extent that she couldn't keep her modern/classic hybrid look going!]

Genetics are cruel, and I shouldn't have wished for them to be bigger in the first place.

[Maybe it's karma for the whole thing with Ethan.]

[ He nods ]

All the same, they really are impressive. Tom can handle the violence, but I do hope they're sensitive enough for you to enjoy the inevitable attention.

[ He hums, tilting his head to the side and nakedly looking at them now. They're... D now? DD? Something unexpectedly big. He nods to himself ]

They're a little more reactive, yeah, I kept trying to think of who I was supposed to ask about that.

[Because it seemed like a really weird result of the whole thing! It's not like her nerves should have changed, right?? Who knows.]

But, hey, Rin likes them!

[Is that creepy of her to say in front of her dad?]

[ . . . Maybe a little, but he hums and - ] That's not surprising, really.

[ Is there a story there or was he just suggesting that mates liked the parts of each other's bodies? Who knows? But now he's crawled up close to her and entered her personal space by way of leaning against her shoulder. Who she should ask about that...? He considers for a long moment, and then finally produces, ]

Emily. Or Ada, if you can swallow her.

[ Her mother would be a hoverer about it all ]

Why do you say that?

[She leans into him in response, in part because she'll never not like attention, but because, again: The other parts of their relationship aren't a problem.] Emily, then.

[Yeah, best to leave her mom out of it aside from the obvious 'oh they got bigger' discussion.]

When he was little, he was always chasing the boobie ladies. Or well, that's what he called 'em anyway. [ He laughs at that, nostalgic for a brief moment before he inhales, exhales, and waves a hand in fron her. Does he dare-- ]

I'll second Emily, but what's the issue with Ada?

That sounds like something you'd say if you were my age again.

[She laughs, though, and feels a bit more at ease to catch that look on her dad's face. But, ew, he managed to round back around to that issue! She'd hoped he forgot!]

Look, I just ... No matter how I look at it Ada is someone who tried to come between two mates. When she stuck her nose between you and mom, she messed with the entire flow of the pack.

[Junko waves a hand here.] And I'm not saying that the things that have happened didn't need to. I think you guys are way stronger as a couple! But the fact that there's someone here who puts her viewpoints above something so sacred, that she was able to speak with you once and she was the harbinger for change in that situation ...

[Frankly, if anyone tried to pull that shit in Yamato's new pack Junko would rip their throat out.]

I just haven't been able to reconcile with it.

[ Honestly? It's not an unfair viewpoint. And it's in that he wants to answer that seriously that he doesn't even address the idea that he'd talk like that at Junk's age, because... well, he might've. But at the same time... he lets out a long exhale and closes his eyes. It's precisely because Junko has a point that as an Alpha, he's not sure he has a good response.

The only good one is that he has told Ada to speak freely and asked that she give her opinion. He hums, and reaches over to brush her hair a little ]

When Audrey joined the pack... I told her that now that she had, she was more Free.

[ And that might seem cryptic, might not even necessarily make sense to her, but it does to him. Ada had that freedom to question, it's not something he holds his pack above. It's true she was probably rude, and that was probably underhanded, but he wasn't going to hold it against her at this point, not personally, anyway. ]

[That's an incredibly vague and borderline useless answer, because Junko has no way of making anything of that.]

Ada isn't my Alpha, my mother, nor my sister. She's my pack mate and she holds a great amount of seniority and experience over me, which I respect.

[Because for as much as Junko will debate certain topics she is fully dedicated to the pack life, there's no question about that.] So when she gets to circumvent the order we've had, or when she tries to act in a way my mother would for me, I have a problem with it. Someone who would go to such lengths to nearly destroy a years long friendship in order to alter your opinion is a giant concern in my eyes. I don't trust her, I don't appreciate her butting into my personal issues when I don't ask for help, and if she continues to try and stifle Yamato I'm going to have an even bigger problem with her.

[Mostly because you don't fuck with Junko's brothers.]

You've seen her to stifle Yamato?

[ That's another fair concern, and he adopts a somewhat deeper tone now, deciding to take this just a little more seriously now. Not that he wasn't before, but it's a serious concern now, perhaps worth of arbitration.

Even so, he can't blame Ada for the perspective. She more or less helped raise her ]

Not directly, but that's what she and mom are arguing about right now. Ada wants Yamato to swear to stay in the pack, mom is saying that Ada doesn't need to worry about it so long as Yamato is respectful and isn't causing a problem.

[Junko shakes her head.] This is what I don't like about her. She doesn't go for the jugular, she finds an underhanded way of going about her goals. Yamato is seventeen, and I'm pretty sure we all know he's got the instinct, he's an adult. If Ada has a problem, why is she trying to insist mom tell him to swear fealty to you when Yamato has never not been completely loyal and respectful to his Alpha?

[It's a complicated situation, sure, but the way Ada is going about it, that inability to be respectful in the manner Junko has been taught to be herself is probably what's really getting under her skin. It doesn't pair well with the fact that she wants to protect Yamato as her brother and future Alpha as well.]

I know she feels like she's our second mom or whatever, but Yamato is grown, I'm not far behind, and neither is Koji. I know it's difficult, but right now there's no way Yamato would purposefully upset our pack. I don't understand why he shouldn't be able to grow here until he's ready to go.

[Which is, as Junko understands, pretty much the plan anyway.] In any case, mom's been fielding it since you haven't been feeling well. Ada's actually been working a lot so it's not like there's been any shouting or whatever, it's just a little tense between them right now.

Edited 2016-06-26 15:49 (UTC)

[ About three conflicting emotions flood into his mind all at once now, and he's surprised at himself for how strong more than one of them is. The first is pride, pride that his packmates, that Ada in particular, the first one he welcomed into the fold and the fourth overall after him and Nariko and Yamato would so vehemently defend and show her loaylty to this pack and to him. But the second is to Yamato, for serving as a challenge enough that it would inspire that sort of fear in her, that it would serve as a challenge. That's something he always said he wanted, and something that he expected out of Junko and Nariko expected out of Koji. To have it out of Yamato was a blessing, a surprise and...

Terrifying.

His eyes go a little bit wider, but he tries not to let anything else show on his body. It's impossible not to fear it though, that feeling that he's obsolete, that this is a challenge which he might not be able to overcome, that he's even gone so far as to lay claim to (to successfully lay claim to, perhaps even more importantly) his mate is cause enough for concern... but Audrey joined because of him. Yamato's not unpopular with the others. If (when) he leaves, how many of his ranks will he poach from Masaomi. It's a game of human chess that he, as an Alpha, doesn't like to play because of the overall fair way that he tries to handle things, but it's something that must be considered.

After all, children stay with the mother.

Or maybe Yamato would try to supplant him? But he knows in the moment he feels the third emotion wave over him that he's perhaps being irrational, even if it's still something that doesn't feel unfounded, and something that he does, in fact, appreciate Ada for in this moment. But the third emotion was a general feeling of clarity, that he knows he's not had a chance to really sit down and talk with his son since Christmas, and the challenge displayed there, that he issued because of that ring, was ultimately inconclusive. And Nariko had started it, been sucked in by it.

Perhaps that was inevitable. He exhales and, ]

This pack doesn't believe in thoughtcrime, so perhaps Ada over-zealous in this respect. But that's something that I will need to talk with the boy about. [ A beat ] And maybe those two women as well - after all, you're free under my authority.

[There's a number of reactions here, she's smart enough to realize that, but either way the result feels mild for the situation itself. To a point she expects this of her father, largely because of his need to be 'fair' when pretty much nothing about the world is fair, and one singular pack in the span of billions of people won't change that.

But she can't pretend that the first words out of his mouth ultimately defend Ada doesn't infuriate her. Thankfully Junko's far too controlled to let that show. It's no fucking wonder Ada gets to do what she wants when she's Masaomi's apparent favorite.

So what can she do except shrug? If nothing else she can't disagree on one point: Yamato and her dad probably do need to sit down and talk about a variety of things, but she doubts that'll stamp down all the issues, it'll just make it livable until change occurs.]

[ No one is his favorite unless you mean Nariko.

And even if you excluded her, he imagines many people would have many different ideas about who his favorite was. Sully would agree with her and say Ada, but he's pretty sure that Tom would say Audrey. Nariko might even say Audrey too. It's interesting, because he thinks that some out there might even say Emily or Sullivan or Junko herself, in one case or another.

But he knows that he upset her there. He's not ignorant. But if she's like that... He grins, and ruffles her hair again. ]

It's good to be protective of your brother though, that's your prerogative.

[ And ... well, he's not quite connected that she'll leave with him. But he's begun to suspect ]

[She's not petty enough to stop him, but not grown enough to field her own response, either.]

Someone should be.

[Her mom's the girlfriend, her dad is more concerned with the whole challenge of it, and Ada's treating him like some kind of invasive, homegrown threat. It's awful. It's awful even Yamato himself doesn't realize that he's lost a good chunk of his family structure, and he's probably just looking ahead to the future because he's like that. It's Junko's place to be the one that worries about the details no one else pays attention to.]

Anyway, that's what it is.

[She's probably never going to have the same relationship with Ada ever again, but that, much like everything else that's going on, is the result of time and change. It's not bad, but it's heavy.]

[ It's sad though, because for whatever else Ada is or isn't, even if she wasn't factually their mother, she was their second mother, in Masaomi's mind as much the three kids' parent as he himself was, even if Nariko was above both of them. At least then they were small, she helped a lot, perhaps using the care of the children to get over her own trauma, he now realizes in retrospect.

Still...

Well, that's what it is. He smiles, and leans over to kiss Junko on the forehead ]

Do you mind if I ask my little princess's opinion on how the rest of the domain fares?

[ He's asked Audrey and Ada and Tom before now, when they all visited. But Junko's assessment might be particular good ]

[The use of that little term of endearment is completely unfair, but it's not as if she was going to hold onto being upset for too long anyway.]

Tom's been fretting about stuff a little more than usual, so it might be good to check up on him - I think it has to do with his friend or whatever. [Junko's pretty unaware of that whole situation, so unfortunately there's no more thorough report in that domain.] I'm sure Audrey gave you the whole earful about her and Sullivan, so I won't repeat it. Emily's been working hard at school and it seems she went ahead and told her boyfriend about the whole kid thing, it seemed to go over well. I haven't seen too much of Octavio but he seems pretty alright, in a good mood and easy to talk to as ever.

Like I said, Ada's been working a lot, but I will admit she's been way more upset the last few days. Even if it's a response to the issue of Yamato, the reactions are overblown. I am a little worried something else is going on.

[That's all of the adults, at least.]

Veronica and Koji are doing well, although apparently there's a bit of a territorial thing between her and I? But that'll sort itself out, she's a very territorial person and I'm a very territorial sister, it's to be expected.

[That, and it's been fun so Junko isn't complaining and Koji definitely isn't.]

Yamato isn't studying as much as he should so I'm worried about his grades, especially since we're heading towards finals. Both he and Audrey need to take it seriously if they aren't going take a year off or go do something other than college. I know he's been working hard at tennis, though, but he has to balance himself a little more. I haven't been as hard on him as I should be, because I got distracted by Rin.

[But that'll change very, very soon. Sorry in advance, big bro. Your sister is a hardass about grades.]

Overall, eighty-nine percept of everything is normal. Of course they're all concerned about you and I think there's a layer of calm that'll come back when you're up and moving, but everyone's functioning well enough.

[ He used to use that a lot when he was a little bit younger and she was much younger - it feels nostalgic to use it again. And he licks his lips, and brushes her head again. ]

Do you know anything about our hopefuls?

[ Lana and Joshua, that is. Lana had actually asked to join and not really gotten the Talk yet, and Nariko had said sometime around when they got back but before he reversed the vasectomy she was going to talk to Joshua about joining their pack to get a safety net for his kids. Because she had seen him at a PTA meeting and he looked even worse than normal. ]

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makes an official call about Joshua