[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

[themaelstrom]

But Masaomi is really campaigning for it, so you don't think she'd change her mind?

[Of course Audrey is ignorant to any other situation where it might have come up. It just kind of seems to her that most everyone in this house follows his lead to one extent or the other, which is only sensible. The idea that Ada wouldn't, of all people, is almost shocking.]

[idiotduo]

Well if anyone can, it's him. [ He shakes his head ] Or Nariko, but... you know.

[ Everyone knows they were arguing right now, but the fact remained that if Masaomi had the biggest influence on her, Nariko was a really, really solid #2. Or at least she traditionally had been. If anything, that conflict in priorities was probably a lot of what was fueling their current argument. ]

[themaelstrom]

Yeah.

[They are definitely fighting, and Audrey shouldn't take sides for a lot of reasons but ... She's definitely taken a side here. And that's probably made doubly worse considering that Ada and Sullivan were really good friends, and had essentially grown up with each other in the last decade or so. Oops.]

We'll see how it plays out.

[She considers a chicken skewer.]

But for now, I think I'm going to do it.

[idiotduo]

[ In all honesty, Sulivan wouldn't be surprised if of those that took sides, no one would take Ada's side. It's perhaps for that reason more than anything that he actually leans in her direction, even if he's not going to make a big deal about it. She's got a point, honestly - any budding Alpha is going to try to poach members from an existing pack, and perhaps the most notable and most dangerous prize is Nariko herself. That would put everything into chaos. And him going off on his own wouldn't be good for anyone.

Not to mention, with all this talk about kids - children stay with the mother. So things become even more complicated like that. He reaches around to take off and clean his glasses, but perhaps that was a mistake because he's surprised to hear- ]

Really?

[themaelstrom]

[Audrey completely disagrees, even about who would end up with the most on their side, really, but then she's not counting Junko, Yamato, or Koji because they're in an awful position there. Pick their birth mother, who had devoted most of her life to them, or the other woman who was like a second mom to them and was nearly as devoted? Without those three, wouldn't it make sense that the majority would go to Ada?

It's probably a good thing that they aren't talking about it.]

Mmhm. If it's timed right I should graduate before I'm really showing or whatever, and that'll be for the best. I don't want my parents finding out and creating a problem.

[idiotduo]

Could you still study to get in whatever school you want like that? And-- A-and, huh, do you mean his?

[ Masaomi's.

... Also Octavio would be a fence-sitter. He's not as sure about Tom, and Emily... for some reason he seems to think she would think Ada is being unreasonable. But she's also pretty young. Who knows, though. This topic is better anyway, and he puts his glasses back on to look at her sympathetically ]

[themaelstrom]

I doubt it. At the very least I'd have to wait until the next Spring term to go to college.

[She'd have to actually have the kid, and Spring would already be cutting it close as it was. And then it only seemed right to be with it and bond a little, assuming she wasn't going to leave it to Nariko.]

And I guess it would be?

[If anything, she'd pick him because he'd already had children, because Nariko wouldn't leave any child unattended. But ... Should she go for Tom or Sullivan? Would Tom even want to?]

[idiotduo]

Are you okay with that?

[ Which one did he mean? Both of them? Probably both of them, right? He doesn't have the courage to clarify, even do himself. He instead looks down at the Thai and finally gives himself some fried rice, not really looking at her and nominally looking up at the screen they'd largely ignored ]

[themaelstrom]

[She leans back to really, really think about the answer as much as how she should word it to Sullivan.]

Yes. [Simplicity ends up being best.] I'm okay with waiting on school because now I'm not sure I want to go at all. I pushed myself so hard because of my dad, because I was kind of trying to fulfill the dreams he didn't, because he had to stay and provide for mom and me. If I'm honest, I'm not sure I really care about archaeology. It's interesting, but not so interesting that I'm okay with being away from my pack for years and ages at a time.

[So, for better or worse, she's gone through one kind of a metamorphosis or another.] I don't want to go into college without knowing what I want to do, and the best way to do that is to take some time off and figure it out, right? I'll just have a baby at the same time.

[idiotduo]

[ Huh... Well, he can't say he blames her for wanting to re-examine her life. It's not like he probably wouldn't have benefited from that back in the day. The older man takes a few bites of his fired rice, and then finally nods a little before he makes a reply ]

Archeology does sound - y'know, it does sound pretty cool. But I know what you're talking about. [ Though it's interesting she would say that about remaining here despite not being sure she belonged ] With all the hesitating. Stuff.

[themaelstrom]

Yeah, well, I'm also seventeen, am I really made up of anything but hormones and hesitation right now?

[For a moment the weight of all her concerns exists in her tone. She's been thinking about this for a while and hadn't even gotten around to discussing it with Junko or any of her other friends.] So for right now I'm going to finish high school on a good note, get knocked up, and figure it out from there.

[She takes a deep breathe, as if saying it like this makes it a firm reality.]

[idiotduo]

Point taken.

[ He pauses... and then he smiles. He reaches a hand out, and strokes her cheek. He's not sure where he fits into that plan, or into her life, but he knows he should offer ]

I -- I'll take you out or something when you need to get away. When hesitating, I mean.

[ A date? Is that a promise of it? He's not sure, but he laughs a little, and ]

And I can always fuck you to distract you when you need it too.

[ Plus he said that he would help her if she needed it earlier and she did like this Thai so... points, right?! ]

was that the ending for pokelandia?? if so that is hilarious

[themaelstrom]

[That ... Was actually a really nice offer! The sex thing at the end took away from it a little but, again: That was a demon of her own making, right? So it wasn't exactly her place to complain about it. Just this once she was just going to pretend the last part didn't even happen, and stick with the nice part about helping her like a normal, person who hasn't been 100% objectified. Just 89%.]

I guess that means you'll be taking me out a lot in the next few weeks.

[She would inevitably waver on her decisions, be terrified of them and such, so it was kind of a lofty idea on his part.]

That was my intention rofl I didn't know how to end it oops...

[idiotduo]

[ If he knew that the objectification bothered her he might be more concerned about it. The fact is, she'd made such a show of herself doing it to herself since he had known her he was under the impression that while it wasn't her core self - obviously - it was definitely a self she didn't mind people seeing. It was the mode in which they met, and it was something which had kept up since. She took pride in that beloved toy tag. No one had forced her into that.

Probably?

But either way, he nodded and blushed as he reached out to put some more curry on top of his rice ]

Okay, I - I don't mind doing that at all.

it was perfect, a+

[themaelstrom]

[She did love being the toy, it wasn't something she'd have agreed to if it didn't have long term standing! But even if they aren't going to be a huge thing, isn't Sullivan trying to be A Thing in her life, to a degree? More than anyone else in the house right now? And wasn't it okay that she wanted to reciprocate that? If it was meant to be an actual bond or even a couple's thing then, well, the idea of having a relationship heavily saturated in sex was kind of worrying.

And that's the kind of sensitive, touchy feely shit that makes her worry about not fitting in correctly. It was the same feeling that had attracted her to Yamato, and everyone knew how that ended.]

Don't be so nice, its easy to take advantage of.

[And yet she liked his niceness, odd as it could be at times.]

bows then

[idiotduo]

I... I don't mind, really.

[ Maybe he should though? Or maybe he wasn't really portraying himself correctly - and maybe they needed to talk about it some more. But... he wanted to be nice and he wanted to be considerate. After all, he was supposed to try to take this seriously. He said he meant to... ]

[themaelstrom]

[He meant to, but she couldn't really help worrying, with a reaction like that.]

Good! Because it's not really going to be that bad anyway.

[Which is the closest to the truth he'll get in this matter. If anything should be clear it's that Audrey isn't very good at trusting people with her problems, not the ones that actually matter or keep her up at night. Junko is the only one that holds that distinction, though both Nariko and Masaomi are quickly rising up in the Trust Ranks.]

At the most I'd ask to try out more food, this ended up being a good idea.

[There, a safe topic.]

[idiotduo]

Oh gosh, don't trust me with that, I just grew up with this. Trust me with that and we'll just - uh, you know. Go out for coneys or something like that.

[ And coneys are cool, but it's still just a hot dog. She can't not know it. But he's reassured by her words even if it was just maybe a little bit evasive. He laughs all the same, releasing his tension. They didn't need to be super serious ]

[themaelstrom]

I never said you'd be the one choosing what food we try out.

[Just that he'd be going with her! But that was a completely understandable mistake, the way she had said it was incredibly ambiguous, after all.]

It'd be kind of nice to try something new regularly, though. I've been limiting myself with whatever is in range of school and the house.

[idiotduo]

[ . . . ]

W-well, we look somewhere in the city, I'm sure there's all sorts of stuff.

[ He's not the traditionally adventurous type, but with her... Well, he could try it ]

[themaelstrom]

There's always something new, somewhere.

[That's the point, because they probably can't even last as friends if he's not willing to accept a little adventure into his life. But they could take baby steps, work up to the sorts of changes that really mattered, open his worldview, that kind of thing.

But that's far ahead, so for now she just says:]

Thank you, Sullivan. For all of this.

[idiotduo]

[ Once more, he blushes a little. It's not fitting, given he's over twice her age. But he pushes past it just as quickly, smiles, and nudges her a little with his shoulder. He thinks about what he should say, and in the end he comes up with, ]

You're welcome - I -- I just wanted to help.

[ And that at least is totally sincere. ]

[themaelstrom]

You did a good job.

[He really did. The guy was a mess in some ways but a lot of people were and, in truth, Audrey was probably going to be as much of a wreck, just in different ways. It kind of seemed like you couldn't make it to a certain age without some leftover wreckage.]

How long do you think we have until they all get back?

[idiotduo]

[ Oh...

He felt good to be thanked like that, implicitly. The older man looks down at his watch, as if that'll tell him anything and then frowns in thought until he concludes... ]

Well, there's a whole party, right? Soooo... an hour? Two? I guess it depends on if it's any fun.

[ The day was already trailing off when they started home ]

[themaelstrom]

I hope it's awful.

[Mostly because, for the time being, she's not going to like Nathan at all, so everything around him deserves to be awful or at least a vague inconvenience.]

Good, though. [She's apparently given up on food for the time being and decided to get especially comfortable next to him.] I love them all but it's nice to be left alone.