[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

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.

[idiotduo]

Masa's catering, so I know Tom's not going to be happy. [ He claims Japanese food shreds his insides. ... Which is weird because who does that? But either way, Sullivan laughs at that, moving past her animosity and looking over at her with some mild surprise. Does--

Should he say that-- ]

Yeah. Yeah it is.

[ He moves his arm to pull her in against his chest ]

[themaelstrom]

That's the one person I didn't want to be too upset, shit. [Well, that's not true, Koji is also on the short list but the guy's very good at keeping himself busy one way or another, so she doesn't have to be actively worried about him.]

Oh well, it'll be fine.

[The concern leaves her as soon as it arrived, and Audrey's more than pleased to just drape herself over Sullivan, angling her head so that it can be laid on him and she can still watch her show.]

[idiotduo]

I'm telling Junko you said that.

[ ... No he's not, and that's the joke. Junko's still not all that comfortable with him, and if he was to tattle on her with anyone (and he wouldn't, this was all something inane and not that incriminating in the grand scheme of things) Junko is more or less the last one it would be with. Nariko would be next on the list and it would go down from there. The older man smiles a little though, enjoying how she feels against him. He focuses back on the screen.

This is comfortable ]

But yeah, it'll -- yeah it's fine.