[Mushverse: Liveman Family and JK]

[gibken]

So I've decided to not think about my screwed up pathetic excuse for a memory for a few days. I have better things to focus on. Club activities, family crises, Gai getting ready to start school, and most important of all, I found out (possibly inadvertently) that JK's birthday is literally right upon us.

And I want to do something for him. To convince him that he's as important to me as I say he is (though I'm not entirely sure why I feel like he won't believe me otherwise). To introduce him to my parents, too, because even if I am actually a twenty-something space pirate or whatever, they've still taken care of me for this long, and I respect them.

I started smuggling an array of cake baking ingredients into the house a few days ago, hiding them at the back of the bottom shelf of the fridge, and the very back of the lower cupboards.

Tonight I'm just going to make the cake, and try to figure out whether I can afford to order something in to eat for dinner, since I'm not about to spring a multi-person meal on Megumi at the last minute. Maybe Don will help me. I know he's a good cook. I'm absolutely lost outside of baking.

Comments

[gibken]

I stare at him for a second with an eyebrow raised, then I shake my head with a snort. "It's not drugs." I take the offered towel to the sink to wet it, then crouch down to start cleaning. From down here, maybe he'll let me go easy.

"I'mmakingacakeformyboyfriend'sbirthdayifthat'sokayIboughtalloftheingredientswithmypocketmoneysoyoudon'thavetoworry."

Half mumbled, all one word, directed at the floor. Yeah, he'll let me get away with that.

[yellowlion]

I take a sponge and start cleaning the mess on the sink, not that there's all that much.

Oh. Oho.

I don't say anything, but I'm sure he can feel the Embarrassing Dad Grin (TM) from down there.

[gibken]

He's quiet. I hate it when he's quiet. That means he's making one of those faces.

I glance over my shoulder. Yep.

"What."

[yellowlion]

"You are extremely cute, Joe," I say gravely, then I let myself grin again. "But you don't have to pay for all this. Let us help."

[gibken]

I frown at him. I hate that, we've been over this. I'm not supposed to be the cute one, but they all look at me that way anyway.

"I've already paid for it." I point out softly, turning my attention back to cleaning up the mess. "It's a gift for someone important to me, I'm going to pay for it." I know that much.

[yellowlion]

"You're in school. You're not supposed to worry too much about personal responsibility for money, you're supposed to worry about getting good grades," I say gently. "I know you save the allowance we give you, but if you want to spend a little more on your boyfriend, take him out somewhere or whatever, I'll give you some extra."

[gibken]

"I'm getting good grades!" I protest, maybe a touch too loudly. I drop my voice and clear my throat. "I mean, all thinks considered, I think I'm doing okay." I blush a little, it's getting easier to say but it's still not so easy to hear. Boyfriend.

I'm not sure if I'm more annoyed with him for thinking I'm too out there to have noticed that we're not exactly free and clear in the money department, or if there's something else frustrating me.

"I thought you guys would want to meet him." I say finally, tossing my towel in the sink and returning to my sifting.

[yellowlion]

"I know you are," I respond cheerfully, not rising to his defensiveness. He's still so tangled up in what he was told previously, made to believe previously, and I am not happy about the circumstances. But what can I do? For now, he's still with us, still wants to be a schoolboy, and I cherish the hell out of that so I'll deal with him as he wants to be.

I grin. "Love to. I'm not saying you should get out of bringing him home as well as going out."

[gibken]

He's such a dad. I'm pretty sure the not knowing anything about my birth parents is one of those things that held over between both sets of memories, but I'm still aware enough to know how much of a stereotypical parent Jou is.

Not that I don't appreciate it. "We go out all the time." I offer. Which is true, though it's not like we sit down in a nice restaurant and eat or something. Mostly I watch him sing karaoke, probably with the stupidest look imaginable on my face.

Jou would genuinely *love* to hear that XD

[yellowlion]

I nod. "Okay, then. Bring him over. But don't worry if you can't manage everything by yourself, okay?"

I snag him with an arm around his shoulders, and squeeze gently, briefly. "We're a family. We help each other. You don't have to do it all alone."

Which part? XD

[gibken]

I squeak a little when Jou hugs me. Not unexpected, just a little surprising. "I just didn't want to be a burden," Damn it, the words got the better of me this time. I wince and turn away quickly to continue my sifting before I get an earful about you're our son and you're not a burden and we love you and the rest of it.