[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

[yellowlion]

Seems to be my week for busting the kids.

"Whatcha doing?" I ask Joe with a grin.

[gibken]

I'm sort of lost in thought, doing math, trying to figure out how many people are actually going to sit down at this theoretical meal, how much they might want to eat, cursing myself because more than half of my family has black holes where their stomachs belong, and sifting flour.

And then Jou is right there and I jump and spin to face him and flour goes everywhere. "Shit!"

[yellowlion]

Poor kid must've been *concentrating*. He leaps a good foot off the ground, and flour puffs up into the air.

I brush at the front of my hair, and inspect the resulting flurry ruefully. "I guess I deserved that."

[gibken]

I frown down into what was a bowl of carefully measured flour, and is now a mess that I have to clean up before I can continue.

"Sorry." I grumble ruefully. Cursed in front of him too. Great. I set my bowl and sifter carefully on the counter and spin around looking for a towel to dampen. I guess I'll be doing laundry tonight too.

[yellowlion]

I find him a towel and toss it to him. "No problem, unless it's drugs," I say equably. "Doesn't taste like drugs. You got a sweet tooth tonight, son?"

[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.

[redfalcon]

I trace the delicious smell of baking to the kitchen, expecting Megumi or maybe Gai; but it's Joe, "Hey. Didn't know you liked to bake."

[gibken]

I'm doing the bulk of the dishes while the cake cools. I'm not about to skip steps and try and frost a hot cake. JK deserves better than that.

I jump a little when I realize I'm not alone. I need to stop getting so lost in thought.

"Yuusuke. Hi." I turn back to the sink to hide my blush.

[redfalcon]

I grab a tea towel to help dry up the plates, "special occasion?" I gesture towards the cake. Is it his birthday? I can't remember whether we've ever had a birthday celebration for him before.

[gibken]

"Um, no." I didn't realize Yuusuke woke up this early. I should have started baking earlier. Or maybe he doesn't, maybe the smell of the cake baking woke him up. That would not exactly surprise me. "I mean, yes." I stare into the sink as I wash the dishes. I think maybe I don't spend enough time with Yuusuke. "A... friend's birthday."

[redfalcon]

"Ain't that sweet of you." He's a thoughtful kid. Just like Megumi, she never forgot a birthday, "you having some kind of party?" I reach for my wallet. Don't want him to feel embarrassed in front of his friends.

[gibken]

I glance at him and then duck my head again. "I thought I'd have him over for dinner. If that's okay?" When I look up again he has his wallet out.

"You don't... I mean, I can... I've got money." I fall all over my words and pull an odd face at myself. I'd been saving up for something like this precisely because I didn't want them to have to pay for any of it.

[redfalcon]

"C'mon, Joe. You don't get a lot of money, and we want you to be able to have fun. We're in pretty good shape financially, even now that Gai's here." There always seems to be more in my wallet than I remember having. Funny thing that.

"Yeah, sure, when was he coming over? Let us know what he likes to eat. I'm sure Gai and Megumi can whip something up." That kid is a marvel in the kitchen. Puts me and Jou to shame.

[heh, Katsumi I take it?]

[gibken]

"I've been saving." I say quickly. I hate just taking money from them. Usually if one of them tries to force extra money on me, I sneak it back to one of the others. That's one of the many bonuses of having three readily available parents. "I don't-" I cut myself there, because if I finish that sentence it's just going to turn into another one of those talks, and I'm not sure if I'm ready to have one with Yuusuke. I don't want him to get upset.

"I didn't want to bother Megumi. Or Gai. She's just going back to work, and he's just getting ready to start school, and..." And he's right, there's no way I can cook dinner for up to, what, ten people? With my luck.

[Yep.]

[redfalcon]

"But they'll help you. We can all pitch in. If something's important to you, it's important to us." He's hesitant, so I add "Megumi and Gai are taken care of. Don't worry about it. Really." I place a few bills in his hand.

I wonder if Katsumi will even show up to dinner. He'll probably be popping pills with his Hell's Angel friends or whatever it is that he's up to.

[Oh Yuusuke <3]

[gibken]

I sigh, but accept the money. I'll sneak it into Megumi's purse before she leaves for work. "Thank you." I can be gracious, though, even if I'm already planning to return it.

I run a hand through my hair, crossing absentmindedly to the cake and testing it with my finger. Not cool enough yet. "Not everyone has to be there." I say finally. "I mean. I just, I thought you'd like to meet him. You and Megumi and Jou."

[redfalcon]

"If you don't want your brothers there, they don't have to be." I could probably get Kazari to take Gai out for dinner or something, "we want you to have a good evening. We'd love to meet him." I'm at least glad he trusts us enough to bring home his friends, unlike a certain son I could name - okay, okay. Enough of that for now.