Katawa Shoujo Forums

Mirage_GSM wrote:

As I said, I won't make a habit of it, because I am nowhere near as good as Helbereth at herding a lot of characters into a single space for extended periods.

Helbereth had fewer characters, introduced all but one of them beforehand and had a lot of stuff happening during the time they spent together.
This story spent more than a third of it's bulk just with introductions that nobody could remember anyway. Remember: Misha had the advantage of cram sessions beforehand.

True, true.

I was trying to convey the whole family integration thing, and it fell flat. Hopefully my next work will be better constructed.

Thanks for the input, it's been very helpful

TheVUP wrote:(query about signature banners)

This is the one from mine: All you need is the url for the image you want to use. Place it in the brackets, and you're set:

Mirage_GSM wrote:Helbereth had fewer characters, introduced all but one of them beforehand and had a lot of stuff happening during the time they spent together.

Untrue. I had introduced all ten characters previously--Nobuo appeared during Tanabata, if only briefly.

Helbereth wrote:

TheVUP wrote:(query about signature banners)

This is the one from mine:

Code: Select all

[img]http://i.imgur.com/4sBEVRt.png[/img]

All you need is the url for the image you want to use. Place it in the brackets, and you're set:

Code: Select all

[img]<url here>[/img]

I know about img tag, but that will need url location, right?
I just wonder if there's a simpler version to insert certain image, like [banner]lilly[/banner] or something.

TheVUP wrote:

Helbereth wrote:

TheVUP wrote:(query about signature banners)

This is the one from mine:

Code: Select all

[img]http://i.imgur.com/4sBEVRt.png[/img]

All you need is the url for the image you want to use. Place it in the brackets, and you're set:

Code: Select all

[img]<url here>[/img]

I know about img tag, but that will need url location, right?
I just wonder if there's a simpler version to insert certain image, like [banner]lilly[/banner] or something.

Nope.

Helbereth wrote:

Mirage_GSM wrote:Helbereth had fewer characters, introduced all but one of them beforehand and had a lot of stuff happening during the time they spent together.

Untrue. I had introduced all ten characters previously--Nobuo appeared during Tanabata, if only briefly.

I stand corrected.

Helbereth wrote:Nope.

Thanks for that. At least, now I know.

Hoitash wrote:
"...Nearly took out half the motor pool one time, so they transferred him to an artillery unit in North Dakota.”

Sadly, we do not have an artillery unit here in ND, though the terrain would be perfect for it; you could miss your target by miles and not hit anything important! XD The closest thing we have are the engineering unit and the air defense artillery unit, along with my beloved aviation unit. That kind of joker would probably be put in troop command, where he would sit in front of a computer and do nothing fun, because he nearly ruined it for everybody.

Excellent story, I always enjoyed the USM series, never thought you would add so much after working on H&K:MD for so long.

SpcPotshot wrote:

Hoitash wrote:
"...Nearly took out half the motor pool one time, so they transferred him to an artillery unit in North Dakota.”

Sadly, we do not have an artillery unit here in ND, though the terrain would be perfect for it; you could miss your target by miles and not hit anything important! XD The closest thing we have are the engineering unit and the air defense artillery unit, along with my beloved aviation unit. That kind of joker would probably be put in troop command, where he would sit in front of a computer and do nothing fun, because he nearly ruined it for everybody.

My next idea was R&D as some sort of explosives tester, since if you're gonna have crazy, you might as well make it as productive as possible (or schlep it to Alaska.)

Excellent story, I always enjoyed the USM series, never thought you would add so much after working on H&K:MD for so long.

For reasons I don't fully understand, I enjoy writing lesbian romance -I actually haven't tried writing any other kind, so I'm not sure if I'd like it. I find it makes for a refreshing change every now and then. Different genre, different skillset.

Thanks for reading, and glad you liked it .

Hoitash wrote:For reasons I don't fully understand, I enjoy writing lesbian romance...

This is probably why you see potentially lesbian characters in places they may not exist.

Helbereth wrote:

Hoitash wrote:For reasons I don't fully understand, I enjoy writing lesbian romance...

This is probably why you see potentially lesbian characters in places they may not exist.

Probably.

Getting crushes on them all the time probably hasn't helped... curse my adoration of tomboys!

I have to just add here my thoughts about the chaos of a large family being "appealing". Coming from one, I can tell you that the grass is always greener.

So, let’s follow up that phone call from last year, shall we?

This Special takes place sometime after that, but before Christmas itself. It’s 2009 I think, so sometime around the 20th (a Sunday.)

Home for the Holidays? –A USM Christmas Special


“How did you talk me into this?” Lynda asked Misha.

Standing next to her on the small porch that led to the humble home of Lynda’s stepfather in western New York, snow gently falling around them, Misha shifted the crock dish she was holding. Using her now free hand to hold Lynda’s, she replied, “Because you know it’s the right thing to do~.”

Lynda turned to Misha and pouted, the porch’s Christmas lights seemingly absorbed by her long black hair, “As Will would say, ‘curse your damnable logic’.”

Misha grinned and turned to the door, “Shall we~?”

Lynda sighed, nodded, and rang the doorbell, warily eyeing the simple glass door that stood vigil in front of the slightly more ornate wooden door behind it.

A few seconds later the inside door opened and Will Benson appeared in the doorway, wearing a black apron depicting a woman in power armor and captioned “You Gonna Get Purged.”

“Good afternoon,” he said, “Come on in.”

Will stood aside and Lynda opened the glass door, allowing Misha to step inside. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, Lynda followed.

Will took the dish from Misha, who shook the snow off her long brown hair as the inside warmth brought the feeling back to her bare legs; Misha didn’t like stockings.

“Thanks for having us over~!” Misha chirped.

“Thanks for the potatoes,” Will said, “I’ll take this to the kitchen. Mom and Dad are in the living room, so I’ll be there in a sec.”

“Right,” Lynda said, taking off her coat and also shaking the snow out of her hair, her dress-covered legs still appreciating the newfound warmth, “and thanks for cooking dinner.”

Will shrugged and turned around, “I wouldn’t call making sure everything heats through as cooking, but you’re welcome.”

Will withdrew into a nearby side door, leaving the two women in a small hallway surrounded by several open door thresholds.

Lynda rolled her eyes and turned to Misha, “The living room is on the right. The main door down the hall leads to another hall that leads to the bedrooms and bathrooms. The second door on the left there is the dining room, which you can get to through the kitchen as well, which is obviously the door he just left through. Post-war housing through and through, pretty much.”

“They’re waiting~,” Will called from the kitchen.

Lynda sighed and turned to the proper doorway, “Ready?”

Misha nodded.

Lynda sighed again, straightened herself up, tensed her shoulders, and stiffly walked into the living room. Trying not to smirk at her efforts to put on a brave front, Misha followed.

The living room was, like the hallway, functional, tasteful, and simple in its décor and furniture. Several lounge chairs and a couch were circled around a hearth, where a small fire was crackling and sizzling away. Along the wall on the left were several bookshelves, while a shelf along the right wall under a small cabinet was adorned with framed photos, pins, ribbons, patches, and medals.

Arrayed in chronological order from left to right, the oldest of the items looked to be from the War of 1812, with the newest from the Iraq War. The right side of the shelf had a line of photos of men in uniform, starting from around the Civil War to sometime in the preceding decade, where women started to join the line of images.

Distracted by the display, Misha failed to notice Mr. Benson and Mrs. Long, who were standing by the fire to greet them. Lynda had immediately bolted for her stepfather, grabbing him in a tight hug that made him grunt. The grunt snapped Misha back to the present situation, and she turned to face the two parents.

“Merry Christmas, Dad!” Lynda chirped.

Returning the hug, Mr. Benson said, “Merry Christmas. How have you been?”

“Fine,” Lynda said. Reluctantly pulling away from the hug, she added, “Exams were a pain in the… neck, but I did pretty well. NYU is tough, but nothing I can’t handle.”

Mr. Benson smirked, “Good to hear. Hey, Misha, how’re you?”

Mish bowed in greeting and chirped, “Very well, thank you for asking. Merry~ Christmas~! Merry~ Christmas~ Mrs. Long!”

“Merry Christmas,” Mrs. Long returned, “I’m glad you made it before the weather made things problematic.”

“It’s not snowing that hard,” Lynda stated, “Hi, Mom.”

“Hello.”

The two looked at each other, unsure of what to say next, if anything. Mr. Benson glanced at the two women, then to Misha.

“Can I take your coats?” he asked.

“I got it,” Will declared from the threshold.

Lynda started and wheeled around to face him, “You need a bell around your neck.”

“And you need to relax,” Will retorted.

“My grandparents made me wear a bell~,” Misha stated as she took off her coat to hand to Will, “But they were practically~ deaf, so they needed the help~.”

“That is possibly the most adorable thing you’ve ever said,” Lynda stated.

“Least you know what to get her for Valentine’s Day,” Will quipped.

Lynda growled and tossed her coat at him, hitting him in the face.

“Do you feel better now?” Will asked.

“A little,” Lynda admitted.

“Fair enough. I’ll be back with some eggnog.”

Will pulled the coat off his face, readjusted his glasses, and left the room.

Once he was gone Mr. Benson took a seat in one of the chairs. Following his lead, Mrs. Long sat next to him in one of the available chairs, and Misha guided a still slightly tense Lynda into the couch across from her parents.

“Shiina,” Mrs. Long said, “You mentioned your grandparents were nearly deaf. Were they the reason you wanted to learn sign language?”

Misha tore her gaze from her girlfriend to answer her, “No. There was a girl in my middle school class who was partially~ deaf. I saw her sometimes after school signing to her mother, and started researching sign language. I was attracted to the intimacy~ of it.”

“Intimacy?”

“Communicating~ with sign language is more personal because of how you have the chance to think about everything you say before you say it,” Misha replied, “To me, that makes it more personal than verbal communication~, because so many people don’t think before~ they talk.”

“So why did you decide to become a teacher?” Mr. Benson asked.

“Well~, some of the kids bullied the girl,” Misha replied, “…Some of them were the same ones who bullied me. I wondered why they were picking on her, and my Mom said because they couldn’t understand~ her signing, so that made her different. Like me.”

Mr. Benson nodded, “It’s human nature to distrust and fear that which we do not understand.”

“Us versus them mentality,” Lynda added.

Misha nodded, “Right~! I thought if I could help people understand each other better~, they’d get along better~. So I decided to teach sign language, and help students better understand the deaf, and help the deaf better communicate in a world meant for the hearing~.”

Mr. Benson nodded absently, “A noble cause.”

Misha shrugged, “Maybe~. I just want people to get along~.”

“I have returned,” Will stated from the threshold, tray of glasses filled with eggnog in hand.

Will’s declaration made Lynda start in surprise, so Misha rubbed her shoulder to help calm her down. Lynda slumped slightly into her seat and closed her eyes in an effort to relax. Misha’s efforts paid off as her girlfriend slowly relaxed her tense shoulders.

Mrs. Long looked to her daughter in concern, “Are you all right, Lynda?”

Lynda nodded and forced herself upright.

“Long trip,” she grumbled.

“This’ll help,” Will said, and started handing out glasses of eggnog.

“Thanks~!” Misha chirped.

“No problem,” he said, handing one to Lynda.

Lynd accepted the glass and leaned over to Will’s ear to whisper, “I’ll give you ten bucks if you add rum to mine.”

“Don’t tempt fate,” Will muttered.

Lynda sighed and leaned back in her seat.

“How’s dinner looking?” Mr. Benson asked.

Will handed out the other two glasses and shrugged, “Haven’t burned anything yet. Should be ten, maybe twenty more minutes. Depends on the potatoes. If you need anything else, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

As Will once again left the room, Mr. Benson remarked, “I knew those summer jobs would pay off.”

Mrs. Long nodded and sipped her drink, “How was your trip here?”

“Uneventful,” Lynda replied.

“Good to hear.”

Mr. Benson turned to Misha, “You’re on your way home, right?”

Misha nodded, “After tonight I’m gonna grab a cab to the airport, transfer to La Guardia, then off to Japan~. I’ll be back around early January~.”

“I was gonna hop over for a weekend,” Lynda added, “After Christmas.”

“All that air travel must get expensive,” Mrs. Long remarked.

“My parents pay for it until I can get a job,” Misha said, “Since I earned so many~ scholarships and grants, they don’t mind paying for that for a bit.”

“And Misha’s friend pays for my trips to Japan,” Lynda added, “I told her not to, but she insisted, and honestly I couldn’t afford it on my own. Not unless I can earn a scholarship, at least.”

“That’s pretty generous,” Mr. Benson stated.

Misha responded to that, stating, “Shicchan’s heart has always been in the right place, even if she gets too caught up in work~.”

“Still,” Mrs. Long said, “It would make more sense if you were closer to Japan.”

Mr. Benson eyed his wife, “Not exactly subtle, dear.”

Lynda sighed, “I wondered when we’d get to this.”

Mr. Benson sighed lightly before turning to Lynda, “Once my physical therapy is complete, I’m going to move to Canada. I’d have done it sooner, but the US government had other ideas. The move should be complete sometime late next year. After that, if you want to spend your breaks with me, you’ll have to do it back home.”

Lynda’s fists clenched, “Vancouver isn’t home. Toronto was home, and now my home is a cramped New York apartment that I share with my stepbrother and his best friend.”

Part II:

Mrs. Long sighed, “And you’re just going to stay there over breaks? Henry goes home, Will will be in Canada with us, and Shiina goes home for most breaks. It isn’t right to ask her to stay or for her friend to pay your way –her insistence aside- and you can’t afford to go with her all the time, nor should you strain yourself financially to do so. No offense, Shiina.”

“None taken~,” Misha stated. Putting her hand on Lynda’s clenched fist and rubbing it, she said to her, “She’s right~. You need to go back~.”

“Why?” Lynda snarled, “To go and play house after ten years of separation and distance? I know it’s not your fault, Dad, and it’s only bad luck you’re even back here, but all of us living together won’t make us a family. You were never there for me or for Will, Mom, and now you’re gonna try and make things right? No. I won’t go back.”

“It is my fault in a way,” Mr. Benson said, “I did enlist, after all. It’s not fair to blame your mother entirely; we all had a stake in this, and we all dropped the ball at some point or another.”

Misha looked around and shifted, a relative stranger to an old familial wound. Despite her discomfort, she sighed and turned to Lynda, “Lycchan~, he’s right~. Your Dad swore an oath. Blaming your mother for that won’t help~.”

“She was never home either!” Lynda snapped, “At least Dad had a reason!”

“You weren’t home that often yourself,” Mrs. Long stated, “You either stayed at school clubs –and later the dorms- or out all night doing Lord knows what. I threw myself into my work because I couldn’t stand being home alone. I worked so our home would be a warm, welcoming place, and… and you were such a handful back then, and I didn’t know how to handle it –or your sexual preferences, for that matter. Your father was so much better at all that… both of them were, and are.”

Mr. Benson pat his wife’s arm and grimaced, “Sorry about all this, Misha. You must wanna hunker down in the bathroom by now.”

Misha shrugged, “Kinda~, but I need to be here for Lynda. To talk some sense into her, if nothing else~,” prying Lynda’s clenched fists open, she added, “because she’s being so~ stubborn~ and narrow minded.”

“She’s not any better!” Lynda retorted, pointing at her mother.

“I know that,” Mrs. Long said, “But if you’re not even willing to give this a chance, what does that say about you? I knew marrying Carl would be a problem, and neither government made it easy on us, but we did our best….”

“Well, what we thought was our best,” Mr. Benson stated.

Mrs. Long nodded, “Fair point. In any case, please reconsider, Lynda? It’s what your father would’ve wanted.”

Lynda glared at her mother and snarled, “No fair bringing Daddy into this.”

“He’d want you to give us a chance,” Mrs. Long declared.

Lynda groaned and buried her head in her hands, “God damnit, Mom! You expect me to forgive the distance, the resentment, the talks with the Minister, all in a moment and run off and play house?”

Mrs. Long snorted, “Of course not. I know it won’t be easy, but it’ll be impossible if you don’t at least try. You don’t have to think of Vancouver as home. I just want you to know you always have a place there, with me… with us.”

Misha pulled Lynda close to her and stroked her hair, but didn’t say anything. After a few moments, Lynda looked up and glared at her mother, “If Misha can come, then I’ll come. I’ll even visit before Dad moves, so we can try and air all this shit out and not make everyone else uncomfortable.”

Mrs. Long couldn’t help but smile, “Of course she can come. She’s proven her place in the family, and as long as you’re welcome under my roof, so is she.”

Lynda snorted, “Where was that attitude five years ago?”

“Lynda,” Mr. Benson chided, “One awkward argument about our family dysfunction at a time, please.”

“Your earlier taste in partners wasn’t very… respectable back then, you know,” Mrs. Long remarked, “Especially that girl who fooled around with the literature club.”

Lynda groaned and covered her head again, “I need a drink.”

“There’ll be wine with dinner,” Mr. Benson said. Looking up past the group, he asked, “Which I take is done?”

Everyone turned to see Will standing silently in the threshold, “Yep.”

Not bothering to look up, Lynda asked, “How long have you been there?”

“Since Mom pulled the Daddy card,” Will replied, “You guys take a minute to cool off and finish the nog.”

“I’ll go get the wine,” Mr. Benson said.

Will wheeled around and headed for the kitchen, his father loping after him.

The three women looked around in awkward silence, drinking their eggnog and exchanging uncomfortable glances. The fire sizzled and burned away, now little more than a pile of glowing embers and dying flames. Mrs. Long was the first to speak, setting her empty glass down with a muted, but noticeable, thunk.

“Well,” she said, “I am sorry you had to hear all that, Shiina, but I’m glad we got something out in the open. Journey of a thousand miles and all that. Hopefully we can keep the awkward arguments to a minimum.”

“Thanks~,” Misha said, “and I’m glad you both got something~ off your chests.”

“Yeah,” Lynda sighed. Heaving herself upright, she smirked and quipped, “A few more days of ranting and I should have everything off my mind.”

“Let’s spread it out a bit,” Mrs. Long remarked, “For our piece of mind, if nothing else -and poor Shiina’s.”

Lynda nodded, “Yeah, sure. Can we go eat now?”

“Indeed.”

Mrs. Long eased herself up and wandered off to the dining room. When she was gone, Lynda leaned back into the couch and groaned at the ceiling.

“This is your fault,” Lynda declared. Turning her head toward Misha, she continued, “because of you, I have to be all mature and responsible for my teenage bullshit.”

“And your mom has to be responsible for poorly~ handling your sexual orientation~ and bipolar disorder,” Misha countered, “You said yourself that things are as screwed up as they are because neither of you talked to each other`.”

Lynda sighed and nodded, “Yeah, yeah. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“I know,” Misha said. Placing her hand over Lynda’s, she grinned and stated, “But I’ll be here to help.”

Lynda smiled and leaned over to Misha, kissing her forehead lightly, “Thanks. If things get ugly, feel free to hunker down somewhere. Maybe get Will to take you to a movie.”

Misha grinned and returned the kiss, “Okay. Ready for dinner?”

Misha stood up and extended her hand for Lynda. With a weary smirk and a nod, Lynda accepted the hand and made her first step of a long journey.

+++

HAH! You thought I was gonna write another dinner scene, didn’t you?

Nope.

Families are work, after all. Why I prefer not to bother; I can barely handle my own crap.

Anyways, Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good night!

Don’t worry folks, I did write an actual Christmas story for Christmas.

We’re following Meet the Hakamichis, believe it or not, which would make Misha a junior and Lynda a senior.

Anywho:


Separate but Together: A USM Christmas Special


“Did she call yet?”

Lynda looked up from the waiting cell phone in her hand. Her step-brother, Will Benson, was leaning into the small bedroom she was using during her stay in Vancouver.

“Wasn’t that closed?” she asked.

Will shook his shaggy dark brown hair, which caused his rounded glasses to slip. Sighing, he readjusted them over his green eyes before he said, “Nope. Want me to close it?”

“…Don’t bother. And not yet.”

“Won’t be long now,” Will stated, and disappeared.

“You wanna say hi?” she called after him.

Will’s head reappeared in her threshold, “…Must I?”

Lynda pouted, “C’mon, she’s part of the family, too. You can at least wish her a Merry Christmas.”

“Fair enough,” Will said, and stepped into Lynda’s room.

Lynda was sitting on the bed, her cell phone cradled in her hands. Will gingerly took a seat next to her, looking her over. Her long black hair was so well brushed it shimmered, and her silver earrings and necklace complimented her formal black dress nicely. Despite the bags under her brown eyes, she was staring intently at the phone, willing it to vibrate.

“You okay?” Will asked.

“Just tired,” Lynda replied, “Still getting used to Pacific Time, I guess.”

“At least we’re closer to Japan.”

Lynda smirked and nodded, “Yeah. Poor Misha offered to call later, but I didn’t wanna keep her up.”

“She did say she was busy,” Will said, “but she’ll call. She always does.

Lynda smiled, “Yeah. She does.”

==

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, it was not late morning but mid-afternoon, and Misha was waiting for a chance to excuse herself to call her girlfriend. Unfortunately, Christmas was a busy time in the house of a man of business and a restaurant chef. Salesmen from neighboring lots and associates from new car dealers were dropping by to divvy up advertising locations amongst their competition, and decide which makes and models would sell best where. At least, that was the official reasoning.

Her mother had her own worries as well. As a predominantly male-industry in a still largely patriarchal society, Mrs. Mikado worked very hard to make her presence known in the business, and as a result the chef’s of a lot of high-end restaurants –and ones that fancied themselves high-end- were dropping by as well.

With her father jockeying for control of his corner of the used car business, and her mother making sure every decent chef in the city sampled her cooking and knew she meant business, Misha worked extra hard as hostess. Which meant doing both the duties her mother would have were she the hostess, and also looking pretty and worthy of being the only child worth acknowledging –her brother never even bothered with a New Years card.

As dinner approached, though, the guests started to leave, most not to return until next year, while others would return before New Years to finish hashing out what they had started. With the precious time she had between the guests starting to trickle out and the need to help set up dinner, Misha ducked into her room, grateful several times she didn’t trip over her pink and red kimono in the process.

Keeping the door open a crack so she could hear if someone called for her, Misha grabbed her phone from her desk and quickly hit speed-dial.

==

Back in Vancouver, British Columbia, Lynda’s phone started vibrating. Lynda sighed in relief and answered the shaking phone.

Using her slowly improving Japanese, Lynda chirped, “Hey, Misha! Merry Christmas!”

“Hey Lycchan~! Merry Christmas~!” Misha returned, also in Japanese.

Lynda’s accent was better, so Will avoided snorting at it. He had been way worse when learning Arabic, anyway.

Lynda held her phone out in front of Will and switched it to speaker mode. Will rolled his eyes and leaned forward.

“Hello, Misha,” he said, “Merry Christmas.”

Misha blinked in confusion a few times, then grinned when she recognized the voice. Switching to English, she said, “Hey, Will! Merry Christmas!”

“And a Happy New Year,” Will returned, “Since I won’t see you until the semester starts again.”

“Thanks!” Misha chirped, “How are things up in Canadaland?”

Lynda shrugged, “About as well as they should be, I guess.”

Misha frowned, “Will…?”

“Actually things are going rather well,” he replied, “Things going so well in the summer probably helped with that. I can’t say I’d like to live here, but for Dad I’m willing visit on occasion. If I have to. Speaking of things I have to do, I better go check on the potatoes.”

“Bye, Will!” Misha chirped.

“Goodbye,” Will returned, and left Lynda’s room, closing the door behind him.

Misha smoothed an imaginary crease in her kimono before asking, “So how have you been?”

Lynda shrugged and lay back on the bed, her feet lightly scraping the carpeted floor as she switched off speaker mode, “I’m not sure. I mean, it’s always cool to hang out with Dad, and dealing with Mom is easier now, and there’s some cool gaming shops around here. It just… doesn’t feel like home.”

“Aww….”

“Yeah,” Lynda sighed, “…I mean, I don’t feel weird with my family that much anymore, so there’s that. It might be my meds, too.”

Misha smirked, “Or maybe you just miss me~?”

Lynda smirked as she stared up at the ceiling, “Maybe. But I’ll see you in a few days… I dunno. I’m not gonna worry about it right now. How are you?”

“Tired~,” Misha replied, “Mom and Dad are rubbing their shoulders raw wheeling and dealing with people, so I have to play super hostess to make up for it.”

“It must be really hard on your mom,” Lynda said, “The restaurant business isn’t easy on women, is it?”

“No, so that’s even more pressure on me. But~! I can handle it! Did you see that picture I sent of me in my kimono?”

Lynda smiled, “Yeah, you look gorgeous. Did you see the pic I sent of me in my dress?”

Misha grinned, “Yep! You’re beautiful.”

“Thanks. Oh, did you have a chance to open your presents yet?”

“Yeah!” Misha hopped in place a bit in excitement, “I got some really cool board games, and Mom got me a really cool cookbook! I got some other stuff, too, but nothing too exciting. What about you?”

“Well, Will got me Cards Against Humanity, which… well, we’re gonna have fun with that when the semester starts,” Lynda stated, “other than that I mostly got gift cards and vouchers for Games Workshop. Although Mom got me this dress, which is really nice.”

“Good to hear you two getting along,” Misha said.

Lynda rolled her eyes, “Yeah, awkward silences interspersed with passive-aggressive quips -it’s like high school all over again.”

Misha frowned and sighed. She hated that Lynda and her mother didn’t get along. Family was important, after all. Still, at least they were in the same country again.

Hearing the sigh, Lynda waved her free hand and said, “I’m just bitching, don’t worry. Will was right; things are going pretty well now. I think… I think Mom’s trying harder because of how important this time of year is to me.”

“She might,” Misha said.

“Yeah…” Lynda sighed and hefted herself into a sitting position, “Well, as much as I’d love to just sit here and listen to you breathe and then ruin my dress with bodily fluids, you probably have to get back into the fray, and we got company coming over soon.”

“Okay,” Misha said, “I’ll call again tomorrow. I miss you.”

“Miss you, too. I’ll see you day before New Year’s Eve,” smirking to herself, Lynda remarked, “Mom may have ‘misgivings’ about how much I travel, but the frequent flyer miles help a bunch.”

Misha grinned, “Can’t wait. Oh, my family was gonna visit a shrine on New Year’s, would you wanna come?”

Lynda smiled, “I’d be honored. I mean, if fucking women doesn’t get me struck by lightning, I doubt that will…” her smile faltered, “…I don’t have to pray there, do I?”

Misha chuckled, “No, just having you there will be enough. Mom said she’d find something traditional for you to wear so we’ll match.”

“I look forward to it,” pausing to make sure her throat was clear of any lumps, Lynda switched to Japanese to say, “Bye, I love you.”

“Love you, too,” Misha returned, and hung up.

Lynda ended her call, and, not much sooner then Misha, sighed. Tucking their phones away, the two women stood up, straightened out their clothing, and rejoined their families, sans one important member.

+++

I am capable of writing sober.

On occasion.

Happy Holidays!

Finally getting caught up on the past month's worth of postings, and once again I find a smile on my face while reading a USM piece. Shocked that the last one went without comment, too. Anyway, nice stuff, Hoitash .