driftfleet | paisley july mingle!

[Kirito smiles faintly; he appreciates Stefan's restraint, but he feels kind of guilty about it, too. It's times like this when someone really deserves a hug. He's not one to initiate it though, so--]

It was... it was good. Really good. I mean, it's hard being back, but... I got to see everyone back home.

[It's bittersweet, but worth the pain, even so.]

Even Asuna and - and your sister?

[Oh, that's huge. Stefan's eyes widen as he realizes exactly what that means. Forget the restraint, hugs are very much in order.

He's gonna go for it. Hope Kirito doesn't mind tight bearhugs, because Stefan doesn't quite feel like apologizing for them.]

How long were you there? Er, how long do you remember being there?

[He probably shouldn't be surprised by the hug, but somehow he always is. He's getting better at it, at least- his response is slightly less awkward, patting Stefan reassuringly on the back. It's okay, buddy, he doesn't hate it.]

It was about five months. It feels like a lot happened, but... if I were to try and summarize it, it wouldn't mean much to someone who doesn't play MMOs.

[His expression softens.]

But yeah... I saw my family again. Dad was even home for a couple of weeks, during the holidays. I got to be with Asuna, and Yui...

Sorry. [MMOs were around in 2016, but Stefan couldn't say he was interested in them.] But that sounds - that's really good.

[He pulls back long enough to get a better look at Kirito. Hm, it doesn't look like the kid's gotten any older. Or maybe he's too old to look for any lingering differences.]

Yui? I don't think you've talked about her before.

[Two years in a coma during the formative years will do that, apparently. He's probably about as tall as he'll ever get at this point, though it was only five months.]

For real? I've been slacking off, then. She's, um, my daughter.

[/casual bombshell]

[What.]

I'm sorry, did you just say your daughter?

[He can't help it- he laughs a little.]

Sorry, that must sound a bit weird.

[It's not unheard of for people to do the whole "accidental teen pregnant" thing, but he probably doesn't seem like the type.]

She's actually not human- she's an artificial intelligence counselling program. Her avatar form is that of a little girl. It's... kind of a long story, but Asuna and I adopted her.

No, no, it's just -

[Adopted an AI. Sure, that's about normal for this place. Stefan has about a million questions (his face just about says it) but his head hurts too much to ask.]

I didn't realize you had a kid. [Like Beverly.] What's she like?

Oh man, where to even begin? She's a real sweetheart. Cute as hell- she can get anybody to do anything with those big puppy eyes, I swear. And she's super smart, too. Asuna told me that while I was off in a different game for a few hours she managed to compile a bunch of information related to some criminal activity within that game- info that took months for even the government to piece together! She did us all proud that day.

And since she was originally intended to act as an in-game counsellor, her capacity for emotion is incredible. She genuinely loves people, and everyone who knows her loves her and wants to protect her heart, just like Asuna and me. She's a real treasure.

[He definitely sounds like a proud papa as he talks about her, the expression on his face echoing his tone. He could gush about her for ages.]

Edited 2016-08-21 03:22 (UTC)

She sure sounds like one. You couldn't have asked for a better kid.

[He's a little jealous! For all that Stefan's ranted about his mom wanting a nice Arab girl and those future grandbabies, he knows that he'll never see parenthood. So to hear about this little bundle of joy is - well, now he wants to meet her.]

Do you have any pictures lying around?

[Ohhhhh buddy. The can of adorable worms you have opened with that question. Kirito grins and tugs a smartphone from his pocket, turning it on and flipping through the apps.]

Sure do! Well, technically they're screenshots... anyway, we've got some family pics that I saved to my SD.

[Give him a moment to sort the pictures, and then he turns the phone towards Stefan, flipping through.]

Here's Yui with her pixie avatar. We were looking for a whale, she wanted to ride it for some reason. Oh, geez, I forgot I had this one on here... forget you saw that. This one's Yui by herself, isn't she cute? Ah- I snuck a shot of this when we were planning the whale trip. That's Asuna in her Undine avatar. Uhh... oh, hey! This is when Asuna used her tailor skill to make dolls for Yui- they were trying to reenact a story Liz told her about when I fought a dragon. Hmm... oh, here! Yui insisted we took a family photo.

[He could do this for another two hours, dude.]

[Good thing that Stefan has all the time in the world. He doesn't exactly get the MMO thing, but it makes Kirito happy, so... he's gonna enjoy looking at all these photos. It's also nice putting a face to Asuna's name, given all that he's heard about her.]

She's adorable. I wish I could meet her some day. [He grins, glancing at the family photo, then at Kirito. Huh.] Also, she kinda looks like both of you. Was that on purpose?

Eh?

[Kirito glances back at the photos, and... huh.]

I never really thought about it before, but... I guess she does, yeah. I don't think it was intentional, though- the man who created her didn't meet us until after she existed, and we didn't meet her until well after that, either. She didn't change her appearance to match us, either.

Maybe she was just fated to be our daughter.

Sure looks like it.

[Despite the answer, he's pleased all the same. This is a side of Kirito that Stefan never ever minds seeing - and now that he knows how to get the guy gushing about something he can understand? Expect more random questions about the baby girl.]

Before I forget - did you see what Alex left you?

Ah...

[Derailed, Kirito swipes his phone off and pockets it, his smile fading.]

I haven't checked yet. I wanted to see how you were doing, first.

Thanks. [He places a hand on Kirito's shoulder, though his smile fades a little.] But I promise, I'll be fine.

She wouldn't want me sulking all over the place, and besides - I think you'd want to see this.

...Yeah, I guess that's true.

[Well, if Stefan isn't going to sulk, then he'll have to avoid doing that, too. It'll be rough going for a bit, but it won't be the first time.]

I'll have a look, then. Hey, uh- let me know if you need anything, okay?

[He says he's not going to sulk. Maybe Kirito should keep an eye on him, just in case...]

Of course. [His expression softens, and for a few seconds, his mask slips entirely.] I'm sure I'll grab you once it really hit homes, but... I'm okay now.

[So he gently motions for them to head to her room,] The better question is, what're we gonna do with all her stuff?

[Kirito stuffs both hands into his pockets, pushing off the wall to follow him.]

Well... we don't put all that much in storage, do we? I'm sure we can find an empty spot it can fill. Barring that, there's a hundred empty rooms on the Iskaulit.

[What's the alternative, toss it? He wouldn't want that done to his stuff, and it isn't right to consider it for Alex, either. What if she comes back? What if there's something important in there?]

Right. I was thinking, we don't really use the fire room in the Iskaulit...

Maybe I could move all of it there for the time being.

[It'd be quite the move, but he can't really think of anything better. Plus, her stuff is her stuff. Like he'd want to get rid of any reminders that she was here.]

The fire room... oh, that's the back of the interfaith center, right? Yeah, that'd work. at least then you can keep an eye on it.

If you want some help packing or moving stuff, you know where to find me.

Right, we'd built it for Rei.

[Except then she'd left, and no one else on the Fleet practices Shintoism, so it's become a bit of a moot point.]

Well, why don't we grab your present and see where we could take a few boxes?

I'm down for that.

[He just woke up, not like he has anything better to do. His current list of priorities is limited to like... dinner, maybe.]

Great. Just lemme know if you need to take it easy too.

[Stefan's stronger than he looks!! Honestly, he could probably carry everything in one trip, but the better question is, would he want to?]

paisley july mingle!

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so this got lost in tag mountain

how dare

i know, i'm the rudest

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