It's a house but is it home?

[mitochondriaaya]

She looked over the papers in her hand and chuckled softly, Mog, also sitting at the table, chuckled as well. "It's just...odd," she admitted. "This still feels like Sannish's house you know? I don't feel right renting it out just because we got talked into a bigger place..." Beach strip or no, the larger house was a hell of a fixer upper.

"Kuuu-po?"

"I'll look it over more in the morning okay?" It'd be the best way to offset the costs of taking on the new house, even with her savings it had been a bit of a panic inducing moment, but it still...didn't feel right.

Sannish would laugh at her. For a minute she honestly considered calling the Territories just to ask permission. Annnnd then he'd laugh. The man was Merchant Prince in the best sense of the term, he'd tell her to use the property wisely.

"Kupo pu po?"

"Yeah, go ahead Mog, I'll finish packing up the kitchen here then go to bed myself." She gave her friend a hug then watched the moogle bob off down the hall then hitched herself up on to the counter to reach the highest shelves. Hmmm, counters. She was going to add longer counters and more work space in the new house when she fixed up the kitchens. She liked sitting on counters so obviously there needed to be more of them.

Somehow she'd assumed some day she might outgrow the personal ideas about how furniture should be used, but since the boys hadn't, well, she didn't have to yet. That was her reasoning anyway. Right, back to what she was doing. Packing. And not letting her hands shake. It was such a stupid reason to wake up with nightmares huh?

But she'd had nightmares. She hadn't slept through a night in the past week as the house paperwork was signed and rental debate had arisen; it was a relief to go to work in the morning these days. Mog was worried, bless her fuzzy little bobble, and they were both trying not to just scream at the walls and throw things in boxes at this point. How they'd amassed so much stuff in the few months since transferring to town was beyond.

Granted, a chunk of it was the synthesis anvil and forge that Mog's parents INSISTED she had to have. Every moogle on their own did! And a chunk of it was the furniture people kept dropping by as a 'welcome home and we know you'r eon your own now...' even though the small house came furnished.

Furnished to KATZU STANDARD no less! Most of the heavier furniture was coming to her new place, for Dilan and anyone who visited from the territories; plus there was just something comforting in being able to curl up entirely in an arm chair some days. Still, there was just....stuff. So much stuff. What happened to the days when she had a few duffle bags and was good to go?

Oh, right, she'd been a tiny kid then. Right right.

Speaking of...the boys would be almost as good as talking to Sannish, right? She glanced at the clock then hit the speaker on her phone. She'd aim for the lounge in the labs first, they were probably there or just getting ready to leave by this point in the day.

If they were going home. She didn't like how often lab work for them turned into 'and then I emerged three weeks later'. So, yes, best to ring the area closest to a coffee pot. "This is the badged wonder calling braniacs," she trilled when she heard the machine roll over, she almost missed the tone by having her head up in a cupboard but hey, at least she had something to say?

"Pick up pick up pick up if you're there gentlemen..." Or not. Hey, maybe they actually made it home tonight? Well then. "Alright, elsewhere. CLICK CLICK BYE!" She wrapped a few more glasses then hit the button for the boy's flat.

Ah, but what if they were actually out on a date? It was...a weekend wasn't it? She didn't really keep track anymore since she and Mog covered most the oddball shifts currently. Hmmm, yeah, a weekend. "Hey, calling those currently unoccupied!" she chirped at that machine. "Just..yeah. I'm up. I'm...staying up. It's that kind of night. Call back whenever." She didn't want to ring their cells really, not for something silly. Besides, she kinda wanted them both on speaker and that was iffy with cells.

A few more hours and if she hadn't heard from them she would call the territories. Or wait until she could have coffee with Elcy and Yinsi in the morning. Yeah, that seemed like a good backup plan.

Comments

[sliceitwithwind]

Dilan called when he got the message, and when she picked up; "Hey, Ayay. Sorry I missed your call, I was deep into a report on functions of actin- and microtubule-based cytoskeleton systems in the context of human disease, and I had your file in front of me too so that I could check..."

That was probably the best point for her to interrupt before the conversation became all science.

[mitochondriaaya]

"One of your grad students or just curious?" She chuckled, packing pans now by the sound of metal flexing on her end. "Unless you're pulling another doctorate on the sly on me?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Of course I'm pulling another doctorate." Dilan said, amused, "Why wouldn't I? I have a lot of time to kill while everyone else on the continent is asleep."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Hey, as someone who can't sleep I resent that statement!" she laughed. "You could have been entertained here or something instead of hanging out with reports!" she teased.

Granted, who would even notice more doctorate letters after all the ones he already had? "Do they start added exponents to the letter strings after your name once you hit critical doctorate mass?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Can't sleep tonight, monkey. I can't count on you to entertain me every night." his amusement still bubbled, "I don't know if they do or not, I just leave off all the ones that aren't applicable. Unless I'm ticked at whomever I am writing to."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Can't sleep a lot of nights, kitten," she corrected with a chuckle. "I love being home, but it's slower than the city we had a job in you know?" Winding down was hard, and then readjusting was as well.

"Are you calling me from home or the lab dear? Should I have tried back in your office instead of the breakroom?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Yeah, office would have been better. It's where I go if I don't get finished before the lemur is due in bed. I know I won't wake him up, but I still end up sleeping badly."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Eh, was going to see if I could catch you both," she admitted, "but that's alright. I'll call back in the morning to hear the lemur's voice." Or grumbles as it were.

"I'm taking the territories furniture to the new place, any preferences where it goes? There's some work to be done before rooms are final and such but the couch in the livingroom or the library and little, stupid things like that?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"At this hour if he's not asleep in bed...he's asleep wherever he dropped." he sighed and the whish noise of his dreads as he shook his head came through the phone.

"Couch where the TV is. That chair-and-a-half-even-with-my-shoulders chair in the library. That awful painting from when I tried an art class in the recycle."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Yeah, I'd be jealous except his lack of insomnia comes with a price!" she chuckled softly. Toppling over unless hew as actively partying? Yeah, not so much fun!

"Couch by tv, curling up chair in library, painting in the hall, got it!"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Someday I'm going to take that thing out into the yard and burn it." he threatened half-heartedly.

[mitochondriaaya]

"Awwwww, kitten! It's interesting, and I always see something different in it!" And it always made Sannish laugh? Giggle potential was more than worth transporting it!

"Besides, it'll keep the walls from being so bare until I figure out what to do with them all."

[sliceitwithwind]

"The long dark night of the soul and all that?" he sighed again, "Man. You could get the kindergarten to paint you better pictures."

[mitochondriaaya]

"But you were almost a kindergartner!" she laughed. "Get me some interesting pictures from work blown up for my wall and I'll put those up too?" Not instead though!

[sliceitwithwind]

"If you say instead, I'll do it." Dilan informed her, "I won't make you throw it away if it's not displayed."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Spoilsport," she laughed, the click of cupboards sounding on the line before she bumped around to another one. "but fine. Instead. Besides you see interesting things in your work!"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Yeah! I was looking at this protozoa earlier that I think..." aaaaaaaaaand he's off again; bubbly, bright, and distractable. Science!

[mitochondriaaya]

It was odd but he was usually more bubbly around three am she'd found. "Protozoa?" she laughed. "You want a protozoa on my wall? Think about this hard kitten, I only have so much space, even with a bigger place! We need your brightest and best images for the house!"

[sliceitwithwind]

"This one is really gorgeous, though!" he said, sighing a bit, "How about some of the pollen from the territories? I've got some great photos that have been stained what I am assured is beautifully."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Don't you sigh at me!" Aya laughed, slapping the phone speaker gently. "You and Braig get to decorate the walls. That's just fact! I'll put up whatever you decide on! Protozoa, pollen, whatever you want! I just don't want you to jump straight to the 'This is under my microscope right now!' conclusion and want to change it out later!"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Hey, I'm told that lots of people...in mom and dad's bank range...swap out art all the time!" Dilan said, laughing, "Why not you, too?"

[mitochondriaaya]

"Because I'm not in that bank range?" she laughed. "And I like having some pretense of permanency in my life?" Just a little sometimes? Why not after all?

"I like being...settled. Now. I like it. Moving at all is...yeah."

[sliceitwithwind]

"Okay, yeah. The American in me can understand that, even if the Katzu part has genetic wanderlust. Yes!" before she could say it, "I know I haven't found a genetic cause for wanderlust...yet!"

[mitochondriaaya]

"Eh, I don't think it's the American in me?" she offered with amusement. "Just past experience influence my current self!" She could face up to the fact that moving around as a kid before meeting the boys was an issue okay?

"And you shouldn't be looking for a wanderlust gene! It's more a predator instinct to keep from overhunting an area, you've said that!"

[sliceitwithwind]

He just laughed at her, or with her if she started laughing too.