hugtopia_logs | 'no' is the saddest experience you'll ever know.

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'no' is the saddest experience you'll ever know.

♥ Who: Cliff Norman and whoever wants to put up with him.
♥ Where: various.
♥ When: Early November.
♥ What: A sad wolf is a bad wolf.
♥ Warnings: Cursing, Hell content in Héctor thread naturally.

[ one - the loneliest number. teen house. ]

[He doesn't know why he hasn't taken Kaito up on his offer before, especially since he's made a point to walk by his house a couple times to check on it or make sure it existed in the first place. The damage done by the worms isn’t enough to take out the place or make it unsafe, thankfully -- and it even leaves the task of quietly getting inside through a window even easier! Not that he couldn't use some difficulty as a good distraction from feelings he's trying very hard to ignore. Before he goes to climb inside, he makes a quick pass to see if the garden is likewise a survivor from October’s big wormy mess.

And then he's in a home that isn't his. It's weirdly soothing for someone that never relished the idea of spending time in his own home growing up, even if it's far from the window he'd really like to be climbing through. Nothing to do about that...and at least here he could feel vaguely welcome. Both Kaito and Shinji had invited him in the past! It's fine. Cliff is several steps across the room and listening for signs of anyone else being around before he calls,]

Hellooo? Anyone home?

[...decidedly not from the front door.]

[ two - just as bad as one. héctor. ]

[hahahahahahaaa fuck everything about this. He honestly hadn't meant to avoid Héctor all month, but with the worm drama on top of his dumb tender feelings, there hasn't been a good time. That's what he's choosing to tell himself so that he doesn't get frustrated all over again thinking about all the thinking he's had to do.

In the end, Héctor is still Héctor, whether he's the one Cliff knew or not. He knew he wasn't the same and had plenty of reason for that. What mattered most right now was that they were both, more or less, doing okay -- something Clifford had been able to be sure of without getting too close, thankfully, because of his nose.

Now he's getting close. So close, in fact, that he's right at the door and scratching at it with his claws, full wolf. He's...fairly confident that Héctor would be the one to answer any call to the door in this household, from what little experience he's had with Nekane, but if not? He's leaning into the anxious hope that one of the things shared in this -- bleh -- marriage is not the fact that Cliff is a big dumb werewolf.]

[ three - dog night. open. ]

[The scariest part of the worm attack, surprisingly, was not the worms. It was that moment he went to become the wolf and felt like there were hooks on the inside holding him together, refusing to let him change without a fight. He'd fallen to the ground in agony that only lightened when he finally stopped trying to shift and let that part of himself go. Cliff didn't flaunt the fact that he was a werewolf -- basically, anyway -- but not being allowed it, even on his own? Terrifying. He'd barely managed to get his head back on straight enough to shuffle citizens and helpers back towards the safety of the town center, and had been grasping at any chance to help defend.

It's still screwing him up a little, but Cliff’s making the most of getting himself back, going around the city as a red, juvenile wolf watching life get back to normal and honing in on interesting sights and smells.

Of course, the boy in the red hoodie with eyes like an animal can be found wandering as well. Usually out running at any odd hour or stuck behind a counter doing his best to act like someone who knew how to be polite.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

On it. We were gonna get some drinks anyway.

[Let him be your replicator navigator, Cliff. He gestured over to the counter with his glass (that he had thanked Shinji for, thank you). On the way, he leaned over to quietly murmur:] Don't worry about helping too much, they're not gonna let you lift a finger.

[He still had to muscle his way in to help half the time. No way was a guest gonna do anything, unexpected or otherwise. Beep boop let's get that replicator going though.]

What were you looking for?

[Ah, sweet. He nods in understanding and not-so-secret relief at being told he won't have to do anything. Again, he can and maybe should, but he doesn't want to. He leans to watch Kaito work, anticipation uneasily setting in his gut. Would it even work... Well, it makes sake apparently, so maybe it's fine with specifics!]

Piloncillo... It's a kind of sugar they use in Mexico. Masa flour would be great, too.

[It's Kai's turn to look relieved at the immediate follow up on whatever the heck that word was. It wasn't going to stop him from quietly mouthing 'pilon..see..yo?' to himself as he poked at the interface though.]

The pi... the sugar might be somethin' we gotta add. Think it might have the flour though, just synthetic? Were you gonna make a pie too?

[The sugar list was indeed a bit short, but the flours were looking promising. Some fresh fake flour was going to be yours.]

[Yeah... That's what he was afraid of...]

Uh, I don't think so... [He doesn't know enough about cooking -- or science, frankly -- to be Super Sure, but,] It's a flour made of corn, but isn't actually the corn flour I grew up knowing about. Another Mexican cooking thing.

[Cliff gives a weak shrug of one shoulder, looking away like he's already lost interest.]

Don't worry about it. I should probably buy that stuff myself instead of thinking cigarettes make sense to get. Is it expensive to add things to it?

[Cliff got a little glance, the "you sure?" plain on Kai's face. There was no reason to push it, but he'd maybe keep those things in mind anyway since:]

Nah, they're pretty cheap. It works on the basic replicators too, we had a bunch of stuff at our other place that kinda carried over. You can get meals too, see. [Let him show you his omurice button. It has saved the day many times.]

A little handier than cigarettes, depending on how much your cravings are screaming.

[It's not a big deal, he just wants the stuff!!! So, obviously, it does not matter. It's fine.]

Huh.

[whatever omurice is, ANYWAY the replicator stuff is very strange but kind of neat in a sci-fi way. Even if the basic ones aren't ideal for a teen like him whose dinner-related duty was usually to clear the dishes after.]

It's just not seeming like they're worth it, when they don't last long and it's even harder to get more here than it was back home. It's not like I'm addicted or anything anyway, I just like it.

[His irritation when he ran out was just a normal reaction, another day of this place sucking, mhm, that's all.]

Speaking of which -- the sake?

[With a glance over to Kyoko. They're supposed to make sure she knows for some reason, and that just now counted, right?]

Mmm, I getcha.

[Why he'd never sprung for them himself, honestly. Well, that and not needing to spend time wasting his days away anymore. There were a lot of better things to fill that time with suddenly.]

Right. [Kai more blatantly leaned back to look at his busybodies, fingertips hovering over more options.]

Did either of you want something to drink? Juice or anything? We were gonna give the sake a try.

Huh?

[ That first noise was mostly absent, but then the rhythm of Kyoko's knife on the cutting board stopped. A beat, and then she looked over her shoulder, squinting. ]

Huh?? Kaito... [ Her tone was somewhere between incredulous and scolding. ] He's fourteen, you know.

[WOAH, HEY]

I'm sixteen.

[ Turning around, she pointed at Cliff, but didn't break eye contact with Kaito. ]

See, even if he lies he can't claim he isn't a minor. It's too obvious. Did you really miss that?

[ She knows Kai isn't the most socialized dog, but come on! ]

Edited 2021-11-21 07:36 (UTC)

[KYOKO]

What the -- I'm not lying! What are you talking about?!

[IS THIS A JOKE???]

[ That level of indignation actually did make her pause and reconsider. The hand that pointed went up to her mouth, her eyes going round for a moment as she looked at Cliff. ]

You're--?! For real?

[ Honest to god she thought he was just a tall middle schooler. It was plausible okay. Americans are tall!! ]

[They're tall! There was en extremely high chance that Cliff was the tallest person in the room right now!! With those big American bones. Still, even tall he didn't look any younger than Shinji! What is happening.

Kai just blinked as this exchange took place. Sixteen, fourteen, didn't make much a difference to him.]

I started before fourteen? He already drinks anyway.

[Good grief what is happening here??

Shinji's already relented, so he's not about to try and put a stop to this plan, and truthfully he's not sure if he should be saying anything right now, but there's just so much information being put out here that he can't help but send a somewhat shocked look into the fray. Kai you started drinking before fourteen?? What???]

[Yeah, no, that one even gets Cliff blinking. From on high, because as established, everyone here is at least half a foot shorter than him.

Hm... Kaito had said something about minors going to prison, hadn't he? Cliff's starting to get the feeling that was more informative than he'd taken it to be.

But! To defend himself,]

It's not like I want to get wasted. You guys are still basically strangers. I've already done that and it sucked. Why have it if you're not going to drink it?

[for cooking. they've literally gone through this, cliff.]

[ Kyoko had actually been about to apologize for wounding poor Cliff's pride about his age, but when Kaito spoke up she forgot that line of thought. For a moment she sent him a look of surprise too, but it was pretty mild--she hadn't known that about him, no, but she's pretty sure Sho was already sneaking drinks before fourteen too. None of this is actually a shocking concept to her. She had just kind of thought Kaito would be a little better than all that, at least when it came to looking out for his friends.

For a moment, she meets Kaito's eyes sharply again. So Cliff already drank, and Kaito knew that--all along, or did he learn it just today? Was the implication that Cliff had been drinking even here in Havenwell? Considering Kyoko was pretty sure there were only two establishments that sold alcohol in town and she worked at one of them, there were some questions forming that she didn't like at all.

She was going to have to talk to him later.

But for now, she set her knife down on the cutting board so she could prop her hands on her hips and let out a little huff. ]

It's one of the pillars of Japanese seasoning, I'll have you know. There are more non-drinking uses for it than drinking!

[ Putting aside that she doubts this particular sake is even drinkable. ]

A taste is fine, but there are a lot of levels between that and wasted. You have to be at least 20 to go past the ground floor in this building.

Edited (dropped a word) 2021-11-21 19:12 (UTC)

[He's not sure where all the rest of this surprise was coming from, frankly. He wasn't a good kid. He'd tried to establish that pretty firmly, even if Shinji and Kyoko had kept insisting that no, he was Good. He was just cleaned up and had (sort of) learned from his mistakes. It was different.

The sharpness of Kyoko's look was met with a steady one. This was coming from a good place, he knew that. Still, the intent had never been to get crazy or go behind her back! There was no problem here!!]

We don't even know if it's just cookin' stuff anyway, it was only gonna be a taste to begin with. We're hitting the calpico after that.

[ Kyoko was sure Kaito didn't think he was doing anything bad, at least not in a serious way. And it was easy to trust that he didn't intend on this becoming more than a fun little taste test. But there was still a lot to be concerned about, here.

Her frown wasn't gone, and her hands stayed parked on her hips, but she let out a smaller huff this time. ]

Get me a glass too, then please.

[Cliff shifts uneasily, his frown and eyes focused on his shoes. It's tempting to leave, just be done with all this because he did not come here to be accused of things again -- Kaito was the safe zone. The one that understood, but didn't leave Cliff with the distinct feeling of weirdness by being a father figure. It'd be really jarring if it occurred to him that Kai and Héctor are basically the same age, once you ignore all the years being dead.

Things have wound down, though, and while the stubborn part of him still insists he should bail, fuck this, or at least argue that in France, where he'd been going to school, and in Mexico, where he may or may not settle down in the future, the drinking age was 18, so it's extra bullshit...he doesn't want to rile things up again. Still, he can't keep himself from snidely muttering,]

Didn't know you had such a hot mom, Kai.

[He'd wanted this to be a safe zone for Cliff too. It wasn't too late for that, Kai was sure, he'd just have to chat with both of them. Shinji had already been on the list, and surely Kyoko had some words for him later. It'd get worked out, probably. This scenario was all him, not Cliff.

He'd raised his brows a bit at Kyoko's request, but sure. Halfway through fetching another glass did he hear Cliff's comment, and he had to pause with a grimace.]

Oh, it was a mom spiel, huh. [Let's set that glass down, grimace shifting to a shitty grin.] My girlfriend is hot, thanks.

[A pause, and then a point at Shinji.] So is my boyfriend.

[ Safe zone?? No. This was the instant death zone, thanks for that one-two punch KO guys. No counter from Kyoko's corner, she's just gonna stand here paralyzed and on fire. ]

[Wow Kai what the hell? Why did you have to rope Shinji into that? The blast is too powerful for him to even defend himself, even if... it's wrong? That's wrong. You're wrong, Kai. Also that bean spilling - had Cliff even known about the situation here, exactly? What a way to find out, if not!! Jeez!

But, nope, Shinji simply, deliberately turns his attention AWAY from the ruckus in a futile attempt to hide how red his face got from that (totally incorrect!) compliment dropped on the kitchen. Why would you do this to him when he's just trying to get dinner pieced together? Dreadful.]

[He gives Kai a look of bewilderment that extends to the others as he turns his head to look at them instead -- but then he sees them and he bursts out laughing instead. Christ. Look at their faces.

Feeling like the ground's been evened out a bit again, Cliff offers Kai his fist for a congratulatory bump before taking initiative to deliver Kyoko's drink -- and a grin -- to her like a jerk.]

Good work. [That's for Kai again.] Is that just a thing here? I know that Era lady has a husband and a boyfriend. Pretty sure it'd just piss a lot of people off where I'm from.

[There we go. That worked better than he expected! Tension broken, details established, both his people looking exceptionally cute. Triple winner right there, though he was sure there was going to be some kind of revenge swift on his heels. He was still gonna return that fist bump though, even if he was giving Kyoko a slightly apologetic smile behind Cliff's back.]

Oh, does she? Huh. Didn't know that. [Because he lived under a rock. It was... kinda nice to know this wasn't an exclusive thing. Not that Kai needed it to be normal, but still. Thanks for not saying it was weird. Let's get Cliff and his own drinks.]

...I'm sure a lot of people would have a lot of unnecessary things to say back home too.

[ Kyoko was still in space. She barely registered what the boys were saying, numbly taking that cup and holding it in both hands.

Did... did anyone besides the three of them know she was dating Kaito until just now? She knew she hadn't mentioned it to anybody yet, not even actual friends that she knew better than Cliff. And now it was just out there! It's not like she'd wanted it to be Forever A Secret or something, but! But!!!

Head swimming as the lighthearted chatter bounced off her, Kyoko lifted her cup for a deep swig. ]

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