tournament fallout

The door creaked open.

"-damned if I let a fucking NIP tell my daughter who she can or can't date!"

Hailey straightened up from where she was staring at the floor and transferred her gaze to her mother, who inclined her head at her. "He's ready for you," she murmured.

Hailey took a deep breath and stood, smoothing down her skirt. "No time like the present," she mumbled under her breath.

Her father was still formidable, even after the stroke had had its way with him, and if Hailey ignored the way his entire lower body seemed curiously static, she could almost pretend that he was exactly the same as he was - always distant, occasionally furious and rarely tender. The wrinkles around his eyes seemed to crinkle as he followed her passage into the room. "Hailey," he rumbled, and patted the mattress. "Sit. Sit."

Hailey sat. "Are you well, Dad?" she asked.

Her father harrumphed. "As well as can be expected," he growled. "You couldn't even spare a day to visit me?"

Hailey's eyes flicked to her mother, but it was just the two of them. "Well," she began, backpedaling, thinking on her feet, "I was- I visited you right after it happened, Dad, surely Mom must have told you. I dropped by twice a week for a while after that-"

"And then the rest of your life caught up," her father said dryly. "Like it did for your older siblings. I thought I'd have a little more time with you, father and daughter, before you headed out into the big bad world."

Hailey didn't speak. Her father toyed with the doodads on his overbed table. His fingers were still relatively nimble, and only caught once or twice. She watched as his temper rose with each fumble, bracing herself for the inevitable explosion, but he cut his fidgeting short early.

"Listen, Hailey," her father began, setting a particularly finicky cube down. "Are you sure you'd like for your first foray into the dating world to be a Japanese delinquent? Jess has done some research for me, you know."

Hailey nodded mutely. She'd learned from a young age that her father liked it when she was quieter. She compensated by becoming much, much louder everywhere else.

"I assume you know everything about him," her father continued. "His background, his history, his likes and dislikes. I was tempted to pay him a visit-"

Hailey's gaze snapped up from where they'd been fixed on her lap. Her father smiled.

"-but I didn't. I thought, let's let Hailey have her fun." He chuckled, took her hand in his, and patted it genially. "I was young too once, you know. I know what it's like. That first love. We always think our first loves will last forever. They don't." He let go of her hand, set it back down on the mattress, leaving it to sit limply, boneless. "I'll intercede with your principal. Set her straight. You're a real trendsetter, you know that? Who was it that got into a relationship first, you or the Kim girl?"

Slowly, gradually, Hailey found her voice. "It was me, Dad."

Her father patted her on the head. "Very good. We lead; we don't follow." With that, he turned away, implicitly dismissing her, but couldn't resist the urge to stuff one last parting shot in. "You'll be visiting more regularly."

"I will."

"Hm."

Hailey left.

YOU ARE NOW ON A SECURE NETWORK.
DESIGNATE: ~ Made by Drone! <3 ~

fides1104: how was it
fides1104: how was it
fides1104: how was it
THUNDERDOME: shut off your bot faith
spookyscaryskeletons: no its funny
not_ur_power_bank: maybe 4 u
sugrjangz: expected
fides1104: damn
sugrjangz: i gotta visit more often
sugrjangz: more painful fam meetings
sugrjangz: more stupid 5d chess shittery
sugrjangz: more awkward interactions w my siblings
sugrjangz: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
spookyscaryskeletons: hey at least she didnt smash her phone this time
sugrjangz: fuck u nguyen
not_ur_power_bank: language

"-hope you know what you're doing, Jimin."

"I do," Minnie said.

Her mother sighed and shook her head. "Stay safe."

"I will."

Her father's face slid back into view. "Need me to have a word with the boy?"

"Dad."

"You can't hide him away from us forever."

Minnie sighed. "I'm hanging up. Love you." She waited for her father to reciprocate before terminating the call, then slipped out of bed and stretched, yawning.

YOU ARE NOW ON A SECURE NETWORK.
DESIGNATE: ~ Made by Drone! <3 ~

fides1104: how was it
fides1104: how was it
fides1104: how was it
spookyscaryskeletons: how was it
not_ur_power_bank: fine
not_ur_power_bank: max ur literally just in the living room
spookyscaryskeletons: my vocal chords r tender n fragile

Faith's father looked at Chris. Then he looked at Faith. Around them, the restaurant buzzed with polite conversation and the tinkling of glasses. Her mother's necklace glittered at her throat.

"So," he said, "I imagine your mother's Asian."

"Japanese."

Faith's father tilted his head, eyebrows raised. "Oh! Like attracts like, I see." He gestured at his wife, who exchanged a fond, if chiding, look with him. "Our races are compatible, you see, white and Asian. It's genetically proven..."

"Dad."

YOU ARE NOW ON A SECURE NETWORK.
DESIGNATE: ~ Made by Drone! <3 ~

spookyscaryskeletons: how was it
spookyscaryskeletons: how was it
spookyscaryskeletons: how was it
fides1104 has removed spookyscaryskeletons from the group.
fides1104 has added spookyscaryskeletons to the group.
THUNDERDOME: holy shit
sugrjangz: cold
not_ur_power_bank: wow
fides1104: it was ok!
fides1104: except for when my dad gave chris a short primer on physiognomy
spookyscaryskeletons: thank fuck u didnt wipe my chatlogs
fides1104: do u want me to? :)