Domesticity

[Molly Quincannon] Following on the usual pattern of text messages, Twitter messages and IM conversations (because gods forbid Molly communicate by phone in the traditional manner), there would have been a few of late that suggested a desire for shopping and their favourite coffee bar, not necessarily in that order. Things like "THEY FILLED ME FULL OF PARASITES! (Yes, I'm all better now but still EW!)" and "The problem with dating tall people is that it's hard to bust them in the face when they deserve it, y'know? Well, obviously you know, but ... argh" may have come up.

Thus it was agreed to meet at their favourite coffee bar for shopping and maybe a late lunch somewhere. Molly's already there when Nat arrives. There's a box. It's of substantial size. It's wrapped in grey wrapping paper upon which are printed shambling cartoon zombies in Santa hats, apparently left over from Christmas. (It should surprise no one that Molly can find zombie-printed wrapping paper.) There are also two cups of coffee - Molly knows what Nat likes by now. "Hey. Welcome to the flail. This is yours."

[Natyana Wapanee] And some of the texts would be odd replies, comical in their own right if not a little inappropriate. Things like "Dude... srsly... I don't wanna bring crabs home to Lara" and "Go for the boobs. Ditch the penis. Less hassle and we use less pillows."

Coffee is always welcome, especially since she's moved to the other side of town and so far from said favourite shop that it's not really feasible to be in a morning routine these days. Shopping is most welcome as well. And thus, the popple approaches and worshippingly takes up the coffee, just it being there and ready and waiting almost enough to warrant a hug, if not an all out pouncing and squeal of glee. She settles for picking up the cup and ruffling Molly's hair.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhg. Thanks lady." She sets a gift bag up on the table, raising an eyebrow at the wrapping paper with a laugh "Nice... zombies?"

[Molly Quincannon] "Oh, seriously, my hair's enough of a disaster!" It's amused and teasing, not really meant to put Nat off. She's got way better at the tactile lately. "And in answer to ... well, I'm not going to even bring up the crabs, because I am so not talking about that kind of parasite - I mean, eff-eff-ess, they were eating my nerve endings ew ew ew... Anyway, I like the penis. Nothing wrong with boobs and I certainly appreciate a good set, but I like the penis. Perhaps not this particular metaphorical dick, but ... eh, I dunno. Anyway. Yeah, that's a line from Thinkgeek dot com. I have a few others - like one that says 'Have a satisfactory non-denominational capitalist wintertime gift-giving season', but I'm saving that for Atlas. There's also the 'Can Has' and the one with mathematical equations and ... anyway, open it."

When Nat does, there are a few things in there. There's the promised Halloween costume - the leather armour and boots and a pair of nice foam rubber one-hand-wield axes - but there are also a few video game boxes - Dragon Age Origins, Dragon Age Awakening, and Mass Effect One and Two. Also a USB control pad.

[Natyana Wapanee] She snickers at the protests to the hair ruffles. No offence or defensiveness taken in it. Her nose wrinkles about the bugs. "Yeah... I kind of figured, but thought I'd try to downplay it with some humour there. Same with the penis preference. Hell, I'd go for one if one would stick around long enough to thaw out the ice crusted chastity belt. But at this point, don't really matter."

She nudges the bag over to her, grinning and has at a hefty drink of the coffee before setting it aside to open the box. The wrapping paper too funny to just shred, she actually picks at it to tear as little as possible. Her eyes go big at the contents, and she blinks. "Holy hell woman! This totally doesn't make me feel bad in the least for what I got you then." Grins, hugging the box close. "Thanks!"

Upon Molly opening her bag, she discovers several things. A couple of different sheets of stickers of various metallic twinklified good doctor and star wars themes, most likely to decorate the habitrail with since there's no sticker book involved, some goofy little decoder ring, and buried at the bottom is a small jewellery case. One of those velvety feeling kinds, and light grey. Inside sits half of a pendant on a small silver chain, the pendant looking like half a circuit board, with the ridges where the circuits run done in tiny little diamonds and etched into it stating "FF... We'... BF". When she looks up, she might notice the glint of shine from behind the wolf pendant around her neck being the other half of the pendant. The letters on that one say "S.... re... F!!"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly smiles at the first bit and shakes her head. "Don't worry. I'm past the freak-out and into the ew-ew-ew. It's not a bad thing, but the attempt at humour is appreciated. Though to be fair, in my case it's less crabs than cobwebs. But that's a longer tale of woe and ... there's ... dude, not more presents! At least that was promised you for the Halloween party thing!" Then she gives a grin. "Well, the costume bits, anyway, and I'm going to have to face-paint you the requisite non-permanent tat, but the games? Well, the dee-ay ones are so you know what you're getting into and em-ee is just awesome. And the controller because some people find em-ee in particular a bitch to play via keyboard."

Stickers for the habitrail get a gleeful squeak, though one of the ones of the TARDIS gets stuck on her iBook and an R2D2 sticker goes on the Eee PC. The decoder ring gets a chuckle and a smile and a "If anyone ought to wear one of these things, I guess it's me." Then the box, which gets a puzzled frown. Then she opens it. Looks at it for a moment. Looks up at Nat and notices the other bit of shiny dangling around Nat's neck. Then she looks back at the one still in the box and bites her lower lip. Eventually, she speaks - quiet, and maybe a little husky in the 'I am touched but damn it I am not going to cry' way. "...Thank you. It's awesome."

[Natyana Wapanee] "Yeah I totally agree with the ew-ew-ew.... and cobwebs are solvable" Smirks "Called Nathan lately?" She snickers at that, scooping the coffee cup up and ducking out of swinging range.

She lights up more though seeing the glee in the uber geek, laughing warmly. Then the look softens into that caring smile. "Well... since you know... the whole mood swings on both our parts, going through the various stages of shit that especially you has gone through, and well... other people I just wanted to show you that no matter what, it's always there. And I know you're trying and you're still appreciated and needed and supported."

[Molly Quincannon] "Oh, eff-eff-ess, shut up!" There's a laugh in it, and a blush, but she shakes her head. "No, I haven't talked to Nathan. I probably should - I at least ought to check and see if he's okay, but since Fiddler's burned, he's been a hard man to find."

The rest gets a smile - a trifle wan, but it's clear that things have definitely improved, at least on the trauma front. She can, at least, talk about such things without going a bit spastic. "It's ... appreciated, it really is. I try not to be such a collosal pain as all that. I guess it just came at a good time. Chuck and I had ... well, a conversation. It was supposed to be a date, but ... well, let's just say I think that he and I have some seriously ... divergent worldviews. I mean, apparently, or at least in the World According to Chuck, there is always time to double-check and triple-check and mull over plans that will not involve any kind of meatspace interaction with danger, no matter how bad the situation is. Which means..." Heavy sigh. "Which means that if it had been left to him, I'd have been in that torture chamber for weeks, not days."

[Natyana Wapanee] She cackles at the reaction to bringing up Nathan and wiggles her eyebrows. "Goooooooo fooooooooorrrrrrrr iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. If you don't, I'm totally gonna text him and ask if he's seen you lately. And yeah, I thought I might run across him in Chinatown since that's where we first met and all, but I haven't. Been kind of weird."

She frowns, shaking her head. "I know he's awesome... somewhere... but really? Come on, Molly. For one, you aren't a pain in the ass, for two, you don't deserve that bullshit. It's a good thing it wasn't left to him then, now isn't it? You'd come back and he'd be beaten like a red-headed stepchild and nursing two broken legs."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly swigs her coffee and sighs. "Let me get to grips with talking to him, and then see what we see. Actually, he used to live just a few blocks from me - over his bar. You know the one - where you met Israel?" She'd mention Wharil, but she only barely remembers him at the best of times, and so he slides by the wayside. Bloody Arcane. "Dunno where he is now but I'll have to call him. I hear everything went okay, more or less, so..." She shrugs. "Checking up never hurts."

Then the Chuck thing, and a heavier sigh. "Well, he never said that to my face, which is something. But he did say that he was against anyone - or at least, his cabalmate - going in to clean up the ... actual source of the problem." She's talking about the hit on the Labyrinth, of course. But they are in public. "I'm sitting there going, 'What did you expect us to do? Just leave them to get their claws into this world even more?' and he's like, 'There's always ways!' and I'm just ... I swear, I keep hoping he means well, and I gather he does, but if it's not accessible by computer, he doesn't seem to want to know about it. I dunno. I just changed the subject after that. I don't want to condemn him for his worldview, exactly. I just ... dunno if I can share my life with someone with the passion of a mouldy gym sock and a worldview that says that no one should ever actually experience meatspace in all its occasionally painful glory."

[Natyana Wapanee] She grins "Not saying jump in the sack with him, gawd. Just give him a call. He could probably do to know there's people out here worried about him and stuff. He told me about his bar.... Do you know if he found someplace to stay?" She doesn't mention when exactly he told her, as that might be counter productive at the moment.

She shakes her head scowling, finally setting the box down to chug at the coffee before it gets too cold and icky. "I... seem to be finding less and less nice things to say about it in general. You can do better, Molly. If he wants to crawl into his little bat cave with his superman underoos, fine. Let him. But don't go fishing for it, since all it does is frustrate you."

[Molly Quincannon] After a moment's thought, she says, "I know he's got a place. He's a part of Israel's crew now, and she dropped by to see me the other day, and she tells me he's got a place. I just don't know where. He's really cagey about that kind of thing. And like I said, I'll give him a call, assuming he hasn't changed phones by now." She grins a bit. "It's not like I haven't been worried or curious - just trying to give the man his space. He likes his space."

Another swig of coffee. "I ... he ... I know, but it's frustrating. On one level, he's ... he does what I do. You saw some of my legacy files - he does that kind of thing. I don't see how anyone who does that kind of thing can just ... gyeh." She runs her fingers through her hair (which is shorter and tidier than her earlier comment suggested - she may have had it professionally cut instead of doing it herself) and sighs. "He keeps passive-aggressive-ing me about how girls say he doesn't do enough, but apparently this is a joke to him. I have tried for romance for nearly two months; I've had daisies. Daisies. I'm tired of being the only one who does anything and I'm tired of not having the damnest idea of what he feels or even whether he thinks feelings matter and now I find out that the man seems to think that it'd be nice if he could just live in a bubble and never actually have to interact with the nasty and the danger and if I even say that I get that the info-gathering is important but it's just not my way and doesn't always work, I'm denigrating the work he does and never mind how Israel was actually surprised that anyone on the tech side would get involved with anything and how they need more techies who get involved around and out and doing things and how he even gave me dirty looks for taking down the mundane security at that charity thing the other week..."

She finally remembers that she requires oxygen to live, takes a deep breath, swigs at her coffee a bit more and then gives Nat a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

[Natyana Wapanee] "You like space too, but you also feel better knowing you're thought of and cared about." She grins, shrugging a shoulder. "Won't hurt to call and say 'hey! hottie! lets invade meatspace!" Cracks up laughing and ducks away again.

She grins, watching Molly, swigging on the coffee while she rants. She's not annoyed, finds nothing rude about it, and she's amused. The more Molly talks about the misadventures of Chuck, the less she likes him chasing after him. She shakes her head. "Don't be sorry, just... I know my thoughts on it, and they aren't really nice. I woulda just flipped him the bird by now. I mean... I completely understand the taking it slow thing, and having jitters. But he's not doing that, he's just being a dick"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly makes a face, slings a sugar packet at Nat's head and that's about the end of conversation about Nathan unless he's brought up again. "I don't think he's being deliberately dickish; he's just ... completely clueless and firewalled right to hell, metaphorically speaking. It's just ... like ... nothing makes a dent. I cooked him dinner. I mean, me. Cooked. Oh, that reminds me." A Tupperware container containing something wrapped in tin foil comes out of Molly's laptop bag; she sets it down in front of Nat. "Rib roast. Or ... y'know, bits of leftover rib roast. Share it with Boomer; I won't be able to eat it all. Anyway, I cooked for him and I got a pause and a 'that smells great'. Basically. I tell him that the whole art gallery thing being dealt with in meatspace meant that all those ... people? On the walls, y'know? That they didn't suffer longer than they had to and he didn't even reply! I just don't know if he feels anything at all! And people say Atlas is like a robot. But I don't," she finishes, giving credit where it's due, "think he's being a dick deliberately. I think he's just way closed-off while looking the exact opposite. It's frustrating."

[Natyana Wapanee] "Yeah and you only need to deal with so much of it. Atlas isn't like a robot, you just gotta learn how to interpret him. How many robots smile when you smear batter on their face and wrestle with the vacuum and dog? Atlas tries to adapt and learn. Chuck, does not." She scowls, shaking her head again.

[Molly Quincannon] "I guess I just don't like giving up on anything," comes the admission. "I know there's ... issues. He has issues. I get that he has issues. He has his firewalls and his worldview and his boundaries and I probably should respect those. I just ... I care about him. What little of him I've seen. I don't want to dump him for having a different worldview ... even if I don't even really know if it'd be dumping because he barely admits we're dating. I just ... wish he'd try. Not even try something specific; just ... try. Maybe his way is just ... well, he's a V-tweaker. Maybe he just wants to disappear into Reality two-point-oh and never deal with all this messy." She looks down at her coffee, and then back up at Nat, looking a bit sheepish. "I like messy. I'm ... well, I'm what I am. An Ecstatic. I ... live for the messy, good and bad."

[Natyana Wapanee] "Dude... you aren't giving up if you can't even scratch the surface because he can't see what's past that stupid man-brain to the wonderful person on the other side of the bubble. I understand the not wanting to give up. I do. But I don't like to see you burning yourself out on a guy that does nothing but shoot you down at basically every fucking angle. You're better than that, and you deserve better than that. If he can't try, then you need to look to someone that understands you, not tries to make you feel like your wearing an ass for a hat." She scowls, and it's her turn to run her fingers through her hair. Touchy spot? Maybe just a little. She completely sympathizes with being closed off and not wanting to let anyone in, but there's a point when someone's damn near broken themselves to show you there's a world out there to experience. It's give and take, not just take and push away.

[Molly Quincannon] Molly finally plucks the necklace out of the box it came in and runs the chain through her fingers, deep in thought. "I don't think 'tries' is the right word. I mean, 'tries' implies some kind of effort. The most effort I've had from him that I haven't initiated was ... daisies and him actually coming to visit me without me asking him to after I got back from the ... art gallery thing. Sure, it was for fifteen minutes or so between out-calls for his tech support gig, but... Anyway, at least if he was trying to make me feel like ... well, anything, really, I'd know he was putting some effort into it. As it is, I don't feel like ass-haberdashery; I feel like ... furniture. Comfy, ratty furniture. Like my armchair at home. You know, the one I rescued out of a dumpster? Actually, bad example; I cared enough to rescue it from a dumpster and have plans to reupholster it."

Then she shrugs. "I probably ought to just tell him how I feel. I just don't want to be one of those whiney bitches who take the man they're with and remake him with nagging and passive-aggressive crap."

[Natyana Wapanee] She shakes her head, frowning. "You aren't whining, Molly. Everything that's gone on, everything you've tried to do, and still getting nothing good out of it and seeing absolutely nothing in return... that's grounds for speaking up. If you really want to keep trying with him, I'd say speak up or just wash your hands of it, honestly. You at least deserve to know whether you're dating or not and to have some kind of comfort in the person you're supposed to be dating. Not stressing over invading his meatspace free zone to rub cooties on the interior of the bubble lining."

[Molly Quincannon] That gets a chuckle. "You have the most interesting turn of phrase sometimes, y'know? And yeah, you're right. Though you've got to admit, my frame of mind up until just nowish hasn't really left me in the best state to go around having big state-of-the-relationship conversations. I guess I was just hoping he'd loosen up as time went on. And maybe he is, or he thinks he is. Just ... he says he wants to take his time but I didn't think he meant millennia, y'know?"

The rest of her coffee goes down at a swallow, and then she says, "Anyway, I think I've whined and bitched and moaned enough. I'll talk to him and either things'll work out or they won't, and all that kinda thing. Now, shopping. Why did I think getting a kitchen would be a good idea again? Seriously, all it's brought me is a need to buy crap."

[Natyana Wapanee] She blinks, then smirks. "What turn of phrase? Saying it like I see it?" She shakes her head, snorting.

"But yea. there's shopping to be done and other stuff to discuss since I'm not allowed to chew his feet off and beat him violently to death with them. Kitchens are good, because I have a feeling Boomer might not get any of that rib roast if I do wind up biting into it. Did you get your dishes, by the way?"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly shakes her head and smiles at Nat. "Cooties, reality bubble ... it's saying it like you see it, yes, but how you see it and how you vocalise it all together? It has awesome. And yes, I got the dishes," she adds with a roll of the eyes. "But I still need stuff. Better knives, serving spoons, measuring things ... I don't even know. And the rib roast is the result of practice, by the way; the first one ended up as a snack for the neighbourhood dogs. It kind of turned into shoe leather. But then I figured out that the hoodoo helps. Or it can. The spicing ... well, that's going to be a lot of practice and a lot of websites for recipes. And maybe actual hard copy books. Which reminds me, I need bookshelves. And probably oven mitts. Or something; I don't even know. I ... I have been dodging the idea of cooking for years! I actually hacked my school's database to make sure I didn't have to take Home Ec!"

[Natyana Wapanee] "Oh that stuff's all easy. And actually? More often than not you'll wind up missing something anyways, so I found it easier to just pick up the silly little things as needed. Bookshelves....." She looks off towards the street, scratching her head a minute. "Think I saw a flyer that said one of the shops around here was having a sale on the metal style that'd probably be best for your place. Easy to clean and maintain"

[Molly Quincannon] "Ooh, that sounds good." That's a ping of interest, followed by a minor slightly exasperated flail. "But that's not the point! I know there's always going to be something missing and all that, but it's still not the point! I mean, I'm getting domestic! I was never going to get domestic! Mom and Dad were always about how all a girl can hope to be is the maintainer of a bright and shiny home for some bread-winning, bacon-bringing man so I always went, 'fuck a bunch of that' and it was all not-houses and not-kitchens just to spite them! I lived in an old cannery off New Orleans for a year and now I'm getting domestic? Am I blaming Chicago or you?"

[Natyana Wapanee] She cracks up laughing. "Ok, well for starters, there's a difference between being able to take care of yourself with home cooking and going June Cleaver. Besides, you aren't doing it for a man, yours is defective. You're doing it for yourself and that adorable ball of fuzz that you built an alternate universe for. And you can totally blame me, I'm sure I'll get over it"

[Molly Quincannon] "I took care of myself just fine with Hot Pockets," Molly grumbles. "It wasn't until you started in on your 'feed the geek-weasel' campaign that I thought maybe it would be a good idea. At least on top of bojutsu and belly-dancing classes. So yeah, blaming you. And he's not 'my' man. Or at least, he won't admit to being 'mine'. Not to me, anyway. I'm a 'maybe'. Woo. Anyway! Not talking about that. Let's be fair, though; maybe I didn't do it for a man originally, but I had hopes of impressing one. Which I'm not going to think about now either." She grins. "And the adorable ball of fuzz would be happy enough with, like, a few chunks of meat per day. And it's not an alternate universe! It's ... like a platform game mixed with an ecosystem!" Then she shrugs. "Yeah, so ... smaller things first, I guess. I wanted to get one of those rice cooker things. And some really good knives for fish. I was thinking homemade sushi." Then she lets out a faux-exasperated huff. "I'm making sushi. Man, I barely even recognise me."

[Natyana Wapanee] "I bought dresses"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly looks over at Nat, then chuckles - it's an understanding sort of noise. "I know how you feel. But question for you, Hell-Popple; did your parents spend your entire life telling you that you were incapable of wearing pants because you're a guuuuuuurl and guuuuuuuuurls don't have the brains to wear pants?"

[Natyana Wapanee] "Yeah, actually." Smirks "We belonged in dresses, tending the store, tending the house, being ladies of tradition." She digs her phone out and looks down, bringing up a picture, then holds it out to show Molly with a smirk. "This is one of them. I got another one that really drove Lara crazy"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly considers that, shrugs and then looks at the picture. "Very nice," she says with a bit of a grin, then shakes her head. "Don't mind me, though, if I don't really engage with the 'happy couple' conversation. Wouldn't know it if it bit me at this point. So I might seem a bit sour; don't mean to be. As to the 'ladies of tradition' ... well, at least my parents never dictated my dress sense. School tried, though. And they all gave me shit for the computer thing. The looks I got when I tried to sign up for anything other than Typing One-Oh-One? Ahahaha, it was pathetic. That and the tech electives. 'You're a girl'," she says, in a voice about a half-octave lower than her usual and redolent of Northwest accent, "'You won't be able to pass these courses. Advanced Placement Physics and Mathematics? You shouldn't worry your pretty little head about those things. College? Well, I suppose you can go for your em-arr-ess...' Damn, I hated my guidance counsellor."

[Natyana Wapanee] She smiles, tucking the phone away with a shrug. "You can't help but to be you, and really, if not for all that and the rebellious streak, then you wouldn't be half as awesome as you are. I just never cared about the pressure and ignored it along with everyone else that wanted to pick at me for whatever else they didn't like."

[Molly Quincannon] "Likewise," comes the reply with a smile. "Except I went the other way. I wanted to rub their noses in the fact that I could calculate those Mathlete guys into the ground. Just as a for-example." They've moved on by this point, and Molly's looking into a shop window at glassware. "I dunno if it's awesome, but it's sure as hell me. Which is about the best I can manage, most of the time. I dig my heels in. It's a thing. Oh, tell me; when's your birthday? Chuck's and Israel's both blew past me and I don't want to miss yours too."

Molly is also the queen of the sudden segue.

[Natyana Wapanee] Laughs "Was just before I moved here, actually. Beginning of June. And my next birthday better be bar hopping and silly girls getting smashed and being asses in public. It's gonna be the big one."

And she walks, and looks at things, seeing if anything jumps out at her that she might want to be all ninja-like and buy anyways despite the protests that'll come of it.

[Molly Quincannon] Wandering the shop, Molly grumbles, "Oh, turtle-tits, missed another one," as she eyes a set of kitchen knives. "That's three. What a pain. And I'll try to make sure that your next birthday is bar-hopping. I should even have a better idea of the scene by then." Then she grins, a bit sheepish and embarrassed, but also a bit mischievous, somehow. "Mine's upcoming. Take a wild guess as to why I make such a big deal of Halloween every year." That said, she leaves Nat to figure out what she means by that and goes back to her assessment of the knife sets.

[Natyana Wapanee] "You didn't miss it, it came and went before we ever even met" Laughs "So that doesn't count."

She tilts her head, the grin widening. "Halloween baby? Really? That's so cool! Then the party will be multipurpose and you have to lemme help with the planning and stuff. Shouldn't have to plan your own party."

[Molly Quincannon] "Oh, come on. I plan my Halloween party every year!" Molly shrugs and grins. "It's fun! And no one needs to make a big deal of how it's my birthday if they don't want but can still enjoy the party. Assuming there's anyone who'd actually come to the thing," she adds with a bit of a sigh. "I mean, you and Lara, maybe Thomas ... Chuck unless it all goes to hell by then ... dunno how many other people I know like parties, really. That's a bit of a depressing thought." Then she shrugs. "Eh, small parties are better than none. Anyway, I can totally plan my own party. That's half the awesome of it."

[Natyana Wapanee] "I bet more would come if you told them it's your birthday too. Israel, Atlas, Henri, maybe even Morgan, Wharil, Emily.... Naaaaaaaaaaathan" She grins. "I'm gonna tell and see how many I can get there. Because birthdays should always be celebrated to the max effect."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly sighs. "I don't think Morgan likes me very much, and she and I ... have awkward. I don't really want to put either of us through that, thanks. Atlas and Henri at a party ... oh, man, that I have to see. Ooh! Kage! Can't forget Kage! And if you don't shut up about the Nathan thing I am going to ... to ... wait until you've Poppled yourself into one of my beanbags and then sew it shut!" But she's smiling, so all's well.

With that, it's shopping, and Molly trying to stop a ballistic ninja-hell-popple from buying her anything else as she gets the necessary for her new kitchen. And also a very, very belated birthday card for Nat. And a cupcake with a candle in it. Because Molly's just stubborn that way.