2025-01-09: Closing Day
- Log: 2025-01-09- Closing Day
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Rikka Takarada
- Where: Nouvelle Tokyo - Takarada-Shinjo Household, Space Development Corporation Housing Development Area
- Date: 0100-01-16
- Summary: With Coming of Age Day not far behind them, Akane and Rikka finish moving into their new house and take a few minutes to just exist contentedly. Rikka's mom handles lunch cleanup.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
With Coming of Age Day and house closing both finally entering the rear-view mirror, it's move-in day!
The advantage of living in a tiny apartment is that there's not that much stuff to move; the advantage of having a nice job is that you can actually get people to move your furniture for you... though to Akane's great (and somewhat anxiety-inducing) surprise, Akane's mother offered to foot the bill for that the day after Coming of Age Day.
(Akane has been suspicious, but not suspicious enough to turn her down. They've got a couple months of having to pay both rent and a mortgage; they're not in a great position to turn that down... She's not sure why things are going that well, though. It's had her a touch off base.)
Everything's in place at last, though, and the movers are finally back out of the house. They've had a little help from Keita and Hinoki, too, but now they're also gone (after a nice lunch), leaving only Rikka, Akane, and Rikka's mother... which means it's time...
... to flop unceremoniously onto the bed. Balam jumps up onto Akane's stomach the instant she does so, planting his face at the base of her breastbone.
With a contented sigh, Akane announces, "I'm never lifting anything again."
... they haven't decorated yet or even really unpacked many boxes, so that's a lie.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka has been looking forward to move-in day for some time. There's been a little... trepidation there, of course. There's something exciting about moving to a new place, but it also means leaving their apartment behind. She'd gotten a little attached to it... but she knows that this new place will be a good opportunity for them.
The other part she wasn't looking forward to was the actual moving part - which even with all their extra help has been quite the Ordeal. Things are starting to wind down for now, though, and Rikka is grateful for a chance to just not do anything for a while.
Orie has volunteered to handle lunch clean-up in the way that suggests she isn't taking no for an answer - though this is just as likely an excuse to give Rikka and Akane some time alone after a busy day.
Rikka is grateful for that - and, promptly collapses onto the bed shortly after Akane.
"Sounds good to me." Rikka agrees with a sigh. "I don't want to move a muscle for the next week."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
That apartment... has a lot of good memories in it, it's true. Part of Akane already misses it -- it's the place where she started building her adult life, such as it is, even if sometimes it doesn't feel that way yet. That alone is worth a little fondness.
Another place that a little part of her will always be, one supposes.
Balam rolls off of Akane into the space between the two of them as Rikka, too, settles in; he is truly the world's most content cat, at least for the moment.
Akane takes a few seconds to just lie there, after Rikka agrees with her. "We're gonna have to... in a few days we're going to have to head up to your mom's place." This is a pretty packed January, Akane reflects... and it's not the first time, either.
... it's probably the best one, though.
"We have a 30-year mortgage," she says, with that half-stunned, half-haunted tone of 'oh wow, the future is real for once.' "This is... really 'our place.' We -- did that." A smile starts to creep across her face.
The nervous-giddy laughter starts, next. "We did it...!"
After taking a few seconds to compose herself, she scoots in a little more. Balam makes room for her -- by walking across Rikka and going over to her other side. As she cuddles up and gives Balam a few gentle pats of thanks, she asks, "... What next?"
+--------------------------< SRTMOO +Scene Schedule >--------------------------+
| Thu, Jan 09: |
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| Sat, Jan 11: 19:00 ET Lilium Valerie An 'Angel' gets her 'Wing 553 |
| Sun, Jan 12: 19:00 ET Luanova Luckwright Down Another Rung 552 |
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| Thu, Jan 16: 19:30 ET Akane Shinjo Miso Soup 536 |
| Fri, Jan 17: 19:00 ET Yuliana Kafim Third Gate Open 545 |
| Sat, Jan 18: 19:00 ET Yuliana Kafim Breaking The Cycle 546 |
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| +scene # for more information. Current time is Thu Jan 9 20:14:15 2025 EST. |
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<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka tilts her head as she feels Balam roll off, settling into the space between her and Akane. There's one thing she can move a muscle for - and that's lazily shifting an arm to give him a scratch behind the ears.
"I guess you're right..." Rikka replies with a sigh, and then a shrug. "...Oh well. That'll be worth it, at least."
She lays there for a moment until Akane continues. A 30-year mortgage... She stares up at the ceiling, rolling that thought over in her head for a moment. This is their place. They did that - and then she laughs as Akane laughs.
"We did. Here we are. In a home with our names on it." Rikka replies. The future indeed feels real.
Akane scoots in closer, and in return Balam walks over her and settles on her other side. As Akane cuddles up Rikka puts an arm around her, then settles a hand on Balam.
And then, the question... What next? She thinks about that for a moment.
"...No idea." Rikka admits. "Decorating, unpacking, preparing for our trip... Feels like the future's wide open for us right now."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"Yeah," Akane says, though there's a bit of a nervous hitch in her voice at the idea. That trip... there's a lot to anticipate -- and even though she's been given plenty of implicit 'yeah go for it' signals, there's part of her that's still nervous.
30 years... when this is paid off -- or really any mortgage, assuming they move somewhere at some point and it's comparably priced -- they'll be 50. Everything they've lived up to now will represent less than half of their lives at that point.
... It's dizzying! Akane elects to stop thinking about it -- at least, deliberately. It'll pass faster than she'd expect, after all.
Balam gets up, walks in a circle behind Rikka's back, and then slightly adjusts his position. Cats, man.
"... I'm still thinking about how gorgeous you looked... your family kimono is gorgeous." Rubbing at the side of her head, she adds, "I think mine's pretty cute, too... I'm glad I went for the kaiju pattern. I feel like I would've been sad not to." She'd been pretty nervous about that...
Looking up at the ceiling, she realizes that this will be 'her ceiling' for the foreseeable future. "... I'm looking forward to everything that comes next. I'm glad your mom was cool with helping, too."
Closing her eyes, she adds, "... I wonder what's up with my mom."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka catches that nervous hitch... but, it is long distance travel, so she doesn't think too much of it. Balam, meanwhile, reorients himself and Rikka laughs just slightly. It's to be expected.
Akane brings up her family kimono and Rikka smiles fondly, thinking back.
"I'm glad you liked it. We had to adjust it, but I'm glad we were able to figure it out." She replies. She had been able to maintain her composure, but wearing it had definitely brought up a surge of emotions... there were definitely tears later. Akane brings up her own family kimono, and that gets a smile.
"It was." Rikka agrees. "...And very you. It was perfect for you - I'm glad you were able to embrace it. You looked incredible."
Rikka follows Akane's gaze up to their ceiling.
"...Yeah, me too." She agrees, and chuckles. "Definitely. I don't know if it would've gone half as smoothly without Mama there."
Akane has a good thought, though, and Rikka thinks about that for a moment.
"...Good question." Rikka replies with a slight frown. "I didn't really expect that. You did say Mama was planning to talk to her..."
Was she able to get through to her, even if only a little...?
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
"It's..." Akane takes a deep breath in, then exhales. Her eyes shut, and she tries to find the words behind her eyelids. "... it's always gonna be different. I'm interested in different parts of it, I guess." Akane specifically went for a living, breathing kaiju -- a Red King -- rather than something Tarabaman-inspired.
Akane's hand absently flops around on the bed a little, eventually finding Rikka's and giving it a gentle clasp -- not even a squeeze, quite. "I didn't used to be a photos person, but I'm glad we got a lot of both of us."
Her other hand comes up to push her hair out of her face a bit. "Yeah, definitely -- your mom is... really, really good at that practical kinda thing." It makes sense, of course -- you'd need to be comfortable with that to run a junk shop...
As for Akane's mom... "Yeah, she mentioned that. She... apologized to me. I'm kinda still figuring out how I even feel about that? I asked her if I could take a little time to figure out an actual response instead of being put on the spot about it..."
Balam spots a receipt getting blown around as the heater turns on a little, and for a moment it looks like he's going to tear off after it -- but he doesn't seem interested, after a little thought. He settles back down.
"... I think, if she can avoid being weird and judgmental, I wanna at least let her try." Her tone turns wistful as she reflects, "I'd kinda feel like a hypocrite if I didn't. ... I don't think I wanna have her over at all until after our trip, though. I want this January to be... special."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
It's always going to be different... Rikka nods quietly. It would be, after everything.
"Mm-hm. It's normal for things to change, but..." Rikka trails off. ...Akane's situation is a special case, of course. "...That's a part of life, I suppose."
Akane's hand flops before finding hers and in that moment, Rikka is satisfied with just that. She cracks a smile.
"I'm glad we did, too. That's a day we're going to be looking back on for years to come." Rikka agrees.
Rikka shuts her eyes for a moment, just laying there.
"She is. I don't know how she does it sometimes. I still have a lot to learn." She laughs, just a little. She goes quiet, though, as Akane talks about her mother. She actually apologised... that in itself is a lot. Rikka's not sure what she thinks about it - but in the end, it's Akane's choice.
"Right. You don't have to suddenly rush to accomodate her... You should take it at your own speed." Rikka replies with a nod... and smiles, just slightly. "It's already pretty special. And it's not even half-over. I'm looking forward to the rest of the month."
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane shifts her shoulders back and forth a few times, nestling into their bed. ... yet another thing that feels different, now that it's in a house they own. Something to savor, for sure.
"Yeah. It's... I dunno. I mean, dad and I are at least kinda stuck interacting professionally, so that's one thing. But mom..." ... She trails off.
"... Well, I'll take it one conversation at a time, I guess. We'll see how it goes. It might be nice if it actually went well, though." As frustrated as she'd been... part of her does want a good relationship with her mother. Maybe it'll be better adult-to-adult, even.
Akane takes a few breaths, asking, "... Wanna go downstairs? I think Keita hooked up the TV before he left, so we could watch something... we could catch up for the Tarabaman finale, or -- well, the new anime season's starting... didn't you say you had your eye on something?"
Today, even the most normal, mundane things feel at least a little special. "Oh, or we could ask your mom if she has anything in mind!" she realizes, a bit later. "It'd be nice to just... hang out with her a little, while she's down here?"
She's avoiding suggesting decorating... perhaps because she's hidden something in a box that would be inconvenient for Rikka to stumble across juuuuust yet.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
It does feel different. But, good different - though the new bedroom will certainly take some getting used to.
Rikka nods quietly as Akane continues before trailing off.
"I think... that's a good approach." Rikka replies with a nod. "...I hope things work out."
Rikka exhales... and then, eventually, Akane breaks the silence again. Rikka thinks on that for a moment.
"I guess we probably shouldn't lay here the whole day." Rikka agrees, thinking it over. "I did, but..."
She nods, at Akane's realisation.
"Yeah, let's check with Mama first." Rikka agrees. They have to take advantage of this time while they can, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
Akane rolls her shoulders a bit, and then forces herself to sit up. Balam doesn't startle, but it does get him to follow suit as she stands up and stretches. ... she's a little catlike in her own way.
Straightening out her T-shirt and skirt a bit, Akane reaches out toward Rikka, offering a teasing, "My queen~."
... Everywhere's full of boxes, to be sure, but there's already some home energy starting to creep into their new house. There are a few picture frames up, at least. One of them is a framed Tarabaman W poster; the others -- whatever they may be -- are more Rikka's speed. Again -- Akane has yet to fully commit to decor.
As they head down the stairs, Akane looks back. "... Oh man, we can be loud whenever we want..." Excitedly, she adds, "We can stress-test the new sound system!!" That's a side of Akane that hasn't been seen in a while -- mischief starting to shade bit by bit into megalomania. Her grin is wide.
"Don't worry. After your mom goes to bed I wanna see what you wanna watch," she enthuses. ... Rikka's honestly widened her taste profile a lot.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Akane gets up first. Rikka doesn't quite get there herself, just yet, even as Balam stands up to stretch. She needs a little more coaxing - but Akane's teasing does the trick. With a smirk Rikka takes that hand.
"My lady~," She replies, then uses Akane's hand to pull herself up off the bed. ...She has to take a moment to stretch before she's ready to start off again.
Her eyes stray across the picture frames. Some of them are Akane's - but at least a couple of them are hers, too. Most notably, two signed posters - one a Sheryl poster from many years ago, now, from Rikka's very first concert at Macross City, and another a souvenir from the Truthseeker Serena stage play.
Rikka laughs as Akane makes an observation.
"We probably shouldn't be too loud... but they have pretty good sound-proofing here, at least." Rikka replies. Not having to worry about neighbors as much is another plus, too, come to think. She can't help but smile, though - that mischievous side is something she's always loved about Akane.
She chuckles, then.
"Great. It's a little out there, but I think you'll like this one..." She says.
Out there by Rikka's standard, or out there by normal viewer standards? An important distinction that she doesn't move to clear up in the least.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
The signed Sheryl poster... that's something Akane thinks on fondly. It's been a while since she's seen Sheryl herself... she hopes she's okay.
Taking a few moments to appreciate the mementos, Akane agrees, "Not... too too loud." There are a disproportionate number of their coworkers in this neighborhood; if nothing else, it'd probably do to be courteous. ... part of her really wants to blast things at top volume though.
Rikka mentions that what she's planning to watch this season is 'a little out there,' and Akane takes a breath in through her nose, glancing off for just a moment. ... yeah, she's definitely thinking this is going to be 'out there by Rikka standards' and in turn 'utterly bewildering.' ... Maybe that'll be good for her, though.
As they get down the stairs, passing by several stacks of boxes, Akane...
... promptly flops equally-unceremoniously onto the couch as she did onto the bed ten minutes ago or so. Yeah, she's still spent, she just wanted to be spent in different rooms. "Mamaaa~" she calls, with half a glance back toward the kitchen. "Do you wanna come watch something? You're the guest, so it's your pick!"
Turning her attention back to Rikka, she adds, "The last review on that project is gonna be during our trip... I'm pretty confident it'll be great. I think she'd be a pretty easy grader, but I really want to wow her."
Brat.
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Rikka nods... though she does smirk, just a little.
"Still... you're right. We do have to test it out." She says. ...They can afford to be a little loud. No one would put it past them. Rikka notices the way Akane breathes in and looks away. That reaction... isn't unexpected. She laughs, just a little.
And then, back in the living room, Akane flops onto the couch. Rikka, this time, doesn't flop, instead settling in next to her.
"Mama~," Rikka echoes Akane's call.
"In a minute!" Orie calls back.
Rikka looks toward Akane, then.
"Even during our trip, huh?" Rikka replies. "Well, I've seen how far your skills have come... I don't think you'll have any problems. Your work has been incredible, so far. I'm excited to see it once you get it back."
She doesn't seem to realise the implication yet.
Orie slides into the living room, at this point. She doesn't speak up yet, though, leaning against the wall as she looks over the two of them. ...She seems pleased.
"Alright, girls, let's see what Nouvelle Tokyo television has to offer." Orie announces her arrival, then. Her interests lean more toward old comedy shows... but even she feels like it might be a good time to try something new.
She soon joins them on the couch... though she does make sure to give Akane and Rikka plenty of room.