It doesn't help that a great deal of Samurai are LGBTQ+, having been brought up in a very anti-LGBTQ+ environment, and are suddenly given infinite freedom to redesign their entire being at the drop of a hefty amount of points with no support structure in their immediate area.
-Vanguard Red Menace on the podcast “The Silver Lining”, 2056
Jill
After dropping off the target at a safe point with the data, we went home. Once home, we all went our separate ways to unwind after the bloodbath we enacted. And because the armor was nanites, they had self cleaning functions that made sure we tracked in nothing from the job.
I still took a shower, cause Protector grade showers just hit different and my hair still needed to be maintained, no matter how tech it may be. Then I went to look for Victor to bother him. I became very annoyed when I did not find him in the Sim Tac rooms, nor the Screen.
“Synaptic, where is Victor?” I ask aloud.
Her voice sounds over the speakers with a great deal of amusement dripping from it. Oh, you know, there is this event that's happening tonight that he did promise to go to that he knew you would hate attending.
I narrowed my eyes. “He seriously went to Blizzard's Gala even though he knew it was going to be filled with corpos? And he went without us?”
Oh, yes! To be fair, he didn't go alone. He had enough sense to call Bo and Cassandra, or Laser Lasso and Red Menace, to go with them! Now, he didn't stay with them, as things became…. Interesting soon after. You can hear it from him once he gets back in, oh, I don't know, ten minutes?
I snort, then turn to go wait inside the entrance of the common room. Synaptic was very obviously hinting that Victor did something stupid and wanted me to grill him for it, and I would not disappoint.
What I did not expect was for him to walk through the front door with a guest, let alone for that guest to be a woman I have never seen nor heard of before. He at least had the decency to look scared when he saw me tapping my foot at him.
I smiled, said smile did not reach my eyes, “Did you have a good evening at the gala, Little Bro?” I ask as sweetly as I could muster.
“Uh, yes? I did have a good time at the gala, I even made some friends. Uh, right. Jill, this is Cari Mikosano, Blizzard's daughter. Cari, this is Jill, my older sister.”
Blizzard's daughter, huh? Shit, that is a complicated situation he brought home, isn't it. Looking at her, I have to admit she is a beauty, easily a nine, and she was smiling a natural smile, no signs of forcing it.
I turn to Victor, “Go take a shower, Vic. I want to talk with the guest you brought home unannounced.” Again, he has the decency to look ashamed.
He nods, then turns towards Cari, goes to say something, but just doesn't and power walks to his room blushing. I raise my eyebrow at his retreating form. Blushing?
“Follow me, Cari.” I say, turning towards the living room areas. I led her to one next to the pool, then set it for full privacy, the bushes rising to form an enclosed room. I take a seat on a large comfy leather chair, waving for her to sit as well.
“Thank you, Jill, for not tossing me out,” she says as she sits.
Not the response I was expecting, and it must have showed on my face, because she giggled a bit. “I'm not so cruel to throw out the daughter of the comrade my brother mourns. I will ask you what the hell you did to him for him to look at you like a woman and not his friend's kid.”
She signed, shaking her head, “I spent the majority of the gala attached to his arm, joking with my friends with him, talking with him about topics that interested him, complimenting him, you know, flirting. But then my friend's dad took him aside cause of a very intense reaction to idiocy, where he learned that your brother is denser than titanium, or at least trying to act like he is. She told me this discovery, so once he left said conversation, I told him I was flirting with him, that I liked him, and that I needed him to take me here for the night.”
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Yeah, that would do it. I bury my head in my hands, “Yeah, you were being too subtle for him since he grew up without any flirting, and his very recent experience with the subject was from Doma, who is very much so not subtle.”
She mouths ‘oh’ very animatedly.
“Okay, so, I won't pry into why him for now. Instead, I need to ask why did you need to come here tonight?”
“Because I fear my home is compromised and I would have been kidnapped by a relative.” She answered with a calm tone.
Oh, this bitch was dangerous for Victor. “How much did you explain to him?”
“I was unable to explain anything to him, as he seemed to have retreated into an auto-pilot mode to get me here. He was very red the entire time, and did not respond to anything I said until we walked in here.”
I groaned, loudly. “My fucking brother is useless! Sands below, I've failed as an older sister.” I mutter. I know it's not my fault, it's the company's, but that thought doesn't make me feel better.
She stands up and walks over to me, sitting down on the chair next to me, then pats my shoulder, “If it is any consolation, it's probably best if I got to him first. Any of my friends would either overwhelm him or grow frustrated by his inability or unwillingness to act.”
“That does not, in fact, make me feel better,” I say. I readjust myself so that I am looking her in the eyes, “Give me a reason to allow you to stay near him for longer than tonight? You know you're dangerous for him in more ways than one, so convince me.”
Her demeanor shifts, going from this soft young lady posture to a more serious air in an instant. “You know nothing I say will be able to convince you short of pregnancy, and we both know that's impossible. So, instead I will just say to watch me. Doubt me, que-”
“Nope, far too annoying and not my specialty, that's Roger.” I interrupt. Then I stand and stretch, “You can fight, yeah?” She squints her eyes and nods, “Good, follow me to the training room. Prove to me that you can at least protect yourself so that Victor won't feel anxious trusting you with his back.”
***************************
Victor
As I let the water run over me, I fell into a meditative trance, focusing on the water and thinking on Cari.
I remember Tsubuki mentioning her family before the assault, but she wasn't very clear on how many and who's who, so I can only assume her relationship with her daughter. Since she was close friends with Heracles's daughter, Cari should be close to her mom, which also explains why she was at the gala.
I pulled up the memories my Scouts recorded of the journey home. I obviously fell into a trance, yet not just due to my obvious embarrassment. My Scouts picked up on her anxiety and fear through their Bioscanners, and they transmitted that information to me, so I shifted to a more protective state subconsciously .
I saw her say goodbye to her friends, all of them looking at me with various expressions, but I also remember seeing someone in the crowd watching Cari. We descended the elevator with her on my arm, then entered her car. Synaptic entered the navigational data home, and we flew across the city to get here quickly. Her anxiety only abated once we entered the garage.
So that led me to the thought of maybe she was still manipulating me for safety reasons? I mean, if that was the case, that was fine.
Hmm? Victor, my Vanguard, my adoptive child. While this is a good line of thought, and while the answer is yes, and yes I have marked them, you are running from the more important issue at hand.
LATER. You have a girl who requested to come to your home after explicitly stating she is both flirting with you, and interested in you. And since not a single person in this house has dating experience, it falls to me to be the mature figure and keep you on track.
I tried to form an argument, gather some clue or reason as to why she is only using me for safety. Yet each time I was about to form that thought, Synaptic mercilessly killed it in its cradle.
Until finally, I could deny it no longer.
Because, Victor. You are her age and a Samurai. Being her age means she avoids the young masters like the idiot from earlier, and being a Samurai means that your personality and values are guaranteed to be leagues above anyone else she could go after in her age range in this city. Plus, your actions at the gala did cause a spike in lust from her and her friends towards you very shortly after, specifically by barely shifting after being shot in the face.
By the time I realize that I have been in the shower for the better part of an hour and a half, I get a ping from Jill saying they were done talking.
Wrapping up my shower and realizing I look like a baked lobster, I shrug and get dressed in more casual clothes of slightly loose slacks and a t-shirt that was also slightly loose, with silver slippers that are very comfortable. Walking out into the common room, I see Jill and Cari are eating sandwiches.
They look at me and both raise their eyebrows at me, “Hey there lobster man. I know I said to take a shower, but did you really need to be there the entire time?”
I took a seat and nodded, “Yeah, well. I had a lot of thinking to do.”
Cari smirks, “And if I may ask, what topic would require you to think so hard for so long?”
I sighed, deciding to just rip the bandaid off. “You, Cari. Namely working through my apparent self loathing to understand that yes, I have qualities about myself that others would, indeed, find attractive. And that while you are capable of manipulating me, you told me very clearly that you didn't need to, and that you liked me.” I could hear my blood rushing, yes I was hoping my skin was still red enough to cover the blushing.
“And you trust her?” Jill asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, I do, Jill. Considering who her friends were, if she was a snake in the grass kind of person, Opal would have been the first one to drop her.”
Both Jill and Cari snort laugh at what I said, then fall into a fit heavy, gut bursting laughter, leaving me very confused and wondering what joke I just made.