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jeriendhalSometimes Ali wished she was more of a reader. Her schooling under the tutelage of Bloody Margo had been haphazard at best, mostly consisting of weapons drills and proper maintenance thereof. When she’d been captured and enslaved by the Red Vixen, her new owner had taken pains to make sure Ali got a more formal education using online university resources. After much effort she’d succeeded in gaining a General Education certificate, equivalent to a foxen pre-university diploma, at age twenty-two. So while she could read a book or shorter text as well as any other educated foxen, Ali would be hard pressed to say she really enjoyed it.
Which meant on days like this, when Salli wasn’t around to serve, there weren’t any sims or games she wanted to play, and she’d gone through every non-interactive vid on her personal stream, Ali was at something of a loss for what to do.
So she fell back on basic katas. After wandering over to the manor’s holy arbor, grounds meticulously cleaned by the staff after the early morning festivities, Ali set her palm comp in the center and called up a holographic shadow to box with. A quarter-hour of exchanging kicks and punches with the figure of a cartoonish wazagan nearly twice her size soon left her with a nice sweat soaking her fur and the wish Lady Salli would come back soon so she could help her undress from her formalwear and they could both take a nice shower together.
The toon wazzie suddenly froze as Ali’s palm comp let out an unfamiliar jingle. She snatched it up off the ground, shutting off the hologram and answering crisply, “This is Ali.”
“Hi, Aunt Ali!” “Hullo!” Two young voices answered. It was the twins, Karra and Fin’s boys.
“Hullo Nav, hullo Ned. How did you two get my number?” she answered, brow furrowing in surprise.
“We asked Mum Karra for it but she wouldn’t give it to us,” Ned, or maybe Nav, said.
“Then we asked Fin and they said if Mum Karra didn’t want to give it to us we should listen to her,” Nav (or Ned) said eagerly.
“But then we thought to ask Aunt Razi, and she said if Mum Karra and Fin didn’t want to talk to you maybe we should and we really did because they always say in school if people don’t talk to each other they sometimes do stupid things…”
“...our teachers say silly, not stupid.”
“But they mean stupid.”
“And we know Mum Karra is mad about you almost stunning us.”
“But we thought it would’ve been cool.”
“Maybe just a light stun would be cool.”
“But anyway we wanted to talk to you…”
“... and make sure you’re okay.”
“Fin said you cried.”
“And Fin’s a CP and they took an oath…”
“... about giving True Witness.”
“So they don’t lie about stuff.”
“Important stuff.”
“Not like where they hid the cherry fang chews, or anything.”
“So we wanted…”
“...to make sure…”
“...you’re okay.”
“Because we don’t want you…”
“...to disappear again....”
“...for years and years!”
Not sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry as she listened to this rapid fire plea, Ali settled for answering, “Okay, first off slow down for the Mother’s sake.”
“Wow.”
“You sound just like…”
“...Mum Karra…”
“...when you say that.”
“Thank you.” I think. “Next, let me get a good look at you.” Ali set down her palm comp again and brought up the hologram projector, now showing the twins sitting in front of a comsole in what looked like a small office in their parent’s home.
“Hi!” they both said brightly. Then Ned (or Nav) said, “Where’s your shirt?”
“I was exercising when you called,” she explained.“
“Oh.”
“Oh.”
“Like that time Mum Karra and Fin were exercising when we walked into their…”
“Maybe,” Ali interrupted quickly. “Look, I don’t want you two to get into trouble. I really appreciate you calling to check up on me, but if Karra said she didn’t want to talk to me then you probably shouldn’t either.”
“But it’s not right!” Ned, she was pretty sure it was Ned anyway, said emphatically.
Nav cut in, “You were gone for years and years and everybody was sad about it, and now that you’re back it’s like Mum Karra wants you to go away again. We don’t want you to go away again!”
Ali smiled. She had to smile, because the alternative was to burst out sobbing in front of two children who were probably too young to understand what their words meant to her. “You’re good boys,” she managed to say without choking up. “Look, I’m not going to disappear again, I promise. I’m indentured to Lady Sallivera, and she’s the governor of Greenholme, so even if I’m not on Foxen Prime you’ll always know where to find me.”
“But Greenholme is in a whole ‘nother star system. Won’t you come to see us again before you leave?”
“I’ll… I’ll try, boys. I can’t promise you I will, especially with how things are between me and your mother, but I’ll do my very best.”
“Alright.”
“Alright.” Then together they sang out, “We love you, Aunt Ali!”
“Love you too, boys.” The channel cut off and she rubbed her palms over her face, rocking back and forth, not sure whether to cry or laugh or… she didn’t even know what else. Was having a family always this complicated? It seemed like it.
I’m not very good at complicated things. Like reading.
Well, if she could learn to read, she could learn to Family.
If she got the chance.
Which meant on days like this, when Salli wasn’t around to serve, there weren’t any sims or games she wanted to play, and she’d gone through every non-interactive vid on her personal stream, Ali was at something of a loss for what to do.
So she fell back on basic katas. After wandering over to the manor’s holy arbor, grounds meticulously cleaned by the staff after the early morning festivities, Ali set her palm comp in the center and called up a holographic shadow to box with. A quarter-hour of exchanging kicks and punches with the figure of a cartoonish wazagan nearly twice her size soon left her with a nice sweat soaking her fur and the wish Lady Salli would come back soon so she could help her undress from her formalwear and they could both take a nice shower together.
The toon wazzie suddenly froze as Ali’s palm comp let out an unfamiliar jingle. She snatched it up off the ground, shutting off the hologram and answering crisply, “This is Ali.”
“Hi, Aunt Ali!” “Hullo!” Two young voices answered. It was the twins, Karra and Fin’s boys.
“Hullo Nav, hullo Ned. How did you two get my number?” she answered, brow furrowing in surprise.
“We asked Mum Karra for it but she wouldn’t give it to us,” Ned, or maybe Nav, said.
“Then we asked Fin and they said if Mum Karra didn’t want to give it to us we should listen to her,” Nav (or Ned) said eagerly.
“But then we thought to ask Aunt Razi, and she said if Mum Karra and Fin didn’t want to talk to you maybe we should and we really did because they always say in school if people don’t talk to each other they sometimes do stupid things…”
“...our teachers say silly, not stupid.”
“But they mean stupid.”
“And we know Mum Karra is mad about you almost stunning us.”
“But we thought it would’ve been cool.”
“Maybe just a light stun would be cool.”
“But anyway we wanted to talk to you…”
“... and make sure you’re okay.”
“Fin said you cried.”
“And Fin’s a CP and they took an oath…”
“... about giving True Witness.”
“So they don’t lie about stuff.”
“Important stuff.”
“Not like where they hid the cherry fang chews, or anything.”
“So we wanted…”
“...to make sure…”
“...you’re okay.”
“Because we don’t want you…”
“...to disappear again....”
“...for years and years!”
Not sure whether she wanted to laugh or cry as she listened to this rapid fire plea, Ali settled for answering, “Okay, first off slow down for the Mother’s sake.”
“Wow.”
“You sound just like…”
“...Mum Karra…”
“...when you say that.”
“Thank you.” I think. “Next, let me get a good look at you.” Ali set down her palm comp again and brought up the hologram projector, now showing the twins sitting in front of a comsole in what looked like a small office in their parent’s home.
“Hi!” they both said brightly. Then Ned (or Nav) said, “Where’s your shirt?”
“I was exercising when you called,” she explained.“
“Oh.”
“Oh.”
“Like that time Mum Karra and Fin were exercising when we walked into their…”
“Maybe,” Ali interrupted quickly. “Look, I don’t want you two to get into trouble. I really appreciate you calling to check up on me, but if Karra said she didn’t want to talk to me then you probably shouldn’t either.”
“But it’s not right!” Ned, she was pretty sure it was Ned anyway, said emphatically.
Nav cut in, “You were gone for years and years and everybody was sad about it, and now that you’re back it’s like Mum Karra wants you to go away again. We don’t want you to go away again!”
Ali smiled. She had to smile, because the alternative was to burst out sobbing in front of two children who were probably too young to understand what their words meant to her. “You’re good boys,” she managed to say without choking up. “Look, I’m not going to disappear again, I promise. I’m indentured to Lady Sallivera, and she’s the governor of Greenholme, so even if I’m not on Foxen Prime you’ll always know where to find me.”
“But Greenholme is in a whole ‘nother star system. Won’t you come to see us again before you leave?”
“I’ll… I’ll try, boys. I can’t promise you I will, especially with how things are between me and your mother, but I’ll do my very best.”
“Alright.”
“Alright.” Then together they sang out, “We love you, Aunt Ali!”
“Love you too, boys.” The channel cut off and she rubbed her palms over her face, rocking back and forth, not sure whether to cry or laugh or… she didn’t even know what else. Was having a family always this complicated? It seemed like it.
I’m not very good at complicated things. Like reading.
Well, if she could learn to read, she could learn to Family.
If she got the chance.
no subject
Date: 2016-03-31 06:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-03-31 09:32 pm (UTC)