ArchivedLogs:Steak Dinner

Steak Dinner
Dramatis Personae Anette and Akihiro
In Absentia	2017-02-12 "I almost got Ion killed a while ago."
Location <BOM> The Doghouse - Ascension Island
Welcome to Cabin Daken, a sprawling log estate with two floors. On the first is your kitchen and sitting area. The kitchen has a breakfast bar, restaurant quality sink, and a gas range. The sitting area has a fireplace and comfortable sectional. Lining the back wall is a simple oak bar. Moving the tour upstairs you'll find the sleeping area. A full sized bed sits tucked against the back wall and faces a simple chest of drawers with a curved television mounted above it. Ah, birthdays. Another day older and another day closer to the sweet embrace of death. Rather than focus on the negatives Akihiro found himself busy in the kitchen fixing baked potatoes and steak. Today though it wasn't just any steak, Akihiro had splurged and picked up two pounds of wagyu beef on his way home, and he seemed excited to be cooking it. Not as excited as Missy Moo-Moo however, who was waggling around the kitchen and staring up at Akihiro expectantly. That dog was entirely too spoiled. Anette doesn't knock or really announce her presence. Instead, she just steps inside Akihiro's apartment, slowly making her way to where she hears him making dinner. Her heels click against the floor, simple black stilettos. She wears the standard little black dress, her hair actually done up in something other than a ponytail, victory curls to be specific. A smack of eyeliner, a pale pink lipstick, and natural makeup. "I feel ridiculous," she says quietly, though she smiles when she sees Akihiro. "You look nice." Akihiro turns to look at Anette as she enters, his jaw dropping a bit for a moment. "Wow. You don't look ridiculous." He's dressed up similarly in a black dress shirt with rolled up sleeves and matching slacks. His hair is even tied back with an elastic. A couple of moments pass and he switches the stove off and plates the second ribeye. "Hope you're hungry." The way Missy if following closely behind him, she's probably hungry herself. Though she hasn't been known to turn down food ever. "I have a parasite growing inside of me, eating half of what I eat. Yeah, I'm hungry," Anette says carefully making her way over and sitting down at the table, her wings fluffed and relaxed. "See, this is why I like Vader. He doesn't care what I look like. He doesn't care about much really. Don't get used to this, I'm wearing sweats tomorrow." She takes a deep breath, taking in the aroma of the steaks. "I should have you cook more often." "I hope you do, you look good in sweats too." Akihiro shoots Anette a wink before taking a seat across from her. He proceeds to cut the top portion of his steak off and pass it over to Missy, who happily takes it and runs off further into the cabin. With tending to his animal out of the way he starts slicing what's left into slices. "I don't mind cooking, I like to think I'm a decent cook." "You just like sweats because they're easier to remove," Anette teases. She picks up her knife and fork, cutting off a small bite of her steak. Judging by the way her chewing suddenly slows to a near halt to better appreciate the flavors. "You're not too bad," Anette says, finishing her bite before speaking again. "You know you didn't have to do anything. I'm not that crazy about turning another year older. We could just watched Netflix, had pizza, and had sex. Like normal." "Maybe that has something to do with it." Akihiro puts his knife aside and picks up his chopsticks. Placing a bit of wasabi on the meat he pops it into his mouth. "Most of the credit goes to the cow and the people who raised it. There's a reason this stuff is a hundred dollars a pound. Maybe I should have gotten more than just this." His shoulders lift in a slight shrug. "Also I was thinking we could eat a nice dinner, maybe watch some anime like responsible adults, /then/ have sex." Anette nearly chokes on her next bite. "/HOW/ much was this?" she gasps, once she swallows it down. "Did you rob a butcher or did you murder the cow yourself?" She looks down towards her steak, as if having a serious mental discussion about whether or not to finish it. "I keep telling you I have a little bit of cash stashed away." Akihiro should probably elaborate just how much a 'little' is eventually. "And I wouldn't murder Satoshi, I've known him for going on sixteen years now." Apparently he isn't having any sort of moral dilemma about rather he should eat it or not, because he promptly tosses another piece into his mouth. "Yeah, I figured enough for a bus ticket or something. What, do you have an overseas bank account? A private helicopter stashed away somewhere?" Anette slowly takes another bite of steak. "So...what do normal people talk about over steak dinners?" "That's ridiculous, I don't have a helicopter." Akihiro flashes a grin across the table. Bank accounts could explain why he always stays in nice clothes and decent drugs (before he quit). "While eating this? Probably business deals or how well their stocks are doing. But I don't think that's really us." "No, it's not us. Not really," Anette says, flashing a faint smile. "Have you...thought about anything? About our situation?" She tries to sound casual but some fear begins to creep into her voice, which she quickly quenches with another mouth of steak. "All the time." Akihiro remains neutral, careful not to lean too much towards the negative or positive. "I was thinking maybe we get a house. Maybe upstate New York, someplace quiet. I think that'd be nice for us, Vader, Missy, and the baby. Assuming you don't want us to find them other parents." He raises the hand that was previously hidden underneath the table, those claws rising out from between his knuckles once again. "But I'd like to be there. Confused children with feral mutations have a nasty habit of ending up weapons." "A house?" Anette repeats, eyes widening slightly with surprise. "In New York? How much money /do/ you have?" She pokes a bit at her steak though doesn't cut a piece off yet. "You never mention...other options. It's not too late. I could...take care of it. Wouldn't have to worry about a house or parents. Could just continue like we were." She takes a deep breath and looks back up to Akihiro. "I almost got Ion killed a while ago. The fact I was pregnant almost got him killed. They were one person down on the mission. Because of me." "Well, you're a terrorist and I need to update my fake information. So that's probably not an option." Akihiro lets his claws sink back in, his hand going back onto his lap. "Because I don't really like the other options. But at the end of the day it isn't my decision Anette, it's yours. And I'll support you no matter what. I love you." He rises up from his seat and walks around to Anette, who promptly gets a kiss atop her head. "Nothing is a coincidence, it happened because it was meant to happen. You not being able to go was out of your control." "But, well, you're half responsible. I know it's my choice in the end but I'm not going to completely throw you under the bus." Anette picks at a small piece of steak, slowly chewing it, though she smiles gently at the kiss. "I just wish there was a right answer. The last thing I want to do is bring a child into a world that will despise them and hate them and god knows what else. But...I feel like they deserve a chance. Maybe they'll do good. Or maybe the world will actually be a decent place when they grow up." "It was a chance Logan and Itsu took. They knew good and well that I'd be hated, but they were going to take a chance." Akihiro walks back over to his side of the table and takes the chopsticks back up. "I imagine if I'd grown up with parents that actually liked me and were expecting a mutant I'd have grown up to be less of a piece of shit." He picks up a piece of meat, but doesn't actually eat it just yet. "What I'm trying to say is, I think there's a chance. If we can give them what they need it won't matter what the world tries to throw at them." "And you think we can do that? Give them the life they deserve? Protect them and...give them a decent chance?" Anette sets her fork down and leans back against her chair. "We're weapons now. Which is fine, I want to be one. But if we stay here, raise them here, aren't we just raising them to be a soldier in the end?" "We don't have to stay here. We can find a place in the city, or somewhere else. We wouldn't have to move right away. Spending a year or two on the island won't make the weapons right away." He tosses that piece of meat into his mouth and chews quietly for a moment. "But the kid is a Howlett. They'll be a fighter regardless of where they're raised." "Move where? And how? I've been off-grid for years and have warrants for my arrest and you don't even exist in this country. And one of us is an obvious mutant." Anette leans forward, placing an elbow on the table and resting her forehead in her hands. "I'm sorry. You're trying to make a special birthday dinner and I'm just...ruining it." "Well, I do exist. I actually have a permanent residency work visa. I just can't really use that since I haven't physically aged any." Akihiro explains, rubbing at the back of his neck. "We could live in a cabin in the woods somewhere, plant our own food, raise birds for eggs, hunt, that sort of thing." He tosses the last piece of steak in his mouth and rises once more, this time instead of kissing Anette, he wraps his arms around here. "You aren't ruining anything. I'm glad you're here with me." "That sounds...I don't know," Anette says, leaning against Akihiro as he wraps his arms about her. "I doubt I'd be any good at that. The farming, homesteading, parenting. All of it really." She takes a deep breath, glancing up towards Akihiro. "You really want to raise this child, huh?" "I'd rather not spend the rest of my life wondering 'what if'. But now doesn't have to be the time if you aren't ready, I learned my lesson about rushing you." Akihiro buries his nose in Anette's hair, giving her a squeeze. "I want you to be happy more than anything. Not sure I could live with myself if I trapped you in a situation that upset you." "I'm tired of regretting my choices," Anette says softly. "I don't think there's anything you could do at this point to upset me. The whole thing is already upsetting. But..." She looks up to Akihiro and smiles gently, placing her hand on top of his. "Thank you. For dinner. For everything."